San Francisco, USA - The Episcopal Diocese of California on Saturday elected the Rev. Mark H. Andrus, bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Alabama, as its first new bishop in 27 years, a decision that averted inflaming a crisis over homosexuality in the denomination.
The broader Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion to which it belongs have been shaken by a dispute over the inclusion of gay men and lesbians that grew increasingly acrimonious after the Episcopal Church consecrated the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.
In the Diocese of California, which includes San Francisco, Oakland and five nearby counties, three of the seven candidates on Saturday's ballot for bishop were openly gay or lesbian ministers in long-term relationships.
Bishop Andrus, 49, was not one of the gay candidates. If a gay candidate had been elected, the trickle of congregations that have left the Episcopal Church U.S.A. since the consecration of Bishop Robinson might have accelerated, and the strained relations between the Episcopal Church and the broader communion could have been pushed to a schism, church experts have said.
Nonetheless, in an acceptance statement via a phone call piped into Grace Cathedral, where the voting was taking place, Bishop Andrus said he would continue to support the full inclusion of gay men and lesbians in the church.
"We must all understand, and here I address the Diocese of California and those listening from elsewhere, that your vote today remains a vote for inclusion and communion — of gay and lesbian people in their full lives as single or partnered people, of women, of all ethnic minorities, and all people," Bishop Andrus said, referring to continuing in the Anglican Communion, which has about 77 million members worldwide. "My commitment to Jesus Christ's own mission of inclusion is resolute."
Despite the tension surrounding the vote, local clergy members and lay delegates who voted on Saturday and outside experts familiar with the diocese said that the candidates' sexual orientation did not play a role in the election. In meetings two weeks ago between the seven candidates and members of the diocese, people emphasized that they wanted a bishop with a commitment to social justice, evangelism and young people, said those who went to the meetings.
To win, a candidate needed to receive a simple majority of the votes of the two representative bodies, the lay delegates from the parishes and the clergy members, on the same ballot. During the first two ballots, Bishop Andrus led among clergy members, and the Rev. Canon Eugene T. Sutton of the Washington National Cathedral led among lay people. The other candidates, gay and straight, were far behind. Bishop Andrus won in the third round of voting around midday.
Some parishioners, who supported Mr. Sutton, the lone black candidate, said Bishop Andrus won because he was the safe bet: a straight, white male, not unlike Bishop William E. Swing, who will retire in July.
But others who voted said that Bishop Andrus's open support of gay men and lesbians while serving as the bishop suffragan, or assistant bishop, in Alabama, a clearly unpopular position in that diocese, won them over. For example, Bishop Andrus has said that he backs the consecration of Bishop Robinson of New Hampshire.
"One of the things that attracted me was that he showed that people in the Diocese of Alabama could have different views on Gene Robinson," said the Rev. Robert Honeychurch, rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Fremont, Calif. "He acted actively and intentionally in a reconciling way in what must have been a very difficult situation."
The Episcopal Church's triennial general convention will meet in Columbus, Ohio, in mid-June, and Bishop Andrus is expected to be consecrated there. But while the vote in California did not worsen tensions in the church, anger over the acceptance of gay men and lesbians continues to simmer — as does the possibility that an openly gay or lesbian bishop might be elected elsewhere.
In the Diocese of Tennessee, for instance, voting for a new bishop ended in a stalemate on Saturday after more than 30 ballots. Lay delegates backed a conservative minister who they hoped would take the diocese out of the Episcopal Church, and clergy members backed a more moderate choice, said the Rev. William Sachs, director of research for the Episcopal Foundation, the church's analysis arm.
In September, the Diocese of Newark will elect a new bishop. Candidates have not been announced, but given the traditions of the diocese, church experts said, one of the candidates could be openly gay or lesbian.