This perception was reinforced by a statement of the Archbishop of Canterbury released yesterday in which he responded to the decision the night before: “The decision to defer the question of the right of dioceses over same sex blessings offers hope for the continuing collegiality of the Anglican Communion.”

“It is important that the Canadian church has held back from a structural shift that would have run counter to the pleas and wishes of the Primates’ meeting last Autumn and of so many around the Communion. In doing so, it has avoided complicating still further the work of the Lambeth Commission.”

As we fast forward to the Synod session yesterday, surreal circumstances marked the proceedings. The very body judging the issue of same sex blessings too grave to consider one day turned 180 degrees in its passage of an amendment to affirm such blessings the next day. The Canadian Church chose to deem same sex unions worthy of the term “sanctity”, language clearly intended to place such unions on a par with marriage. The very church that seemed to be listening to their brothers and sisters worldwide has now declared through their action, “We have no need of you.” Through their decisions, both ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada reflect a body capitulating to the spirit of the age.

We find this decision outrageous. Its flies in the face of clear teaching of Scripture, natural law, the four instruments of Anglican unity, and the vast majority of Christians worldwide. As if all this were not egregious enough, the amendment is clearly the result of a highly dubious process which involved last minute maneuvers, curtailed debate and most astounding on a vote of this significance, a vote by hands. How is that even possible?

We take heart from the fact that despite the actions of ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada, the United Methodist Church, a denomination four times the size of ECUSA recently voted to uphold Biblical teaching on marriage and sexuality. This victory proves that such a pan-sexual agenda is neither an intrinsic component of North American culture nor inevitable for mainline Christian denominations. Rather, the decisions of ECUSA and the Canadian Church represent unilateral acts of rebellion that have resulted in disunity and schism.

We are particularly concerned for our orthodox brothers and sisters in Canada who have seen their church embrace heresy through a procedure lacking in clarity and due process. We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters offering our prayers, our thanks for their strong efforts and our deepest sympathies.

We at the American Anglican Council are blessed by the efforts of the global Anglican Communion which stands passionately in solidarity with us as we resist revisionist theology attacking Christianity. The shameful decision by the Canadian Church only serves to reinforce our resolve and commitment to work for the realignment of Anglicanism in North America, seeking to preserve the precious Anglican heritage that we may pass it on to our sons and daughters.

Cynthia Brust is Communications Director for the American Anglican Council

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