WELL, THEY DID IT

But you already knew that.

The Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Leader assures us that Robinson has local support, giving us a little nugget about his past:

V. Gene Robinson, 56, was raised in the Disciples of Christ denomination, attended Bethany Christian Church in Jessamine County and graduated from Lafayette High School. He began attending the Episcopal Church while a student at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn.

I should have known he was a Disciple.

Getting less play in the press is the move by the Episcopal church in officially

recognizing that some members of the clergy were already performing blessings for gay couples in some dioceses around the country. Leaders of Integrity, an alliance of homosexual church members, said the provision would for the first time signal to bishops that they have the broader church's permission to allow same-sex unions in their dioceses if they so choose.

Not all in the Anglican fellowship are amused:

In South America, the Most Rev. Greg Venables, presiding bishop of the province of the Southern Cone, called the American decision "a slap in the face of the Anglican Church around the world."

"What upsets people more than anything is this patronizing attitude," he said. "Their attitude is, 'You'll get there one day.'"

Arrogance? I'm shocked, shocked!

But the fact is, Robinson has served as an active priest in the church while shacked up with a live-in male "partner" for the past 13 years, apparently with the approval of the Episcopal establishment. Which agrees with the idea that despite all the fuss, there really won't be a serious schism over this:

Yet, despite strong words and feelings on both sides of the sexuality issues, a breakup of the American church is unlikely for two reasons: the denomination's tradition of civility and flexibility; and a serious concern about walking away from assets such as church buildings, schools, cemeteries and pension funds.

There's nothing like compromising for a cemetery and a pension fund.

This is a long way from the Anglican faith of C.S. Lewis and T.S. Eliot.