Episcopals to debate gay marriage and consecration of gay bishops

The Episcopal Church’s national convention will take up whether the church will approve religious ceremonies for same-sex couples and whether gay bishops should be consecrated, reports UPI.

“It’s important that we recognize the equal stature of all Christians in the church so that we model that type of inclusivity in civil society,” Bishop Marc Andrus of the Diocese of California said.

This is the first national convention of the Episcopal Church in three years. The Episcopal Church, with 2.1 million members, is the U.S. branch of the global Anglican communion, which has 77 million members, many of them religious conservatives in Africa.

The church has been divided over the consecration of gay bishops since the ordination of Rev. Gene Robinson in 2003.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has tried to hold the fragile communion together by getting churches to observe a voluntary moratorium on consecrating another openly gay bishop and developing prayers for same-sex unions. But many fear a split is inevitable.

“If we are not extremely careful at this convention, we could find ourselves outside the Anglican Communion, and that would be a tragedy for all of us,” Bishop William Love of Albany, N.Y., said. “My fear is that the Episcopal Church destroys itself.”