Presbyterian church in canada lgbtq
&#;We are sorry, and we repent.&#;
That&#;s the message sent last month by the Presbyterian Church in Canada(PCC) to &#;all those harmed by homophobia and hypocrisy by and within the church.&#;
The letter was written by PCC moderator Peter Bush, who is also Minister at Westwood Presbyterian Church here in Winnipeg.
In it the denomination apologizes and repents for how its churches failed &#;to be adj and welcoming places&#; for people &#;who do not identify as heterosexual,&#; and for being judgmental and excluding others &#;based on restrictive gender definitions.&#;
It also says sorry for &#;our failure to protect&#; LGBTQ* people who own been &#;attacked and brutalized,&#; for failing &#;to hold people accountable for abuse and hatred&#; for not speaking up when such attacks occurred.
It also apologizes for putting &#;more emphasis on a person&#;s sexual identity than on their identity in Christ.&#;
The letter concludes by noting that the denomination is committed to &#;go in a new way and to be a welcoming church,&#; and to create a &#;safe place&#; whe
By Krista McCracken
Though the government of Canada legalized same-sex marriage in , marriage remains a contested point of debate within many Canadian religious denominations. Since the s Christian denominations across Canada have debated and developed policies around human sexuality, marriage, and ordination.
Currently, the Catholic Church and the Presbyterian Church in Canada do not condone gay marriage or the blessing of same-sex unions. Both the Presbyterian Church and the Anglican Church of Canada will allow gay or lesbian individuals to be ordained in the church, providing the individuals are celibate and not ‘practicing’ their sexuality. In the Anglican Church blessings for same-sex couples (not marriage) can be performed in 10 Anglican dioceses across Canada and the Anglican Church of Canada is slated to vote on same-sex marriage in [i] These denominations are still struggling with policies relating to sexuality and have made very little movement to alter their positions based on the legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada.
Conversely, this August the United Ch
Kortright Presbyterian Church’s Position on Marriage and Ordination
In June , the highest court (governance body) of our denomination, the General Assembly, approved the following two changes to the doctrine of the Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC).
1) The Presbyterian Church in Canada holds two parallel definitions of marriage and recognizes that faithful, Holy Spirit filled, Christ centred, God honouring people can understand marriage as a covenant relationship between a man and a woman or as a covenant relationship between two elder persons.
That congregations, sessions, ruling, and teaching elders be granted liberty of conscience and noun on marriage.
2) That congregations and presbyteries may call and ordain as ministers and elect and ordain as ruling elders LGBTQI persons (married or single) with the provision that liberty of conscience and action regarding participation in ordinations, inductions and installations be granted to ministers and ruling elders.
With respect to these two remits, the Session of KPC has decided to keep the definition of marriage as
Will was inducted as the Senior Minister at St. Andrew’s in September Prior to serving at St. Andrew’s, he served as the minister of Morningside-High Park (MHP), Toronto, after graduating from Knox College with a Master’s of Divinity degree in He subsequently completed a Master’s of Theology degree from the University of Toronto in Biblical Studies; and completed his Doctor of Ministry (DMin) degree, in , at McCormick Theological Seminary at the University of Chicago.
His greatest joy, however, is the age that he spends with his three kids — Kate, Madeline and Spencer.
In addition to his congregational responsibilities, Will has been active in a variety of ministries and organizations, including the Boards of Directors of Evangel Hall and Portland Place; the PCC Evangelism Advisory Group; the PCC Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee; the Governing Board of the Canadian Council of Churches; the Interfaith Committee on Chaplaincy for Corrections Services Canada; and the planning committee for the annual Ontario Prayer Breakfast. From , he served as the Moderator of the P