Gene Robinson reflects on the 20th anniversary of his consecration as the church’s first gay bishop

Nov 2, 2023 by Jill

By Melodie Woerman, Episcopal News Service:

In the coming months, the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the retired bishop of New Hampshire and the first openly gay bishop in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, will mark the 20th anniversary of his consecration as a bishop on Nov. 2, and the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood on Dec. 15.

His episcopal anniversary already has been celebrated with two events – Sewanee: The University of the South, from which he received undergraduate degrees in American studies and history in 1969, awarded him an honorary doctorate on Oct. 6; and an anniversary celebration service took place at St. Thomas’ Parish in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 8.

In an interview in early October with Episcopal News Service as Robinson was approaching both events, he said he had asked those speaking to emphasize “how brave and how courageous the Diocese of New Hampshire and The Episcopal Church as a whole were, because it’s hard to remember how controversial this was in 2003, and how much the acceptance of LGBTQ people has grown in 20 years.”

Robinson is bishop-in-residence at St. Thomas’, which in September announced the creation of an endowment fund for community outreach in his honor. He also is part of the worship team at Washington National Cathedral, where he occasionally preaches and celebrates.

The New Hampshire diocesan convention’s election of Robinson as bishop coadjutor on June 7, 2003, and the 74th General Convention’s consent on Aug. 6, set off protests within The Episcopal Church and worldwide by those who opposed his ordination because of his sexuality.

In response to his election and other theological differences, some conservative Episcopal bishops and clergy led some members of their congregations and dioceses out of The Episcopal Church. The election was also one factor in rising tensions in the communion over the ordination of women and human sexuality. Conservative bishops in the Anglican Communion opposed his consecration, and Robinson was excluded from official meetings of the 2008 Lambeth Conference of Anglican Communion bishops, although he did attend as an observer.

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