The Episcopal Church has gone on record saying it has no doctrine on homosexuality nor is there a Christian view about this, said the Rev. Peter Toon, rector-elect of Christ Episcopal Church. This opinion puts the Episcopal Church outside of the Christian realm of Orthodox beliefs, he added. Only one of the bishops had the courage to state the biblical and traditional Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality. The church's only heresy trial was in 1924 when a retired bishop who declared Communism to have superseded Christianity was convicted and stripped of rank. The Rev. James Mathieson, rector of the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, said the bishops decided the matter correctly in their ruling Wednesday.
Heresy is a big item.
This was not a heretical issue. Mathieson said the next step for the church is clarifying its position about homosexuality, regarding not only candidates for the ministry, but issues such as the meaning of marriage. The Episcopal Church's next general convention, which has final authority in all matters of policy and will likely consider the issue of homosexuality, is in Philadelphia in 1997. Dr. William Trakas, a history professor at Averett College and a member of the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, said he was pleased with the decision. Trakas said that, although the issue divides people, there's no reason to bar gay people from the priesthood if they are in a committed relationship.