Surmounting threats of a schism and eleventh-hour allegations of misconduct, the Rev. V. Gene Robinson won confirmation today as the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Senior bishops voted 62 to 43, with two abstentions, to approve Robinson's election by Episcopalians in New Hampshire, capping a roller coaster of emotional debate, soulful prayer and unexpected accusations at the General Convention here.
A church committee paved the way by clearing Robinson, 56, of allegations that he inappropriately touched a man in Vermont and was affiliated with a youth organization whose Web site had an indirect link to pornography on the Internet. The allegations arose Monday, just hours before the bishops originally were scheduled to vote, throwing the convention into turmoil and causing a 24-hour delay.
Moments after the results of the confirmation vote were announced, 19 conservative bishops announced they would appeal to the heads of the 38 regional churches that make up the 75 million-member Anglican Communion.
"With grief too deep for words, the bishops who stand before you must reject this action," they said in a statement read by Bishop Robert W. Duncan of Pittsburgh. "We are calling upon the primates of the Anglican Communion, under the presidency of the archbishop of Canterbury . . . to intervene in the pastoral emergency that has overtaken us." Because the Anglican Communion is a federation of autonomous churches, however, it is unclear what power its leaders have to intervene.
Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, issued a statement in England saying "difficult days lie ahead for the Anglican Church."
In a news conference after the vote, Robinson said his opponents were right that the decision was contrary to the church's traditional teaching against homosexuality.
"Just simply to say that it goes against tradition and the teaching of the church and Scripture does not necessarily make it wrong," he said. "We worship a living God, and that living God leads us into truth."
Gay rights advocates called Robinson's victory a major step toward full acceptance of gays in the Episcopal Church and in American society. Mindful that a national debate is raging over same-sex marriage, they said the church had added its moral voice to those encouraging gays to form life-long, monogamous relationships.
"This is an example to the country, to the culture and to other denominations that diversity is something to be celebrated and that the entire family of God is enriched by individuals who commit themselves to each other," said the Rev. Susan Russell, executive director of Claiming the Blessing, an Episcopal group pushing for an official rite for blessing same-sex unions.
Opponents said the outcome is a step toward moral disintegration in America. They predicted that it would cause thousands of Episcopalians to join more conservative denominations or Episcopal splinter groups.
"The Episcopal Church will emerge from this convention broken, wounded, divided and desperately polarized," Bishop Edward Little of Indiana warned during final debate.
Leaders of the American Anglican Council, a group that has warned for weeks that Robinson's election could provoke a schism, contended that the 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church USA is effectively pulling away from the Anglican Communion, which is descended from the Church of England.
But they said the impact will not be immediate.
The Rev. David C. Anderson, president of the American Anglican Council, said he will organize a national meeting of conservative Episcopalians in October to consider their options, including the possibility of forming orthodox parishes into a new Anglican province in the United States. Robinson's consecration is scheduled for Nov. 2.
Robinson, 56, is divorced and has lived with his partner, Mark Andrew, 50, since 1989. Though Episcopalians in New Hampshire elected him as a bishop on June 7, church rules required the consent of both houses of the church's General Convention, which meets every three years.
On Sunday, the House of Deputies -- more than 800 priests and lay delegates from dioceses across the nation -- approved Robinson's election by a 2 to 1 majority after an emotional debate.
Then on Monday, just hours before the church's 107 senior bishops were to take a final vote, opponents circulated two allegations. The more serious was contained in an e-mail message from a Vermont man accusing Robinson of "homosexual harassment" and urging the bishops not to confirm his election.
The Rev. Frank T. Griswold, as the church's presiding bishop, assigned Bishop Gordon P. Scruton of western Massachusetts to oversee an investigation. Scruton reported today that his committee spoke by telephone with the Vermont man, who complained that Robinson "made him feel uncomfortable" by touching his arm and back during two brief conversations at a church gathering in 1999.
Scruton noted that the incident took place in public, and he said the Vermont man "acknowledged that other people could have seen the exchange as natural and normal." The man also said he did not wish to bring a formal charge, "had no desire to pursue the matter any further" and regretted using the word "harassment" in an e-mail complaint he sent to many Episcopal bishops late Sunday evening, Scruton said.
Scruton did not name the man, who identified himself in the e-mail as David Lewis of Manchester, Vt.
Friends in Vermont said today that Lewis is active in his parish, Zion Episcopal Church, and had once studied to become an Episcopal priest. Lewis could not be reached for comment; neighbors said he had gone out of town. Zion's senior warden, Lou Midura, said that Lewis "would like everyone to know that his statement was meant to be privately conveyed to the governing body of the Episcopal Church."
Becky Nowrath, a member of the church for 30 years, said that she was shocked and dismayed when she heard the news about Lewis's allegations. "I just don't know where this came from," she said. "He is a kind, gentle man, and not one to go for attention. But if he meant this to stay quiet, this was not the thing to do. It will have a huge impact on the congregation."
The other allegation was that Robinson was closely associated with Outright, a gay youth counseling group whose Web site had an indirect link to pornography. Scruton said his investigation found that Robinson helped found the group's New Hampshire chapter in 1995 but had not been involved with it since 1998, four years before the Web site was created.
"I see no evidence that Canon Robinson was aware of or associated with the Web site or its contents," Scruton concluded.