The Anglican Church of Canada has decided the Episcopal Church USA is the wave of the future, according to the Episcopal News Service:
Members of the Anglican Church of Canada’s General Synod, meeting in Winnipeg, agreed June 24 that the blessing of same-gender unions is not in conflict with the church’s core doctrine, in the sense of being credal.
Debate resumed on the morning of June 24 after being suspended late Saturday, June 23.
The motion carried reads: “That this General Synod resolves that the blessing of same-sex unions is not in conflict with the core doctrine (in the sense of being credal) of the Anglican Church of Canada.”
The motion was carried by a vote of 152 for and 97 against in the House of Clergy and Laity, and by 21 for and 19 against in the House of Bishops.
So by a two-vote margin in one house, two thousand years of Christian ethical teaching goes out the window. As my eighth grade social studies teacher would have said, “Ain’t democracy grand?”
UPDATE: Apparently, even though same sex unions don’t violate the church’s “core doctrine,” that doesn’t mean they are actually going to authorize dioceses to carry them out. Again, according to ENS:
A motion that would have permitted the Anglican Church of Canada to bless same-gender unions was defeated June 24 by members of the Church’s General Synod, meeting in Winnipeg.
Motion A187, which passed in the houses of clergy and laity but failed by a narrow margin of two votes in the House of Bishops, would have allowed Canadian parishes to authorize the blessing of committed same-gender unions “with the concurrence of the diocesan bishop.”
The motion passed by 78 to 59 votes in the House of Laity and by 63 to 53 votes in the House of Clergy, but was defeated by 21 to 19 votes in the House of Bishops.
That, of course, won’t stop those Canadian bishops, such as Michael Ingham, from proceeding just as they please.
June 24, 2007 at 4:53 pm
I can not believe it.
I grew up an Anglican and really did not practise after about age 14. Doing all the selfish things that a teenager does till about age 20 when I got married.
My wife ended up getting serious about the Jehovah’s Witness religion. After reading their literature I knew that there was no way that the church was wrong about everything. I did a lot of research and became a member of the Brethern church.
After the 7 years the marriage fell apart. It was my x-wife that could not accept that I went to a church that preached the bible and was able to stand up to much of what was being taught to her by the high control Watchtower religion. So she had an affair with a man who was not a JW. I loved my wife and for 20 years I could not have anything to do with any religion.
Finally last year I started going to a church up the street that is Anglican. It felt good going back to my roots but I was not used to the formality. I would say though that the members were sincere compared to many other mainline churches.
Today I got the news though! Same-sex blessings. It hurst so bad. All that is going through my mind is those people who have a brother, sister, parent, child or spouse that are caught in the high control group the Watcthtower. The JW’s will gain more converts now and will use the Angican church as an example of false religion and truely not representing God and Christ. I don’t know what to do now. I don’t feel home anymore and I think that if they allow this then they really don’t stand for anything.
I am so sorry.
Alex
June 25, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Their solution will probably be to get rid of those pesky Bishops.
June 26, 2007 at 8:17 am
Don’t lose hope, Alex. I urge you to check out this website: http://www.shelterinthestorm.org/ It is a very long list of biblically faithful Anglican churches in Canada and the United States. Also, if you are in Canada, you could check out http://www.anglicannetwork.ca/ and http://www.anglicanessentials.org/ for news and information from people who are fighting to bring our church back to its biblical roots. All is not lost – there are Anglicans who still stand for the Gospel.
June 26, 2007 at 8:20 am
Ingham is very crafty. He had proposed a motion that would allow New West to carry on with same sex blessings, no matter what Synod had decided. He withdrew it when he realized that if his motion was defeated, he would have to abide by the decision and stop the blessings, whereas if it wasn’t voted on, he could continue on as he pleased.
I left a comment for Alex that got caught in the moderation cue because there were too many links in it. Alex, if you are reading this, please come back later after my comment is approved. In the meantime, please go visit http://www.shelterinthestorm.org, for a list of biblically faithful Anglican churches in Canada and the US.
June 26, 2007 at 8:21 am
Ok, that link didn’t work. Try this: http://www.shelterinthestorm.org