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Episcopal Church to accept openly gay men, lesbians as bishops
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This week’s Episcopal Church decision to ordain openly gay men and lesbians as priests and bishops marked a significant milestone for activists like Reverend Susan Russell.
She’s president of Integrity USA, a nonprofit organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people within the Episcopal Church.
Reverend Susan Russell: "Integrity has been working at this for a long time. We started in 1976, which is 33 years ago, and some of us have noted that’s the number of years our traditions tell us Jesus walked the earth. So it felt like a serendipitous year for us to finally move forward on these issues."
Russell spoke with KPCC’s "AirTalk" after the Episcopal General Convention meeting in Anaheim declared gays and lesbians eligible for “any ordained ministry.” The issue has sparked strong divisions within the worldwide denomination, because many of its leaders and members believe that homosexuality is not consistent with biblical teaching and church tradition.
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