ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 1996 TAG: 9602280088
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WILMINGTON, DEL.
SOURCE: THERESA HUMPHREY ASSOCIATED PRESS
HE ORDAINED a gay man, and may be the second Episcopal bishop to be tried for heresy in the church's 206-year history.
A nine-bishop Episcopal Church court was urged to put a stop to ``lone rangers'' among its clergy Tuesday by making a bishop stand trial for heresy for ordaining a gay man.
``This case is about order and the need for order in this church,'' said A. Hugo Blankingship Jr., a lawyer for the 76 bishops who brought the charge.
The court is expected to decide this week whether Walter Righter should stand trial in May.
Righter is only the second Episcopal bishop to face a charge of heresy in the U.S. church's 206-year history. If found guilty, he would no longer be able to perform priestly duties.
In 1990, while Righter was assistant bishop in Newark, N.J., he ordained Barry Stopfel as a deacon. Stopfel has since been ordained a priest by another bishop; Righter, 72, is retired and lives in Alstead, N.H.
The church allows the ordination of married heterosexuals, celibate single heterosexuals and celibate homosexuals. Righter knew Stopfel was a non-celibate gay man.
Blankingship said the heresy charge was a last resort made necessary because the continued ordination of non-celibate homosexuals by other bishops is tearing the church apart.
``There ought to be no lone rangers in the church. The bishop is not free to make his own judgment,'' he told the court.
He referred to a variety of church documents adopted over the past 19 years that repeatedly reaffirm the church's position of upholding traditional marriages between men and women according to Scripture, while banning ordinations of active homosexuals.
Righter claims that he did nothing wrong and that the 76 bishops who charged him with heresy represent a conservative group opposed to change.
Like many retired clergymen, Righter still performs ordinations, guest preaching and confirmations.
Righter's supporters say the heresy charge is part of a power struggle within the church. They argue there's nothing in church resolutions or canon laws prohibiting the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals.
``I believe doctrine regulates what we believe in our relationship to God and not in our relationship to people. That's discipline,'' said Righter's lawyer, Michael Rehill, attorney for the Diocese of Newark, N.J.
The United Church of Christ is the only major Protestant denomination that permits the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Episcopal priest Barry Stopfel (left) is theby CNBnon-celibate gay ordained by retired Bishop Walter C. Righter
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