Anglican Church of Canada, the country’s third largest church, on Monday narrowly rejected a proposal to authorize same-sex marriages.
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In order for the resolution to pass, it required approval from two-thirds of the laity, clergy, and bishops.
But some people raised concerns that the votes had been improperly tallied, touching off a recount that found General Secretary Michael Thompson’s vote had been counted as a lay vote instead of clergy.
Following Monday’s announcement, bishops from Niagara, Ottawa and Huron declared they would move ahead bless same-sex marriages in spite of the church’s initial decision.
“This one vote changed the outcome of resolution A051-R2 – the resolution to amend the marriage canon”, Thompson later said in a statement.
Peter Elliott did not wait for the Anglican Church of Canada to formally sanctify his relationship to Thomas Roach, a noted textile artist. But after questions were raised about the voting process, a recount was held.
The United Church of Canada, which is roughly the same size as the Anglican Church, had endorsed same-sex marriage by the early 1990s.
She also said she saw this as a time for healing for Anglicans in the LGBT community.
Archbishop Fred Hiltz, the church’s primate, acknowledged the “deep differences” that exist around the issue.
The result let to wide celebrations and congratulations from outside as well as in the church.
“I need to say to synod, and particularly to those who feel that I was insensitive this afternoon, that I apologise and I hope you will forgive me”. “I can’t believe this”.
“We sometimes find ourselves very much being pulled apart”, he told delegates on Tuesday.
We couldn’t say it any better than that.
“It was a painful process, it was a hard process, but at the end of the day, we’ve ended up moving forward”, British Columbia Bishop Logan McMenamie said Tuesday.
As dean of one of downtown Vancouver’s most well-known Christian congregations and as a delegate to the church’s national convention this week in Toronto, Elliott is more than pleased his colleagues finally voted to approve same-sex marriages. “There was, in fact, a 2/3 clergy majority”, the ACC tweeted.
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About 1.6 million Canadians identify themselves as Anglican, according to Statistics Canada.
