Thus even whilst affirming the blessing of same-sex unions not to be "in conflict with the core doctrine" of the church, in the very narrow sense of being "credal," Synod effectively left open and committed the church to further study of the more specific and arguably most central theological question, i.e., "whether the blessing of same-sex unions is a faithful, Spirit-led development of Christian doctrine." At the same time, having declined to "walk apart" from Anglican Communion standards, to use a key term in the Windsor Report, by endorsing such blessings, Synod also requested further exploration of the implications of moving forward with them and/or with same-sex marriage for the Anglican Church of Canada and its relationship with the Communion. Finally, in view of the vote against same-sex blessings, neither Resolution A224 nor C003 affirmed any further pastoral provision for gay and lesbian Anglicans beyond what is already permitted by "the current teaching of the church" (C003) or consistent with previous standards and statements (A224).

Two key questions obviously remained in light of Synod's passage of such a complex range of resolutions and decisions: 1), whether the Diocese of New Westminster would move from its existing partial moratorium on authorizing same-sex blessings in any further parishes to imposing a full moratorium throughout the diocese; 2), how the wider Anglican Communion would respond to Synod's deliberations. Both were clearly yet to be resolved at the time of writing. But well-placed commentators saw strong reason to believe that the outcome of General Synod 2007 would not be anything like as unfavourable for the Anglican Church of Canada's standing in the wider Communion that many had feared and/or prognosticated.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Anglican Church of Canada • Canadian General Synod 2007 • Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion) • Same-sex blessings

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