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NARR:
On Easter Sunday, an Episcopal chaplain named Winnie Varghese leads a sunrise ceremony at Community of the Holy Spirit in upper Manhattan. She whispers to a nun at her side as they spoon incense into a metal container and carry it, trailing chains behind them through the small chapel still cloaked in darkness.
SOUND: Varghese whispering, spooning incense, and chains tinkling. Fade under narration.
NARR: Moments laters she prays with the congregation.
SOUND: Praying, fade under narration.
NARR: At a moment when priests all over the world are performing this service, Winnie Varghese is one of the few who is openly gay.
For centuries, there's been a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy in Anglican churches, including the Episcopal church. That meant that gay clergy have been closeted for the most part. In the past few decades, some have come out once they already had been ordained.
Then in 2003, when an openly gay priest from New Hampshire named Gene Robinson was elected bishop, controversy burst through the closet doors. One side welcomed his election. The other said that a gay bishop was an affront to scripture.
Varghese says that being open about one's sexual orientation is an important part of being a Christian.
ACT VARGHESE:
You can't go back into the closet. And to enter the church under false premises seemed problematic. And for many people like me who were raised in church and pretty much stayed in and believed it, coming out was part of being a faithful Christian, it was an integrity issue.
NARR:
But conservative Episcopalians don't want their church to embrace gay clergy. Some parishes have left the church and joined with others in Africa and Latin America that want to restrict gay leadership. Others have stayed in hopes of persuading the church to prevent more ordinations.
The rift is bigger than the Episcopal church itself. Some members fear there may be a split between the church and the global Anglican Communion to which it belongs. Following Bishop Robinson's ordination, some members of the Anglican Communion demanded the Episcopal church be punished or expelled.
Todd Lundy works for the American Anglican Council, a network of conservative churches and priests. He says the debate over gay clergy raises questions about how much common ground there really is between members of the Anglican Communion.
ACT: LUNDY:
So now the question is, what is the communion? If we can not agree on what the central truths of our faith are…then are we really in communion, are we really agreeing, or are we sitting around a table and smiling at each other?
NARR:
Some people hope the differences among Communion's membership will be resolved at this summer's Lambeth Conference, a gathering of the leadership of the Anglican Communion that takes place every ten years in Britain. Others fear that won't happen, and the issue of gay clergy will split the Communion.
Susan Russel is the President of Integrity, an organization that advocates for the inclusion of gay clergy in the Episcopal church. She says the fact that a conservative minority of Episcopalians are looking to Lambeth as a moment of truth is a sign that her side has already won. She thinks a split won't happen.
ACT SUSAN RUSSELL:
And I think when that doesn't happen they will have lost the wedge issue they have to try to continue to hold the American church hostage to 'Oh if you do that, you'll be voted off the Anglican Island.'
NARR:
The argument over gay clergy preoccupies the church's leadership - but not necessarily its rank-and-file members.
NARR: After a service at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Episcopalian Susan Heath says the debate has no bearing on her faith.
SOUND: bring up church bells after "St. John the Divine", and fade out under Heath.
ACT HEATH:
I am here because I love god and I think I like to be with people who worship. I think there are issues that become political issues that are involved now in the church and I think this a political issue more than an issue of faith for me.
NARR: As the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion wrestle over the differences, clergy like Winnie Varghese keep doing their work.
SOUND: Vargehese giving service. Fade up quickly Varghese giving service, and fade out quickly under narration.
NARR: She sees no other option than for members of the Episcopal church to accept gay clergy - other than leaving the church. She knows that acceptance won't come easily, but says it's necessary.
ACT VARGHESE:
The next gay bishop has to get elected and that's going to be ugly… it has to become a little bit more matter of fact in the course our lives. And it's really about bishops. We really need to be able to get a couple more bishops in for people to really be able to relax around gay clergy.
NARR:
It's an idea that some members of the Anglican Communion will take to the Lambeth Conference in July.
SOC: I'm Nadja Drost, Columbia Radio News.