It could be argued that if we had all gone home after voting on these affirmations, much of the pain that resulted from General Synod’s other decisions could have been avoided and we may have been the better for it. But as it happened, we proceeded to the debate and vote on the marriage canon amendment, the failure of which unleashed an avalanche of protest, accusation, and ill will that in many ways will form the lasting characterization of General Synod 2019 for many of those who were present.
I am set apart from most of the contributors here by the fact that I was and continue to be supportive of queer sexualities and have never tried to hide this fact. I want to explain here why I was so troubled by the General Synod of 2016 and its aftermath when I was supportive of same-sex marriage, and why it troubled me to the point that I seriously considered leaving the Anglican Church entirely. All of these problems have, most regrettably, only gotten worse, and I write this letter in deep ambivalence, pain, and desperation.
In the run up to the Anglican Church of Canada's 2019 General Synod, Covenant published a series of articles dealing with the proposed changes to the marriage canon from a conservative perspective. These articles generated considerable response. Two of our authors have penned responses to their critics.
All of us face a situation where things may not turn out the way we hope they will. And regardless of the outcome, our calling as disciples of Jesus Christ bids us to the following perspectives, demeanors, and behaviors.
We need to repent of the ways we have excluded the marginalized and we need to repent from the ways our understanding of what it means to be human is more often derived from our experience or observations than from the revelation of God in Jesus Christ.
I worry that the church that fails to publicly protect the unique sacramentality of procreative marriage may just find that it has cut its own umbilical cord.
In the event of an apocalypse, are parents or bishops more essential for the survival of the church? My vote is with the former. Far more people are converted by their parents than by bishops.
