Steering a path around crisis

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/06/10/State/Steering_a_path_aroun.shtml

[St. Petersburg Times] 10 June 2007--The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson works mightily to hold his parish together.
At the Church of the Redeemer, Robinson is both counselor and enforcer, friend and leader as he steers his flock through one of the most tumultuous times in the history of the Episcopal Church.

For years, Robinson has seen the impending train wreck, a potentially devastating collision of cultural progressives and theological conservatives. The consecration of an openly gay bishop and the blessing of same-sex unions sit at the root of the controversy.

Now the theologically conservative Anglican Communion, the umbrella group for Anglicans around the world, has put forth an ultimatum. The Episcopals have until September to agree to stop ordaining gay bishops and not bless same-sex unions or face unspecified consequences.

Many Episcopalians, including most parishioners at Redeemer, think that the Episcopal Church USA is going against biblical teachings on human sexuality.

"We certainly are not in synch with the national church, " said Robinson, 55. "I think there's a great deal of shock that the church could do this."

Reaction among parishioners at the conservative Redeemer church has varied. Some have left. Others struggle over whether national leaders have erred, and many have redirected their money from the national church to a foreign diocese....