Gay bishop cutting into Episcopal membership

By The Rev. Danny Janes

Kalamazoo Gazette

January 16, 2004

In response to the Rev. Cynthia Blacks Jan. 1 Viewpoint on Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson -- I’m sad that so many people gloating over this election still don’t get it.

While they celebrate Bishop Robinson as an icon of inclusion, their denomination continues to suffer the hemorrhage of members who are fed-up with their pandering to the gay community’s Wake up! How many years of loss and decline is the Episcopal Church’s going to overlook until they awake to the realization that they’re alienating the base of their constituency?

I speak from experience as a pastor. A few years ago, a lovely lady started visiting our church from a local Episcopal congregation. We had not visited, contacted or solicited her in any way. She sought us out because she was aware of the historic connection between the Anglican/Episcopalian Church and the Methodist Church. She knew that we were far less liturgical and more evangelical, but shared a common historical root through John Wesley.

Upon getting acquainted with her, I learned that she had been a devoted Episcopalian for many years. When I asked her why she had stopped  attending, she told me that she had struggled with the liberal drift of the denomination for a long time. The final straw was the appointment of an openly gay priest as pastor of her local parish. She said, I’m just too old, too tired and too fed-up to keep fighting the powers-that- be!

Please understand, I’m not out recruiting disgruntled members of other churches. There are enough people who don’t know Jesus Christ in the community to fill every church around here.

The question is: Do you just keep dismissing these people as intolerant and unenlightened malcontents, or do you ever admit how terribly out-of- step you are with the grassroots majority. You can produce all the polls you want to prove your support -- but how many of those polls are filling your pews?

I don’t celebrate Gene Robinsons appointment as bishop. I grieve for a denomination that would elevate a man living an immoral lifestyle to its

highest office of leadership. Forget the issue of homosexuality for a moment.

If I were to leave my wife and children for another woman, and be living in an adulterous relationship, would I be qualified for leadership in the church? Not in the church I’m a part of! But apparently, it’s all right for Bishop Robinson to have a relationship with his live-in lover precisely because he’s gay. We don’t dare criticize the promiscuousness and immorality of gays without suffering the accusation of being homophobes. The last time I checked, the Bible  condemns sexual promiscuity for heterosexuals and homosexuals alike! (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Rev. Black proudly stated, The fact that a mainstream Christian denomination, guided by the Holy Spirit in a democratic process, can affirm the ministry of a man who happens to be gay and ordain him as a bishop, means that all who are marginalized are affirmed. I beg to differ.

In my opinion, the fact that a drastically declining denomination, guided by a liberal agenda in a politically correct pursuit, can excuse the lifestyle of a man who advertises that he is gay and ordain him as a bishop, means that all who disagree can take a hike.

My condolences to the faithful men and women of the Episcopal Church’s who still happen to believe that Biblical authority trumps bureaucratic tyranny.

The Rev. Danny J. Janes is senior pastor at Kalamazoo Wesleyan Church.