From The American Spectator-
The Episcopal bishop whose acquittal in a church "heresy" trial 15 years ago ignited the ongoing schism within the U.S. Episcopal Church and the global Anglican Communion died last week in Pittsburgh.
Bishop Walter Righter, 87, set off a firestorm of controversy when he ordained an openly non-celibate homosexual man to the Episcopal deaconate in 1990. His heresy trial concluded in 1996 with a 7-1 dismissal of charges by a panel of fellow bishops. The episode further stoked disputes over scriptural authority and sexual ethics within America's once historically most prestigious Mainline denomination.
"I look around the Episcopal Church today where there are no impediments to the ordination of gay or lesbian members.… None of that would have happened without Bishop Righter's leadership," pronounced a prominent pro-gay rights California priest in a Righter obituary. "When the history of the movement for the full inclusion of the LGBT community in our church is written, there is no doubt that Walter Righter will be one of its great heroes."
More here-
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/09/21/end-of-the-mainline
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