American Anglican Council :: BlogSite Main June 03, 2004 Anglican Church in Canada approves resolution Source: ACNS
Anglican Church in Canada
By Marites N Sison
Staff Writer: Anglican Journal
June 3, 2004 St Catharines, Ont. - Deeply divided over liberalizing church attitudes toward homosexuals, Canadian Anglicans meeting at their triennial governing convention here voted to defer a decision on whether gay relationships should be blessed in church. Members of the General Synod approved a revised version of a resolution that originally would have given dioceses the authority to allow same-sex blessing ceremonies. The new version asks the Primate's Theological Commission to "review, consider and report by spring 2006 whether the blessing of committed, same-sex unions is a matter of doctrine." Established in 1995, the Primate's Theological Commission has studied questions of biblical interpretation and produced several books on Anglican expressions of the Christian faith. In earlier sessions of debate, several delegates and table groups noted that if the issue is a matter of doctrine, or faith interpretation, then General Synod, not the dioceses, should deal with it. They also asked whether it is merely a matter of practice, or pastoral care, that could be left to individual dioceses. The decision would have given dioceses a so-called "local option." The resolution passed also requests "that the issue of the blessing of committed same-sex unions be considered at the meeting of General Synod in 2007." The original motion approved "the authority and jurisdiction of any diocesan synod, with the concurrence of its bishop, to authorize the blessing of committed same-sex unions." | |
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