c. 2007 Religion News Service

WINNIPEG, Manitoba _ The national governing body of the Anglican Church of Canada on Sunday (June 24) defeated by the tightest of margins a motion to forge ahead with same-sex blessings across the country.

The church’s lay and clergy delegates voted to allow same-sex blessings, but church bishops defeated the move, 21-19. Majorities in all three groups would have been needed to approve the measure.

Earlier in the day, delegates approved a statement that said the blessing of same-sex unions is “not in conflict with the core doctrine” of the Anglican Church of Canada. Yet bishops, perhaps mindful of pressure from overseas Anglican provinces, narrowly killed the measure.

Archbishop-elect Fred Hiltz, who was chosen Friday (June 22) as the church’s next primate, or top bishop, voted in favor of same-sex blessings, and said he wanted to reach out “pastorally” to gay and lesbian Christians.

“This is no doubt going to cause lots of pain,” Hiltz said. “There are a lot of people who will say, “How long, oh Lord? How long?”

The decision is likely to spare the Canadian church some of the ire from overseas Anglicans that has been directed south of the border at the Episcopal Church in the United States. Both churches were told to promise not to allow same-sex blessings by Sept. 30 or face unspecified “consequences” from the worldwide Anglican Communion.

But in Canada, which legalized same-sex civil marriage in 2005, Hiltz _ who was the bishop for Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island _ and others wondered whether a better, simpler way could be found to hold such important votes.

“It’s a bitter pill for those in our church who are frustrated and had wanted to move forward,” said Vancouver-area Bishop Michael Ingham, whose diocese is the only one in Canada to have formally approved the blessing of committed same-gender relationships.

“The decision raises serious doubts about leadership _ when the whole church is held back by two bishops,” Ingham said.

The progressive Vancouver-area bishop said he would respect the decision of the General Synod, but did not spell out what that would mean for his diocese, where fewer than 20 blessings have been already held since 2003.

The Anglicans’ rejection of same-sex blessings came one day after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, which was also meeting here, defeated a similar motion.

On Saturday, 52.5 percent of delegates from the 175,000-member Evangelical Lutheran Church voted against allowing local churches to offer the rites of blessing to same-gender couples.

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But most of the world’s eyes was on the Anglican showdown.

After the Anglican vote, both liberals and conservatives said they feared Canadian priests and others who are tired of waiting for the national church to endorse same-sex blessings will ignore the church’s governing bodies and quietly conduct them anyways.

“I think there are going to be some dioceses going ahead and blessing same-sex relationships (despite the vote). I think the church as a whole has already made its decision,” said Charlie Masters, an Anglican priest from Ontario who heads a conservative group within the church called Anglican Essentials.

“This is a sad day for Anglicans because we stepped outside the Bible, ” said Masters, who was disappointed with the motion that said same-sex blessings are “not in conflict with the core doctrine” of the church.

Vancouver-area Anglican delegate Steve Schuh, who is gay, predicted that many Anglican priests could break with “church discipline” and conduct the same-sex rites without official approval.

“Will some bishops look the other way? Or will they give a quiet rap on the knuckles? Or will they come down like a ton of bricks? We’ll have to wait another three years (until the next General Synod) to get some clarity,” he said.

Asked if Sunday’s vote will be a relief to conservative Anglican leaders in the developing world, Hiltz said it will likely bring some “measure of pleasure” to them.

“I’m pretty certain, however, that this vote today does not represent the last time we’re going to have this discussion,” Hiltz said with a slight smile.

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