OPENLY GAY MAN IS MADE A BISHOP

With the ceremonial laying on of hands by a cluster of bishops, the Rev. V. Gene Robinson was consecrated the next bishop of New Hampshire and the first openly gay prelate in the Episcopal Church U.S.A. on Sunday, laying the groundwork for a split in the American church and a break with fellow Anglican churches abroad.

In a ceremony both solemn and celebratory, Bishop Robinson accepted his bishop's stole and chasuble from his parents, the gold miter for his head from his two daughters and his partner, and his shepherd's crook from his predecessor, Bishop Douglas E. Theuner of New Hampshire.

The nearly 4,000 people in an arena at the University of New Hampshire rose to their feet, applauding, cheering and whistling. After Bishop Robinson quieted them, he said, ''It's not about me; it's about so many other people who find themselves at the margins.''

Addressing the crowd, he said, ''Your presence here is a welcome sign for those people to be brought into the center.''

The consecration went ahead despite warnings from the primates who lead Anglican churches in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America that a gay bishop would not be recognized in their churches, and would prompt them to break ties -- as soon as Monday -- with their American affiliate, the Episcopal Church U.S.A.

The archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, released a statement on Sunday night that acknowledged the Americans' right to choose their own bishops but also lamented the Americans' disregard for the objections of their more conservative church cousins in other parts of the world.

''The divisions that are arising are a matter of deep regret; they will be all too visible in the fact that it will not be possible for Gene Robinson's ministry as a bishop to be accepted in every province in the communion,'' the archbishop said in his statement. ''It is clear that those who have consecrated Gene Robinson have acted in good faith on their understanding of what the constitution of the American church permits. But the effects of this upon the ministry and witness of the overwhelming majority of Anglicans particularly in the non-Western world have to be confronted with honesty.''

The controversy over homosexuality has sharpened a long-brewing power struggle between the more established branches of the Anglican Communion, which include the Church of England and the Episcopal Church U.S.A., and what were once the mission churches in the developing world. The Anglican Communion includes about 70 million members throughout the world, only about 2.3 million of them American. The church in Nigeria, with about 17 million members, has helped lead the objections to a gay bishop.

Nevertheless, the consecration was a vindicating moment for many Episcopalians who have long hoped the church would formally acknowledge the many gay men and lesbians who are priests, deacons and laypeople.

Stephanie Spellers, who attended the consecration with a group of fellow students from the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., said: ''Especially for me as an African-American, I am pretty sensitive to people saying you don't have a place in the church. God makes holy what people shove away, and I'm here just to celebrate that.''

But for many others, the consecration will be remembered as a painful moment in which their church decided to endorse sin. At an appointed moment during the ceremony, the crowd was asked if there were any objections to Bishop Robinson's installation. A laywoman from New Hampshire, a priest from Pittsburgh and a bishop from Albany stepped to the microphone one by one.

The priest, the Rev. F. Earle Fox, read an explicit list of what he said were the sexual practices of gay men, but was interrupted by the official leading the consecration, Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold of the Episcopal Church. Proceeding with his speech, Father Fox concluded that people who are ''made in God's loving image would not engage in or bless or consecrate such behavior.''

The layperson, Meredith Harwood, a parishioner at St. Mark's Church in Ashland, N.H., said, ''We must not proceed with this terrible and unbiblical mistake, which will not only rupture the Anglican Communion; it will break God's heart.'' And Suffragan Bishop David Bena of the Diocese of Albany said he carried greetings from 36 other bishops in the United States and Canada who objected to Bishop Robinson's installation.

The dissenting Episcopalians then filed silently out of the arena and left to join a prayer service at a nearby evangelical church.

Bishop Griswold, leading the consecration, thanked ''our brothers and sisters in Christ for bringing their concerns before us.'' But, he said, ''The bases of their objections put forward are well known and I think have been considered.'' He mentioned that Bishop Robinson had been elected by the Diocese of New Hampshire in June and approved by the general convention of the Episcopal Church in August.

Bishop Griswold acknowledged that the move could cause divisions in his church and in the Anglican Communion, but he said that what holds the church together is more fundamental than one bishop.

''As Anglicans we're learning to live the mystery of communion at a much deeper level,'' he said.

The schism is unlikely to be total, those on all sides agree. Both the Episcopal Church and the churches opposed to homosexuality are expected to remain in the same Anglican family, but as feuding siblings. For example, at future gatherings of bishops, Bishop Robinson may be invited, but may not be allowed to take communion from bishops in provinces that have broken with the American church.

''It means you come to the family dinner table but you don't eat,'' said the Rev. Canon Kendall Harmon, a priest from South Carolina who has helped unite opponents to Bishop Robinson in the United States and abroad. ''Anyone who belongs to a family can tell you that's pretty serious.''

He said that more than half of the 38 primates who lead Anglican provinces around the world would issue a statement as early as Monday declaring that they are in a state of ''broken or impaired communion'' with the American church.

Outside the arena, a small group of antigay protesters who held signs that said ''God Hates Fags'' faced off against a far larger crowd of supporters, among them many students and members of other churches.

Suzanne Filippone of South Berwick, N.H., held a hand-lettered poster saying, ''Christianity Is Tolerance.''

''Homosexuality is something that exists within the church already, and I think it's wonderful that he has decided to confront it and step forward,'' she said of Bishop Robinson.

Standing apart from both demonstrations, Abraham Piol said he straddled two cultures that enabled him to understand both perspectives. Mr. Piol, a student at the University of New Hampshire, said he was from Sudan and had been brought up in the Anglican Church.

''The American people understand that sexual orientation exists, but that's not the case with my people in Africa,'' he said.

Mr. Piol said he wished the Episcopalians in New Hampshire had considered the sensitivities of the Anglicans overseas.

''They did not see the interests of the whole world. They thought only of their own interests,'' he said. ''I have my faith as a Christian, but I really am worried about the future of this church.''