Boston, USA - Episcopal parish priest Bill Murdoch watched the developing split in his denomination over homosexuality and thought about the future.
In a denomination where the majority of seminaries are liberal, conservatives need to look for a way to move forward on their own, he thought. So he approached the country's two most conservative Episcopal seminaries with a proposal — an academic partnership with Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, about 20 miles north of Boston, even though he hadn't asked Gordon-Conwell yet.
The result is a new concentration in Anglican-Episcopal studies that gives traditionalist Episcopalians a place in one of the nation's best-known conservative seminaries at a time when many don't feel at home in their own church.
"We're at the edge of the knife," said Murdoch, a Gordon-Conwell alumnus from West Newbury. "If the church divides, there will be a need for courageous, well-trained young leadership.
"Conservative orthodox seminaries will birth, if you will, conservative folks to serve in parish life and ministry."
With more than 2 million members, the Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the global Anglican Communion. It has long been divided over how to interpret the Bible on various issues, including gay clergy and same-sex unions. Conservatives hold to the traditional belief that the Bible prohibits gay sex, while liberals believe the overwhelming message of Scripture is acceptance and love of all people.
The 2003 election of an openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson in New Hampshire, intensified the divide. Some conservative parishes have left the denomination and several dioceses are now considering breaking away.
Murdoch's proposal, made at a conference of orthodox Episcopalians in Pittsburgh last year, created Gordon-Conwell's partnership with Nashota House in Wisconsin and Trinity Episcopal School of Ministry in Ambridge, Pa.
While some question Gordon-Conwell's motives, the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge said it feels no threat because the liberal school doesn't attract the same students as Gordon-Conwell.
"Episcopal Divinity School and Gordon-Conwell are at different places theologically," said Nancy Davitch, spokeswoman for the Cambridge school.
But the Rev. Joyce Scherer-Hoock, a Gordon-Conwell alumnus who leads St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Peabody, said her alma mater was capitalizing on — and even encouraging — division among Episcopalians.
"If you are going to serve the people that are breaking away, you are encouraging and facilitating the split," she said.
Barry Corey, academic dean at Gordon-Conwell, said the non-denominational school was "not poaching." He said officials established the program in part because it recognized churches that break from the Episcopal church need places to train future ministers.
But he said the school has taken no position on the divide in the Episcopal Church, and is simply continuing its longtime role as a conservative option to students from liberal mainline churches.
"We don't want to be the official seminary of a breakaway group," Corey said. "We want to be theologically who we are and attract the kind of students that want this kind of education."
Gordon-Conwell is not the first seminary to attempt to accommodate Episcopalian students whose conservatism bucks the general culture of the church. Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Ill., outside Chicago, has partnered with Trinity on a program that allows students there to receive a degree from Trinity in Anglican Studies.
Ordination in the Episcopal Church is at the discretion of the local bishop and diocese, so any degree from Gordon-Conwell or similar institution is no guarantee of a place among Episcopalian clergy. A more liberal bishop, for instance, might decline to ordain a Gordon-Conwell graduate without a degree from a different institution.
The Gordon-Conwell concentration, which is expected to be available in the fall of 2007, includes six courses that can be taken as electives in the school's Master's of Divinity program.
The concentration will be available at the seminary's main campus in South Hamilton, as well as satellite campuses in Charlotte, N.C., and Jacksonville, Fla. The school is hiring instructors and devising courses on topics including Anglican governance and liturgy.
Joshua Mahar, an Episcopalian and a Gordon-Conwell student, strongly supports the new program, though he won't be able to take it because he'll graduate before it starts. Growing up, Mahar, 24, knew the Episcopal church only by its liberal reputation. But he decided to join after attending a local church and being moved by a liturgy with its focus on the Gospel.
The new program is crucial for the denomination, whether or not it splits, because the church will be healthier with a strong conservative element, he said.
"I really feel the denomination is at a turning point," Mahar said. "I'm hoping what we're seeing is a rise in that evangelical-leaning conservatism. I think the only way that will ever happen is if we have a place like this."