THE House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) issued a pastoral letter May 1 which could possibly pull the church away from blessing same-sex unions.

The letter states: “It is the discernment of the majority of the House of Bishops that, as of today, the doctrine and discipline of our church does not clearly permit” the formal blessing of same-sex unions.

This opposes a resolution proposed in March by the Council of the ACC’s General Synod, which stated: “the blessing of same-sex unions is consistent with the core doctrine of the Anglican Church of Canada.” The resolution will be voted on by the General Synod meeting June 19 – 25 in Winnipeg. 

Victoria Matthews, Bishop of Edmonton, told BCCN  that if the resolution is passed, “we will have taken a giant step as a church.”

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However, she added, “many of the bishops . . . do not believe the doctrine of the church would permit us to vote in favour.”

The bishops’ pastoral letter calls for a report on “the theological question [of] whether the blessing of same-sex unions is a faithful, Spirit-led development of Christian doctrine,” which would be presented at the next General Synod in 2010.

Matthews said it would be premature for delegates to vote on the question, because “not a single theological paper” has been written on the subject. She said the bishops’ letter was asking for a “theological rationale for the blessing of same-sex unions,” and stating that without such a rationale, “we shouldn’t pass [the resolution].”             – JC

June 2007