Retired Episcopal Bishop Defends Gay’s Ordination

A retired Episcopal bishop thrust into the national spotlight by heresy charges returned to his old church recently.

Walter Righter led services and fielded questions from more than 40 parishioners at the Church of the Good Shepherd, where he served from 1954 to 1971.

Righter was charged with ordaining a sexually active homosexual man in Ohio, a violation of church policy. Heresy charges against him attracted international attention before they were dismissed by a church panel last year.

Righter, 73, said he wanted to be tried because he felt he had a good case and because he thought the trial would help counter a push for control by conservatives in the church’s governing House of Bishops.

“They were fussing and arguing, and I finally stood up and said, “The only way we’re going to see if a trial works is to have a trial, so let’s have a trial and get it over with,”’ he said. “It was an attempted coup d’etat to control the church, and it didn’t work. It was a battle for the soul of the church.”

The decision to drop charges against Righter was condemned by church conservatives, who said it could result in many lay people abandoning a nationwide flock that has dropped to 2.5 million from a high of 3.6 million in the 1960s.