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February 21, 2008

Anglican Church of Canada facing defections over gay blessings

by Ron Csillag
Religion News Service

TORONTO — Seven congregations have cut ties with the Anglican Church of Canada because of theological differences on blessing same-sex unions and related issues, adding to a wave of conservative defections.

And the head of one breakaway group predicts more are on the way.

Last weekend (Feb. 15-17), seven parishes voted to leave the national church to join with a South American archbishop.

Six Anglican parishes in Ontario, eight in British Columbia and three in Alberta have decided to operate outside the Anglican Church of Canada and join the recently formed Anglican Network in Canada, which holds more traditional views.

Of the 17 dissenting congregations and parishes, 10 have voted to align themselves with the Anglican Communion's more orthodox Province of the Southern Cone, which covers most of South America.

“I'm quite confident that this is just a beginning,” Bishop Donald Harvey, moderator of the recently formed Anglican Network in Canada, told reporters.

Harvey said the breakaway parishes seek a “haven” under the jurisdiction of the South American archbishop, Gregory Venables.

Vianney Carriere, a spokesman for the Anglican Church of Canada, noted that despite the recent departures, almost 2,300 congregations remain in the national church.

The Canadian church’s top governing body decided last June that blessing same-sex marriages does not violate basic church doctrine, prompting anger among conservative congregations.

Canada's bishops have decided to continue a moratorium on same-sex marriages, however. Some local parishes and dioceses are blessing the unions anyway.

Meanwhile, the dissenting churches are being asked to hand over the keys to their buildings or face legal action to have them removed from the properties.