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Spong Canada thinks the Christian church needs to lighten up: The Christian church has a deeply flawed understanding of sex that has led to morally groundless objections to masturbation, birth control, abortion and homosexuality, says a leading Canadian Anglican bishop. In particular, the church has been wrong for centuries on the notion that sex exists only for the purpose of procreation, Right Rev. Michael Ingham, bishop of the Greater Vancouver Diocese of New Westminster, told a conference in Ottawa last night. "Wrong for centuries," Mike? You and the Big Guy are tight, are you? "Christianity as a religion stands in...

Breakaway Anglicans won't vacate churches Bishop trying to evict two parishes that left church over blessings of same-sex unions By Douglas Todd, Sun Religion Reporter VANCOUVER: Two B.C. priests at breakaway Anglican parishes are defying their former bishop's request to vacate their church properties, which are together worth more than $1.2 million. The two Vancouver-area conservative priests – who recently left the Anglican Church of Canada because they vehemently oppose same-sex blessings – say their congregations have no intention of saying goodbye to the buildings in which they have worshipped for years. “We own the premises and we’re carrying on...

B.C. group opposes decision to bless same-sex unions A group of Anglican churches in British Columbia opposed to the blessing of same-sex unions has become so intransigent that reconciliation is almost impossible, their bishop, Michael Ingham, said yesterday. He said a task force being established by the Canadian House of Bishops on the problem of the dissenters should now focus on separation. The dissenters claimed the bishop was persecuting them and accused him of threatening to lock them out of their churches. In a statement released yesterday, Bishop Ingham of the diocese of New Westminster accused the breakaway churches of...

Twenty-four conservative Episcopal bishops in the United States cut ties Friday with a British Columbia diocese that recently authorized a blessing ceremony for a homosexual couple. The move has implications for a looming showdown in the Episcopal church, which will vote in two weeks whether to approve same-sex blessings and ratify the election of the church's first openly gay bishop — Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Many in the 77-million-member worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal church is the U.S. member, fear the votes at the Episcopal General Convention could split the church. In 1998, the Anglican...

VANCOUVER - In a Canadian first, clergy in six Anglican parishes in British Columbia have been cleared to use a special rite to bless same-sex unions, a landmark development in a dispute that has rocked the world Anglican Church. Bishop Michael Ingham, head of the Diocese of New Westminster representing 25,000 worshippers across Vancouver and southwestern British Columbia, yesterday announced his approval for a rite and said details of the procedure would imminently be released. Bishop Ingham is believed to be the first Anglican bishop in the world to formally approve such blessings, although some U.S. bishops have informally allowed...