Canada: Anglican congregation votes to split from bishop over same-sex unions
Chantal Eustace, Canwest News Service
Vancouver Sun
Thursday, February 14, 2008

VANCOUVER - Members of what is described as the largest congregation in the Anglican Church of Canada voted strongly Wednesday to split with Vancouver-area Bishop Michael Ingham over his support for same-sex blessings.

``It means that the community speaks with one mind,'' said St. John's Shaughnessy Anglican Church spokeswoman Lesley Bentley, after a preliminary count showed that out of 495 ballots cast, only 11 opposed the split and nine abstained. ``What it is is very uniting.''

The vote means the church, which has more than 700 members, will break with Ingham and join with the conservative Anglican bishops of the Diocese of the Southern Cone, which includes Argentina and Paraguay. the rest