Gene Robinson dismisses calls for resignation

The openly gay bishop at the centre of much of the divisions in the Anglican Communion has rejected the call for his resignation by the Archbishop of Sudan earlier in the week.

Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul called for Bishop Robinson's resignation "for the sake of the Church", saying his behaviour violated "the norms of the Anglican Communion".

In his blog on Wednesday, New Hampshire Bishop Robinson wrote, "Those calling for my resignation seem to be under the impression that if Gene Robinson went away, that all would go back to being 'like it was,' whatever that was! Does ANYONE think that if I resigned, this issue would go away?!

"We [gay and lesbian Anglicans] are not going away, as much as some would like us to," he added.

Archbishop Deng called on Tuesday for Bishop Robinson's resignation "for the sake of the Church", saying his behaviour violated "the norms of the Anglican Communion".

The New Hampshire bishop has lived openly with another man for 20 years and had a civil ceremony in June 2008. The Anglican Communion, meanwhile, rejects homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture.

"Three hundred bishops have stayed away from this conference because of Gene Robinson. Shouldn't Gene Robinson resign to allow the 300 bishops to come back to the house?" the Sudanese Archbishop said as he also called for repentance from the American bishops who supported Robinson's consecration in 2003.

Bishop Robinson received news of Archbishop Deng's call just before making an address at the University of Kent's Law School's Centre for the Study of the Law, Gender and Sexuality. He was there as Anglican bishops from around the world meet for the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference at the university. Bishop Robinson was not invited to attend Lambeth but is in Canterbury to attend fringe events.

Although he said in his latest blog that he has decided not to make an official response to the Sudanese Archbishop's remark, he reflected on the remark in two long paragraphs.

"Everyone seems to forget that I am not here representing myself, but rather all the people of the Diocese of New Hampshire, with whom it is my privilege to minister in Christ's name," he wrote. "They have called me to minister with them as their Bishop, and suggestions that I resign ignore the vows that I have taken to serve my flock in New Hampshire."

He added that his exclusion from Lambeth also deprives his entire diocese of "a seat at the table".

The Anglican spiritual head, Dr Rowan Williams, withheld invitations from "bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the Communion" when they were sent out last year.

Some US Episcopal bishops are sponsoring fringe events for Anglican bishops and their spouses of the global Communion to meet Bishop Robinson during Lambeth. Attendees will hear how he was consecrated and testimonies from bishops who voted for and against his consecration.

Bishop Robinson will share his own testimony but he insists the event will not be a "sell job".

"My goal is to talk about my own life and journey in Christ in such a way that those who are listening will perceive that the God I know in my own life is the same God they know in THEIR lives," he wrote. "Then we can wrestle with the faithful differences we have in interpreting that God's will for us and for God's church."

More than 200 bishops are boycotting the Lambeth Conference mainly in protest against the invitation of bishops who supported Bishop Robinson's consecration and the Communion's failure to discipline those who participated in the 2003 event. Conservative bishops contend the US church body along with other is departing from orthodox Christianity on issues of human sexuality, the authority of Scripture and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

Archbishop Deng affirmed at a press conference on Tuesday, "We reject homosexual practice as contrary to biblical teaching and can accept no place for it within the Episcopal Church of Sudan. We strongly oppose developments within the Anglican Church in the USA and Canada in consecrating a practicing homosexual as bishop and in approving a rite for the blessing of same-sex relationships."