On Saturday in Toronto in front of more than 1,000 people three new bishops were ordained in the Anglican church of Canada. It speaks to the relevance and progressive nature of the denomination that two of the bishops were gifted and highly able women.

But it was the third person, Kevin Robertson, who was the most controversial figure in this glorious, profound ceremony — because he is the first openly partnered gay man to be made a bishop in Canada, and there are some who find that extremely difficult to accept.

These latest members of the episcopacy were elected back in September and those who voted for Robertson, and many who did not, would agree he is an accomplished priest and will likely be an outstanding bishop. But for those who object to his ordination it is, bewilderingly, his sexuality that is the dominant issue.

In the United States when something similar occurred, Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire was obliged to wear a bulletproof vest. But this is Canada. During the election there was a somewhat self-defeating objection; but at the actual ordination Toronto Archbishop Colin Johnson merely read out at the start of the service, and a little later, that he had received notes of opposition and that these voices would be treated with respect. Johnson has, in fact, handled this intensely difficult situation with enormous skill and grace.

There are celibate gay bishops in various parts of the world and in England and elsewhere there are, let me assure you, closeted gay Anglican bishops. As for the Roman Catholic Church, the informed estimate of the number of gay men within the senior clergy would shock the less worldly.

Yet it all must seem so arcane and irrelevant to most people. Someone’s sexuality, they would rightly argue, is as irrelevant as their race or gender. Mind you, many churches still refuse to ordain women! But within Christianity this is still an open wound, and for many conservatives it is the prism through which they judge one’s faith and commitment. That is so misplaced, so tragic, so harmful.

Same-sex relationships are hardly mentioned in The Bible, Jesus never refers to the matter at all, lesbianism is ignored in the entire Old Testament and the story of Sodom, for example, is about lack of charity rather than sex. The handful of references to homosexuality that are to be found are ambiguous at best, and to interpret Scripture by what it says about gay people would be like trying to understand hockey by obsessing about the colour of Don Cherry’s ties.

The fulcrum of Christianity is love, kindness, sacrifice, forgiveness, joy, peace, inclusion, justice and selflessness. It’s simply not, whatever some might insist, about sex. It is, however, certainly about relationships. The way we treat others matters very much indeed, and within the committed partnership of two people of different or the same gender is to be found a reflection of Christ.

There are, of course, critics of this ordination and of equal marriage who are wonderful and Godly men and women and I am sure that these are painful times for them. Change can be frightening and intimidating, but change is also at the epicentre of Christian teaching. Often the harder it is, the more good it does us.

The day will come when Christians will wonder what all of the fuss was about and while the comparison may not be entirely fair, church discrimination against gays may well be viewed as akin to that against black or Jewish people.

That might sting but it is nevertheless the case — ask almost any young person how they feel about resistance to full gay equality. This, by the way, is intensely significant: Christianity is in danger of appearing to the new generation as the last remaining bastion of homophobia in the Western world. Alas, they may have a point.

I’d like to think that in the weeks, months and years to come Kevin Robertson will be judged exclusively on how he performs as a bishop but I suspect and fear that this might not be the case. In the meantime, the walls are definitely crumbling and tumbling and thank the living God for that.

Michael Coren’s most recent book is Epiphany: A Christian’s Change of Heart & Mind over Same-Sex Marriage. mcoren@sympatico.ca