Walter Righter

Righter was bishop of Iowa from 1972 to 1988, during which time he ordained the first female deacon in Iowa. From 1989 to 1991, he was an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Newark, N.J.

Righter became a lightning rod for dissent over the ordination of gays in the Episcopal Church when he was an assistant bishop in Newark, N.J., under Bishop John Spong, an outspoken supporter of ordaining lesbians and gays.

In 1990, with Spong's approval, Righter ordained Barry Stopfel, whom he knew to be gay, as a deacon, a rank below that of priest. The next year Spong ordained Stopfel as a priest.

Church conservatives focused their outrage on Righter but did not file formal charges against him until 1995, when a five-year statute of limitations was set to expire. He was tried in 1996 by a panel of eight bishops, who, in voting 7 to 1 to dismiss the heresy charges, ruled that there was no church doctrine forbidding the ordination of gays and lesbians who are in a committed relationship.

Los Angeles Times

Righter wrote about his experience in a 1998 memoir, "A Pilgrim's Way," and once said that his accusers were "irrational," did not understand "the tides of history" and focused only on their fears.

In 2009, the Episcopal Church affirmed that "gays and lesbians in lifelong committed relationships," could be ordained, saying that "God has called and may call such individuals to any ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church."

The Episcopal Church currently has two openly gay bishops.

Jim McGreevey

The church, which accepts gays and women into the clergy, is bothered by McGreevey's bitter divorce from Dina Matos in 2008, and the fairly recent turmoil in his life, including his nationally televised resignation.

The New York Post reports:

"It was not being gay but for being a jackass -- [McGreevey] didn't come out of the whole divorce looking good," said a source with the Episcopal Diocese of Newark.

Some leaders also were wary of McGreevey's sudden embrace of their faith after his scandal and feared the church was being used, the source added.

After resigning as governor, "he was sort of looking for every angle to make a complete redo of his professional life," said another church source. "He ran to the church for some kind of cover, which isn't fully appropriate. Even if he's a good guy, he should wait five to 10 years to get over his issues."

McGreevey, who converted from Catholicism after leaving office, had been studying to become a priest since 2007.

VIA PATRIOT-LEDGER

BOSTON -- Two high-level female Episcopal priests married in Massachusetts on New Year's Day in a wedding that appears to be the first of its kind in the U.S. -– at least in the Episcopal Church.

Via the Patriot-Ledger:

The Rev. Mally Lloyd married the Rev. Katherine Ragsdale, dean and president of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, on New Year’s Day. The Rev. Lloyd, a former pastor at Christ Church in Plymouth, is now a ranking official of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.

The Rev. Lloyd and the Rev. Ragsdale were married in a ceremony at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston, with about 400 guests attending. Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, the state’s highest ranking Episcopal official, presided.

During the ceremony, Bishop Shaw said, "God always rejoices when two people who love each other make a lifelong commitment in marriage to go deeper into the heart of God through each other. It’s a profound pleasure for me to celebrate with God and my friends Katherine and Mally their marriage today."

Although the Episcopal Church's canons state that marriage is between a man and a woman, the church at its General Convention in July 2009 passed a resolution that, in part, allows that "bishops, particularly those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage, civil unions or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this church."

Bishop V. Gene Robinson

Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, whose consecration instigated a global religious controversy, announced to the Disocese of New Hampshire on Saturday that he would take early retirement, citing public backlash and "constant strain" from the experience.

The Boston Globe reports:

Robinson, 63, whose consecration seven years ago as the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church divided the Anglican Communion worldwide, announced Saturday at the annual convention of the New Hampshire diocese that he plans to retire in January 2013, short of the mandatory 72-year-old retirement age for Episcopal bishops.

He cited death threats and the considerable strain that the worldwide rift has placed on him, his family, and the church.

"The fact is, the last seven years have taken their toll on me, my family, and you," Robinson told the convention.

"Death threats, and the now-worldwide controversy surrounding your election of me as bishop, have been a constant strain, not just on me, but on my beloved husband, Mark, who has faithfully stood with me every minute of the last seven years."

Robinson has reportedly received death threats, hate mail and rejection from some parts of the global Anglican fellowship following his consecration seven years ago. He was surrounded by bodyguards and wore a bulletproof vest under his vestments at the 2003 ceremony.

He and his partner of more than two decades, Mark Andrew, held a civil union ceremony in 2008, and the bishop publicly advocated for same-sex marriage in New Hampshire, which the state legalized last year.

In April 2009, Robinson made the Out magazine Third Annual Power 50 list of the most influential gay men and women in the U.S., landing at number 7.

Beyond his convention address, Robinson has declined to comment to the media regarding this retirement.

The Episcopal Church is the U.S. body in the 77 million-member Anglican Communion, a group of churches that trace their roots to the missionary work of the Church of England.

Hathaway, with Jake Gyllenhaal in a scene from Brokeback Mountain

The Devil Wears Prada star grew up as a Catholic in New Jersey but when Hathaway's brother Michael told the family he was gay, they decided to leave their faith.

Hathaway told GQ magazine: "The whole family converted to Episcopalianism after my elder brother came out. Why should I support an organization that has a limited view of my beloved brother?"

Hathaway, who also co-starred in Brokeback Mountain as Jack Twist's wife, said that the Episcopal church isn't perfect for her either.

"So I'm... nothing (no denomination)," she said, "Fuck it, I'm forming. I'm a work in progress."

Hathaway's interview appears in the March print issue of the British edition of GQ.

Glasspool

Clergy and lay leaders, meeting in Riverside for their annual convention, chose the Rev. Canon Mary D. Glasspool, 55, who has been in a committed relationship with another woman since 1988, from a field of six candidates. She is a canon, or senior assistant, to the Diocese of Maryland bishops.

Glasspool's election to fill one of two openings for suffragan, or assistant, bishop followed the selection Friday of the Rev. Canon Diane M. Jardine Bruce, 53, the rector of a San Clemente church.

The two became the first women elected as bishops of the diocese in its 114-year history.

Last July, the Episcopal Church voted at its national convention in Anaheim to open the top echelons of the church to gays and lesbians.

Home to 70,000 Episcopalians across six counties, the diocese is widely viewed as one of the most liberal in the U.S. church. Its primary bishop, the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, is an outspoken advocate for the rights of gays in the church.

Full story at the Los Angeles Times.