Ellen Barrett - Impact and Reaction

Impact and Reaction

Barrett's ordination was met with widespread criticism and protest within the Episcopal Church. Bishop Moore stated that of 42 letters he received from other bishops, ten were supportive and thirty-two were critical. Bishop William Frey of Colorado stated that there were better ways to minister to homosexuals than to "bless that which God offers to redeem". Moore related his belief that it was not so much Barrett's sexual orientation that his fellow bishops found disturbing, but rather her candor as a lesbian.

The ordination of Ellen Barrett brought the ordination of homosexuals into the public eye, along with the ordination of women. Many homosexuals in the church have followed her example, abandoning the practice of having a "closeted" private life that contradicts one's public actions and statements.

In the months following her ordination, contributors to Episcopal magazines and newspapers wrote about the matter, often condemning it. At a meeting of the House of Bishops in Port St. Lucie nine months later a resolution condemning homosexuality as unbiblical and reasserting the heterosexual confines of marriage was passed. However, they failed to pass a measure censuring Bishop Moore for ordaining Barrett. This was in large part defeated by some of Moore and Barrett's strongest detractors, who wished to retain a right of dissent. This led to the passage of a "conscience clause", permitting bishops the right to decline to ordain women into the priesthood. This same principle of conscience led a growing number of bishops to ordain "out" homosexuals throughout the 1980s.