CHURCH SPLIT OVER INERRORANCY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

Episcopal parish in Petaluma splits from national church over gays

By JOSE L. SANCHEZ JR.
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

St. John's Episcopal Church in Petaluma has separated from the national Episcopal church because of differences over how gays should be treated.

The rift, which became formal after a Dec. 17 vote by the Petaluma church's members, has exposed a debate that has been quietly simmering in Sonoma County's Episcopal congregations for several years.

Since 2003, the decisions of the national Episcopal church to permit the ordination of sexually active gay priests and bishops and to consider whether it should bless gay unions has led a small number of Episcopal parishes in the United States to declare their independence.

The posture of the American national church also has drawn criticism from many Episcopalian and Anglican national churches around the globe.

"The Bible has already spoken regarding homosexuality, and it says it is sinful behavior," said the Rev. David Miller, rector of St. John's.

He said the vote for separation was "overwhelming" but declined to say how many of the church's 240 members voted or how the vote was divided.

Across the country, 36 congregations have left the national church since 2003, the New York Times reported Dec. 18, citing a report by the Episcopal News Service.

In California, the San Joaquin Diocese, which includes 47 Central California parishes, took a first step toward separating from the national church on Dec. 3. It is unclear whether all of the San Joaquin parishes will join the secession.

There are 374 Episcopal parishes in California.

The known protesting parishes represent around 1 percent of the country's 7,200 Episcopal parishes.

The controversy began in 2003 when the New Hampshire Diocese elected as bishop a gay man, the Rev. Gene Robinson, who was in a relationship with another man. Robinson's election was confirmed by the national Episcopal Church but was protested by many Episcopal churches in Africa, Asia and elsewhere in the Third World.

St. John's is the first Episcopal church in Sonoma County to "disassociate" itself from the national church. It renamed itself St. John's Anglican to make clear its separation, Miller said.

Miller said he was not aware of plans by any other church in Sonoma County to secede.

The Rev. Matthew Lawrence, rector of Church of the Incarnation, a 250-member Episcopal congregation in Santa Rosa, said he was saddened by the rift in the church over the gay issue.

"Jesus had nothing to say about homosexuality," Law-rence said. "The central ethic that Jesus taught was to challenge self-righteousness, hypocrisy ... to always err on the side of forgiveness and love that goes beyond the strictures of social convention."

The role of gays in the church has been a subject of discussion in several county Episcopal parishes for the past several years, Lawrence said.

Some families have left congregations and others have joined congregations over the issue, he said. However, he said he knew of no other church in the county planning to secede.

Calls to six other county Episcopal parishes were not returned Thursday.

Mike McIntosh, a member of St. John's for nine years, said he approved of the decision to leave the national church.

Since 2003, he said, the national church "has failed to respond to the orthodox within the church," and that has offended him.

"This is not about civil rights," McIntosh said. "It's about sin."

Mert Preston, 81, a longtime Sonoma County gay activist who leads a group called Gay Catholics, said actions like that taken by St. John's will likely harm gays.

"There are bigots out there who are seeking what sounds like permission to vent their anger against gay people," he said.