The Guardian sent Riazat Butt to spend Easter weekend in New Hampshire with Bishop Gene Robinson. She writes about him doing what Bishops do: visiting parishes, preaching in an ecumenical Good Friday service, and visiting a prison. She gives a glimpse of what it is like both at home and in the home diocese for a bishop, his partner and the people of his diocese.
The small state of New Hampshire remains largely untouched by international disputes. “I wish people could see me for a bishop. It is tiring, I must say,” he sighed, referring to the squabbling between rival camps. “On the one hand I would like to be known as Bishop Gene Robinson but it’s an accident of history that I’m the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican communion. I’ve learned to live with that.”
His parishioners are unfazed about receiving communion from one of the most controversial clerics in the world, with some admitting that they paid scant attention to what was happening in the Anglican communion.
At All Saints Church, Littleton, Heather McIntire, who had baked brownies for the Maundy Thursday supper, said her main concern was going to a church that was welcoming and friendly. “I happen to be divorced and some churches don’t like that. In a small town, people see you on your own and rumours fly. This church is non-judgmental, it’s inclusive, and I feel like I belong here,” she said.
The following day in Colebrook, a depressed rural town with a population of several thousand, Robinson shared the pulpit with preachers from other denominations, including Methodist, Roman Catholic and Protestant. There were no rainbow flags or protesters to welcome him.
New Hampshire does not, as one resident pointed out, have a “big, gay liberal agenda”. It has problems with unemployment, poverty and spousal abuse. Its people are mostly white and, in the more remote areas of the state, they are working class with traditional values.
Marlyn Neary, vicar of St Stephen’s, left Roman Catholicism 40 years ago to join the Episcopal Church. She has five cousins who are gay or lesbian. “I didn’t see a lot [of homosexuality] until after Gene was elected. I was very much on the fence as to what caused people to be homosexual. I became more aware after 2003 [when Robinson became bishop]. It’s made my relationship with them a little better.”
Robinson is the only Bishop to be excluded from the Lambeth conference, although he will still go as a member of the public and has some events planned. He and Archbishop Rowan Williams have only met once, and he cannot talk about where or what was said.
“I don’t know if it was Rowan’s intention to divide the US house of bishops but he’s done the very thing he was trying to avoid through his action or lack of action. It mystifies me that he has never commented on statements Akinola [the Archbishop of Nigeria] has made about homosexuality,” he said.
Robinson has met Williams only once, although he has had three one-to-one encounters with the US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama. For two years after he was elected, Robinson tried to meet the archbishop, who finally relented but would not receive Robinson at his official residence. “He wanted to meet in a secret location and I was not told where until after I got on the plane from the US.”
Both men agreed to keep the contents of the meeting private and Robinson would only describe the atmosphere as cordial. “I felt sad for him. He was caught in a difficult situation and didn’t know how to lead the church through it. But I don’t think we need an archbishop in a role of leadership. We need an archbishop to symbolise unity,” he said.
See: The Guardian: Gay bishop’s mission to unite.
See also Thinking Anglicans Easter in New Hampshire.