In June, the Anglican Church of Canada made seemingly contradictory decisions when it ruled that same sex blessings do not contravene core doctrine, then refused to allow local dioceses to decide for themselves how to handle the issue of gay marriages. Ottawa is the first diocese to broach the issue at the local level since that national meeting in Winnipeg.
Ottawa Bishop John Chapman said he welcomed yesterday’s vote because it tells him where the diocese stands on the issue. However, he stressed that the final decision on whether to bless gay marriages still rests with him, and he expects to take his time making that decision. He wants to talk to other bishops, nationally and internationally, before going ahead with a policy.
His stance may seem vehemently noncommittal, but he was very firm that clergy on either side of the debate must fall into line. Rev. Garth Bulmer at Saint John the Evangelist at Somerset and Elgin streets, recently threatened to stop marriages altogether if he couldn’t bless gay couples. And Rev. George Sinclair’s parish of St. Alban the Martyr on King Edward Avenue has withheld some of its funds from the diocese in protest over the issue.
Yesterday’s delicately-worded motion did not ask that gay couples be allowed to marry in an Anglican church, or even that their civil unions be blessed. It just asked that priests be given the right to approach the bishop for permission for such a blessing, should their parish approve. This way, priests and parishes who are not comfortable with gay marriage need not concern themselves with it.
Rev. Christine Piper spoke about a blessing her family received after her ex-husband had a sex change operation. The ceremony provided all the members with a healthy way of accepting this new version of a father and former husband.
However, as the debate wore on, more and more people took the microphones, expressing their reluctance to support the motion. One young girl took a stand against her fellow teens in the youth synod and told the crowd in a shy, hesitant voice: “We can go with our rules, or we can go with God’s rules, and God’s rules have turned out pretty well.”
Ever since the Episcopal church, the American equivalent of the Anglican church, ordained an openly gay bishop in 2003, African bishops have been vociferous in their objections. They have threatened to break with the Anglican church and take their many millions of congregants with them. Many have ordained their own bishops in the U.S. to minister to conservative Episcopalians. In some instances, there have been court battles over the church buildings, many of immense heritage importance, not to mention hugely valuable on prime downtown land.
Yet overwhelmingly, the people objecting to the motion simply felt that gay marriage, or homosexuality of any sort, goes against the word of God.
Later he said he was “disappointed, but not surprised.” He predicted some Anglicans will leave over it, and he just hopes the farewells will be fond and not bitter or triumphant.