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A Brief History of the Crisis in the Anglican Church of Canada April 2008
1976. The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada committed itself to a period of study and discussion and a task force was created to consider the issue of homosexuality, particularly with regard to pastoral concerns and ordination.
1979. The Canadian House of Bishops issued its first major statement on homosexuality, including same-sex unions. The bishops acknowledged the place of gays and lesbians within the Church, noting that “homosexual persons, as children of God, have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, concern and pastoral care of the church.” They rejected the blessing of same-sex unions, however, noting that their acceptance of persons of homosexual orientation was not an acceptance of homosexual activity.
1994. Anglican Essentials was launched. It was a coalition of three orthodox Anglican groups (Anglican Renewal Ministries, Barnabas Ministries and the Prayer Book Society), which joined forces to be a theological and spiritual rallying point for historic Christian orthodoxy in Canada.
1997. The Canadian House of Bishops voted to update the 1979 guidelines while retaining their original intent.
1998. At the decennial Lambeth Conference in London, Anglican Bishops from around the world passed Resolution 1.10 by a vote of 526-70, rejecting outright the blessing of same-sex unions in the Anglican Communion.
The Anglican Church of Canada’s General Synod affirmed the revision of the 1979 guidelines, including its rejection of same-sex unions.
The Diocese of New Westminster voted 179 to 170 to ask Bishop Michael Ingham to authorize the blessing of same-sex unions. Bishop Ingham withheld his consent pending further consultation with the wider Church.
June 2002. The Diocese of New Westminster voted 215 to 129 in favour of blessing same-sex unions and Bishop Ingham gave his consent. Eight parishes that formed the Anglican Communion in New Westminster (ACiNW) were opposed, on the grounds that it went against not only the current position of the national and international Anglican community, but also the explicit teaching of Scripture. Representatives of these eight parishes declared themselves in impaired communion with their Diocese and Bishop and appealed to the Canadian House of Bishops and the global Anglican Communion for Alternative Episcopal Oversight (AEO) - that is, oversight by an alternative Bishop.
August 2002. The outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury (George Carey) and the incoming Archbishop (Rowan Williams) urged individual dioceses not to bless same-sex unions without considering the ramifications and implications for the international Church.
September 2002. The Anglican Consultative Council (a worldwide assembly of Anglican archbishops, bishops, and lay persons) met in Hong Kong. In his presidential address, the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, said that he was deeply concerned that unilateral action by bishops and dioceses ran the risk of splitting the Anglican Church. He made direct mention of Bishop Michael Ingham and the Diocese of New Westminster. He then introduced a resolution that urged individual dioceses to consult with the worldwide Communion before making such decisions. The resolution passed unanimously with one abstention. In an interview shortly after the vote, Archbishop Carey said that Bishop Ingham had not consulted with the worldwide Communion on this matter.
October 2002. A report, issued by two high-ranking Anglican Archbishops and the General Secretary of an Anglican society representing over 14 Anglican Primates and more than 150 Bishops, recommended Alternative Episcopal Oversight (AEO) -- also known as a “Flying Bishop” -- for the (then) eight parishes of the ACiNW. Alternative Episcopal Oversight is a step beyond the “Episcopal Visitor” offered to conservative parishes by Bishop Ingham (and the “Shared Episcopal Ministry” later offered by the ACC’s House of Bishops) in that it gives the external bishop the jurisdictional power to appoint and transfer priests.
March 2003. Bishop Terrence Buckle, Bishop of the Yukon, offered Alternative Episcopal Oversight (AEO) to the parishes in the ACiNW. Seven parishes held special vestry meetings and voted (with an average of 98%) to accept his oversight. Metropolitan David Crawley (of BC – not Ottawa!) commenced disciplinary proceedings against Bishop Buckle, which could lead to his being de-frocked.
May 2003. The Primates met in Brazil and stated that same-sex blessings posed a significant threat to Anglican unity and that they could not support it. Two days later, the first same-sex blessing took place in Vancouver. Reaction by the Primates was swift and several Primates (representing 5/7 of Anglicans worldwide) declared Bishop Ingham and the Diocese of New Westminster “out of communion” with them.
August 2003. Canon Gene Robinson (an openly active homosexual) was confirmed by vote as Bishop-elect for the Diocese of New Hampshire.
September 2003. Bishop Ingham invoked Canon 15, a rarely used church
canon equivalent to religious martial law, to take control of the ACiNW parish
of St. Martin's, North
Vancouver; change the locks on the
church building; and dismiss the church’s orthodox trustees and volunteers.
(Most of the parishioners subsequently began a church plant under the name of
St. Timothy's and, in July 2004, joined the ACiC (see February 2004 below).
October 2003. The Canadian House of Bishops struck a task force (chaired by Bishop Victoria Matthews) to investigate AEO for the parishes of the ACiNW. Bishop Terry Buckle of the Yukon acceded to a request by the House of Bishops to withdraw his offer of AEO for the ACiNW parishes (see March 2003 above) to allow the task force to do its work. Bishop Ingham withdrew the ecclesiastical legal charges against Bishop Buckle.
The Primates attended an emergency meeting in London to deal with the crisis in the Communion precipitated by the actions of the Diocese of New Westminster and the impending consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. They issued a statement saying that the actions of New Westminster, and of the Episcopal Church of the USA (ECUSA) if it proceeded with the consecration, “threaten the unity of our own Communion” and “will tear the fabric of our Communion at its deepest level”. The Primates also called on “the provinces concerned [referring to Canada and the U.S.A.] to make adequate provision for the Episcopal oversight of dissenting minorities within their own area of pastoral care in consultation with the Archbishop of Canterbury on behalf of the Primates”.
While the Primates were still meeting, Bishop Michael Ingham delivered canonical legal charges against seven rectors of the ACiNW parishes.
The Archbishop of Canterbury appointed the “Lambeth Commission on Communion” to prepare recommendations (the subsequent “Windsor Report” – see October 2004 below) on how to deal with the crisis.
November 3, 2003. Canon Gene Robinson was consecrated Bishop of New Hampshire, the first openly homosexual bishop in the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A. (ECUSA).
December 2003. Bishop Ingham wrote to the Rev. James Wagner only a few days before Christmas to advise him that the Mission Church of the Holy Cross in Abbotsford, B.C. (which had recently joined the ACiNW) was terminated and that he was placed on leave with permission to officiate. (Wagner continued to meet with his congregation in a rented facility, although his church was not officially considered a member of the global Anglican Communion.)
January 2004. In the USA, the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes - now called the Anglican Communion Network (ACN) - was officially launched at Plano, Texas. Bishop Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh, was elected Moderator. The Network was a coalition of orthodox Episcopalian churches in the U.S. seeking to remain connected with the Anglican Communion while dissenting from the decision of their 74th General Convention to consecrate as bishop a divorced man living in a same-sex relationship.
February 2004. Four international Primates offered Temporary Alternative Episcopal Oversight (TAEO) to disaffected parishes in Canada. Four parishes from the ACiNW accepted the offer and separated themselves from the ACC to form the Anglican Communion in Canada (ACiC).
March 2004. The Matthews Task Force, which was commissioned to investigate Alternative Episcopal Oversight (AEO) for parishes of the Anglican Communion in New Westminster (ACiNW), submitted its report to the Canadian House of Bishops. The final report recommended a model of AEO, but the House of Bishops did not act on the report at its spring meeting.
May 28-June 4, 2004. The General Synod of the ACC voted to defer a motion to support a local option for the approval of same-sex blessings to the next General Synod in 2007. An amendment to the motion was subsequently passed, stating that General Synod affirmed “the integrity and sanctity [holiness] of committed adult same-sex relationships”. Nine Bishops led by Bishop Don Harvey read a statement of sorrow from the floor of General Synod, noting that in summarily making this affirmation General Synod 2004 had pre-empted the theological inquiry into the subject that it had requested to guide the decision of General Synod 2007 (see May 2005 below).
August 2004. Peter Wall, Dean of the Cathedral in Hamilton, Ontario, conducted a wedding ceremony for a lesbian couple. The story surfaced in the press in November, at which time Dean Wall was reported to be unrepentant. The Bishop of Niagara imposed a brief sanction in the form of a few weeks during which Dean Wall was not permitted to perform marriages, but was otherwise supportive.
August 30-September 1, 2004. The Anglican Essentials Council hosted “The Way Forward” Conference in Ottawa, Ontario, to find a way forward for orthodox Canadian Anglicans in light of the decisions of General Synod in May 2004. Two steering committees were commissioned by the Conference to investigate structures and visions for two groups to bring orthodox Anglicans in Canada together for common cause and orthodox mission. One group was called the “Network”, whose mandate included the provision of pastoral care and spiritual oversight to parishes that dissented from decisions - by their Bishop, Diocese, or the ACC - that contravene mainstream Anglican teaching. The Network was also to investigate ways to ensure that orthodox Canadian Anglican parishes, particularly dissenting parishes, could remain connected to the global Anglican Communion during the resolution of this crisis. The other group, called the “Federation”, was committed to focusing its efforts towards a renewed orthodox Anglicanism within the ACC.
October 2004. The Lambeth Commission released the “Windsor Report” (see October 2003 above) in London. The recommendations of the Windsor report were to be debated at the subsequent Primates' meeting in February 2005:
§ 143 “We believe that to proceed unilaterally with the authorisation of public Rites of Blessing for same sex unions at this time goes against the formally expressed opinions of the Instruments of Unity and therefore constitutes action in breach of the legitimate application of the Christian faith as the churches of the Anglican Communion have received it, and of bonds of affection in the life of the Communion, especially the principle of interdependence.”
This identified five offences of the ACC and ECUSA: first, that they had acted unilaterally; second that they had acted against the formally expressed opinions of the Instruments of Unity; third, that these actions were in breach of the legitimate application of the Christian faith as the churches of the Anglican Communion had received it; fourth, that these actions constituted breaches of the bonds of affection in the life of the Communion; and fifth, that they constituted breaches of the principle of interdependence.
The report called on the ACC (especially the Diocese of New Westminster) and ECUSA to turn back from what they were doing; to express regret both for the consequences and for the actions themselves; and to enact a moratorium on blessing same sex unions and ordaining practising homosexuals.
There was recognition of the need for orthodox parishes to receive alternative oversight to protect them from hostile leaders, and the report finished with this warning:
§ 157 “There remains a very real danger that we will not choose to walk together. Should the call to halt and find ways of continuing in our present communion not be heeded, then we shall have to begin to learn to walk apart.” Further the report pointed to three potential sanctions for the offending provinces: “non-invitation to relevant representative bodies and meetings; invitation, but to observer status only; and, as an absolute last resort, withdrawal from membership.”
November 2004. The Synod of the Diocese of Niagara tabled a motion on the Windsor Report, then voted 213 to 106 to request the Bishop to give clergy permission to marry same sex couples. The Bishop reluctantly withheld his permission at that time, but indicated that he was not permanently closing the door on the subject.
February - March 2005. In response to a request from five primates of the Anglican Communion, Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh and the Anglican Communion Network hosted nine groups within the Anglican tradition in the United States and Canada for talks to make ‘common cause’ in the gospel. These Common Cause groups included the American Anglican Council, the Anglican Mission in America (AMIA), the Anglican Province of America (APA), the Reformed Episcopal Church, Forward in Faith North America (FiFNA), the Anglican Communion in Canada (ACiC), the Anglican Essentials Federation in Canada, and the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC).
February 2005. The Primates, meeting in Northern Ireland, focused on the Windsor Report and issued a Communiqué outlining their response to the current crisis in the Anglican Communion.
In the Communiqué, the Primates:
1. Asked the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church of the USA to withdraw voluntarily from the Anglican Consultative Council until 2008 (when the next Lambeth Conference would be held) and to use the interval to “consider their place within the Anglican Communion” and more particularly “whether they are willing to be committed to the inter-dependant life of the Anglican Communion;
2. Called for “a moratorium on public Rites of Blessing for Same-sex unions and on the consecration of any bishop living in a sexual relationship outside Christian marriage”;
3. Re-affirmed the 1998 Lambeth Conference Resolution 1.10 as the present position of the Anglican Communion;
4. Called upon the Archbishop of Canterbury to “appoint as a matter of urgency, a panel of reference to supervise the adequacy of pastoral provisions made by any churches of such members in line with the recommendation in the Primates’ Statement of October 2003” (q.v.); and
5. Called for a hearing in June 2005 at which the Anglican Church of Canada and ECUSA should appear before the Anglican Consultative Council to “set out the thinking behind the recent actions of their Provinces”. It was understood by the majority of Primates that this was to discuss the matter theologically.
At the same time, the Primates also committed themselves “neither to encourage nor to initiate cross-boundary interventions”, it was agreed that existing cross boundary relationships would be protected under this arrangement.
A number of Primates refused to attend the final Eucharist of the Meeting and have communion with the Primates of Canada and ECUSA - an indication of their broken communion with these Provinces..
The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Canadian Primate, Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, subsequently made public statements acknowledging that the “Communion is broken”. (http://www.anglicanessentials.org/readarticle.php?article_id=21) (http://www.aco.org/acc/docs/constitution.cfm)
April 2005. The Canadian House of Bishops (HOB) issued a Statement of Commitment following their meeting in Windsor, Ontario. The Statement failed to implement the moratorium called for by the Primates Communiqué and did not make any decision with respect to the Primates’ request for withdrawal from the Anglican Consultative Council (see February 2005 above), referring the matter to the Council of General Synod (CoGS). The HOB stood by its offer of Shared Episcopal Ministry, effectively allowing the blessing of same sex unions to continue, and failing to address the ‘tear in the fabric of the communion.’ (http://www.anglicanessentials.org/readarticle.php?article_id=35)
May 2005. The Diocese of New Westminster Synod refused to place a moratorium on the blessing of same sex unions, merely deciding instead not to allow any additional parishes to conduct such blessings. Those parishes that were already blessing same sex unions would continue to do so.
May 2005. The Canadian Primate’s Theological Commission issued the St. Michael Report (http://www.anglican.ca/primate/ptc/StMichaelReport.pdf), which had been commissioned at the General Synod 2004 (see May-June 2004 above). They concluded that same-sex blessings were a matter of doctrine – not merely of pastoral practice as had been argued at General Synod 2004 - although they did not consider it a matter of “core” doctrine, nor a “communion breaking” issue. (This opinion was contrary to the view expressed by several of the Primates at the Northern Ireland meeting in February 2005.) They further concluded that the blessing of same-sex unions was analogous to marriage and should be considered by the Church in that context. The corollary of this Report of the Theological Commission was that any decision to authorize the blessing of same-sex unions would be a change to the doctrine of marriage, and as such would require approval by two consecutive General Synods.
May 2005. The Council of General Synod (CoGS) issued a statement saying that it would send members to the Anglican Consultative Council in Nottingham (June 2005), to make the presentation requested by the Primates, but that those members would not participate in deliberations. Effectively, CoGs acceded to the voluntary withdrawal also requested by the Primates.
June 2005. The Synod of the Diocese of the Arctic unanimously passed a motion in support of the Essentials Montreal Declaration of 1994. The Synod of the Diocese of Fredericton also passed a motion repudiating the motion of General Synod 2004 and declaring that any step taken by General Synod to ‘walk apart’ from the Anglican Communion would jeopardize the relationship between that Diocese and the General Synod.
June 2005. The Anglican Church of Canada and ECUSA appeared
before the Anglican Consultative Council in Nottingham as requested by the Primates’ Meeting. Both asserted
that their moves to bless same-sex relationships (in Canada) and to
consecrate a practising homosexual bishop (in the USA) were
guided by the Holy Spirit. A Kenyan Bishop responded: “We have repeatedly requested for biblical
explanations of their actions so we can relate it to our tradition. Instead of
helping us in this we are crowded with political, sociological and historical
reasons.” A Bishop from Tanzania noted
that “the only mention of
those who have experienced transformation in their sexual lives was offered in
a dismissive manner. In the province of Tanzania we have seen many men and women undergo profound transformation in
every aspect of their lives. It is the heart of the message that we preach and
it is why we continue to experience God’s blessing on our life and ministry.”
Anglican Essentials Canada hosted a gathering of orthodox Anglicans in Toronto at the “Open Door” Conference, June 16-18 at the Roy Thomson Hall, for the official launching of the Essentials Federation and the Anglican Network in Canada. Prominent roles at the Conference were taken by Bishop Don Harvey of the Network in Canada, Bishop Bob Duncan of the Network in the U.S.A., and Archbishop Greg Venables, Primate of the Province of the Southern Cone (comprising most of South America apart from Brazil).
September 2005. Global South Primates held their third “Encounter” at the Red Sea in Egypt, and included Bishop Don Harvey (Moderator of the Anglican Network in Canada) and Bishop Bob Duncan (Moderator of the Anglican Communion Network in the USA), who were requested to robe and to form part of the Primatial procession. The Primates of the ACC and of ECUSA were not invited. During the conference, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams recognized the two Networks as “faithful members of the Anglican Communion”. The Conference communiqué, “The Third Trumpet,” reaffirmed the Windsor Report and stated that “our own Anglican Communion sadly continues to be weakened by unchecked revisionist teaching and practices which undermine the divine authority of the Holy Scripture. The Anglican Communion is severely wounded by the witness of errant principles of faith and practice…” and “We reject the expectation that our lives in Christ should conform to the misguided theological, cultural and sociological norms associated with sections of the West.”
December 2005. Bishop Peter Coffin granted permission to function, as a priest in the Diocese of Ottawa, to the Rev. Linda Fisher-Privitera, who had recently moved to the area with her lesbian partner (married under same-sex marriage laws in the Diocese of Massachusetts, where she was an outspoken advocate of gay and lesbian causes). The Rev. Linda Fisher-Privitera joined the ministry team at St. John the Evangelist, Elgin Street. When this change in diocesan policy became known in January 2006, the Ven. Désirée Stedman resigned as Archdeacon of Ottawa Centre, where the parish of St. John the Evangelist is situated.
February 2006. Seven Ottawa clergy signed an open letter to their Bishop
protesting this move, which effectively accepted and approved the practice of
homosexuality by recognizing the Rev. Linda Fisher-Privitera as a priest in
good standing in the Church. February 2006. Bishops Harvey and Duncan were again invited in
preference to the ACC and ECUSA Primates, this time to the enthronement of the
Rt. Rev. John Chew as Archbishop of the Province of South East
Asia. 3 May 2006. Bishop Peter Coffin issues a pastoral letter to local clergy explaining his motivation in offering Linda Fisher-Privitera informal permission to work in the Diocese of Ottawa. He will arrange a time for an invited group to talk about sexuality, and the implications of the Saint Michaels's Report. 20 May 2006. The Ottawa Citizen carries a major article by Jennifer Green entitled "Torn asunder." The on-line version of the Citizen gives it a different title and subtitle: "Same-sex ceasefire ends for Anglican Church. Ottawa at centre of possible international schism". This details the events in Ottawa since December 2005, includes interviews with Rev. George Sinclair and Rev. Désirée Stedman, and touches on Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola's support for his country's recent anti-homosexual legislation. June 2006. ECUSA held its 75th General Convention, at which it changed its name to The Episcopal Church (TEC) and elected a new Presiding Bishop (Primate), Katharine Jefferts Schori, who is a strong supporter of TEC’s revisionist policies. GC2006 also failed to comply with the requirements of the Windsor Report. Immediate results were the attempts of several whole dioceses to withdraw from TEC and arrange for alternative traditionalist oversight, and an acceleration of the exodus both of individuals and parishes from TEC. The Primate of Nigeria also established a Nigerian mission in the U.S. under Bishop Martyn Minns. 23 - 26 August 2006. Anglican Essentials Canada consultations 23 - 24 (AEC) and 25 - 26 (ANiC) August, 2006, Ryerson University, Toronto. Several members of the AGO executive were invited to attend one or other consultation. September 2006. A Meeting of the Global South Primates at Kigali, Rwanda, advocated the creation of “a separate ecclesiastical structure of the Anglican Communion in the U.S.A.” for traditionalist Anglicans alienated by TEC’s revisionism. 30 October 2006. At its AGM, The Anglican Gathering of Ottawa votes to change its name to Anglican Essentials Ottawa to come into line with the most prominent group for Canadian orthodoxy recognized in the Worldwide Anglican Communion. It decided to apply to become a local chapter of Essentials (AEC). It also created two committees: Anglican Network in Ottawa (ANiO), and Anglican Federation in Ottawa (AFiO), reflecting the two similarly named groups within Anglican Essentials Canada. February 2007. The Primates Meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, required TEC to undertake to comply with the requirements of the Windsor Report by 30 September, if it wished to remain a member of the Anglican Communion. It also addressed the needs of traditionalist Anglicans for traditionalist episcopal oversight. The Meeting also worked on the draft of a Covenant, to be signed by the Primates to ensure unity and greater accountability in the Anglican Communion, which is to be dealt with at the next Lambeth Conference in 2008.
What effect the Primates’ decisions will have on TEC and the ACC remains to be seen. For example, the Primates urged the cessation of the legal battles over Church property, but there seems little likelihood that their strictures will be heeded by TEC. The Bishop of Ottawa’s Pastoral Letter in the current issue of Cross Talk indicates that in similar circumstances the situation here would be much the same as there.
2007 (Feb) – Primates Meeting in Dar es Salaam
2007 (June) – Canadian General Synod
2007 (July) – Global South Primates Steering Committee: “We have also noted the decisions of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada and are dismayed by their unilateral declaration that 'same-sex blessing is not core doctrine'… We are exploring the possibility of additional pastoral provisions for those who want to remain faithful to Communion teaching and have been affected by the continuing actions of their own bishops.” 2007 (Sept) – Common Cause Council of Bishops - 51 bishops representing 10 partner organizations meet and take the first steps toward creating the new North America Anglican province called for by the Primates of the Global South at Kigali in September 2006. 2007 (November) – Province of the Southern Cone synod votes to welcome into membership on an emergency and pastoral basis, North American Anglicans needing godly episcopal oversight and wishing to remain in the mainstream of global Anglicanism and be faithful to its Biblical and historic teaching and witness. 2007 (November) – Anglican Network in Canada offers Adequate Episcopal Oversight under Bishop Donald Harvey - who is now a bishop within the Province of the Southern Cone under Archbishop Gregory Venables - to biblically-faithful Canadian Anglicans who are in “serious theological dispute” with their bishop, diocese or the ACC and who wish to remain “in full communion with the Church of England throughout the world”. 2008 (April) – Archbishop Gregory Venables visits Canada and commissions Bishop Malcolm Harding and Bishop Donald Harvey for mission and ministry in Canada under his jurisdiction. Bishop Harvey then licences 29 clergy and four deacons for ANiC. |