Bishop asks Episcopalians to reconsider withholding donations

With donations down $500,000 this year, the leader of Colorado's Episcopal diocese is urging church members to reconsider their decision to withhold donations in protest of the church's decision to install a gay bishop. Colorado bishop Rob O'Neill made the plea in a letter to the state's 116 parishes this week. In it he asks traditionalists to once again support the church "not as a sign of relinquishing their convictions but rather as a tangible sign of goodwill and trust, freely offering something for the greater good." The message comes as church members get ready to debate same-sex marriage at the annual state convention Friday and Saturday in Denver. Delegates will consider a resolution defining Christian marriage as "a solemn covenant between one man and one woman only." They will also elect deputies to represent them at the 2006 general convention of the Episcopal Church USA. At last year's convention, members voted to allow V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire to become the church's first openly gay bishop.