I Am Not An American Anglican

Those who have been leaving the Episcopal Church lately often say it's not just about homosexuality. How true. It's also about misogyny. As a small group of dioceses and parishes form the "Anglican Church In North America," we read this of its attitude toward not only gay and lesbian people but women:

The new body comprises church members who believe it violates biblical teaching for a church leader to be a homosexual. Therefore, the group would bar gays from the priesthood. "We certainly identify homosexuality as something that is not appropriate for those in leadership in the church," Mr. Frank said. The group will permit women to serve as priests, but not as bishops, he said. The Episcopal church's decision to ordain women priests in the 1970s led to the earliest friction within the body and some dioceses never ordained women, even though the church's presiding bishop is female.

When someone would say to me, "Oh, you're an Anglican," I'd agree politely. No more. Some folks used to complain that the gays had ruined the word gay. Now the anti-gays are trying to ruin the word Anglican. I am not an Anglican. I am an Episcopalian.