Gay Episcopal Priest to be Ordained

While the Roman Catholic Church continues its anti-gay witch hunt among seminarians and the Southern Baptist Convention continues to demonize gays, in contrast the Episcopal Church diocese of Colorado is moving forward to ordain a partnered lesbian. True, the Episcopal Church has been battered by its refusal to back down from the consecration of Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire, but often doing what is the morally the right thing to do is not popular. I believe that in time the tide of history will conclude that the Episcopal Church was in the forefront of moral correctness and its opponents - both within and outside the denomination - will be judged as the moral equivalent of those who supported slavery and segregation. Here are some highlights from the Denver Post:

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Ending several years of restraint by the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado in ordaining openly gay and partnered priests, Bishop Robert O'Neill will ordain Mary Catherine Volland, along with three others, to the priesthood at St. John's Cathedral on Saturday.

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Volland, a longtime resident of Colorado and partnered lesbian, was a candidate for ordination in the Diocese of Minnesota, but has been called to serve as an assistant priest at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Denver, said Beckett Stokes, spokeswoman for the 30,000-member Colorado Diocese.

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Despite nationwide controversy that has splintered Episcopalians, the church does ordain gay and lesbian priests. The bishop has the option of deploying them to Colorado congregations when it makes sense, Stokes said. Several Colorado congregations are served by gay priests.