Last week's election of the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop is causing dissent but probably won't split the church, local clergy say.

In fact, said one, it hasn't been a big issue among South Jersey parishes.

The Rev. V. Gene Robinson was elected last Saturday in New Hampshire.

According to a church news release about the election, Robinson said he "answered God's call to acknowledge myself as a gay man" and left his wife and two daughters.

"Risking the loss of my children and the exercise of my ordained ministry in the church was the biggest risk I've ever taken, but it left me with two unshakable things: my integrity and my God," he said. "It won the hearts of my daughters, whom I feared losing, and later, the love of a wonderful partner, with whom I've made a home for the past 13 years."

His election still must be approved by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in late July.

Several Episcopal church leaders declined to comment on the issue or were unavailable for comment, but two pastors said they were supportive of Robinson's election.

"I think it's a significant appointment," said the Rev. Dr. Raewynne Whiteley, pastor of Trinity Episcopal "Old Swedes" Church in Swedesboro. "The stories I've heard about Gene Robinson are that he's a wonderful pastor, gifted, and that people have seen the fruit of the Holy Spirit in his work."

She compared the election to the advances women have made in the church and the dissension it has caused. Whiteley is from Australia, where women priests are not allowed in the Episcopal Church.

"There will always be some people who will find they are not comfortable remaining with that," she said, "but the best we can do is prayerfully listen to each other, even when we differ."

None of the Rev. Harry Collins' congregants at St. Stephen's Church in Mullica Hill have mentioned Robinson's election.

"Episcopalians have the reputation of being a rather liberal group of people and a group of people that are able to be accepting to a variety of approaches and positions," Collins said.

There will be people who can't accept this change, he said, but the fact that Robinson was elected says something about the attitude of the people in New Hampshire.

"There are other members in the administrative end of the Episcopal Church who are openly gay and it has not yet split the church and in all probability, will not in the future," he added.

Two conservative Anglican groups are protesting Robinson's election.

Forward in Faith, which opposes women priests, said it was evidence of "more erosion of the faith and order of Christianity - an erosion that has been rampant for decades."

According to its Web site, www.forwardinfaith.com, the group has no affiliated parishes in South Jersey.

The American Anglican Council said it was "deeply saddened" by the election.

In a written response to the election, the council said it is a "clear illustration of the deep dysfunction in our `anything goes' Episcopal Church. It shows us again just how far much of the Episcopal Church has moved out of the thriving mainstream of worldwide Anglicanism."

One church in South Jersey is affiliated with the council, but the interim vicar at the Millville parish declined to comment on the Robinson matter.

On the Web
www.americananglican.org - American Anglican Council
www.episcopalchurch.org - The Episcopal Church, U.S.A.
www.forwardinfaith.com - Web site for conservative Anglican group