Canada's Anglican leaders promote same-sex blessings

[kwassa]

The Canadians are way ahead of us, with legal same-sex marriage throughout the country already.

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=5672

OTTAWA: Canada's Anglican leaders promote same-sex blessings

by Randall Palmer, Reuters
THE NATIONAL POST
http://tinyurl.com/2llpg3
March 12, 2007

OTTAWA - No core Anglican doctrines should prevent the blessing of same-sex unions, Canadian Anglican leaders said in a decision that could set their church on a collision course with the global Anglican Communion.

The decision Sunday strengthens the alignment of the Anglican Church of Canada with the U.S. Episcopal Church against attempts by the broader Anglican Communion to fight same-sex marriage and the ordination of homosexual clergy.

The worldwide church has asked the Anglican Church of Canada to put a moratorium on blessing homosexual unions, but the Canadian church's Council of General Synod agreed on Sunday to present a resolution that said "the blessing of same-sex unions is consistent with the core doctrine of the Anglican Church of Canada."

The resolution will be submitted to this June's triennial General Synod, the Canadian Anglicans' highest decision-making body. The council that decided on this on the weekend runs ecclesiastical policy in between synod meetings.

[pbca]

1. Know what else?

God didn't strike us down - on the contrary the weather has (mostly) been decent, unemployment is down, the economy is doing well - not a single swarm of locusts or politician struck by lightning.

[Evoman]

2. My girlfriend is (just barely) Anglican, as is her family.

And from what they told me (although I was only half listening) their church lost a vote or something in the Anglican council for supporting gay marriage. At least I think they did...I don't really understand church politics. But I think they had some sort of convention this week.

[JerseygirlCT]

4. No, they met with some African church leaders

a couple of weeks ago. At that meeting, the US church leader was pressured to insist that her church stop ordaining gay folk and stop same-sex blessings and give them our answer by Sept. 30. They built in their own oversight into the deal -- suddenly they'd appoint people to make sure we behave.

The only real vehicle for such change in TEC is a general convention, which doesn't happen until 2009. Meantime, the African leaders, perhaps ignorant of our governance, insisted our bishops ok this ultimatum of theirs.

The US bishops meet this week, but so far, there has been nothing I know of from the meeting. Anything they said wouldn't really be binding until/unless it was also agreed at General Convention.

Altogether, Akinola (Archbishop of Nigeria and really nasty fellow) and his cohorts ought to be told to take a hike. I do hope that the bishops either completely ignore this ultimatum, or flatly tell them no. Any answer we give will only further the extortion.

There. Now you know more than you wanted to know!

eta: correction

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. It's nice of the Canadians to join up with us Americans in resisting the

bigots in certain other parts of the Anglican Communion.

[JerseygirlCT]

5. I've read that the head of the Canadian church has pretty much

said to our PB: say the word, and we walk with you.