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CANADA: Anglican Diocese of Arctic Defies National Church Over Same-Sex Marriage
Their evangelical bishops will attend GAFCON IV in Kigali next month
By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
March 15, 2023
Resisting the siren call to allow same-sex marriages, the Diocese of the Arctic in the Anglican Church of Canada refuses to kowtow to the sect's revisionists. The largest of the 30 dioceses in the province of 1.5 million square miles, the Diocese of the Arctic claims evangelical solidarity with bishops and clergy not recognized by the Lambeth Conference but with GAFCON and the Anglican Network in Canada.
Two bishops, David Parsons and Joey Royal (Suffragan) from the far north will attend GAFCON IV next month in Rwanda, standing with the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).
In a 'Friend of ANIC and ACNA' e-mail, Bishop David W. Parsons wrote that he and his fellow suffragans would attend and partner with the evangelically driven global Anglican conference with whom they have everything in common.
On 18 July 2019, the Diocese of the Arctic declared itself in "impaired communion" with dioceses in the Anglican Church of Canada whose bishops have permitted same-sex marriages.
Bishops David Parsons and Darren McCartney were the only Anglican Church of Canada bishops to attend GAFCON II, held in Nairobi, Kenya, in October 2013.
The diocese is richly diverse. They are primarily Inuit with a small percentage of Gwich'in and Dene first nations people (95%). Their Christian leaders, bishops and clergy are: Inuit, Inuvailuit, Gwich'in (from southern Canada), Korea, India, USA and Zimbabwe.
The Diocese of The Arctic was formed through the missionary work of the Bible Churchmen's Mission Society, now called Crosslinks. Their BMCS missionaries empowered and sent First Nations and Inuit to be equal Partners in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and equipping the saints to do ministry.
For over a hundred years they have held fast to Jesus Christ, the Holy Bible and the doctrines developed from scripture written within the Book of Common Prayer.
Today, the Diocese of the Arctic is the only part of the Anglican Church of Canada that holds fast to the centrality of Jesus Christ as the one and only LORD and Saviour. They submit to His Lordship, to the authority of the Holy Scriptures and the doctrines as laid out in the Book of Common Prayer.
Bishop Parsons says emphatically that over the decades, delegates from The Arctic have boldly advocated for truth at General Synod. "Revisionists in Southern Canada have not been able to sway our General Synod to officially permit the blessing of same-sex unions or to change our marriage Canon to allow same-sex marriages. Yet, many dioceses and bishops have acted independently and we know independence is sin."
While the growing crisis in the Anglican Church of Canada mirrors the left-wing push of the Lambeth Conference, the Archbishop of Canterbury, TEC and the ACoC on same-sex issues, Bishop Parsons emphasizes that they are not politicians or diplomats but gospel preachers and watchmen who are sounding the trumpet of alarm. They will stand firm.
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