OHIO: EPISCOPAL LEADER OFFERS “INCLUSIONARY” SERVICE

By David Yonke

The Blade, Religion Editor

April 17, 2004

The Rev. Mark Hollingsworth, Jr., bishop-elect of Ohio, planned an “inclusionary” consecration service in Cleveland on April 17, 2004—inviting priests and bishops to process with their wives, husbands, children, and “partners.”

This breaks with tradition: consecration processions are typically reserved for ordained clergy alone. The explicit inclusion of “partners” is widely seen as a public affirmation of gay clergy during a period of deep denominational division.

One local priest, speaking anonymously, declined to serve as a Eucharistic minister at the service over this invitation.

The Rev. Brian Wilbert, rector of Christ Church, Oberlin, and co-chair of the transition committee, explained:

“Bishop-elect Hollingsworth wants to be ‘as inclusionary as possible.’ Families can be defined as your spouse, your partner, your children—about the only thing we’re not allowing is four-footed friends.”

Hollingsworth, 50, formerly Archdeacon of the Diocese of Massachusetts, was elected in November 2003 as the 11th bishop of Ohio—a diocese covering northern Ohio, with 27,700 members in 105 parishes.

During his finalist forum in Toledo last November, he stated plainly:

“I don’t believe homosexuality is a sin or an obstacle to any ministry, lay or ordained. That’s my belief, founded on lots of prayer and study… I’m a heterosexual, married, white male, and I don’t understand heterosexuality, let alone all sexuality.”

He and his wife, Sue, parent a blended family of four children (ages 4–13).

Thirty-two bishops accepted invitations to the service—including Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, Hollingsworth’s personal friend and the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop.

Even before his installation, Hollingsworth faced resistance: in March 2004, five Ohio congregations hosted an unauthorized confirmation service near Akron, led by six retired bishops (five from Ohio, one from Brazil). Under canon law, such services require the local bishop’s permission.

Both outgoing Bishop J. Clark Grew and Hollingsworth condemned the event. Hollingsworth remarked:

“I am disappointed that the parish priests and bishops involved chose to begin their relationship with me—not with direct and honest dialogue—but by acting in this manner.”

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