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And if it's in conflict with the Scriptures, is it really a Christian church? That's asked by Don Armstrong, pastor of Grace and St. Stephen's Episcopal church in Colorado Springs. "We've sold ourselves down the river for sexual sin," he told The Denver Post. "We are now the church indistinguishable. Our message is no different than 'Will & Grace' and 'Sex in the City.'"

'A new level of blasphemy'
Though the Church of England, which recently had its own furor over a potential gay bishop, probably won't break ties, groups in the church are calling for it to do so.

"We consider the Episcopal Church of the United States has put itself outside the fellowship of the church with this issue," David Phillips, general secretary of the evangelical Church Society, told the BBC. "They have created schism with what they have done, and I hope what happens is that the churches in North America separate themselves from others and uphold the Bible's position."

That's already happening. Roman Catholic Archbishop William Levada of San Francisco called the Robinson vote "a new challenge" for relationships between the two churches. "We're going to have to study and reflect on the implications for the dialogue we've been having, with the Episcopal Church in our country and internationally," he told the Pioneer Press of St. Paul, Minn.

Southern Baptist leader Al Mohler called the vote disastrous, and said that the Episcopal Church USA has "effectively declared its independence from the Christian church."

Even Concerned Women for America issued a press release, calling Robinson's confirmation "a new level of blasphemy for a once great denomination"

While more comments are issued with each passing minute, the disconnect between orthodox Anglicans' love for the Word of God and love for their part of the Bride of Christ continues to send them reeling.

"I wonder often whether I am on the same page relative to the many issues which signal, at least for me, the drift and direction of the Episcopal Church away from the church catholic," Bishop Peter H. Beckwith of Springfield, Ill., told the Los Angeles Times. "Today I question not whether we are on the same page or even the same book, but rather whether we are in the same library."

Correction: An earlier version of this article erroneously said that Don Armstrong's Colorado Springs church belonged to the Anglican Mission in America. It is part of the Episcopal Church USA. CT regrets the error.

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August (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47