Joy as gay dean stays at St. Mark's

Pastor loses election for Episcopal bishop of California

"It was not until the Very Rev. Robert Taylor had stepped to his pulpit at Sunday's 11 a.m. service at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral that applause erupted in some back rows. His congregation quickly stood, and the ovation spread, row by row.

At first, Taylor motioned for people to sit. Then he smiled. The Capitol Hill worshippers were disobeying his request. Church members knew that Taylor, the cathedral's openly gay dean, had lost Saturday's election to be the new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California.
Robert Taylor
Zoom Jim Bryant / P-I
The Very Rev. Robert Taylor, openly gay dean of St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, greets 7-month-old Maxwell Keeler after services on Sunday.

By applauding, they let him know he still had a home in Seattle.

The diocese elected the Right Rev. Mark Andrus, 49, bishop suffragan of the diocese of Alabama, as its first new bishop in 27 years, a decision that averted inflaming a crisis over homosexuality in the denomination.

The broader Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion to which it belongs have been shaken by a dispute over the inclusion of gay men and lesbians that grew increasingly acrimonious after the Episcopal Church consecrated the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.

In the Diocese of California, three of the seven candidates on Saturday's ballot for bishop were openly gay or lesbian ministers in long-term relationships. None of the gay candidates received more than a handful of votes.

Taylor, 48, is from South Africa and arrived at St. Mark's in 1999. A protégé of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, he leads about 2,400 members of St. Mark's.

He shares his life with his partner, Jerry Smith.

If a gay candidate had been elected, the trickle of congregations that have left the Episcopal Church USA since the consecration of Bishop Robinson might have accelerated, and the strained relations between the Episcopal Church and the broader communion could have been pushed to a schism, church experts have said.

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The American Anglican Council has said that the election of a non-celibate gay bishop would "set off a firestorm."

Taylor said he is aware of the division.

"I think the question we're struggling with as a church is that baptism makes everyone a full member of the church," he said in an interview Sunday.

"So we're struggling to live the truth of what God already knows. ... God is inclusive. God is filled with love and justice."

After the approximately 500 church members took their seats, Taylor opened his sermon with an understatement, causing many people to laugh: "Something happened yesterday."

He thanked the congregation for its support, both for him and for Smith, and said their lives have been strengthened during this process.

He also talked about St. Mark's -- which he calls "a house of prayer for all people" and is celebrating its 75th anniversary -- and how the church has made controversial choices based on compassion and justice.

Those include opposing the war in Iraq. "Have we and will we disappoint some? Yes," he said.

He also repeated a passage that the congregation read earlier in the service. "Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed," he said.

Inside the high-ceilinged, well-lit cathedral, people said they were happy that Taylor would be staying. They praised him for his ability to challenge people and to bring out the best in them.

Among the congregation was Helen Morse, a downtown Seattle resident. She was one of the first people to stand and clap. She said her friend nudged her to action. "There was apprehension that he was going to leave."

For her, having gays and lesbians at the church was not a problem. "We've accepted it."

"Sometimes fear gets in the way of progress," said Liz Ford, a 41-year-old Seward Park resident. "He's brilliant."

Deacon Mary Shehane said Taylor would have made a great bishop -- but she's happy he is staying on Capitol Hill.

She added that churches can have differences on controversial issues. "But we've managed to hold together," she said.

In an acceptance statement via a phone call piped into Grace Cathedral, Andrus -- the new bishop -- said he would continue to support the full inclusion of gay men and lesbians in the diocese.

"We must all understand, and here I address the Diocese of California and those listening from elsewhere, that your vote today remains a vote for inclusion and communion -- of gay and lesbian people in their full lives as single or partnered people, of women, of all ethnic minorities, and all people," Andrus said, referring to continuing in the Anglican Communion, which has about 77 million members worldwide.

"My commitment to Jesus Christ's own mission of inclusion is resolute."

Despite the tension surrounding the vote, local clergy members and lay delegates who voted on Saturday and outside experts familiar with the diocese said that the candidates' sexual orientation did not play a role in the election.

In meetings two weeks ago between the seven candidates and members of the diocese, people emphasized that they wanted a bishop with a commitment to social justice, evangelism and young people, said those who went to the meetings.

To win, a candidate needed to receive a simple majority of the votes of the two representative bodies, the lay delegates from the parishes and the clergy members, on the same ballot.

Some parishioners said Andrus won because he was the safe bet: a straight, white male, not unlike Bishop William Swing, the current bishop who will retire in July.

But others who voted said that Andrus' open support of gay men and lesbians while serving as the bishop suffragan, or assistant bishop, in Alabama, a clearly unpopular position in that diocese, won them over.

The Episcopal Church's triennial general convention will meet in Columbus, Ohio, in mid-June, and Andrus is expected to be consecrated there. But while the vote in California did not worsen tensions in the Episcopal Church, anger over the acceptance of gays continues to simmer -- as does the possibility that an openly gay or lesbian bishop might be elected elsewhere, such as in Tennessee and New Jersey.

At St. Mark's on Sunday, though, people just smiled when they saw Taylor stand before them.

As worshippers left, many wrapped their arms around him. Taylor knelt down and gave two boys "high fives."

"Happy Sunday," he finally said to one church member."

This report contains information from P-I reporter Brad Wong, The New York Times and The Associated Press.