Diocese of Niagara “walks apart” from Anglican Communion
Anglican Network in Canada NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 17 November 2007
The Anglican Network in Canada stands with the millions of Anglicans – in Canada and throughout the worldwide Anglican Communion – who are hurt and distressed by the decision of the Niagara Synod and Bishop to proceed at a time of the bishop’s choosing with the blessing of same-sex marriages. The Ottawa and Montreal Synods approved similar motions in October but their bishops have withheld consent to proceed.
“We are grieved that the synod and bishops of Niagara have chosen to walk away from centuries of Christian teaching and defy the consensus within the Anglican Communion,” says the Right Reverend Donald Harvey, Moderator of the Anglican Network in Canada. “There is clearly a growing momentum within the Anglican Church of Canada to ignore biblical teaching, disregard the views of the global Church, and even ignore the principles upon which the Canadian Church was founded. These actions have ‘torn the fabric’ of the Communion at its deepest level just as the Primates warned in October 2003”
By proceeding with these decisions to bless civilly married same-sex couples, the Diocese of Niagara is separating itself from the vast majority of Anglicans worldwide and deepening the divide within the Anglican Church of Canada and the global Communion.
In its rush to discard its heritage and conform to current culture, the Anglican Church of Canada has abandoned biblically-faithful Canadian Anglicans who, increasingly, feel they no longer have a home within that church. Ironically, while traditional Anglicans are marginalized within the Canadian church, they remain among the vast majority of global Anglicans, upholding historic Anglican and Christian teaching and tradition.
We are grateful for the support of Archbishop Gregory Venables and the Province of the Southern Cone who, at their Synod last week, expressed their willingness to provide a safe haven and Communion connection for these biblically faithful people. The Network is holding a conference – Building on the Solid Rock, in Burlington, Ontario, on November 22–23 – to discuss this option.
The Anglican Network in Canada is committed to remaining faithful to Holy Scripture and established Anglican doctrine and to ensuring that orthodox Canadian Anglicans are able to remain in full communion with their spiritual brothers and sisters around the world.
Contact:
Marilyn Jacobson, communications
Anglican Network in Canada
604 929–0369
mjacobson@anglicannetwork.ca