A Case of Woman Trouble

Female priests divide a denomination

The Episcopal Church, which remained unified while other American denominations were sundered over the slavery issue, is now dividing over women priests. Some of the dissidents are leaving to form a new church; more are staying to fight from within. Last week at a resort in Port Saint Lucie, Fla., 125 members of the church's House of Bishops met and struggled to prevent further damage.

Thus far the schism is loud but small: the larger parishes are remaining loyal. But there is potential for dramatic skirmishes in the next year or two, especially if courts rule that departing parishes can retain their property. As if to remind the bishops of the threat, a parish in nearby West Palm Beach became the 18th to quit the denomination. It will join the emerging "Anglican Church of North America," which was proclaimed last month at an emotional rally of 1,750 traditionalists in St. Louis. Besides women priests, the group protests modernization of the church's liturgy, the Book of Common Prayer, and liberal trends in general.

Meanwhile, 27 bishops who are staying within the church have signed a "covenant" refusing to recognize women priests. At the Florida meeting, Presiding Bishop John M. Allin, 56, stunned the bishops by declaring that his understanding of ministry, of the Bible and of sexual roles "prevent my believing that women can be priests any more than they can become fathers or husbands." It was Allin's first official statement against women priests since he was elected in 1973. If his views are not acceptable for the head of the church, he said, "I am willing without hesitation to resign the office."

Allin's speech, apparently designed to calm the dissidents, served to inflame supporters of women's rights. "Many of my people are discouraged and despondent." reported Bishop Robert Rusack of Los Angeles. A caucus of women activists in New York and New Jersey, including the wife of Newark's assistant bishop, sent a telegram urging the acceptance of Allin's resignation offer. Perhaps mindful that opponents are ready to walk out and women are not, the bishops took a tolerant view of the dissidents. They passed a freedom-of-conscience clause specifying that no one should be "coerced or penalized in any manner" for refusing to recognize women priests. In a separate statement, they gave the same freedom to Allin, who indicated that he would not personally ordain a woman priest or receive Communion from one.

Another vexing issue has been widening the schism: homosexual priests. In January, New York's liberal Bishop Paul Moore ordained Ellen Barrett, a lesbian, to the priesthood (TIME, Jan. 24), thereby outraging many lay Episcopalians. In a carefully worded statement, the bishops distinguished between a priesthood candidate with a "dominant homosexual orientation" and an "advocating and/or practicing" homosexual. In the latter case, the bishops said, their "present understanding" of theology makes ordination "impossible."

Moore, who asserted that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of gay Episcopal bishops and ministers, insisted that Barrett was known only as "homosexually oriented," and had created no "public scandal" before he ordained her. Other bishops cited press reports to the contrary. But C. Kilmer Myers, the bishop of California who plans to license Barrett as a parish assistant, replied, "I don't know what she does behind the doors of her bedroom. If I were Ellen Barrett, I would sue you all." In a welter of confusion, the bishops finally tabled by 66-48 a motion to disapprove Barrett's ordination.

That left one other troublesome bishop to deal with: the Right Rev. Albert A. Chambers, retired bishop of Springfield, Ill., who has for months been conducting confirmations in schismatic parishes over the objections of resident bishops. Chambers, wearing purple shirt and clerical collar, told his sports-shirted colleagues: "There is no doubt about it --I have broken the constitution and canons of the church." But, he said, the dissidents' pastoral needs must take priority.

Chambers could face charges in a church court--a procedure separate from the bishops' deliberations--but that seems problematic since the church did not discipline those bishops who previously broke church rules in ordaining women. The house set up a committee to talk with the schismatics, issued an "appeal" to them to return, and stated that it "decries and repudiates" Chambers' activities. It also appealed to all bishops to eschew unauthorized "episcopal acts" so long as they remain members of the House of Bishops.

The most crucial "episcopal acts" of all will be consecrations of the new bishops that the schismatic church must acquire in order to survive. Some defectors who formed their own diocese have elected as a bishop the Rev. James Mote of Denver, rector of the first parish to leave the Episcopal Church. To become bishops in apostolic succession, however, Mote and other candidates from the new church must be consecrated by three recognized bishops. During the past year the movement has approached 15 Episcopal bishops for help. Though he refuses to say so, Chambers is willing to perform consecrations, and TIME learned last week that at least two other Episcopal bishops are now willing to join him. When they do, the schism will become a reality.

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