ECUSA decisions on sexuality cause waves.

Minneapolis

Expect a lot of attention.

When the Anglican Church of Canada, as expected, considers same-gender blessings at its General Synod in 2004, it will likely generate some of the international scrutiny that hit the Episcopal Church of the United States' General Convention last summer.

Meeting from July 30 to Aug. 8, the triennial governing meeting approved the election of the church's first openly gay bishop and tacitly accepted the blessing of homosexual relationships.

The decisions attracted huge media coverage (361 media representatives were accredited), strong reaction from liberals and conservatives (both religious and secular) worldwide and prompted the Archbishop of Canterbury to call a special meeting in England of senior bishops next month.

"There is a price to pay--both for innovation and for standing still," said Bishop Geralyn Wolf of Rhode Island in an interview.

Maintaining the status quo was certainly not the intent of the 835 deputies (comprising lay and clergy members) and 107 bishops, who voted to accept the election of Gene Robinson as diocesan bishop of New Hampshire. Bishop-elect Robinson has lived with a male partner for 13 years. On the issue of blessing homosexual relationships, the house of bishops deleted a phrase that would have directed the national church to develop a specific liturgy, but accepted a phrase that noted "local faith communities are operating within the bounds of our common life as they explore and experience liturgies celebrating and blessing same-sex unions." Clergy and lay delegates, who meet separate from the house of bishops, jointly concurred.

Rev. Michael Hopkins, president of Integrity, an Anglican gay support group, noted that General Convention has "given individual bishops the right to do what the diocese of New Westminster has done--the right to develop their own pastoral practice." Last year, the diocese of New Westminster in British Columbia voted to allow parishes to offer blessings for homosexual relationships, but the diocese developed a standard rite. The diocese saw its first sanctioned blessing of a same-sex couple last May (see related story on the opposite page).

Both ECUSA decisions involving sexuality were praised by liberals, who said that welcoming gays and lesbians is a matter of justice and consistent with Christian philosophy.

Conservatives denounced the moves, saying that the Bible clearly condemns homosexuality and that the U.S. church has broken faith with the wider Anglican Communion, a federation of 38 churches and some 77 million members worldwide. Led by an organization called the American Anglican Council, conservatives have called a meeting for early October in Plano, Tex., at which they say they will craft a plea to the primates for the creation of a breakaway province within North America for conservative parishes.

"One of the things this means for (the Canadian church) is that it takes some of the spotlight off us for a little while," noted Canon Eric Beresford, consultant for ethics and inter-faith relations with the national Canadian church office. Since the diocese of New Westminster's action last year, "we've been the centre of attention," he said in an interview at General Convention.

Focus groups in the Canadian church are currently discussing how the question of same-sex blessings might be discussed at the next General Synod, scheduled for May 28 to June 4 next year in St. Catharines, Ont. "With our synod one year after General Convention, it's inevitable some ripples will be felt," he said.

However, Mr. Beresford, added, "one of the things people are beginning to discern is a pattern of increased accommodation toward the relationships of gay and lesbian people," noting the court decisions permitting gay marriage in Canada and the U.S. Supreme Court's decision striking down anti-sodomy laws.

As at General Convention, Canadian delegates can expect lobbying and demonstrations, Mr. Beresford said, but perhaps not at quite as intense a level. Progay activists gathered under a rainbow banner outside the convention centre, singing Amazing Grace. Members of the American Anglican Council handed out leaflets saying "God Is Truth."

Many rumours of disturbances did not, however, materialize, noted Rev. Hays Junkin, chair of the diocese of New Hampshire's governing committee. "We heard rumours of procedural delays, parliamentary roadblocks, attempts to ruin the quorum," he said.

As Canadians prepare for their meeting next year, he said he would say to them, "Don't be afraid. Stay open to the great heritage of the Anglican church which we share. Remember that unity in Christ does not mean uniformity."

However, Canon David Anderson, president of the American Anglican Council, said in an interview that "if Canada goes in the same direction that the Episcopal church went, it will suffer the same tearing-apart. An Anglican province of North America could be a safe home for any Canadian diocese or parishes," he said.

Mr. Anderson said the proposed province would be "totally separate" with "our own primate." However, the church's senior bishop said that would be unlikely. Noting that conservatives' talk of an additional province has been around for several years, ECUSA Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold said at a news conference, "I find it difficult to imagine two parallel realities within a geographic area."

Could it happen here?

WHILE GENERAL SYNOD 2004 will certainly be dealing with matters of same-sex blessings, the national church gathering would never find itself embroiled in the confirmation of the election of a controversial bishop. Episcopal elections are a diocesan and provincial matter in the Anglican Church of Canada.

The process of confirming the election of a bishop varies little among the four ecclesiastical (church) provinces. In general:

The metropolitan (or senior bishop of the ecclesiastical province) is advised of the election; the metropolitan advises the other bishops in the province of the election.

The province's bishops have seven days to concur with the election or raise an objection.

RELATED ARTICLE: Churches react to same-sex rulings.

SOLANGE DE SANTIS STAFF WRITER

The Anglican Church of Canada's debates about homosexuality were thrown into a completely new context in June when the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that the federal law limiting marriage to a male/female couple was discriminatory and unconstitutional. The court legalized marriage for homosexual couples immediately.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien announced that the federal government not only would not appeal the decision, but would draft legislation that would legalize same-sex marriages nationwide, making Canada only the third country in the world to do so, along with Belgium and the Netherlands. The prime minister also said that churches would be exempt from the legislation and no clergy would be forced to perform weddings against their will.

Religious groups expressed a wide variety of reaction.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote to Mr. Chretien, opposing a redefinition of marriage, saying it would "mean a devaluation of traditional marriage as the basis of the family and as an essential institution for the stability and equilibrium of society."

The United Church of Canada, in a statement, took the opposite view, saying that the Chretien government demonstrated "responsible leadership and courage." The statement added that expanding the definition of marriage "doesn't denigrate or diminish the traditional institution of heterosexual marriage, but rather enhances it." In mid-August, the church's national General Council overwhelmingly approved a motion calling on the federal government to recognize same-sex marriage in federal law.

The Anglican Church of Canada did not issue an official statement. "We are in the middle of a complex process," noted Canon Eric Beresford, consultant for ethics and interfaith relations at the national church office in Toronto. "We are getting ready for General Synod (where the issue will be discussed.) The only body that could make a statement would be General Synod," he added.

He said church officials are conducting focus groups around the country on issues involving homosexuality in preparation for General Synod, the church's triennial governing convention scheduled to be held in May 2004. The questions did not change after the Ontario ruling, he said. "We're asking, 'what is the appropriate pastoral response to gay and lesbian relationships? What is the way forward?'" he said.

Canon Beresford also said that the Anglican Church of Canada's marriage canon, or church law, would need to be changed in order to allow a gay couple to be married in an Anglican church. Canon XXI, On Marriage in the Church, says, "the church affirms ... the goodness of the union of man and woman in marriage, this being of God's creation." He also noted that the Anglican church is "on record as supporting civil rights for gay and lesbian people."

In a survey of religious spokespersons, the National Post newspaper reported that Unitarians and Buddhists approve of same-sex marriage, as do some Reform Jewish rabbis. Presbyterians are officially against gay marriage, but are wrestling with the question. Baptists, Muslims and Hindus disapprove.

After the Ontario court decision, the British Columbia Court of Appeal in July also legalized same-sex marriage.

RELATED ARTICLE: Homosexuality furor forces withdrawal of chosen bishop.

London

(ENI)--Canon Jeffrey John, an openly gay priest whose appointment as Bishop of Reading in the diocese of Oxford drew both support and condemnation, asked on July 6 that his name be withdrawn from consideration.

In a letter to the bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries, Mr. John said he wished to withdraw for the sake of "the unity of the church." Bishop Harries had appointed Mr. John a suffragan (assistant) bishop on May 20.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, issued a statement acknowledging that Mr. John's appointment had "brought to light a good deal of unhappiness among people who could by no means described as extremists" on the issue of homosexuality in the church.

Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, the country with the largest number of practising Anglicans, had been among the most vociferous critics of Mr. John's appointment, and had threatened to sever links with dioceses that endorse homosexual relations.

"The estrangement of churches in developing countries from their cherished ties with Britain is in no one's interests. It would impoverish us as a church in every way," said Archbishop Williams.

But the archbishop also said some of the opposition to the appointment had been "very unsavoury indeed" and some letters he had received "displayed a shocking level of ignorance and hatred towards homosexual people."