GAY EPISCOPAL BISHOP ROBINSON SAYS OPPONENTS VIOLATED ORDINATION VOWS IN OHIO CONSECRATION

V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop, stated it is “pretty clear” that five retired bishops breached their ordination vows by conducting a confirmation service in Ohio without local diocesan approval. The event, held at an Orthodox church in Akron and attended by ~800 people, confirmed 110 individuals from six conservative congregations opposed to Robinson’s 2003 consecration.

These congregations rejected Ohio Bishop J. Clark Grew II, who had supported Robinson’s election. Though current canons require permission for outside bishops to perform sacramental acts, the retired prelates—joined by a bishop from Brazil’s Diocese of Recife—acted unilaterally, citing pastoral need.

Robinson expressed openness to allowing visiting bishops in his own New Hampshire diocese—if he retains oversight and the visitor doesn’t undermine his authority or encourage schism. He received the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Leadership Award shortly after the Ohio event, hailed as a national symbol of LGBTQ+ progress: “He is a hero to our community… for the way in which he has conducted himself in the face of vitriolic attacks.”

Robinson remarked: “I have this double life. I’m not the gay bishop in New Hampshire. I’m just the bishop.”