Local Anglican church officials will have their collective pulse taken today on the controversial issue of blessing same-sex marriages. Church clergy and laity attending the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa's annual synod in Cornwall will vote on a motion asking the local bishop to allow clergy "whose conscience permits" to bless same-sex unions. Read the rest here ...
I just saw over at titusonenine that Kendall is reporting the Synod voted 177 - 97 in favor of blessings. More to follow.
===
UPDATE: An updated news report here ...
And here are some interesting quotes from an earlier article on the upcoming vote ...
[Bishop Chapman] also made it clear that he will brook no divisive
activity over the matter: "Leadership that does not take its lead from the bishops and councils of the church, national and local, cannot be tolerated. Our missional strength can only be fully realized when we stay together ... "
"I expect, regardless of this motion, that the clergy and people will
continue their work and ministry embracing our differences rather than fretting over them ... I expect that we will behave in a manner that is classically Anglican -- a manner that not only embraces but lives the wonder of the via media (middle way). It is our gift to Christianity. We must not overlook the fact that it is also our gift to ourselves."
Under the motion being discussed today, couples would be married in a civil ceremony and would then receive a blessing in church, much as Prince Charles and Camilla did, according to Ron Chaplin, spokesman for the gay advocacy group Integrity Ottawa. "If it's good enough for the Prince of Wales, it's good enough for me," says Mr. Chaplin, a people's warden at Saint John, and the person who drafted the motion.
The ball is now in the bishop's court: "film at eleven."
.
2 comments:
Susan+
Ottawa is only the first of several Canadian Diocesan Synods meeting this autumn which will be voting on similar motions.
Our Montreal Synod will be meeting this coming week, and a similar motion to the same effect will be voted on. My personal impression of +Barry Clarke, our Bishop is that he personally supports such a move towards full inclusion.
Unfortunately, both actions will still fall short of the civil right to marry accorded all LGBT folk under Canadian law- but it's still progress Praise God!
In the meantime, I'd ask for prayers for the Montreal Synod.
Thanks for posting this.
Post a Comment