Episcopal Church sets ban

on ordaining homosexuals

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DENVER (AP) — A resolution recommending no practicing homosexual be ordained by the three-million member Episcopal Church was approved last night by the church's House of Deputies, and became official church policy.

The resolution was approved Monday by the 239-member House of Bishops at the church's 66th General Convention. The deputies' vote followed lengthy debate, and helps clear the way for an end to the church's triennial meeting, which began Sept. 9.

Among lay members in the House of Deputies, the vote to concur with the House of Bishops' vote was 77-18, with 13 divided. Among clerics, the vote was 70-29, with 11 divided. The votes represent the sentiments of the dioceses, and the divided tallies signify dioceses that were split on the question.

Earlier, the deputies' Committee on Ministry struck the sentence saying it is "not appropriate" for the church to ordain practicing homosexuals from the resolution. But the full House of Deputies voted to reinstitute the prohibition. The sentence also said ordination should

not be allowed for "any person who is engaged in heterosexual relations outside of marriage."

Earlier yesterday, 21 bishops issued a strong "statement of conscience" saying they would not accept nor implement Monday's resolution.

Written by Bishop John Krumm of southern Ohio, the dissenters' statement said "to accept or implement these recommendations would be to abrogate our responsibilities of apostolic leadership and prophetic witness to the flock of Christ committed to our charge; and would involve a repudiation of our ordination vows as bishops."

The dissenters' statement characterized Monday's action as a "cruel denial of the sexual beings of homosexual persons" and said the resolution "carries with it an implied logic, a repudiation of ministries by homosexual persons and to homosexual persons already exercised in our midst.