25 June 2007
Despite the news headlines, the Anglican Church of Canada did not close the door on same sex blessings at the Church's General Synod in Winnipeg this past week. Nor did the Church take the steps specifically requested by the leaders of the global Anglican Communion - known as Primates.
By General Synod declaring that same sex blessings are compatible with Anglican core doctrine, nothing now stands in the way of these blessings continuing in the Diocese of New Westminster (in the Vancouver area) and being introduced into dioceses throughout Canada.
The Primates have called for a clear, unambiguous endorsement of traditional Church teaching on sexuality and an end to same sex blessings, as has been practiced in the Diocese of New Westminster since 2002. This General Synod has created confusion and ambiguity. By its action - and lack of action - the Church has clearly signaled that it does not value walking with the global Anglican Communion.
Members of Network are deeply grieved by the decisions of General Synod. We will now await the response of the Primates and will be consulting with our membership.
The Network represents and supports Canadian Anglicans and parishes whose orthodox, biblically-faithful views put them at odds with their church authorities. The Network is also committed to ensuring that orthodox Canadian Anglicans are able to remain in full communion with their spiritual brothers and sisters around the world - even if the Anglican Church of Canada permanently "walks apart".
Anglican Network in Canada members are in the mainstream of historic and global Anglicanism. We remain faithful to Holy Scripture, committed to traditional Anglican teaching and in full Communion with the vast majority of global Anglicans. Well over 70 per cent of the 77 million Anglicans worldwide share our commitment to historic, biblically-faithful Anglicanism.
Contact
Marilyn Jacobson
Anglican Network in Canada communications
604 929-0369
mjacobson@anglicannetwork.ca
www.anglicannetwork.ca
Backgrounder
25 June 2007
The Anglican Church of Canada now stands in precisely the same place as the Episcopal Church in the United States - and we can expect the same response from the rest of the worldwide Communion. Like the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada has not "mended its broken relationships" with the Communion, as described in the Primates' February 2005 Communique from Dromantine, and could potentially precipitate schism in the global Church.
In a recent statement - known as the Dar es Salaam Communique - that was unanimously endorsed by the Primates in February 2007, the Primates asked the Episcopal Church to "make an unequivocal common covenant that the bishops will not authorise any Rite of Blessing for same-sex unions... unless some new consensus on these matters emerges across the Communion". They also reiterated the Church's teaching on sexuality: "In view of the teaching of Scripture, [the Conference] upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage".
The statement went on to say, " At the heart of our tensions is the belief that the Episcopal Church has departed from the standard of teaching on human sexuality accepted by the Communion in the 1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10 by consenting to the episcopal election of a candidate living in a committed same-sex relationship, and by permitting Rites of Blessing for same-sex unions ."
The Primates went on to decry the very ambiguity that has now been created in the Church in Canada by the decisions of General Synod. "...we believe that there remains a lack of clarity about the stance of The Episcopal Church, especially its position on the authorisation of Rites of Blessing for persons living in same-sex unions. There appears to us to be an inconsistency between the position of General Convention and local pastoral provision. We recognise that the General Convention made no explicit resolution about such Rites and in fact declined to pursue resolutions which, if passed, could have led to the development and authorisation of them. However, we understand that local pastoral provision is made in some places for such blessings. It is the ambiguous stance of The Episcopal Church which causes concern among us."
END
The URL for this story is:
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6230
Maintainer: Ted McMichael
Send Comments or Questions to:
Administrator.ChurchOfTheWord@verizon.net