Canadian Anglicans to Explain Actions for Same-Sex Blessings to ACC

The Anglican Church of Canada, ridden by the issue of homosexuality which almost separated it from the Anglican Communion worldwide, has announced today that four representatives will attend the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) in June.

The representatives are expected to make a presentation to the ACC on the actions the Church has taken in the area of same-sex blessings. The 38 Primates of the Anglican Church worldwide in February requested that such a presentation be given, during a major conference held in Ireland.

The current status of the Anglican Church of Canada within the Anglican Communion has become very delicate, and is being debated widely since it authorised same-sex blessings without the consent of the rest of the Anglican Communion. A rift was triggered by this and opposite opinions have strongly emerged between the conservatives and liberals. The power and unity of the 77-million strong Anglicans worldwide has been threatened by this bitter division over the last year of debating.

In February, the closed-door 4-day Anglican Primates meeting in Northern Ireland responded to the Windsor Report prepared by the Lambeth Commission in an attempt to offer a solution to the current deadlock.

The communiqué read, "...We request that the Episcopal Church (USA) and the Anglican Church of Canada voluntarily withdraw their members from the Anglican Consultative Council for the period leading up to the next Lambeth Conference."

However, the Primates also invited the Canadian and US churches to attend a special hearing of the ACC "to set out the thinking behind the recent actions of their Provinces" in their communiqué.

After subsequent meetings, the governing councils of both the Canadian and US churches voted to send their members to the Anglican Consultative Council, but only to observe.

The four Canadian presenters to this special hearing will be:

- The Very Rev. Peter Elliott, Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver and prolocutor of General Synod.

- Canon Robert Falby, Chancellor and lay canon of the Diocese of Toronto and a member of General Synod;

- The Rev. Dr. Stephen Andrews, President and Vice-Chancellor of Thorneloe University, member of General Synod for the Diocese of Algoma and a member of the Primate's Theological Commission;

- Ms. Maria Jane Highway, a member of the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous partner to General Synod from the Diocese of Brandon and a member of the Faith, Worship and Ministry Committee of General Synod.

Apart from the four presenters, Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, has announced that he will attend at least part of the meeting of the Consultative Council as well.

The ACC meets every three years in various part of the world. It consists of lay, clergy and Episcopal members and is a forum where all Anglican Provinces can share and exchange information and coordinate common actions. In 2002, it was held in Hong Kong. The coming ACC meeting will be held in Nottingham, England, during the week of 19th June.