LOS ANGELES: Episcopal diocese may defy national edict
SEXUAL ORIENTATION: A resolution asks delegates to dissent from a decision about gay bishops.

By BETTYE WELLS MILLER
The Press-Enterprise
November 23, 2006

Southern California Episcopalians may vote next week to reaffirm that homosexuals are welcome at all levels of the church when the 111th annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles meets at the Riverside Convention Center.

A resolution submitted by a Pasadena church leader and an Inglewood priest asks the delegates to dissent from a decision by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church that in June urged restraint in consecrating bishops "whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church."

If the resolution passes, diocesan officials would be expected to consecrate new bishops based on their qualifications, not their sexual orientation, said the Rev. Susan Russell, an associate priest at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena.

The ordination of gay clergy and blessings of same-sex unions in some North American parishes and dioceses has become increasingly contentious within the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, the global network of which the American church is a part.

The June decision by American church policymakers is inconsistent with church law "and our baptismal covenant to love and respect the dignity of every human being," Bob Long, senior warden at the Pasadena church, and the Rev. Altagracia Perez, of Holy Faith Episcopal Church in Inglewood wrote in a resolution that delegates to the Los Angeles Diocese convention will consider Dec. 1 and 2.

The Los Angeles Diocese includes parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties as well as Los Angeles, Orange, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

The resolution asks the local diocese to uphold church law when considering the consecration of new bishops and to reaffirm "the full inclusion of all sisters and brothers in Christ regardless of sexual orientation into all areas of the church."

Seven other dioceses in the U.S. have passed similar resolutions since June.

The Los Angeles Diocese has a history of dissenting from positions of the larger church, she said, including a 1988 statement from the Lambeth Conference of the Anglican Communion that declared homosexuality incompatible with Scripture.

Diocesan spokeswoman Janet Kawamoto said local delegates either will decide not to follow a national resolution that many people find objectionable or decide they are bound to follow the policy because it was passed by the national church.

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