LA Times: Episcopal leaders vote to lift ban on gay bishops

On Tuesday, an elated [Gene] Robinson celebrated the lopsided vote in the church's two legislative bodies -- the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies, composed of clergy and laity.

"I'm simply delighted at the possibility that another diocese will recognize the gifts of a gay or lesbian clergy person," he said. "I long for the day when someone who shares my experience as an openly gay bishop joins me in the House of Bishops. It has been lonely."

But a bishop who left the church last year predicted that the decisions made in Anaheim would increase strains with disaffected conservatives.

"Clearly the activists have done a good job promoting their agenda," said the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, a founding bishop of the newly formed Anglican Church in North America, which hopes to gain recognition from the Anglican Communion as a rival province to the Episcopal Church.

"The generosity shown by the rest of the communion has been astonishing and has been thrown back in their face," Minns said. "There will have to be a renegotiation of how the Episcopal Church fits into the family."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-episcopal15-2009jul15,0,7706842.story