Same-sex marriage blessings are the “flashpoint” but not the main reason a St. Catharines Anglican church is voting on whether to break from the national body, a spokesperson said.
Members of the Church of the Good Shepherd on Grantham Avenue will make their decision Sunday in a meeting after the morning service.
It’s a move that could see them booted from the church building if they vote to separate.
“It comes down to the fact that as long as the Anglican Church has been established, it has based its beliefs on the reliability and authority of scripture,” said Pat Decker, the church’s treasurer and people’s warden. “We have seen in the last 20 years, a major drift by the hierarchy of the church.”
In November 2007, lay and clergy members of the Anglican Diocese of Niagara voted to allow reverends to bless same-sex unions. At that time, the Good Shepherd’s Rev. Gerry Brodie voted against the blessing, saying his congregation didn’t support it.
In Good Shepherd (St. Catharines):
Motion to accept oversight of Southern Cone:
For 70
Against 4
Abstain 7
(Note: 20 proxy votes were submitted, 19 Yes and 1 Abstention. The Chair did not include these in the above count, but noted the totals for the minutes.)