Stand-alone services for the blessing of same-sex unions and permission for clergy to enter civil same-sex marriages will now require action by General Synod, which will likely take years.
With Living in Love and Faith off the table, Synod members worked on legislation to help abuse survivors, oppose assisted dying, and retire a 34-year-old statement on sexuality.
Governance of the top-heavy but financially depleted Anglican Church of Canada has become a priority because the church is one-quarter of its former size and shrinking.
“We must focus on addressing the urgent need for major changes in our national structure, operations, and culture,” said Shane Parker, who led a restructuring of the Diocese of Ottawa.
Christopher Harper, Greg Kerr-Wilson, David Lehmann, and Riscylla Walsh-Shaw will be considered for election as primate by the church’s General Synod on June 26.
Lis Goddard claimed that proposals to eliminate the secret ballot, lower the election threshold, and give archbishops an extra vote to break ties amounted to “a massive shift in how we operate, shifting the power dramatically to those who already hold the majority of power.”
The Church of England’s General Synod has narrowly backed standalone services for blessing same-sex unions alongside a provision for conservative parishes to register for delegated episcopal oversight.
A group of Church of England evangelicals may form a third province if General Synod allows a three-year trial for stand-alone services of same-sex blessing.
