Victoria-based Anglican bishop Logan McMenamie said he’s relieved the Anglican Church of Canada voted to accept same-sex marriage at the national General Synod meeting in Toronto.
“It’s good news for those of us in favour, but there’s still a lot of pain in the church,” said McMenamie, bishop of the Anglican Diocese of B.C., which includes Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and Kingcome Inlet.
The vote was close and dramatic. A few delegates to the six-day General Synod stood up just a couple of hours before the session was to close Tuesday to say their votes had not been recorded during voting late Monday.
To pass, the resolution required two-thirds approval by each of three orders — lay, clergy and bishops. The clergy failed to reach that threshold by one vote, which was apparently not counted because it was wrongly attributed to a lay member. The error was discovered after delegates requested a hard copy of the electronic voting records.
“That is our reality,” Hiltz told stunned delegates. “That the motion is, in fact, carried in all three orders.”
The resolution to change the church’s marriage canon still needs to be affirmed by the next General Synod in 2019 before it becomes law.
The apparent failure of the motion on Monday — following a bitter debate — stunned those on hand. Alistair McCollum, rector of St. John the Divine on Quadra Street and archdeacon of the Tolmie area, said he was devastated. “I really was, because so much good stuff was being said about love and inclusion.”
McCollum and McMenamie argued on behalf of same-sex marriage. “A good proportion of my church are from the LGBTQ community,” McCollum said. “This would hit them with an iron bar emotionally.”
Not everyone was pleased with Tuesday’s about-face.
Northern representatives complained about feeling bullied, while Larry Robertson, Yukon bishop, left the floor in protest, saying he was angered at what he called the adversarial process.
Hiltz acknowledged the “deep differences” around the issue. “Our work on this matter is not done. It’s not sufficient for us to simply say we dealt with the resolution.”
