Petition to support Anglican Network in Canada parishes in Vancouver

Petition:

We, the undersigned, as active clergy and lay members of the Church of England, stand with those parishes in Vancouver that are part of the Anglican Network in Canada, affirming that they are authentically Anglican.
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Background Description/History:

The Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) is an ecclesial (church) body under the jurisdiction of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, one of 38 jurisdictions in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The ANiC grew out of the Anglican Church in Canada, largely (though not exclusively) because of the latter’s shift in its attitude towards same-sex relationships, away from that of previously-accepted biblical orthodoxy.

Difficulties in the Diocese of New Westminster resulted in a number of Vancouver churches aligning themselves with the ANiC. On July 10, 2008, the bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster invoked Diocesan Canon 15 against the ANiC parishes of St. Matthew’s Abbotsford and St. Matthias and St. Luke’s in Vancouver, effective as of August 25, 2008.

The bishop has purported to dismiss all the Wardens, Trustees and Parish Council members of both parishes and has ordered the clergy to leave the buildings by mid-September. Earlier letters from the diocese demanding the clergy leave the church buildings, suggested that parishioners who support their clergy should leave with them.

The bank accounts of both parishes have been frozen and cheques for staff salaries and payments to missions (among other expenses) cannot be cashed.

It is believed that the two remaining ANiC parishes in Vancouver – Good Shepherd and St. John’s, Shaughnessy – will also be acted against in the near future. (Source: http://www.stjohnsvancouver.org/commentary.php)

Revd David Short, the Rector of St John’s Shaughnessy, addressed the REFORM Conference in London on the 15 October 2008, outlining some of the problems they were experiencing.

It was subsequently proposed that a petition should be made available online for those in the Church of England who wished to express the view that the ANiC parishes in Vancouver remain part of the Anglican Communion, despite the actions being taken against them.

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