Source: National Post and Canadian Press
At least five more Anglican churches -- three in British Columbia and two in Ontario -- are likely to separate from the national Church over the divisive issue of same-sex blessings by the end of the month. Another four will also vote on similar motions this month.

They will be following St. John's, the country's largest Anglican parish, which voted this week to leave the Anglican Church of Canada. The Vancouver parish chose to put itself under the authority of conservative Gregory Venables, the Archbishop of the Southern Cone, which encompasses parts of South America.

The root of the split is the contentious issue of the blessing of same-sex unions.

"It started out as a tear in the fabric, then it became a rupture and now it is a schism and a new reformation," says Lesley Bentley, spokeswoman for St. John's.

Two other British Columbia churches had already voted to join the more conservative South American diocese.

"The vote was on the blessing of same-sex unions but the reason we walked out on that was never about the blessings in particular."

Federal legislation allowing same-sex unions largely silenced what was once a raucous debate in Canada. But many churches continue to struggle with the question of religious recognition of homosexual unions.

It has been a major topic of debate for the Anglican Church of Canada and its 30 dioceses at least since 2002 when Bishop Michael Ingham and the Diocese of New Westminster approved it.

Rev. Andrew Hewlett, minister at St. Mary of the Incarnation near Victoria, which will vote tomorrow, received a letter from the bishop of his diocese, James Cowan, that said anyone "found to be acquiescing in or to be actively promoting such a separation" could face "immediate termination of employment without notice or severance."

He said the vote will go ahead despite the threat because it is the will of his congregation that it happen. He expects the motion to leave the Canadian Church will pass.

Rev. Simon Chin of St. Matthias & St. Luke Church in Vancouver said he, too, expects his parish to separate when it votes on Feb. 24.

"For the last six years we have been calling for help [from the diocese and the Anglican Church of Canada], but they've not done anything," he said. "Our people in our church are the ones pushing all of this because they feel we don't have a home here."

He said the mood at his church -- a mix of Chinese-, Japanese-and English-speaking members -- is one of relief. "We finally have someone to give us a home."

Several churches in the Diocese of New Westminster, which encompasses the Vancouver area, have been battling for six years with Ingham since he gave permission to parishes to conduct same-sex blessings. Churches in the diocese have been told to expect legal action and fights over property if they leave.

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, the head of the Anglican Church of Canada, released a letter earlier this week after the St. John's vote reminding defectors that they'll have no building to occupy if they choose to join another diocese.

"In our Anglican tradition, individuals who choose to leave the Church over contentious issues cannot take property and other assets with them," Hiltz wrote.

But Bentley, whose congregation plans to fight any eviction, says the St. John's vote is a result of issues that extend beyond the blessing of same-sex unions, which she likens to the tip of the iceberg, the 10 per cent of the iceberg that protrudes above water.

There is now in the Anglican Church of Canada "a real divide between two ways of viewing the scripture, where the orthodox would argue you use the Bible as a lens and you look at society and judge society through the lens of the Bible."

"The liberals would say you use contemporary society as the lens and you look at the Bible through the lens of society."

Most of the dissident churches are in B.C. but there are at least three in Ontario also about to take votes that could lead to them aligning with jurisidictions in Africa or South America, he says.

With Ingham out of the country, Rev. Peter Elliott speaks for the Diocese of New Westminster and takes the stance that the church is strong and vibrant and can weather this issue.

Of the 30 dioceses in Canada, he says four have voted in favour of asking their bishop to provide a rite for the blessing of couples who have been civilly married.

They are New Westminster, Niagara, Ottawa and Montreal.

The other 26 "are having conversations" on the issue.

Elliott also notes that the General Synod of the Anglican Church has already decided that the issue of the blessing of same-sex unions "was not in conflict with the core doctrine of the Anglican Church of Canada, in other words, a secondary issue."

For Elliott, it boils down to a minority within the Canadian church who take a view that "homosexual people are disordered. That's really the essence of their argument. They believe the issues around homosexuality to be first order, gospel issues as they call them.

"The vast majority of Anglicans across the country disagree. We celebrate a church that is diverse, where there is healthy debate."

Rev. Ed Hird, who has been battling Ingham and the same-sex issue from the outset says that the Anglican Church in Canada seems in disarray.

The Anglican Church he grew up with "has left us. We no longer recognize it," Hird said. "It's become closer to the theology and practice of the United Church."

Like Bentley, Hird says focusing strictly on the same-sex issue is misleading.

"The church welcomes homosexuals "but if we have to compromise biblical teaching that becomes difficult for us."

"We welcome everybody," Hird claimed, but then listed people that he considers comparable to gay and lesbian church members: "drug addiction, prostitution, people from prison."

"We don't feel we have permission to bless things that are forbidden in Scripture," he said.

Full article: Five Anglican parishes set to separate from Church | National Post
Same-sex blessing issue proves divisive for Anglican Church in Canada | Canadian Press