\u201cI\u2019m sure we will attract people who are saying maybe we are doing it right,\u201d\u009d Mr. Hay said as he came off the convention floor for lunch one day with his mother. \u201cFor me it seems right because I was raised in a household where we were always taught to accept everyone, regardless of creed, color, gender or sexual identity.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Whether Episcopalians really can regenerate a church based on youth and \u201cinclusivity\u201d\u009d remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
So far, they have paid a price for their actions. Four bishops, the majority of their dioceses and numerous parishes around the country jumped ship in the last few years to form a new, theologically conservative entity called the Anglican Church in North America. That group will not consecrate women, not to mention gay men and lesbians, as bishops. It has about 100,000 members, while the Episcopal Church has about two million.<\/p>\n
But a church study shows that membership declined about 6 percent from 2003 to 2007.<\/p>\n