Noted in this story is Trinity College’s faculty of divinity—“Trinity College, home of the country’s oldest Anglican theological school, has taken a clearer stance on the inclusion of gays and lesbians”

The reality is that Trinity’s divinity program is almost moribund, surviving on a handful of adjuncts and its history.  Across the street from Trinity stands Wycliffe College, the 2nd largest Anglican theological seminary on the continent (2nd to Virginia Seminary).  It is thriving, orthodox, and mission-oriented.  Having read this story, Luke 9:60 comes to mind.

Well, first, it sounds as if that couple is venue shopping because they aren’t regular worshippers anywhere. So why not get married in the United Church where anything goes?
And second, Calvin, I beg to differ regarding Wycliffe, my alma mater. Orthodox they claim to be but are certainly not. They accept uncritically the divorce culture, women’s ordination and the horrible Book of Alternative Services. But since they’re more conservative than Trinity, they see themselves as orthodox. However, they do have some very solid faculty there, e.g. Drs Taylor & Taylor, Mangina, Seitz and Sumner.

“So why not get married in the United Church where anything goes?”

Because then you appear “flake” or “fringe” instead of “Establishment”.

It’s called boundary testing.

When the Episcopal Church had a marriage canon that required a bishop’s decree of nullity before persons with a living former spouse could be married a lot of divorced Episcopalians were married for the second time by Methodist or Presbyterian clergy.

I am not sure what is meant by ‘uncritical acceptance’, #2. Though I work chiefly with PhD students I do attend chapel and lead worship. One will find in use the 1962 Canadian BCP, the 1979 American BCP, and the BAS—this reflects the (pedagogical) reality that students will lead worship in all these formats, as reflective of the present polity of the ACoC and TEC, and it is a ‘critical reality’ and not an unreflective one. As for ‘embrace of divorce culture,’ you’d have to explain what this means and how as a school Wycliffe adopts this perspective (any more than TSM or NH), and equally WO.
#1—where are the VTS figures for comparison? I’d be curious to see them. The Advanced Degree program in Toronto School of Theology is growing, as well as a new Basic Degree program in theology and cultural/missional work. We are also road-testing credit courses in Dallas.