Anglican Communion News Service

(Anglican Church of Canada statement)

Background: The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada met April 14 to 18 in Mississauga. Since 1991, the House has been committed to reviewing the basis of its 1979 guidelines on the ordination of homosexual persons.

In November, 1991, the House upheld those guidelines and said it need to learn more about homosexuality and human sexuality generally, to do more bible study and biblical interpretation on the issues, and to find ways of entering into dialogue with members of the gay and lesbian community.

Since that time the House has devoted several sessions of its regular meetings to continued study. Until last week, these had been carried out 'in camera' but in last week's session the House decided to continue its discussions in open session.

The following interim statement was released at the end of the meeting, indicating that the bishops intend to work at developing a message to the church in their fall 1997 meeting.

A Statement from the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada April 18, 1997.

For a number of years the people of the Anglican Church have wrestled with their understanding of the place of its gay and lesbian members.

In 1979, the House of Bishops issued guidelines which stated, in part, that

1. "considerations about homosexuality should be pursued within the larger study of human sexuality in its totality;
2. we accept all persons, regardless of sexual orientation, as equal before God; our acceptance of persons with homosexual orientation is not an acceptance of homosexual activity;
3. we do not accept the blessing of homosexual unions;
4. we will not call into question the ordination of a person who has shared with the bishop his / her homosexual orientation if there has been a commitment to the bishop to abstain from sexual acts with persons of the same sex as a part of the requirement for ordination."

Since 1991, the House of Bishops, together with others in the church, have studied and reviewed these guidelines, with most of its work being done in camera. This week, meeting in Toronto in open session, the House of Bishops tested its current position with three options, with the following results:

1. Ten members wished to retain the 1979 guidelines in their present form;
2. Eighteen members wished to retain the original intention of the guidelines, but update them in the light of new pastoral awareness.
3. Six members wished to retain the guidelines in force while a task force worked on new guidelines.

The House of Bishops thereby commits itself to retaining the 1979 guidelines in principle, but intends to express them in a wider context of theological understanding and pastoral sensitivity. The House aims to receive the first draft of a message to the church at its Fall 1997 meeting. Later we hope to undertake a wider study of human sexuality within the wider church.

We seek to support all persons, believing all, regardless of sexual orientation, to be equal before God. We ask for the ongoing prayers of the whole church.

Related News Entries

• Bishops Surveyed on Changing Guidelines for Ordaining Homosexuals (May 2, 1997)