Alabama nominee to leas US Episcopal Church opposed gay bishop

he bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama is one of four nominees for the church's highest elected office.

Bishop Henry N. Parsley Jr. of Birmingham is the only one of the four who did not support the election of a gay bishop at the 2003 General Convention.

The new presiding bishop, who will succeed the retiring Frank Griswold, will be elected June 19 during the church's General Convention for a term extending to 2015.

The Rev. Ted Koelln, rector of Church of the Good Shepherd, Episcopal, in Decatur thinks Parsley would do a fine job "but I would hate to see him go."

Koelln said he hopes the election of gay bishop Gene Robinson will not be an issue in the presiding bishop election. The rector said he didn't know if Parsley's stance would be an asset or a liability.

One of the candidates is the first woman nominated for the post, Katharine Jefferts Schori of Las Vegas. The others are J. Neil Alexander of Atlanta and Edwin Gulick Jr. of Louisville, Ky.

Parsley, a native of Memphis, became 10th bishop of Alabama in 1999, overseeing 92 congregations and 36,000 members.

A graduate of The University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn., he served churches in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Parsley voted against approval of V. Gene Robinson to be the New Hampshire bishop at the church's 2003 General Convention.

Robinson's consecration later that year provoked ongoing protest from the denomination's conservative wing and among Anglicans internationally.

Additional nominees can be proposed until April 1, but it's expected the nation's bishops will choose among names proposed by the official nominating committee. The winner of the bishops' balloting must then be confirmed by clergy and lay delegates.

The panel finalized its slate at a Jan. 20-22 meeting in Delray Beach, Fla.

The nominating committee, elected at the 2003 convention, consisted of nine bishops, nine priests and nine lay parishioners, with two youth appointees. It was co-chaired by Bishop Peter James Lee of Richmond, Va., and New York City laywoman Diane Pollard.

The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the international Anglican Communion and its presiding bishop is part of its body of 38 "primates." Anglican leaders and churches overseas, particularly in Africa, broke ties with the American church over Robinson's elevation and denounced Griswold for leading Robinson's consecration ceremony.

Copyright 2005 THE DECATUR DAILY.

Alabama nominee opposed gay bishop @  The Decatur Daily