US bishop heckled
Gene Robinson, the US bishop at the centre of the row about homosexuality within the Anglican Church, was forced to halt a sermon at a London church after being heckled. A member of the congregation called him a ‘heretic’ and urged him to ‘repent, repent, repent’.
The bishop began his sermon by saying how sad it was that the Anglican Communion was tearing itself apart. However, he was stopped when the man in the congregation shouted that the schism was the bishop’s fault.
The man’s protest was followed by slow hand-clapping by members of the congregation. The sermon was halted and a hymn was sung while the protester was taken from the church in Putney, south west London. No action was taken against him by police officers present.
Gene Robinson was ordained as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003 in a move which split the Anglican Communion. He went public with his sexuality in 1980 and has since been in a 20-year relationship with his current partner.
