In fact, recent events suggest that ECUSA is in real danger of a split here in the U.S., as well as being isolated from much of the rest of the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is a part.

The 2003 ordination of homosexual Rev. Gene Robinson to the bishopric of New Hampshire outraged conservatives worldwide. Since the majority of Anglican leaders outside the West are theologically conservative, they have been pushing ECUSA to formally repent for Robinson’s ordination.

An example of the tension caused by the rift: At a June Anglican meeting in Ireland, both the ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada – which is even more liberal on the issue of homosexuality than the Episcopal Church – were formally asked not to participate in official administrative meetings.

That exclusion may be a foretaste of what those two Anglican branches can expect at Lambeth 2008, the next worldwide meeting of Anglican leaders. According to Ruth Gledhill, religious correspondent for the London Times, conservatives at Lambeth "are expected to call the North Americans to account" for their unbiblical teachings and actions.

An equally bitter struggle is underway here in the U.S., where conservative ECUSA priests, bishops and dioceses are at odds with the leaders who voted for Robinson.

For example, a potential legal battle is brewing as a result of a controversy in Connecticut. In that state, six conservative Episcopal priests have been steadfastly insisting that they want oversight from someone other than Connecticut Bishop Andrew Smith, who was one of the bishops that supported Robinson’s ordination. The priests’ congregations also withheld the payment of their regular contributions to the diocese.

Smith upped the ante by threatening to suspend the priests – and then in July carried out his threat against one of them, Rector Mark Hansen of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Bristol. According to AgapePress, Smith, along with 12 assistants, entered the church, announced Hansen’s suspension, dismantled the church’s Web site, hacked into its computers, and gained access to financial records. Smith installed a pro-homosexual female priest in Hansen’s place.

Canon David Anderson of the conservative American Anglican Council said that in 35 years of ministry, he’d never seen anything like Smith’s actions, and added that they may become a blueprint for other liberal ECUSA bishops.

"I had hoped it wouldn’t happen, but I have to say that we’ve heard from liberal revisionist bishops that they’re taking careful note of what Smith gets away with," he said. "And I think that if he gets away with [this seizure of a dissenting church], it will be spreading all over the country very quickly."

In response, nine conservative bishops outside Connecticut plan to take Smith to ecclesiastical court on behalf of Hansen and any other priest targeted by Smith.

SIDEBAR
Exodus from Democratic Party linked to ‘God Gap’
People who attend church more than once a week voted for President George W. Bush over John Kerry by a margin of 64% to 35%, according to polling data from the Pew Research Center. Voters who are in church once weekly revealed a 58% to 41% edge for Bush. Voters who never attend church went for Kerry big time, 62%, contrasted with Bush’s 36%.

Political pundits and culture analysts are using the phrase "God Gap" to define the phenomenon of the exodus of conservative voters from the Democratic Party. The Pew study, "Religion & Public Life: A Faith-Based Partisan Divide," suggests that the move began decades ago with two U.S. Supreme Court decisions – the 1962 decision banning organized prayer in public schools and the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision upholding a woman’s right to abortion.

This new data also indicates that the depth of one’s personal faith is a more important indicator of how he will vote than is his specific religion or denomination. In the past, the latter has been a better clue to voter decisions.

The study concludes that polarizing issues such as abortion, prayer in schools and same-sex marriage have "pushed the religiously observant into one political corner and the more secular into another."

www.culture-of-life.org, 5/3/05; www.pewforum.org