Priest suspended for Muslim beliefs

SEATTLE – An Episcopal priest who announced last month that she is also a practicing Muslim has been suspended from the priesthood and other Episcopal leadership roles for a year.

The Rev. Ann Holmes Redding, who until March was director of faith formation at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral here, should “reflect on the doctrines of the Christian faith, her vocation as a priest, and what I see as the conflicts inherent in professing both Christianity and Islam,” the Rt. Rev. Geralyn Wolf, bishop of the Diocese of Rhode Island, wrote in an e-mail to church leaders.

For the next year Redding “is not to exercise any of the responsibilities and privileges of an Episcopal priest or deacon,” Wolf added.

Redding, a priest for 23 years, was ordained by a former bishop of Rhode Island and remains subject to discipline by that diocese.

“I’m deeply saddened, but I’ve always said I would abide by the rulings of my bishop,” Redding told the Seattle Times.

At the end of the year, the two will again discuss the matter, and “I understand that one of my options would be to voluntarily leave the priesthood,” she said. “The church is going to have to divorce me if it comes to that.”