Diocese divided on issues of sexuality
Bishop calls for a ‘brutally honest’ conversation
By Ana Watts
Anglicans in New Brunswick, like their brothers and sisters across Canada, are evenly split on issues of sexuality, Bishop Claude Miller told members of the 129th Diocesan Synod. He made the comment following a vote that narrowly defeated a motion to recognize the pastoral ministry of Integrity Fredericton, an organization that reaches out in support of Christian lesbians and gays.
“I do support the ministry of Integrity in our diocese,” said the bishop. “It is a blessing to many people, they have found a safe place in Integrity. I can’t speak about the welcome or lack of welcome they receive in our more than 80 parishes.”
The Integrity motion was one of four set to come before synod that addressed the issue of blessing same-gender relationships. An earlier motion on marriage and sexuality reaffirmed the diocesan position of the past two synods –– that marriage remains the lifelong union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, and no clergy person may bless any union or marriage of same sex partners. Bishop Miller called for support of that motion in his charge and it easily passed with a resounding chorus of “aye.”
A call for aye or nay on the Integrity motion, however, was not conclusive, so members of synod were asked to stand and be counted. 
The result was 124 votes in support of the ministry of Integrity; 146 votes not in support of the ministry of Integrity; and 27 abstentions.
“This conversation cannot end,” said Bishop Miller in reaction to the close vote. He went on to say he would appoint leaders from Integrity, Zaccheus (a ministry of former homosexuals) and Essentials (an orthodox group that opposes same-sex blessings) to continue the discussion.
“It is time to put this issue to rest,” he said. “We have had 30 years of monologue, we have not listened. We promised to talk about this at Lambeth 98. We must treat others as Christ would. The abstentions (to the Integrity vote) could have made a tie. It is time for us to be brutally honest with one another.”
The Rev. Leo Martin of Hampton offered impassioned support for the Integrity motion. “Last week I attended a workshop on counseling gay youth that was sponsored by AIDS New Brunswick. I was the only clergy person there. All I heard from the others at the workshop is ‘the church hates gay people and does not welcome them’ and ‘when the church speaks of gays, they use empty words.’”
Several synod delegates said they could not support the ministry of Integrity for varying reasons. Some feel the group has a hidden political agenda, others believe it promotes the gay and lesbian lifestyle, still others believe its members take part in gay pride parades.
Christopher Ketch, a youth pastor in the Parish of Chatham, said the previous motion on marriage and sexuality reaffirmed the diocese’s “Godly care and pastoral support of people of all sexual orientations,” and made the Integrity motion unnecessary. He also said he felt the Integrity purpose did “not adhere to [the principles of] Biblical Christian marriage” so he could not support the motion in good conscience.
Church Army Captain David Boyle, an assistant in the Parish of Gondola Point and a chaplain at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, said that although he and many of the gays and lesbians with whom he speaks at the university are at opposite ends of the issue, they can talk to one another with respect and friendship and sometimes find common ground. “There is a great need for pastoral care to this community as they struggle with their relationship to Christianity,” he said. He also, however, expressed concerns with the Integrity motion because of the group’s political agenda.
Archdeacon Pat Drummond of the Parish of New Bandon said she believes Integrity Fredericton promotes gay and lesbian lifestyles as acceptable and challenged someone from the group to deny it.
The Rev. Bill Morton of the Parishes of Salisbury and Havelock said: “It is important for us to hear each other’s stories, to learn of the work of the Holy Spirit. This motion [to support the ministry of Integrity] is not to advance a theological position but to listen to the Holy Spirit and make a home in the Body of Christ for all the people.”
Other supporters of the ministry of Integrity compared the challenge of gays and lesbians in the church today to the challenges in society faced by blacks before the success of the civil rights movement.
The Rev. Canon Neville Cheeseman asked what the defeat of the Integrity motion would say to the gay and lesbian members of synod sitting in the house that day. “It tells them they are not wanted,” he said.
A motion calling for a memorial (message) to General Synod stating that any move by General Synod to ‘walk apart’ from the rest of the Anglican Communion by permitting the blessing of same-sex unions would “seriously jeopardize the relationship between this diocese and General Synod,” was withdrawn.
A motion petitioning our bishop to hold another synod by Sept. 30 of this year “to plan to continue as a diocese in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury should General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada decide it will walk apart from the Anglican Communion by approving the blessing of same-sex unions; allowing for local option (each diocese may decided what they will practice); or resolving that the blessing of same-sex unions is consistent with core doctrine of the Anglican Church of Canada” was defeated.
Read the full text of the bishop's charge.
