It is my hope that the Church will not be left behind, and indeed will not exclude itself from the mainstream of Canadian society, in terms of what has been, admittedly, a long and sometimes bitter debate over the expression of love and commitment between two persons of the same gender.
Thus, I really hope that the Anglican Church of Canada — my Church — will not only be allowing for same-gender blessings but perform actual marriages. And much earlier than 2019! That would be far too long!
Time to move on to other issues.
Andrew, you seem to be suggesting that Canadian society should offer leadership to the church. Why are you placing the secular leadership over spiritual leadership? Should the church not follow its own path no matter what the cost. Seems to me that you have the church that follows Jesus confused with a church that is swayed by any turn of doctrine that the people want. You’d be better off trying to design your own church than taking an existing one and perverting it to your own purposes.
I am more interested in not excludings ourselves from the vast majority of the christian world which believe same sex marriages are inconsistant with scripture.
It is indeed time to move on to other issues.
The question is often asked why our church is failing, in my humble opinion it appears that we want to be so inclusive that we no longer follow God’s Word.
We want to offer same sex blessings/marriage even though scripture in both the old and new testaments prohibit such activities. God’s word is unchanging, it is the same yesterday, today and tomorow.