Go forth and sin

National | A growing mainline movement seeks to affirm homosexuality as biblical | Lynn Vincent

WHEN OFFICIALS ANNOUNCED the vote tally on June 8, thunderous applause showered the crowd at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Concord, N.H. The occasion: Episcopalians in the diocese of New Hampshire had just elected the first openly homosexual bishop anywhere in the worldwide Anglican Communion. As joyous clergy and delegates leapt to their feet, the new bishop, the Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson, ambled forward, stood before the altar, and embraced his grown children and his male lover.

On May 23 in Nashville, officials of Glendale Baptist Church met with officials of the Tennessee Baptist Convention (TBC). The issue: Glendale had in 2002 hired as its associate pastor April Baker, a practicing lesbian, a fact the TBC did not learn until January 2003. TBC officials felt Ms. Baker's sexuality violated Scripture. Glendale officials believed otherwise, and asked the TBC to quietly vote them out.