News

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

WINDSOR, Ontario, October 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The people of St. Aidan’s Anglican parish in Windsor have voted to break away from the local diocese and join the Anglican Network in Canada (ANIC), which is part of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone that oversees churches in most of South America.

St. Aidan’s is the seventh Anglican church in Ontario, and the eleventh nationally, to secede from the Anglican Church of Canada over doctrinal issues focused on acceptance of homosexuality.

Members of the parish said they wanted to return to a more orthodox and traditional version of Anglicanism, centered around the authority of scripture and the gospel.

James I. Packer, Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, BC and one of the most highly regarded Protestant theologians today, said the Anglican Church of Canada has been “poisoned” by a liberal theology that “knows nothing of a God who uses [the Bible] to tell us things and knows nothing of sin in the heart and in the head.”

Charlie Masters, the executive archdeacon of ANIC, told the Windsor Star, “The big issue (is) around the Bible and the authority of scripture and the gospel,” which teaches that human sexuality is reserved for marriage, which is an exclusive commitment between a man and a woman.

In a news release, ANIC said, “Unfortunately, the Anglican Church of Canada continues to abandon mainstream Anglican teaching and doctrine, particularly in relation to the authority of the Bible, breaking with the vast majority of global Anglicans.”

The Windsor Star reported that St. Aidan’s bishop, the Right Rev. Robert Bennett, said, “They may not say it, but the issue of same-sex marriage is underlying the whole debate,” and that he will be investigating the validity of the vote.

“We’re trying to clarify the details,” said Bennett. “There are also serious issues about who owns the building. We’re looking at our options.”

Read related LifeSiteNews.com articles:

Future of Anglican Communion Resides with Global South Bishops and Christian Orthodoxy: GAFCON
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/sep/08091215.html

The Split Widens: Anglican Bishops Call Global Conference for Traditional Anglicans
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08010401.html

Largest Anglican Parish in Canada Secedes over Same-Sex Blessings
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08021505.html

Official Split in Canadian Anglican Communions “likely to get messy”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/nov/07112701.html