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Three more Anglican congregations take decisive votes
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24 February 2008
Three more Anglican congregations voted today to accept the offer of episcopal oversight of Bishop Donald Harvey, Moderator of the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC), under the Primatial authority of Archbishop Gregory Venables and the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. All three churches accepted this offer with strong majorities. Since this offer of episcopal oversight was first extended in late November 2007, 15 parishes and congregations have voted to accept the offer and join ANiC.
This means that these congregations are requesting spiritual care from and will come under the authority of Bishop Harvey and Archbishop Venables, rather than their former Anglican Church in Canada diocese and bishop who are walking away from established Christian teaching and globally recognized Anglican doctrine.
The three churches which decided today to accept Bishop Harvey's spiritual care are:
| Church |
In favour |
Opposed |
Abstained |
Church of the Good Shepherd
St Catharines, ON |
70* |
4 |
7* |
Church of the Good Shepherd
Vancouver, BC |
203 |
0 |
0 |
| St Matthias and St Luke Vancouver, BC |
133 |
1 |
7 |
* 13 proxies were also received at Church of the Good Shepherd in St Catharines but were not included in the final count. The proxies were: 12 in favour and 1 abstained.
The Church of the Good Shepherd in St Catharines, Ontario, has over 200 members. It was established 1913 and the congregation has met at its current location since 1968. Like many Anglican congregations, Church of the Good Shepherd members built and paid for their church facilities and land. (See: http://goodshepherdstcatharines.ca)
The Church of the Good Shepherd in Vancouver, BC, has over 300 members and is the largest Chinese Anglican congregation in Canada. The congregation is celebrating its 119th anniversary this year. Both English and Cantonese services are held each Sunday. (See: http://goodshepherdchurch.no-ip.org)
St Matthias and St Luke Anglican Church in Vancouver, BC, has over 200 members and was formed about 10 years ago when the two churches merged. The congregation is multicultural with an English, a Cantonese/Mandarin, and a Japanese service each Sunday. (See: www.stmstl.org)
All of these churches have acted because they are determined to stay biblically faithful and true to historic Christian orthodoxy while the Anglican Church of Canada has departed from mainstream Anglican teaching and doctrine, particularly in relation to the authority of the Bible.
While orthodox Anglicans are in a minority in Canada, they are in the majority worldwide. What is happening in Canada is part of a much bigger controversy in Anglican churches globally.
Since 2003, the leaders of the global Anglican Churches have repeatedly asked the Anglican Church of Canada to return to faithful Anglican practice and teaching. They have also called upon the Anglican Church of Canada to provide appropriate spiritual care and oversight for parishes like these which remain faithful to orthodox Anglican teaching - but to no avail. In fact the actions of the Anglican Church of Canada have helped precipitate the global realignment now taking place in the Anglican Communion.
Archbishop Gregory Venables, Primate of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, has responded to the need of biblically faithful Canadian Anglicans for spiritual protection and care on an emergency and interim basis - pending a resolution to the crises in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Archbishop Venables is well respected as an orthodox leader in the global Anglican Communion. He leads the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone which is one of 38 Provinces that make up the global Anglican Communion. It encompasses much of South America and includes Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay and Argentina.
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