Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Summary
At the turn of the century the synod of the diocese of New Westminster in western Canada considered whether to approve liturgies for committed same-sex relationships. There were strong divisions within the diocese, but after a lengthy debate the synod voted in favour of the move on 22 June 2002. The bishop, Michael Ingham, was personally in favour of such a step, and as the diocesan bishop he had the responsibility of giving final authorisation for these liturgies. He delayed, perhaps in some degree wanting to be responsive to the furore which the proposed step had created in Canada and the rest of the Anglican Communion.
The issue was not new. Gender relations had been debated in Canada since 1976 and was on the agenda of the Lambeth Conference in 1988 and 1998. Indeed in 1998 it was the occasion of an unseemly row in which some bishops distinguished themselves in the public eye by the racist language they used to characterise their opponents. So the issue clearly had a lot of explosive potential.
Since 1998 the primates had decided to meet each year for consultation and fellowship. They had a meeting scheduled to be held in the diocese of Southern Brazil on 19–25 May 2003, at the Serrano Conference Centre in Gramado. It was to be the first such meeting for Rowan Williams as the new Archbishop of Canterbury. The pre-meeting press release stressed that it was to be a private meeting.
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- An Introduction to World Anglicanism , pp. 1 - 6Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005