That gift was given to us by Jesus’ death on the cross; we do not earn it, it was and is freely offered. Thus no matter what one’s gender, race, culture, sexual orientation or any other category, those who accept the gift of salvation belong to the Body.

And returning to our Jewish roots, two writers in the book of Genesis assure us that we, all persons, are created in the image of God. The Baptismal Covenant in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer asks all Episcopalians to promise that we will “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves” and that we “respect the dignity of every human being.”

So what does that lead me to believe about gay and lesbian unions and gay and lesbian clergy? I cannot, as a reasonable person, assent to the Judeo/Christian and Episcopalian assertions above and deny unions or ordination to gay and lesbian folk.

Gay and lesbian persons who accept the gift of salvation are full participating members of the Body, they are created in the image of God, and they are part of “all persons and every human being.” No more “they” and “us;” we are; each and every one of us is a sinner; ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven and bound, by the irresistible love of God. That is theology.

Now, as for tradition and the issue of ordaining gay/lesbian men and women, let us be honest. The Church has ordained gay men for centuries. That is not a new or 20th-century phenomenon.

In my tradition, lesbians have been ordained since we began conferring holy orders on women in the mid 1970’s. I suspect most of their ordaining bishops knew; however, the arrangement was neither one would tell.

For 30 years, in the Episcopal Church, some bishops and ordinands have decided that openness is the better way; the truth is almost always the better choice. As a bishop, my relationship with the gay man or lesbian woman could be without doubts on either part: my wondering about one’s sexuality or his or her wondering what I did or did not know.

Once the person was ordained, I required the priest to inform the vestry, or governing body of the church to which he or she was called. In my experience, no vestry ever refused to call the person due to that revelation. Honesty trumped a secret.

Last, reason and the issue of gay and lesbian unions. Why would Christian believers who entrust their lives to a God who has made two covenants with us based on God’s fidelity to the relationship, deny to gays and lesbians a relationship founded on a promise to be faithful to one another?

I am well aware of all the arguments made for marriage between a man and a woman to be the only Christian standard for union. If, however, I look to the Bible for that premise, I find Kings of Israel having multiple wives and St. Paul counseling early Christians that they should marry only if they cannot contain their lust along the above standard.

Unions that are predicated on faithfulness, forgiveness, honesty, joy and giving seem to me to be more Godlike than only male and female. Any union that is promiscuous, rigid, dishonest, and selfish does not witness to the God I know.

Could I ever change my mind? I hope and pray so. Why? For me to claim I perfectly know the mind of God is idolatry; I am claiming equality and God is God and I am creature. This is how I now, imperfectly, understand the God and the study of that God to whom I have entrusted my life and work. I pray that it is pleasing to God.

Earlier this month, the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, my fellow panelist for “On Faith,” interviewed me about these issues in the Episcopal Church on The Interfaith Alliance Foundation's radio show, State of Belief. Please click here to listen to that interview.