September 1, 2003 Aussies okay gay ministers

MelbourneThe Uniting Church Assembly, meeting in Melbourne, voted in July to permit the church's presbyteries to accept and ordain practising homosexuals. The majority of the 260 delegates voted in support of the proposal....

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September 1, 2003 Homosexuality furor forces withdrawal of chosen bishop

LondonCanon Jeffrey John, an openly gay priest whose appointment as Bishop of Reading in the diocese of Oxford drew both support and condemnation, asked on July 6 that his name be withdrawn from consideration. In a letter...

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June 1, 2003 Bishops back Ingham's choice of episcopal visitor

Mississauga, Ont. At their spring meeting, bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada voted to support Bishop Michael Ingham's appointment of Bishop William Hockin as an episcopal liaison with parishes in Bishop Ingham's diocese...

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June 1, 2003 Parishes reject episcopal offer

Calgary While the Council of General Synod (CoGS) endorsed the house of bishops' support for Bishop William Hockin of Fredericton as episcopal visitor to the diocese of New Westminster (see related story), seven conservative...

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May 29, 2003 First same-sex blessing met with mixed reaction

The blessing on Wednesday evening of a same-sex union in the diocese of New Westminster has been met with both joy and dismay. Less than a week after the rite of blessing of same-sex unions was issued by the bishop of the diocese of New Westminster to six parishes which had requested it, Rev. Margaret Marquardt blessed the 21-year same-sex relationship of Anglicans Michael Kalmuk, 49, and Kelly Montfort, 62, at St. Margaret's, Cedar Cottage, church in east Vancouver.

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May 1, 2003 New West situation simmers

Seven out of eight dissident parishes in New Westminster have voted overwhelmingly in favour of accepting an offer from Bishop Terrence Buckle of the Yukon to be their bishop until General Synod in 2004, but the diocese calls...

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April 1, 2003 New West bishop warns off interlopers

After reconciliation talks broke down, the bishop of New Westminster tried to head off dissenting parishes' efforts to find themselves a new bishop and asked other bishops in Canada -- and one in particular -- to keep their noses...

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March 1, 2003 New West talks in limbo

Amid reports that reconciliation talks between the diocese of New Westminster and eight conservative parishes had reached an impasse, cracks have appeared in the parishes' coalition between those who would like to continue...

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March 1, 2003 Algoma debates sexuality

Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Delegates to the Algoma synod solidly defeated a motion declaring that God designed human sexuality exclusively for heterosexual marriages. The vote on the motion was taken by orders and by ballot...

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March 1, 2003 Same-sex blessings issue goes before focus groups

A series of facilitated focus groups will help determine how the question of same-sex blessings will be handled when it comes before General Synod in 2004. Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan, director of faith, worship and ministry...

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