1. On the grounds of Christian love.
We believe Jesus clearly proclaims that the love of God calls us to holy
living, and that to go against, or to advise others to go against,
Jesus' call to holy living would be an offense against the law of love -
both love of God and love of our neighbours. The most loving action is
that which empowers a neighbour to grow closer to God. We see these
motions as hindering that growth in God's love.

2. On the grounds of Christian repentance.
We believe that we as a church need to repent of our neglect of proper
pastoral care to our members who have struggled with the desire for a
sexual relationship outside the bounds of a Christian and heterosexual
marriage. We have not fully listened to the voices of our brothers and
sisters who have chosen to leave the gay and lesbian lifestyle, nor are
we currently doing enough as a church to provide training and resources
for clergy and laypeople involved in those ministries, and support for
those members of our church who choose to leave the gay and lesbian
lifestyle. We have not proclaimed, or have silenced, the Gospel of
healing for those members of our church.

3. On the ground of our communion with each other and our fellowship
with all baptised Christians.
The proposed Framework for the Anglican Church of Canada speaks of our
baptismal covenant, and rightly so. Yet the Framework states that
within the ACC, we differ on our "reception of the apostles' teaching"
[Framework, pg. 8]. We find it contradictory to propose that we as
individual members of a church can receive or not receive the apostolic
teaching, and yet at the same time hope to continue unimpaired in "the
fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers".

Through faith and baptism we are indeed members one of another in Christ
Jesus, not only with Canadian Anglicans but with all baptised Christians
throughout the world. We desire to remain in communion with our fellow
Anglicans around the world and to preserve and strengthen that
fellowship which we share with our fellow-Christians of other
denominations. We are persuaded that to proceed with the blessing of
committed same-sex relationships can only serve to further impair that
communion and fellowship.

4. On the ground of honesty.
We believe that it is time to stop using the euphemism 'blessing of
committed same-sex relationships'. Many of the people who wish to take
advantage of such blessings will have been through a civil marriage. To
persist in pretending that what the Church is proposing to ask God to
bless is not marriage is to be dishonest to God and to ourselves. We
believe that the continued use of this euphemism is designed solely to
lessen the offense to people of traditional theological conviction in
the church. The debate is about the permissibility of gay and lesbian
marriages, and should be named as such.

3. On the ground of Christ's high priestly prayer.
In John 17 Jesus calls us not only to unity, but also to faithfulness to
the truth and holiness of life. To exalt our Lord's call to unity over
the other two calls is to make it an idol. A true Anglican balance can
be seen in the Intercession in the BCP service of Holy Communion: 'And
grant that all they that do confess thy holy Name may agree in the truth
of thy holy Word, and live in unity and godly love'. Where Christians
are not in agreement in the truth of God's holy Word, there is no true
unity, whether or not they inhabit the same institutional structures.

The unity referred to in these proposed resolutions is a unity based on
structural and canonical allegiance, not on faithfulness to Christ and
his word. As such, it is not in any way a biblical unity to which we can
pledge ourselves. The resolutions also fail to represent the truth about
Canadian Anglican unity: that it is already shattered, with only an
illusion of unity remaining. We are not called to the illusion of unity
but to that real unity which alone can bring freedom (John 8:31-32).

5. On the ground of Christian faithfulness in making disciples of all
nations.
In many of our churches, we are seeing people of all ages coming to a
living faith in Jesus Christ. These new Christians are coming to us and
asking us for instruction in Christian discipleship. We believe as
Christian leaders that we have a solemn responsibility to provide
accurate and faithful instruction in the way of Christ. To compromise on
this instruction on the ground of inclusivity is not only an act of
dishonesty, but is also perilous to the spiritual health of the members
of our congregations; it is not an act of love but an act of betrayal.
As pastors we desire to teach faithfully and accurately what it means to
be disciples of Jesus Christ, but the passage of these motions would
undercut this and make it more difficult for us to uphold biblical
teaching in our parishes.

Yours faithfully in Christ,

From the Diocese of Edmonton:
The Rev. Don Aellen
The Rev. Regula Brandle
Ms. Lori Calkins
The Rev. Capt. Tim Chesterton
The Rev. Richard Conrad
The Rev. Stephanie London Crane
The Rev. Clarke French
The Rev. Pat Hill
Capt. Kathy Hutchinson
The Rev. Gordon Ingram
The Rev. Sally Johnson
The Rev. David Johnston
The Rev. Lynette Kent
The Very Rev. Greg Kerr-Wilson
The Rev. Kevin Kraglund
The Rev. Steve London
The Rev. Wayne Masliuk
Capt. Christine Pierce
The Rev. Stuart Ravnsborg
The Rev. Michael Sung
The Rev. Joe Walker
The Rev. Ralph Warnock
The Rev. Mary Charlotte Wilcox
The Rev. Michael Williamson

From the Diocese of Athabasca:
The Rev. Roy Dickson
The Rev. Ken Harding
The Rev. Canon Fraser Lawton
The Rev. Terry Leer
The Rev. Sean O'Connor

END