'Heretic': The first openly gay bishop is pilloried in the pulpit by a long-haired heckler



The world's first openly gay Anglican bishop was heckled last night as he gave a sermon at a church in London.



The Right Reverend Gene Robinson, the American churchman whose appointment as Bishop of New Hampshire triggered a devastating split among Anglican leaders, was branded a 'heretic' by the lone protester.



Bishop Robinson began his sermon by expressing his sadness that the Anglican Communion was tearing itself apart.

Gene Robinson at the start of yesterday's service

The long-haired heckler repeatedly jabbed his finger and shouted 'repent, repent, repent'.



He said the bishop 'preached the Gospel but departed from it' and claimed it was he who was behind the schism.



The bishop had to halt his sermon as a slow hand-clap by members of the congregation began in response to the heckling.



Tirade: The heckler rants at the Rt Rev Gene Robinson

The hymn Thine Be The Glory was sung as the protester was escorted from St Mary's Church in Putney, South-West London.



When Bishop Robinson resumed speaking, he asked those present to 'pray for that man'.



Health Minister Ben Bradshaw was among those hearing the speech.



Speaking after the service he said that it was an excellent and inspirational sermon, adding that the bishop had handled the outburst very well.



Mr Bradshaw, who is openly gay, said: 'He is a very brave man speaking the truth.'



Earlier Bishop Robinson had described the Archbishop of Canterbury's position in the Church as 'almost untenable'.



He said that Dr Rowan Williams now faces condemnation whichever way he turns.



However, he insisted he had great sympathy with the embattled Archbishop and pledged to support his efforts to keep the warring sister churches of the Church of England together in the 400-yearold Anglican network.



Dr Williams has banned the controversial bishop from the gathering of Anglican primates from across the world that is due to begin in Canterbury this week.



The ban is an attempt to ease tension at the Lambeth Conference, which is torn with dissension between conservatives and liberals over gay rights.



Bishop Robinson yesterday made a plea for the acceptance of homosexuality in the Church from the fringes of the conference.



He said sexuality was 'important but not essential' and that churchmen should instead turn their attention to the troubles of the wider world such as knife crime and poverty.



'While young men are knifing each other on the streets of London and there are a billion people living on less than a dollar a day, the fact that the Anglicans argue over two men who want to make a family together makes the Church look irrelevant,' he said.



He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show yesterday morning that Dr Williams 'is in an almost untenable position.



No matter what he does he will make someone mad and sometimes everybody mad'. Later he toned down his language and told the Daily Mail: 'Dr Williams is in an almost impossible position.



I believe with every fibre of my being that he is doing everything he can to hold the Anglican Communion together. I not only respect him but join him in that effort.'



Bishop Robinson appealed for compromise from the alliance of British and American conservative and evangelical clergy with African and Third World prelates that has already begun organising an alternative organisation to support traditionalist views on sexuality.



'Things seem intractable but nothing is impossible,' he said.



'We are arguing over things that are important but not essential.'



Dr Williams is mired in trouble at home over women bishops.



Last week the General Synod was divided into hostile factions by the arguments over women.



The Lambeth Conference is already facing boycotts by conservative bishops from the Anglican world - including senior figures such as the Bishop of Rochester Dr Michael Nazir-Ali.



Conservatives refuse to accept the appointment of Bishop Robinson - who is in a 20-year relationship with a male partner - by the diocese of New Hampshire in 2003.



They say it breached Anglican rules and amounted to an attempt to bludgeon Anglicans into accepting liberal demands for gay rights.



They have publicly distanced themselves from the leadership of Dr Williams.



At the same time, Anglican liberals who support the gay rights agenda believe the Archbishop is doing too little to swing the argument in their direction.

