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Canadian Anglicans Voting on Gay Couples
NewsMax.com Wires Friday, June 22, 2007
WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Canada's Anglicans are debating whether to allow their
churches to bless gay couples at a time when divisions over the Bible and
homosexuality are tearing at the world Anglican fellowship.
The Anglican Church of Canada is scheduled to vote in its national meeting
Saturday whether to allow priests to bless same-sex unions -- a step short
of performing gay marriage, which is legal in Canada. Before that vote,
delegates will choose a new leader on Friday from a field of four
candidates, including a woman, who could become the first female elected to
lead the Canadian church.
The world Anglican Communion is already in an uproar over the U.S. Episcopal
Church's 2003 consecration of the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson
of New Hampshire.
The Episcopal Church is the Anglican body in the United States. Anglican
leaders have given the U.S. denomination until Sept. 30 to unequivocally
pledge not to consecrate another openly gay bishop or authorize official
prayers for same-sex couples. If Episcopalians fail to agree to the demands,
they risk losing their full membership in the communion.
Separately, the Anglican Church of Canada came under fire in 2002, after
Bishop Michael Ingham of the Diocese of New Westminster in British Columbia
allowed parishes in his region to bless gay couples. In 2004, the Diocese of
Niagara voted to follow suit, but its bishop has barred the ceremonies for
now.
In his opening presidential address last Sunday, the outgoing leader of the
Anglican Church of Canada, Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, said debate over
full acceptance of same-sex relationships is "one of the most difficult
items for our discernment."
Hutchison said this week's vote raises deeper questions about how to
preserve ties between Canadian Anglicans and Anglican provinces overseas,
all of which trace their roots back hundreds of years to the Church of
England.
Most of the world's Anglicans are theological conservatives who believe gay
relationships violate Scripture. More liberal Anglicans emphasize social
justice teachings in the Bible, leading them to support full acceptance of
same-sex couples.
"We recognize we're at a crossroads for the church," said Rev. Canon Charlie
Masters, head of the conservative Canadian group Anglican Essentials. "But
the way to help this is to align ourselves with what the Bible says, not
what society says."
Chris Ambidge, who leads the Toronto chapter of Integrity Canada, an
Anglican gay advocacy group, argued that gays have been allowed to marry in
Canada for four years "and the sun has come up bang on time every morning
since then."
"Canadians as a whole are prepared to live with it. Why can't the Anglican
church?" Ambidge said. "We need to progress if we're going to remain
relevant."
Hutchison is retiring as head of the 1.3 million-member Canadian church,
since its leaders, called primates, serve until age 70.
The nominees for Canadian archbishop are Ontario Bishop George Bruce; Huron
Bishop Bruce Howe; Bishop Fred Hiltz of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
and Edmonton Bishop Victoria Matthews, who was a nominee in the 2004
election but withdrew when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
If Matthews wins, she will be the second woman elected to lead a national
Anglican church in the nearly 500-year-old Anglican Communion. Last year,
U.S. Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori became the first
woman elected to head an Anglican province.
Canadian Anglicans Voting on Gay Couples
NewsMax.com Wires Friday, June 22, 2007
WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Canada's Anglicans are debating whether to allow their
churches to bless gay couples at a time when divisions over the Bible and
homosexuality are tearing at the world Anglican fellowship.
The Anglican Church of Canada is scheduled to vote in its national meeting
Saturday whether to allow priests to bless same-sex unions -- a step short
of performing gay marriage, which is legal in Canada. Before that vote,
delegates will choose a new leader on Friday from a field of four
candidates, including a woman, who could become the first female elected to
lead the Canadian church.
The world Anglican Communion is already in an uproar over the U.S. Episcopal
Church's 2003 consecration of the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson
of New Hampshire.
The Episcopal Church is the Anglican body in the United States. Anglican
leaders have given the U.S. denomination until Sept. 30 to unequivocally
pledge not to consecrate another openly gay bishop or authorize official
prayers for same-sex couples. If Episcopalians fail to agree to the demands,
they risk losing their full membership in the communion.
Separately, the Anglican Church of Canada came under fire in 2002, after
Bishop Michael Ingham of the Diocese of New Westminster in British Columbia
allowed parishes in his region to bless gay couples. In 2004, the Diocese of
Niagara voted to follow suit, but its bishop has barred the ceremonies for
now.
In his opening presidential address last Sunday, the outgoing leader of the
Anglican Church of Canada, Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, said debate over
full acceptance of same-sex relationships is "one of the most difficult
items for our discernment."
Hutchison said this week's vote raises deeper questions about how to
preserve ties between Canadian Anglicans and Anglican provinces overseas,
all of which trace their roots back hundreds of years to the Church of
England.
Most of the world's Anglicans are theological conservatives who believe gay
relationships violate Scripture. More liberal Anglicans emphasize social
justice teachings in the Bible, leading them to support full acceptance of
same-sex couples.
"We recognize we're at a crossroads for the church," said Rev. Canon Charlie
Masters, head of the conservative Canadian group Anglican Essentials. "But
the way to help this is to align ourselves with what the Bible says, not
what society says."
Chris Ambidge, who leads the Toronto chapter of Integrity Canada, an
Anglican gay advocacy group, argued that gays have been allowed to marry in
Canada for four years "and the sun has come up bang on time every morning
since then."
"Canadians as a whole are prepared to live with it. Why can't the Anglican
church?" Ambidge said. "We need to progress if we're going to remain
relevant."
Hutchison is retiring as head of the 1.3 million-member Canadian church,
since its leaders, called primates, serve until age 70.
The nominees for Canadian archbishop are Ontario Bishop George Bruce; Huron
Bishop Bruce Howe; Bishop Fred Hiltz of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
and Edmonton Bishop Victoria Matthews, who was a nominee in the 2004
election but withdrew when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
If Matthews wins, she will be the second woman elected to lead a national
Anglican church in the nearly 500-year-old Anglican Communion. Last year,
U.S. Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori became the first
woman elected to head an Anglican province.
