Letter to the editor: Despair and hope

Notes: "The November issue illustrated my hope and despair for our Anglican Communion. Jean Gower's letter on same-sex marriage, 'Jesus must weep at our lack of Christian charity and inclusiveness' (Letters, p. 5), reminded me of how our timidity and weakness have trumped love and compassion. The Commission on the Marriage Canon report added to my despair with its 'theologically possible' but not necessarily 'theologically desirable' approach, and its prescription of 'discerning God's will', which has been a convenient, bureaucratic excuse for inaction for many years on this and other issues. I found hope in Bishop Mark MacDonald's article ('Our agenda, as we wake up', p, 5) on moving from institutional membership to communion. I, too, would like to 'live together in a community of moral imagination -- rethinking our lives in the light of the gospel'. I have recently retreated from institutional membership, while I ponder the possibilities -- and opportunities". [Text of entire article.]

Subjects: Homosexuality - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada; Anglican Church of Canada - Parties and movements; Anglican Church of Canada - Doctrines; Anglican Church of Canada. Commission on the Marriage Canon