Bishop readies for next round

Key conference, book lie ahead for Robinson

CONCORD, N.H. - Five years after he was consecrated a bishop in a nearby hockey arena, wearing a bulletproof vest under his new golden vestments, Gene Robinson is bracing for another round of controversy.

Next month, his new book is to be published, and in it, amid the assertions of his deep faith in Jesus and a self-examination of his theological beliefs, are the emphatic expressions of disappointment in the leadership of his Anglican Church. Robinson is frustrated that those Anglican leaders, known as primates, asked for time to consider the issues but then refused to meet with him.

In June, Robinson plans to enter into a civil union with his partner of 20 years, Mark Andrew. He says he will do everything he can to keep photographers away, out of deference to those who find his same-sex relationship offensive, but he acknowledges that the event is likely to attract negative attention nonetheless.

And then, in July, he will head to London, as the most prominent uninvited guest of the Lambeth Conference, the decennial gathering of the world's 800 Anglican bishops. Robinson was not invited by the Archbishop of Canterbury because he is a noncelibate gay man, a status that many Anglican leaders believe is prohibited by the Bible.

The Anglican Communion offered to allow Robinson to appear at a booth in an exhibition hall, rather than attending the meeting; that proposal was ridiculed by a columnist for one British newspaper, the Guardian, who suggested, tongue in cheek, that the invitation for Robinson to appear in the so-called "marketplace" was made "presumably so that passing bishops can poke him in his cage with a stick."

Robinson said that because he will not be permitted inside the Lambeth Conference, he will instead be outside the meeting daily, talking to anyone who will listen. He said he is working with gay organizations internationally who hope to have gay people from throughout the Anglican Communion in London to show the bishops that the issue is global.

"One of the things I think I've learned in the last five years is that, as much as I wanted to be known as the good bishop, and not the gay bishop, there's no escaping," Robinson said in an interview last week at the diocesan headquarters here. "I would love just to be a simple country bishop, but that just doesn't seem to be in the cards."

Robinson was elected bishop of New Hampshire by local Episcopalians, and his election was approved by other Episcopal bishops in the United States.

Robinson's consecration as the first openly gay bishop threw the Anglican Communion - at least at the level of its leadership - into turmoil. Anglican primates have demanded that the Episcopal Church, which is the American province of the Anglican Communion, be punished for consecrating a gay bishop. Within the Episcopal Church, a number of parishes have effectively seceded from the US church and declared themselves affiliated with more theologically conservative Anglican provinces, primarily in Africa, which condemn homosexuality.

Several American priests who were consecrated as bishops by African Anglican provinces, including William Murdoch of Massachusetts, who was made a bishop by the Anglican Church of Kenya, have also not been invited to Lambeth.

Robinson called the decision to exclude him from Lambeth "so far from anything I can imagine Jesus participating in" and said "I will be on the fringes, as I and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people clearly are in the Anglican Communion."

But Robinson urged his fellow American bishops to attend the conference and try to educate other bishops about his situation; among those intending to do so is Bishop M. Thomas Shaw of Massachusetts, who said he and other New England bishops are planning to host one or two evening gatherings in London at which bishops from around the world can come meet Robinson.

"It's really unfortunate that he wasn't invited, and I think that the Archbishop of Canterbury really missed an important opportunity, but having said that, I think the bishops of New England, and in fact almost all the bishops, really see this as a teaching opportunity," Shaw said.

Robinson believes that, regardless of what happens this summer, that the Episcopal Church will consider lifting a moratorium next year on electing more gay bishops and on developing official liturgies to bless same-sex couples. He said the moratorium was imposed out of deference to the Anglican Communion, but that he believes the idea that the Anglican Communion is really interested in talking about sexuality is a fiction. He cited as evidence a trip he took last fall to the Pacific Rim to meet with concerned Anglican leaders, one of whom withdrew an invitation to meet; another leader, he said, simply fell silent every time Robinson mentioned the controversy over his sexuality.

"It's almost laughable - the premise seems to be that I could undo in an hour an entire lifetime of orthodox teaching," he said. "If I am so off-base in my thinking and in my theological reasoning, wouldn't that be apparent to people? So I think the fear must be that I will make too much sense, that I will actually describe the God that people know in their lives, and then that will demand change."

In his book, called "In the Eye of the Storm," Robinson describes why he is a Christian, offers his interpretation of what the Bible has to say about homosexuality, and declares that he expects even his most vitriolic critics to be in heaven, along with him.

The book features a preface from the Nobel Peace Prize winning Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, who says "I accept the Bible as the Word of God, but I remember that the Bible has been used to justify racism, slavery, and the humiliation of women" and then offers an apology to gays and lesbians "for the cruelty and injustice that you have suffered and continue to suffer at the hands of us, your fellow Anglicans."

Robinson said in the interview he agrees with assertions by the presiding US bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, that he is not the only gay Anglican bishop, simply the only one willing to be open about his sexuality.

For his own part, Robinson says he is not fearful, although he believes his life is at risk because of his visibility and the controversy over his sexuality.

"I'm not afraid, I'm just realistic. There are angry people, and there are crazy people out there. And as far as we know, not a single one of the disciples died of old age at home in bed. The kind of confidence that they felt after the resurrection just enabled them to go out and make their witness and then what happens happens, and that's the way I feel."

Michael Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com.