The Way Forward

Those attending the conference were asked to sign their agreement with the Montreal Declaration of Anglican Essentials and their dissent from the action of General Synod 2004 which affirmed the integrity and sanctity of committed same sex relationships. It was also decided that the press would be excluded from the conference so that it would be a safe place for people to say what they needed to say without fear of reprisals. In this brief report I will describe first of all the new structures which the conference established, and then give a detailed account of the conference proceedings.

New Structures for orthodox Anglicans in Canada

The conference agreed in principle to the establishment of two new national bodies, and set in place a steering committee to oversee the birth of these bodies.

First, a new Federation of all Canadian Anglicans committed to the recovery and renewal of the orthodox heritage of our tradition. This Federation, unlike the old Essentials Council, is not limited to the three founding organizations of Essentials but is open to all Canadian Anglicans who uphold traditional biblical orthodoxy. For the most part the Federation is composed of people who feel that the time has not yet come to leave the Anglican Church of Canada; however, they are determined not to co-operate with the revisionist agenda which the present structures of the ACC seem bent on advancing. Please note that it is likely that the title 'the Federation' will be changed in anticipation of jokes about Klingons and Vulcans!

A second body was also established at our Ottawa conference: 'The Network'. This body will be composed of those who find themselves in impaired communion with their dioceses and bishops (and/or the Anglican Church of Canada). An obvious example would be the parishes in the Diocese of New Westminster who walked out of their diocesan synod and refuse to accept the Episcopal leadership of Bishop Michael Ingham. It is anticipated that this will be a growing problem as several other diocesan synods in Canada will soon be discussing the blessing of same sex unions and there is every likelihood that it will be approved in many if not all of them. The Network will be a national body in which faithful Anglicans who cannot accept these decisions of their dioceses (or the Anglican Church of Canada) can be cared for. It will be led by Bishop Donald Harvey, retiring bishop of Newfoundland and Labrador, and will ensure adequate Episcopal oversight, including ordination and licensing, for faithful Anglicans in these dioceses. It should be noted that the Network will provide this oversight irrespective of whether or not the local revisionist bishop(s) are prepared to allow it.

Orthodox Canadian Anglicans are determined not to be divided from one another. Because of this the Network will be included under the umbrella of the Federation and its representatives will sit on the steering committee of the Federation.

Members of the conference elected a steering committee to oversee the development of these two bodies. The steering committee includes four members of the old Essentials Council (George Sinclair, Charlie Masters, Brett Cane and Michael Edward), and one bishop, one priest and one lay person from each of the four ecclesiastical provinces in Canada. It also includes representatives from the Network. It is envisioned that this body will meet several times between now and Christmas. Members of the steering committee will have to fund their own travel to these meetings as Essentials has been running on a very tight budget. It is further envisioned that another national conference will be held before the summer of 2005 to actually launch the two new bodies, the Federation and the Network.

Much will happen in global Anglicanism before the summer of 2005. In October 2004 the Eames Commission will release its final report. This is an international commission considering the implications of the recent decisions in Canada and the United States for global Anglican unity. Members of this commission from the global south have been demanding that the Episcopal Church of the USA and the Anglican Church of Canada face discipline from the Communion, including the threat of expulsion if they do not repent. At present it is not clear what the recommendations of the Eames Commission might be. But it is conceivable that by the summer of 2005 the vast majority of the world's Anglicans will have formally disassociated themselves from the Anglican Church of Canada. If this happens, the primates of the global south have assured us that they will recognize the Federation and the Network as the true Anglican communities in Canada. Speaking on their behalf at our conference Archbishop Greg Venables of South America said to us "The primates will do all in their power to help you. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will do it".

It appears people are not in a mood for compromise. When we went to vote for members of the steering committee, an unexpectedly large group of people went to the room set aside for those interested in the Network - that is, those who are, or anticipate very soon being, in impaired communion with their local dioceses and bishops. These folk believe that the Anglican Church of Canada has irrevocably crossed a line, and they are ready to sever their association with it and to risk their ownership of their buildings (and, in the case of clergy, their livelihoods) in order to be faithful to biblical Christianity. I repeat, this group was a large minority, representing approximately a quarter to a third of the participants at the conference. And even those who did not identify with this group are determined not to co-operate with revisionism or to pretend that unity exists with the revisionist leadership of the Anglican Church of Canada.

There is no doubt as to where the loyalty of the global south is to be found, and this realization has been critical. Canadian Anglicans are realizing that leaving the Anglican Church of Canada need not mean leaving the Anglican Communion. I believe that these assurances of support from overseas Anglicanism have galvanized Canadian Anglicans into action.

Financial support for the Federation and the Network is critical. The leadership people are making enormous sacrifices of time and of their own money to ensure that the work gets done. Essentials has been staffed by one quarter time co-coordinator and one quarter time secretary; everything else has been done by volunteers. The time has come for orthodox Canadian Anglicans to put their money where their mouth is and help these good people out.

As Bob Duncan reminded us, this is God's work. It is going to be untidy; it will involve different responses in different situations, and the devil will try to divide us on the basis of these differences. But we must trust God, listen for God's leading, and resist the temptation to organize the thing to death.