In some cases these may be couples of the same sex, and in some cases these may be couples for whom marriage is not an appropriate or desirable step. Of these couples, those who are 65 years of age and older are 266,000 in number. As many of you know, our Diocese has a history of blessing relationships, and some of our congregarions and clergy have developed matierals that might enrich this effort. If you have such materials in your files, the Task Force would be happy to receive them.

We remember with thanksgiving the first provision of emergency pastoral
care when in November of 2000, two Anglican primates and a diocesan
bishop confirmed 85 individuals at the Church of the Good Shepherd in
Rosemont, Pennsylvania. That event and Sunday's event are not to be
viewed as acts of provocation, but as responses to the on-going crisis
of faith and authority that has plagued the church for

Six conservative congregations that also oppose Robinson invited the
five bishops from outside the diocese without required approval from
Ohio's Bishop J. Clark Grew II. They do not accept Grew's leadership
because he voted for Robinson.

Robinson, a Lexington, Ky., native, was speaking to reporters before a
ceremony to receive the annual Leadership Award from the National Gay
and Lesbian Task Force, the oldest U.S. gay rights organization.

The commission, which was established at a diocesan convention in January, met for the first time yesterday at Trinity Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg. It aims to avert splits in the diocese after the consecration of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire.

Members were handpicked by the Right Rev. Peter James Lee, bishop of the Virginia Diocese, the country's largest, with more than 89,000 members.