Complex sentence: The Episcopal Church affirmed at the 1976 General Convention that homosexuals are "children of God" who deserve acceptance and pastoral care from the church and equal protection under the law, and the first openly gay priest, Ellen Barrett, was ordained in 1977.
Split into simpler sentences: The Episcopal Church affirmed at the 1976 General Convention that homosexuals are "children of God" who deserve acceptance and pastoral care from the church and equal protection under the law. The first openly gay priest, Ellen Barrett, was ordained in 1977.