Canada: Anglican group happy with new setup

Parishioners broke away from Anglican church in Nanoose Bay two years ago
By Dustin Walker, Daily News
January 18, 2011

Parishioners who broke away from an Anglican church in Nanoose Bay two years ago have little desire to reclaim the building they once worshiped in, says the reverend at Christ's Church Oceanside.

Saint Mary's Anglican Church was reduced to just 14 people when the majority of parishioners, led by Rev. Guy Bellerby, split from the diocese and formed Christ's Church Oceanside. The breakaway group is among several across Canada that have left the Anglican diocese and joined the Anglican Network in Canada, which opposes same-sex marriage. Issues of same-sex blessings and how to interpret the Bible have led to a decades-long division in the worldwide Anglican communion.

Members of the breakaway Anglican Network in Canada filed an appeal Friday to the Supreme Court of Canada, after two lower courts ruled their churches -- St. John's, Church of the Good Shepherd, and St. Matthias and St. Luke's in Vancouver, as well as St. Matthews in Abbotsford -- belonged to the Anglican Church in Canada. the rest