The 38th General Synod of The Anglican Church of Canada is expecting about 400 delegates from the 30 dioceses across the country in Winnipeg next week. The seven day meeting will cover several church issues including the election of a new Primate. Finances will be a key concern, the ongoing residental school settlements and declining church attendence have depleted the denominational coffers. Governance (principles, constitution, rules of order) is also going to be looked at. 
A more public issue will be resolution of a 25 year debate on same sex blessings. Six former (retired) Anglican archbishops have written an open letter to the delegates.

The archbishops’ statement is signed by John Bothwell, Terence Finlay and Percy O’Driscoll, all former metropolitans, or chief bishops, of Ontario; David Crawley and David Somerville, former metropolitans of British Columbia; and Arthur Peters, former metropolitan of Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.

It says: “We urge the members of general synod to vote in favour of affirming the blessing of faithful, committed, same-gender unions and to agree that dioceses may decide, by appropriate processes, how they will act in this matter.

“We have studied, reported [on] and discussed the place of gay men and lesbians in the church for 25 years …

“We are deeply concerned that ongoing study … will only continue to draw us away from issues which are gradually destroying God’s creation – child poverty, racism, global warming, economic injustice, concern for our aboriginal brothers and sisters, and the growing disparity between the rich and the poor.”

Some of the most adamant opponents of same-sex blessings are aboriginal bishops.

They are reported to have blocked wording in the House of Bishops’ pastoral statement that would have assured Anglicans that they would not be denied communion or confirmation – formal membership in the church – for being in a homosexual relationship, and that the children of homosexual parents would not be denied baptism.

Instead, the statement says, somewhat threateningly: “We certainly hope no child is denied baptism solely on the basis of the sexual orientation, or the marital status, of the parents. … We hope no baptized Christian will be denied communion or confirmation because of being in a committed homosexual relationship or because of their marital status.” Globe and Mail

Stats Can (2001) reports about 2 million Canadian Anglicans.
The 2001 census also reports the median age of Anglican members was 44. 
General Synod Blogs
CaNN: The WebElf Report

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