Gay Bishops - in Modern Anglicanism

In Modern Anglicanism

It is in contemporary Anglicanism that the issue of homosexuality and its relationship to people in the episcopate has been confronted openly. Indeed, the only large mainstream church to ever consecrate an openly gay bishop who was not celibate has been the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, a member of the Anglican Communion, who consecrated Gene Robinson diocesan bishop of Diocese of New Hampshire in 2003.

There have been documented cases of other openly gay Anglican bishops, however. For instance, Episcopal bishop Otis Charles came out as gay after his retirement. He had been a bishop in Utah from 1971 to 1993.

Bishop Mervyn Castle was consecrated Bishop of False Bay (a suffragan of the diocese of Cape Town) in 1994, but because most Anglicans outside South Africa were unaware of his homosexuality, and because he was celibate, no comparable controversy took place.

Bishop Arthur Mervyn Stockwood, who was gay, was bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark, but also celibate. He even gently rebuked a parish vicar for initiating blessing of same-sex unions in the late 1970s.

In 1995, Bishop Derek Rawcliffe, retired Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway in the Scottish Episcopal Church, disclosed his homosexuality. Like Brown, Rawcliffe had also served as a bishop in Melanesia.

When Peter Tatchell threatened the Archbishop of York, David Hope, with "outing" in 1995 as part of the much criticized outrage! campaign, Hope acknowledged that his sexuality was "a grey area" and that he had "sought to lead a celibate life" and was "perfectly happy and content".

Bishop Terry Brown, of Malaita in the Solomon Islands, attended the 1998 Lambeth Conference (which declared same-sex relationships "incompatible with Scripture") as an openly gay man (he also attended the 2008 Lambeth Conference).

Appointed as the suffragan Bishop of Edmonton (London) in 1999, the Rt Revd Peter Wheatley is gay and has been living with his partner for 15 years, saying that he is "a celibate Christian living by Christian teachings". This does not appear to have generated any significant controversy. Bishop Wheatley is opposed to the ordination of women to the episcopate.

In 2003, the Very Revd Jeffrey John, at the time Canon Chancellor and Theologian of Southwark Cathedral, was chosen to be the Bishop of Reading (a suffragan of the Bishop of Oxford). John has been in a relationship with another male priest for many years, though he also says that their relationship is celibate. As a result of the ensuing controversy, however, John withdrew his acceptance of the appointment. He was subsequently appointed Dean of St Albans. John again emerged in the debate over gay bishops in July 2010 following widespread media reports that he was the Crown Nomination Commission's preferred candidate for appointment by the Queen as Bishop of Southwark though subsequent reports suggested that this was not the case or that his name had been rejected following leaking of the proposal.

The Rt Revd Mary Douglas Glasspool, who is openly gay and lives with her partner of 20 years, was elected as a suffragan bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles in December 2009 and was consecrated on May 15, 2010. Her election has attracted worldwide attention, including an expression of concern from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. In response to expressions of concern that her election would be viewed as a threat to the cohesion of the Anglican Communion, Glasspool said, "I've committed my life as a life of service to the people of Jesus Christ, and what hurts is the sense that anybody might have that my name or my servanthood could be perceived as divisive."