The Anglican Church of Canada is shying away from making definitive theological statements about issues it considers difficult. For example, the ACoC has made no coherent statements on the rightness or wrongness of abortion, euthanasia or changing the marriage canon. Instead we are exhorted to listen to people’s stories: theology by anecdote. In areas where it should have at least a modicum of expertise, the church is completely at sea; issues such as global warming, whose understanding requires detailed technical knowledge that the church does not possess, are the constant subject of dogmatic, “binary” denunciations and pious outbursts.
Here are six people’s views on changing the marriage canon, a conundrum which, we are told, has “no easy answers”. Rubbish, there is a perfectly easy answer derived from Scripture, one which has been the foundation of the church’s position on marriage for 2000 years.
Interestingly, of the six people, those in favour of same-sex marriage include a lesbian clergywoman, a lesbian who is “part of the queer community” who doesn’t attend an Anglican church and an openly homosexual layman who does attend an Anglican church. The three supporting orthodox Christian marriage are all Anglican laypeople.
As delegates to General Synod prepare to vote on a second reading of Resolution A051-R2, potential changes to the Anglican Church of Canada’s marriage canon, the Anglican Journal’s editorial staffers have given much consideration to our task. What should we write? What should readers hear before the vote?
Few topics have further challenged the church—in recent years, at least—than same-sex marriage. Is love or tradition more important? Could God make the two mutually exclusive? Should the church hold people back or press people forward, unwillingly in either case?
There are no easy answers to these questions, as acknowledged by the “A Word to the Church” document about the proposed amendment of marriage canon and potential amendments, proposed by Council of General Synod in March, to the resolution considered in 2016.
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The Journal’s decision was to share the words of people like Natalie: people with lived experiences that extend beyond a yes-or-no question. The Journal’s Joelle Kidd and Tali Folkins spoke with six Anglicans—three in favour of the resolution and three opposed to it—to ask them:
As a matter of fact, if we have eyes in our heads and brains between our ears, we need no texts from any sacred book.
That ‘stories’ business we suffered in the early 90s in my Diocese during the so-called study process. The storytellers were carefully selected.
“Is love or tradition more important?” Wrong binary.
That was my take too. I was pleasantly surprised that they included three articulate views against the change. But the way it was framed by the staff member was very skewed. It’s frustrating to see how effective this narrative has become, a narrative that willfully confuses sexual freedom (and it’s validation) with love, and faithfulness with tradition. Sigh.
Solo Scriptura, Total Scriptura
That’s all any real Christian Church needs to consider. What does God say in the Holy Bible that He authored? Once you have His answer you have your answer. If you choose to not follow God and His answer than you are not a Christian. It is literally that simple. And God lays it out as plane as day. (Or should that be plain?) Marriage is a Act of God in which God joins a man to a woman, because male and female He created them.
No further discussion needed. No further discernment required. And certainly no story telling desired. Just stick with God, or else!
Your assessment is absolutely correct. Tragically we have in the ACoC and some other branches in the Anglican Communion so-called bishops that have come to believe that their word is superior to THE WORD. This disease has also spread to other denominations the result of which is the loss of true faith and belief in THE WORD as well as the actions within the ACoC of legally stealing properties from true Christians using corrupt lawyers and civil courts that have no real knowledge of THE TRUTH. It is well past the time for orthodox bishops and church leaders to stand up against the whiles of the DEVIL.
We are new to the Anglican tradition but have fallen in love with it, and both the Liberal and Conservative Anglicans are among the friendliest Christians we have encountered. At the end of the day, this fascination with with sexual politics is driving families away. I’m not sure I want my children part of these conversations any longer. Without children in Anglican Churches, Anglican Churches will die out. Each week we look around and there are simply not many children or TEENS in the pews. What a complete waste of time all of this is–both sides of the Anglican Church should be more concerned with placing children and teens first, developing their Christian faith and equipping them to be strong in their faith. I’m exhausted, the Evangelicals are vapid and obsessed with purple lights and “entertainment Church” and the Anglicans, who actually have some tools to offer people in this fast paced world, are too obsessed with sexual politics. And you know what, the liberal Anglicans talk about “reconciliation” with Indigenous but at the end of the day they care more about gay people than Natives, we have seen that with our own eyes.
I will also tell a funny story. One morning at our liberal Anglican Church a lesbian grandmother visited with her grandchildren. Actually, this particular family visited a few times. This lesbian woman asked me where all the children’s programs are. I sheepishly said, “well, this is pretty much it.” She was outraged, she said, “The evangelicals invest in the children, they have so many children’s programs, and so many things for children.” She never came back. How funny is it when lesbian Christians themselves can clearly see the writing on the wall. All this energy and time wasted on this ridiculous vote–and meanwhile the Anglican Church has no children or teens to sustain it! I’ll bet those bishops can see that this obsession with sexual politics is destroying the Church–no children, no growth. The actual conversation the Anglican Church should be having is how to bring FAMILIES back to the fold and let me tell you as a family I’m SICK of anything sexual being brought up so often. My kids probably know more about gay politics than Jesus, this is just going beyond insanity at this point. I’m out. I’m done. No more.