Following the example set by the Diocese of Niagara, the Diocese of Ottawa will continue to perform same-sex marriages, ignoring the fact that the vote to change the marriage canon failed to pass. I’m quite sure others will follow: Toronto, Montreal, Huron among others:
Bishop Susan Bell has announced that, in spite of the fact that the synod motion to amend the Marriage Canon was defeated, she will continue to marry same-sex couples.
If bishops are free to do this, why bother with a vote? Why bother with a synod?
More here:
A Message from the Bishop of Niagara
The Right Reverend Susan BellMy heart aches with lament and my soul is filled with anguish knowing all the pain and hurt caused by the General Synod’s failure to ratify a change to the national marriage canon that would have explicitly expanded the meaning of marriage to include same-sex couples.
To the members of the LGBTQ2S community especially, I want to say that I stand with you and I share in your tears. I deeply value the person God beautifully created and called you to be and your contributions to the life of our Church. Your faithful witness has been long, difficult, prophetic, and sacrificial, and I give thanks to God for it.
While I am deeply disappointed, the General Synod did also overwhelmingly vote to affirm the prayerful integrity of the diverse understandings and teachings about marriage in the Anglican Church of Canada. This includes the inclusive understanding of marriage affirmed by the Report on the Marriage Commission, This Holy Estate, that we hold in Niagara.
As a result, nothing about this decision will change our practice in Niagara; I remain steadfast in exercising my episcopal prerogative to authorize the marriage of all persons who are duly qualified by civil law to be married, thereby responding to the pastoral needs present within our diocese. Two rites of The Episcopal Church, The Witnessing and Blessing of a Marriage and The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage 2 continue to be authorized for use in our diocese, in accordance with our established episcopal guidelines.
There will be more to say in the coming days but for now I ask your prayers and solidarity for and with the LGBTQ2S community, globally and locally, in the wake of this decision and in the face of persistent discrimination, oppression, and violence. Pray also for the members of General Synod that in the days to come the Holy Spirit will help us discern a way forward that upholds the dignity of every human being and boldly proclaims God’s Way of radically inclusive love.
Bishop Skelton did not attend the synod because of illness. She had this to say about the failure of the motion to change the Marriage Canon:
I was very disappointed not to have been with our delegates on account of my illness as the vote on the marriage canon occurred tonight. All that I can say is that I’m very sorry for all the feelings of hurt that this vote has caused, and that I urge everyone to pray for the Anglican Church of Canada.
Remember that this Synod is not over! And so please pray that together we can find a better solution to the marriage question.
+Melissa
There was a lot of emotion following the vote. Someone screamed. Another person ran out in tears. The final prayer was delivered by a lady who had tears trickling down her face. Fred Hiltz said he was “concious of pain in this place”. Anyone would think the the desire to change the canon was propelled by emotion rather than Scripture and reason.
Like a zombie that just won’t die, the possibility of a new motion to revisit the Marriage Canon resolution was raised from the floor at the end of the evening.
The two thirds majority needed to allow same-sex marriage was met by the laity and clergy but defeated by the bishops.
Primate Fred Hiltz appeared to be stunned by the vote.
Before the meeting was adjourned, there was talk of making another motion to somehow bypass the decision of this defeated motion, so this may not be over.
I’m watching the live stream of GS2019. The discussion is about the change to the Marriage Canon. A motion has just been made to close debate. That means that Bishop David Parsons will not be able to express his views; apparently something similar happened in 2016. I wish I had recorded it, but the gist of it was that, in spite of all the talk about respect for all points of view, not much respect was being shown to the bishop – who, of course, disagrees with the motion.
It went further – almost to the point of unCanadian unpleasantness – as the bishop seemed to throw down a gauntlet: there would be serious consequences if he wasn’t heard. If anyone has a better recollection of exactly what was said, please comment below.
Bishop David: I’m sure ANiC would be delighted if you spoke at any of its synods.
From here:
In an exercise intended to produce more compassionate discussions than those that sometimes prevailed during marriage canon discussion in 2016, members of the 2019 General Synod spent almost the entire afternoon of the gathering’s first official day of business hearing about and practicing ways of speaking and listening respectfully to one another.
An organisation that spends an entire afternoon discussing how to discuss things doesn’t stand much of a chance of getting to the heart of the matter to be discussed. It is like Kierkegaard’s view of ‘reflection’ as opposed to ‘immediacy’, where you have an idea about something and indulge in endless conversations about the idea, instead of dealing with the thing itself. Will anyone be allowed to express any strong reasons to oppose same-sex marriage or will they be squashed as hurtful or bullying. We’ll see.
From 1:30 p.m. until close to 5 p.m. on July 11, with one break, Lynne McNaughton, bishop of the diocese of Kootenay, and priest and psychologist Canon Martin Brokenleg led a session on “being a synod,” discussing the importance of living out Christian love during debates about potentially contentious issues, and having synod members practice respectful listening and talking skills in table groups.
The Anglican version of “Christian love” has devolved into mushy sentiment centred around not hurting anyone’s feelings.
Dean Peter Wall, chair of the General Synod planning committee, said the idea for the exercise arose out of a great deal of talking and praying committee members had done, in the hope of creating a “listening, learning atmosphere” at the 2019 synod, and to help it be “both a community and a body.”
The alleged “listening, learning atmosphere” is a hoax: no one was willing to listen to ex-homosexuals and ex-lesbians from the Zacchaeus Fellowship in prior synods and no one will be in this synod.
Brokenleg was to have co-led the session with Archbishop Melissa Skelton, metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of British Columbia and Yukon and diocesan bishop of New Westminster, but Skelton was ill and unable to attend General Synod on Thursday. McNaughton, another member of the General Synod planning committee who, Wall said, was closely involved in developing the exercise, took her place Thursday.
McNaughton said she hoped the exercise would allow members of synod to be their “authentic selves” in their discussions while at the same time making room “for others with different authentic selves and perspectives.”
What on earth are “authentic selves”? How did non-authentic selves get nominated as delegates? Have synod delegates been the victim of alien body snatchers and become Pod People, duplicates in every respect except in their ability to maintain a connection with authenticity? It would explain the behaviour of many of the clergy.
Listening and speaking well through difficult discussions, she said, is a way to “be as Christ to one another, to love one another as Christ has loved us,” and by doing this, Christians can be an example to the world.
“We are called to be a witness to a world that is hungry for civility, parched for compassion,” she said. “The world is watching how we treat each other in the midst of difference, and the world is waiting to be inspired.”
The world is hungry for truth not sickly, bogus, anodyne civility.
It has now emerged that Bishop Mark MacDonald was registered as a non-voting attendee so none of his votes counted during the synod. Yes, the clowns really are running the synod circus.
I know whether the marriage canon vote passed or not doesn’t really make much difference, since liberal bishops are determined to plough ahead no matter what anyone votes, says or does, but surely this latest revelation makes a mockery of the whole process and, since this could be the tip of a very ugly iceberg, invalidates every decision that was made.
Laughably, some from the ACoC turned up at the El Salvador presidential elections in 2014 to make sure everything was above-board. It would be only fair, I think, to invite Salvador Sánchez Cerén, El Salvador’s president, to return the favour and scrutinise the results of the 2019 synod.
From, here:
The National Indigenous Anglican Bishop erroneously listed as non-voting at the General Synod 2016
In the process of reviewing the list of those voting at the General Synod, it has come to my attention that, in addition to myself and the chancellor, one other voting member was wrongly listed as non-voting in the spreadsheet provided to Data-on-the-Spot. The National Indigenous Anglican Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald, was erroneously listed as non-voting and I only discovered this error a number of days after the end of synod. As a result of this error, none of Bishop Mark’s votes during the synod was recorded electronically.
What we did know during the synod was that Bishop MacDonald approached the head-table following the release of voting information for the motion to revise the Marriage Canon. At this time, he informed the primate that he had voted “no”.
If Bishop Mark’s vote were to have been be registered, it would not have changed the outcome of the motion. It would have increased the number of opposed in the order of bishops from 12 to 13 total (one-third of bishops present and voting). The number of bishops in favour would still have met the legislative threshold of two-thirds.
I have spoken with and apologized personally to Bishop MacDonald, and he has been gracious and understanding. We are all deeply grateful to Bishop Mark, and to all those with whom he works, for the emerging clarity in the Indigenous Spiritual Ministry of the Anglican Church of Canada.
I will seek the advice of the Chancellor of General Synod, and present a full report of all voting issues and recommendations of any possible mitigation, to the Council of General Synod at its first meeting this fall.
The integrity of voting at General Synod has come perilously close to breaking. I am grateful to all who have helped us understand where and how that integrity was put at risk. With that information, we can both correct mistakes and, for future General Synods, learn how errors can be avoided.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Thompson, General Secretary
Why are there no calls for Michael Thompson’s resignation?
