Anglican Church of Canada to Vote on Same-Sex Marriage at General Synod
The Anglican Church of Canada will vote Monday on a resolution to change the denomination's definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.
The Church's canon defines marriage as being between one man and one woman, but Resolution A051-A1 calls for the removal of the words "union of man and woman" and "husband and wife" and to be replaced by the word "partner."
If passed, the resolution would also allow clergy to officiate same-sex marriages "if it's authorized by the diocean bishop."
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The vote on the resolution will be held during the Church's General Synod national meeting, which takes place once every three years, in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
According to the Times Colonist, the Anglican Church already "performs blessings for same-sex civil unions."
Those who will be voting on the resolution include "the laity, clergy and bishops," the Colonist reports, adding that "in March, the house of bishops said it was not likely to pass the vote."
To pass, the resolution would need a two-thirds majority vote in favor of the motion.
According to CBC News, "indigenous bishops in particular said they would not tolerate 'Western cultural approaches' imposed on them, arguing aboriginal voices had been lost in the 'very strained' debate.debate."
At the last General Synod in 2013, a commission was charged to draft motions on same-sex relationships and was asked to show how such unions are theologically commensurate with the Church's 1893 founding statement, the Solemn Declaration," the CBC reports. The commission was additionally required to consult the Church broadly and include language in its report guaranteeing that no one would be forced to take part in a same-sex marriage against the dictates of his or her conscience.
In its report the commission claimed that "The experience of same-sex committed partnerships in our midst, clearly manifesting God's blessing and the fruit of the Spirit, are a powerful indication that God's view of marriage may be more inclusive than ours."
The commission was formed in response to Resolution 003, a motion brought forth at the last General Synod meeting in 2013 by Michelle Bull, a candidate for ordination who is an advocate for same-sex marriage. In an interview with the Anglican Journal, Bull said if she was ordained and "someone asks me to marry them and they're gay, and the Anglican church says that I can't, that's going to rip me to pieces."
Bull's husband is a priest in the diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and wanted to officiate their daughter's sam-sex wedding in 2010, the year before that diocese voted to permit same-sex unions. Bull was a delegate at that convention and later secured a spot as a delegate to the 2013 General Synod and marshaled support from another delegate, Jennifer Warren, to bring the motion forward.
The CBC noted that Anglicans who support the biblical definition of marriage are grieved that such a resolution is going to be debated.
"It shouldn't be up to me or any other layperson to decide what is and what isn't God's revealed truth," one member wrote to the commission. "The fact that I have to write this letter to defend one of the most fundamental doctrines of the church as made clear by scripture, tradition and reason is disheartening to say the least."
The Anglican Church of Canada is the third-largest church in the country and Statistics Canada states that 1.6 million Canadians identify as Anglican.
The theme of this year's Synod is "You Are My Witnesses" which comes from Isaiah 43:10. The Synod began on Thursday and will run through Tuesday, July 12.
