We spent several hours in conversation on the implications of the appeal from the Primate.

As a result of these conversations a large majority of the House can affirm the following:

A continued commitment to the greatest extent possible to the three moratoria — on the blessing of same-sex unions, on the ordination to the episcopate of people in same-sex relationships and on cross-border interventions — until General Synod 2010. Members of this House, while recognizing the difficulty that this commitment represents for dioceses that in conscience have made decisions on these matters, commit themselves to continue walking together and to hold each other in prayer.

The House also affirms:

A commitment to establishing diocesan commissions to discuss the matter of same-sex blessings in preparation for conversations at General Synod 2010.

Continued commitment to exercise the greatest level of pastoral generosity in keeping with provisions approved by this House in Spring, 2007 and continued commitment to the Shared Episcopal Ministry document approved in Fall, 2004.

We ask for your continuing prayers as we steadfastly seek to discern the mind and heart of Christ for the wholesome care of all members of his Body, the Church. We share a deep hope that though we may never come to consensus over this matter of the blessing of same-sex unions, we will live with differences in a manner that is marked by grace and generosity of spirit, one toward another.

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The Anglican bishops of Ottawa and Montreal have taken decisive steps toward allowing the blessing of same-sex unions in their dioceses, a move certain to further undermine the fragile cohesion of the world’s third-largest Christian denomination.

The two bishops have made known their intention to proceed, despite a moratorium on the blessings agreed to at last summer’s Lambeth Conference in England, the decennial gathering of bishops of the nearly 80-million-member Anglican Communion.

The Canadian church already is further along the road to authorizing same-sex blessings than any other branch of the communion, a decentralized body of 38 national and regional autonomous churches, or provinces.

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After this week’s discussions with bishops of the Anglican church from across Canada, Bishop Barry Clarke of Montreal plans to launch a process to work out a rite for blessing same-sex couples in the diocese who have been married in civil ceremonies.

In an opening statement Oct. 24 to the annual synod of the diocese of Montreal, the bishop said he believes that in the current debate about same-sex issues some are being called to speak with a prophetic voice, others with a voice of caution.

“For reasons, perhaps known only to God, I believe we, in the diocese of Montreal, are among those who have been called by God to speak with a prophetic voice,” he said. “It is our voice that is called to affirm that all people are loved, valued and precious before God and the Church. It is our voice that is called to affirm that all unions of faithful love and life-long commitment are worthy of God’s blessing and a means of God’s grace. In time our voice will either be affirmed by the body, or stand corrected.”

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The Right Rev. Robert Bennett was elected on the second ballot to be the 12th bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Huron Saturday.

Bennett was chosen from a slate of six candidates, including the Venerable Richard Salt, Rector of Trinity church in Sarnia and Archdeacon of Lambton/Kent.

He becomes the representatives of Anglican parishes from Windsor to Kitchener to Tobermory at a time when the church faces several critical decisions.

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An Anglican church in Ottawa may soon be the second in Canada to bless same-sex marriages.

Bishop John Chapman plans to ask the Canadian House of Bishops next week if he can develop an appropriate rite, then designate one parish — possibly Saint John the Evangelist on Somerset Street — to offer blessings to gay couples already married in a civil ceremony.

He told several hundred people gathered at Christ Church Cathedral yesterday for an annual synod, or general meeting, that he wants to take it slowly.

“We have talked about this issue since I was a seminary student in the mid-seventies. We must ‘experience’ the issue as a church before clarity of heart and mind might be attained. For this reason, I hope to proceed, but slowly and cautiously.”

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The assembly of the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior (APCI) has requested its bishop, Gordon Light, to allow clergy whose conscience permits to bless civilly-married gay couples where at least one party is baptized. The assembly passed the motion when it met Oct. 17 to 19.

A notice of a similar motion was filed at the synod of the diocese of Ontario but was declared out of order by the diocesan bishop, George Bruce, who acted on the advice of the diocesan chancellor (legal advisor). The ruling was appealed at the synod held Oct. 16 to 18 but was upheld by a majority vote of delegates.

At the APCI assembly, Bishop Light gave concurrence to the motion but suspended any action pending consultations with the Canadian house of bishops, which meets Oct. 27 to 31 to discuss, among others, how best to respond to renewed proposals for moratoria on the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of persons living in same-sex unions to the episcopate, and cross-border interventions.

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The Bishop of Brandon in the Anglican Church of Canada, the Right Reverend Jim Njegovan, sent letters on 16 October 2008 to the Rev Paul Crossland and the Rev Ann Crossland, rector and honourary assistant rector of the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) parishes of Church of the Resurrection (Brandon) and Church of the Redeemer (Dauphin), purporting to “inhibit” them (prevent them from ministering as priests). Bishop Njegovan implies in his letters that, since he was not informed that Paul and Ann had relinquished their Anglican Church of Canada licences, they had no right to minister “within the bounds of this Diocese” ”“ that is western Manitoba.

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Check it out.

In response to a suit initiated by others, we are asking the courts to rule that we were within our rights to insist that the clergy at the parishes involved have indeed abandoned their ministry in our Canadian church. We contend they said so in a letter to the bishop last May as they handed in their licences from him and purported to join another church, based in Argentina.

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Three Anglican congregations that split from the Vancouver-area diocese over its support for same-sex blessings have gone to court to avoid being kicked out of their churches.

The three congregations – St. John’s Shaughnessy in Vancouver, St. Matthias/St. Luke in Vancouver and St. Matthew’s in Abbotsford – argue in court documents that they should be allowed to remain because their opposition to same-sex blessings is consistent with “historic, orthodox Anglican doctrine.”

However, the Diocese of New Westminster and its bishop, Michael Ingham, argue that church doctrine evolves and there is no legal basis for congregations that leave the diocese to take church property with them.

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…things are not the same at St. George’s, and likely never will be.

While about 20 parishioners pray under the old wooden beams of the church, most of the congregation is farther south, inside the natural light and modern teal and white colours of a chapel in the Crossroads Centre along the QEW.

Both congregations still bow before the cross and recite roughly the same 220 words of the essential creed of the Anglican faith, proclaiming their belief “in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth … and in Jesus Christ the only Son of God.” But, on most of the rest of the details, the divide is wide indeed.

Last February, most of the St. George’s congregation broke away from the umbrella of the Niagara Diocese, citing creeping liberalism in the Anglican Church of Canada — the sanctioning of gay marriage being one of the last straws. The congregation voted 128-3 to align with the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC), which adheres to more conservative Christian orthodoxy, and is under the auspices of an Anglican authority based in Argentina.

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Archbishop Fred Hiltz was feeling right at home during his visit to St. Hilda’s Anglican Church in Bay L’Argent last week.
“Most of my ministry, as a parish priest in Nova Scotia, was in parishes like this ”“ big, multi-point, coastal parishes and I love them.
“So, it’s good for my soul to be here. It really is.”

His visit was also fine spiritual nourishment for members of the Anglican Church in the region, many of whom came from around the Burin Peninsula Sept. 29 for a pre-sermon meal, before then settling in for the St. Michael and All Angels Day service.

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A Hamilton church that voted on the weekend to leave the national Anglican church body and join the small but growing Anglican Network in Canada, says it is not breaking away.

“We are aligning with the worldwide Anglican church,” said Rev. Sandy Copland of the Church of St. Peter in Hamilton, which was part of the Niagara diocese.

“It’s the Canadian church or parts of it that have broken away.”

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The diocese of Algoma on Oct. 2 elected Rev. Stephen Andrews, who is General Synod prolocutor, as its new bishop.

Bishop-elect Andrews, who is president and vice-chancellor of Thorneloe University in Sudbury, Ont., was elected on the ninth ballot, according to a brief announcement at the diocesan Web site, www.dioceseofalgoma.com

A respected New Testament scholar, Bishop-elect Andrews was a member of the Primate’s Theological Commission that published the St. Michael Report, a 2005 Canadian theological paper which concluded that the blessing of same-sex unions is a matter of doctrine, but not core doctrine. He was also a member of the team that presented the Canadian church’s view on same-sex blessings to the international Anglican Consultative Council in 2005.

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Some basic information about the electing convention is here.

Dr. Andrews presentation to the ACC in Nottingham in 2006 is here.

Some biographical information and a picture is there.

When you elected us as Trustees of your parish, you entrusted us with certain legal and fiduciary responsibilities to support the ministry of the parish and to manage and maintain parish assets so that those ministries could continue and flourish. We believe we have a legal, moral and spiritual duty to act in the best interest of our congregations ”“ the people who elected us to serve them.

The diocese claims that our responsibility as Trustees is to act in the best interest of the Diocese and or the Anglican Church of Canada. Legal threats have been made against us, as Trustees, if we fail to comply with edicts from the diocese. Clearly there are legal and financial implications if we act or if we do not act. After consultation with legal counsel, we have taken steps as a group, on behalf of all four congregations, to ask the courts in BC to clarify who are the valid Trustees of our four parish corporations and what our duties as Trustees are at this time.

We have decided to act together as a group to maintain our unity since the primary issues in dispute ”“ particularly with respect to the trusts surrounding the church properties and assets of the parishes, as well as the duties of the Trustees ”“ are the same for us all.
We are saddened that we are forced to defend ourselves against the diocese’s hostile actions, but the alternative is to voluntarily vacate the churches and hand over the buildings and assets of the parishes to the diocese. We feel this would be an abandonment of the legal and fiduciary responsibilities you entrusted to us as elected Trustees. However, we will certainly comply with any final determination of the court ordering us to hand over our buildings. While we know that the Church is the people not the buildings, we are concerned that the ministry of our parishes will suffer should we be forced to find alternate accommodation for Sunday worship and ongoing ministry.

Read it all and there is more in the Anglican Journal here.

The head of the Anglican Church of Canada wants a face-to-face meeting with his South American counterpart, who earlier this year claimed jurisdiction over 10 Canadian congregations in a growing split over same-sex marriage blessings.

“What I would hope is that we could hear one another,” Fred Hiltz, primate of the Canadian church, told the Anglican Journal.

“What would I say in that meeting?” Hiltz said. “Let me try and hear why it is you feel you need to continue to work to intervene in the life of the Anglican Church of Canada.”

Archbishop Gregory Venables of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, however, says he would find it “difficult” to attend such a meeting.

“We had been talking about a private meeting, and it rather surprises me that it is now public,” Venables told the Star in an interview from Buenos Aires.

“This makes it even more difficult for me to attend.”

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The Lambeth ceasefire has collapsed in Canada after the Diocese of New Westminster moved to reassert “control” over two conservative congregations who had broken with Bishop Michael Ingham to join the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC).

On Aug 26 the Dean and Chancellor of New Westminster, acting on behalf of the vacationing Bishop Ingham, invoked the Canadian Church’s Canon 15 and sought to dismiss the wardens and parochial trustees of two parishes: St Matthew’s Abbotsford and St Matthias & St Luke in Vancouver, replacing them with nominees loyal to the diocese.

The diocese had taken these steps “to remove clergy who have left the Anglican Church of Canada rather than accepting the decisions of its local and national governing bodies,” a press statement said.

Read the whole article.

The three primates ”“ Archbishop Hiltz, Archbishop de Andrade, and Bishop Jefferts Schori ”“ have repeatedly asked Archbishop Venables to stop meddling in the internal affairs of their provinces. Archbishop Venables has, on his own accord, been providing episcopal oversight to churches that are in serious theological dispute with their respective provinces over the issue of sexuality. Archbishop Williams has said he will do his best to facilitate the request.

In an interview, Archbishop Hiltz said the Canadian bishops will have “a very focused conversation” around how they understand the call for moratoria. He said there are conflicting interpretations on what the moratorium means, with some thinking it means not having any new blessings, and some interpreting it as retroactive, which would require a synod like New Westminster to rescind its 2002 motion that allowed same-sex blessings in their diocese. He added that the Archbishop of Canterbury’s recent letter to bishops about the moratoria was also “significant.” Archbishop Williams had acknowledged that, while the call for moratoria received support from “a strong majority” at the conference, he was nonetheless aware of the “conscientious difficulties this posed for some.”

Archbishop Hiltz said that the diocesan bishop of New Westminster, Michael Ingham, “rightly pointed out that it’s not for him to rescind the motion; the synod has to debate the issue.” The primate said that he’d be “very surprised if they rescind that motion.”

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Members of the diocese of the Yukon, meeting in Whitehorse on May 31, failed to elect a new bishop, and Archbishop Terrence Buckle said he would postpone his retirement and remain in office.

Archbishop Buckle, who is 67, had said earlier this year that he would retire at the end of 2008. Canadian Anglican bishops generally retire before or at the age of 70.

Through seven rounds of voting, the 35 delegates assembled at Christ Church Cathedral were not able to give any of the five candidates the required simple majority in each of the two houses of clergy and laity as well as an overall two-thirds majority.

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A friend who is deeply read in Anglican history and theology predicted that Lambeth 2008 would give a negative response to gay and lesbian people on the matter of their full inclusion in the life and orders of the church and that at Lambeth 2018 the discussion would be about banning women priests and bishops. So far his prediction has come fairly accurately true. On this most perplexing matter dividing our communion, the Lambeth’s Reflections do not even clearly call for continuing dialogue and listening to gay and lesbian people””despite the resolutions of Lambeth 1998.

From a theological perspective, the finest documents to emerge from this Lambeth Conference were the Archbishop of Canterbury’s presidential addresses, but it is also clear that many of the other addresses were rich in theological content (eg. the Chief Rabbi’s lecture on Covenant). From an ecclesiological perspective, his decision to make this Lambeth a conference has been, in my view, a major step forward. The Reflections document issued at the end is by its very nature vague, and reflective of the multiplicity of positions on most of the questions that perplex us. This may be a healthy stage of conversation; it offers us all a clearer picture of the range of diversity and contexts in which we seek to live our mission.

More depressing, in my view, is that despite all protestations to the contrary and arguments about confrontation with Islam in Africa and elsewhere, the evangelical side of Anglicanism is leading us more and more toward a form of Christianity which is simply another variant of fundamentalist Islam….

Read the whole piece.

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, has expressed “frustration” that the Canadian church has not been given an opportunity to present its situation with regards to the blessing of same-sex unions during hearings conducted by a body formed to determine the next course of action for the Anglican Communion to salvage its fractured unity.

Archbishop Hiltz, who attended the once-a-decade conference of the world’s Anglican bishops here, said that it would be “a huge challenge” to merge what has been happening in bishops’ discussion groups, called indaba, with what the Windsor Continuation Group (WCG) has been recommending as the way forward for the Communion.

“I think what we’re running into is a kind of difficult rubbing between the indaba process which has been in large measure very conversational, very relational” and the work of the WCG, which is “seeking to find structures and procedures whereby we can remain in communion with one another,” said Archbishop Hiltz.

Read the whole article.

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s letter said the Lambeth Conference had “”¦no appetite for revising Resolution 1.10 of Lambeth 1998” ”“ the resolution that this very same diocese [of New Westminster] unilaterally defied by proceeding with same sex blessings only a few short years after this Resolution was passed. And, despite repeated affirmations by the Primates of the Communion’s position on this matter and calls for repentance, the diocese has continued to disregard these calls. Instead, the Diocese seeks to evict all clergy and congregations who wish to remain faithful to Lambeth Resolution 1.10 ”“ and historic Christian doctrine.

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s letter said the Conference showed “”¦much support for the idea of a ”˜Pastoral Forum’ as a means of addressing present and future tensions”¦” Last week’s action by the Diocese of New Westminster shows yet again that unless this Pastoral Forum provides immediate, equal or greater protection from such dioceses there can be no reasonable expectation of adequate safety. This is even more significant given the stated objective of the Pastoral Forum is to build trust.

These hostile actions by the diocese once again underscore the non-equivalency of the three moratoria called for by the Windsor Continuation Group. The causal relationship behind these actions must be acknowledged and the remedy adjusted appropriately. It is the actions by the Anglican Church of Canada and its dioceses as well as by the Episcopal Church that are causing faithful parishes to flee to safety. These must be addressed and the breaches of trust repaired before provincial incursions can possibly cease let alone be reversed.

The unwillingness of the revisionist provinces and dioceses to accept the repeated offers of negotiation and mediation shows a commitment to power and property above reconciliation. While the aggressive hostile assaults and litigation continues, trust cannot be restored.

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It was made starkly clear by the Windsor Continuation Group (WCG) that actions moving toward affirming same-sex unions, including those in the Anglican Church of Canada, have increased the danger of fracture in the Communion. The WCG’s call to observe the Windsor Report’s moratorium on such rites, seconded by Archbishop Williams, was widely supported by the bishops. Most of the bishops also seemed to concur with Archbishop Williams’ challenge to receive the Covenant as the best hope for an enduring Communion. Only as we as a church receive the Covenant positively do we have the best chance of remaining full participants in the Communion. As any marriage counselor will tell you, holding a family together finally means facing hard truths and making sacrifices.

A theme of Archbishop Williams’ addresses was thinking and acting out of “the centre” of our faith. Such a centre implies accountability to one another in important matters of doctrine and practice on behalf of the Church catholic. He said this as centrifugal forces of a confessional right and a revisionist left strain at our Communion. I wonder if Archbishop Williams didn’t have the voice of another melancholic Celt in the back of his mind: “Things fall apart/ the centre cannot hold”¦”

We give thanks for the bishops’ experiences of unity at Lambeth, and for proposed new means to support it. But will the centre hold? That depends in part on our own church. Time may soon tell.

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The imposition of Canon 15 “comes with regret after many years of dispute with the clergy and lay leadership of these two parishes,” said Dean Elliott. “The clergy in both parishes have relinquished their licenses as priests of the diocese and their orders within the Anglican Church of Canada. In our polity, a parish is a creation of the diocese.”

He added that parish properties “are entrusted to clergy, licensed by the diocesan bishop, to offer the ministry of the Anglican Church of Canada.” Therefore, he added, “loyalty to the bishop is a key part of the oaths that clergy make at ordinations and inductions.” Since he said clergy no longer hold the bishop’s licence, the diocese is “legally required to ensure that the authorized ministry of the Anglican Church of Canada continues in those places,” added Dean Elliott.

ANiC Chancellor Cheryl Chang, however, insisted that “whether the diocese of New Westminster has the right to unilaterally replace these duly elected trustees and move to seize control of the parishes’ assets is in dispute.”

In a press statement, she said that “the elected trustees of the parish believe the parish properties are held in trust for the benefit of the current congregation who have paid for and maintained these properties, and who are upholding traditional Anglican ministry in accordance with the founding principles of the Anglican Church of Canada (contained in the Solemn Declaration 1893), and the current doctrine of the global Anglican Communion.”

Read the whole article.

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, said he wasn’t surprised with the Lambeth Conference’s call for a moratorium on actions that have led to divisions over sexuality. He said that bishops needed to be honest that this has been “a huge, huge challenge to implement.”

Archbishop Hiltz said that the moratorium and other recommendations are matters for the Canadian house of bishops and the Council of General Synod ”“ the church’s governing body between General Synods ”“ to discuss. Bishops were also presented with a proposal to create a pastoral forum that would create a “safe space” for conservative Anglicans who have left their churches.

There was wide agreement that moratoria on same-sex blessings, the ordination of gay bishops and cross-border interventions by conservative bishops would help to heal the conflict engulfing the Anglican Communion. The Archbishop of Canterbury warned that failure to heed the call would put the Communion “in grave peril.”

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THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION is alive and vibrant.

It has survived another Lambeth Conference, a bit bruised, battered and fragmented. Bishops at Canterbury rallied around pertinent issues of social justice, poverty and the environment, and they reached the only conclusion they could on human sexuality: compromise.

That is what happens within a healthy family: members listen to each other, give a little, take a little, and reach a compromise. The result: both poles in the human sexuality debate are left frustrated and eager to battle another day, but it is the “middle road” ”“ via media — that has won the day.

The Anglican Communion emerged ”“ as it always does after a Lambeth Conference — a church struggling to be faithful to scripture and relevant to today’s society. Theologians and church leaders will debate the importance of Lambeth 2008 for some time to come; a sort of ecclesiastical navel-gazing. This issue of The Journal is dedicating an entire supplement to Lambeth.

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(ACNS) When last Saturday afternoon’s installation service for Bishop Victoria Matthews as the eighth Bishop of Christchurch was finished, the woman who’s taken her place as the new Bishop of Edmonton reflected on Canada’s loss and Christchurch’s gain.

Bishop Jane Alexander spoke soflty of a loss that feels personal, as well as provincial: “It was very hard,” she said, “to give Victoria away.

“But I will leave here with my heart lightened. So many have told me that they will love her and take care of her.

“The installation service was beautiful. There was such a strong sense of family. So much welcome. Victoria is not coming home: she is home.”

While none but the three Canadian bishops present could truly know about the loss Bishop Jane spoke of, there were close on 1000 people ”“ it was a full house at the Cathedral on a sunny, still, late winter’s afternoon ”“ who saw signs, right from the start of the service, of where their gains might lie.

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The Bible battle that has been dividing Anglicans in Canada for more than a decade is moving into new territory, with a third court battle looming in a Vancouver court.

The battle over same-sex blessings specifically, and interpretation of the Bible generally, is splitting liberal and conservative Anglicans and the fight over church property ownership has already resulted in two interim court rulings ”“ one in Ontario and one in British Columbia.

Now the Diocese of New Westminster has invoked a church bylaw to essentially fire the clergy at two other Vancouver-area churches and order them to leave the premises.

“We are faced with the situation of clergy in both parishes who have expressly rejected the Anglican Church of Canada as their home and have left the church, yet continue to occupy church buildings that are set aside for use by parishes in the Anglican Church of Canada,” says George Cadman, chancellor, or chief legal officer, for the diocese.

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Saturday, Aug. 30, National Indigenous Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald…[preached] at the installation service of Victoria Matthews as diocesan bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand. Bishop MacDonald and Bishop Matthews are friends and former colleagues in the Anglican Church of Canada. Bishop Matthews served as bishop of Edmonton for ten years and was a candidate for Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada at General Synod 2007. She was named the eighth bishop of Christchurch in March 2008.

Indigenous culture and faith will be an important part of the Aug. 30 installation service, explained Bishop MacDonald in an email. The structure of the Anglican Church in New Zealand recognizes three “tikanga” (cultures or strands): the Maori, Pakeha (European) and Pasifika (Pacific). A formal Maori welcome will be extended to Bishop Matthews during the service.

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