Anglican Network in Canada – summary of first week of court case
The first week of the court case was devoted to the opening statement and witnesses for the four ANiC parishes. In his opening statement, parish counsel, Mr Geoff Cowper, Q.C., indicated he intends to establish that:
* This is a case of division in the church – locally, nationally and internationally – rather than just a number of congregations "departing" from the church.– part of the DNA
* The Solemn Declaration is foundational to Anglicanism in Canada
both as a declaration of faith and as a binding commitment to interdependence with the Communion.
* That the original founders of the Anglican Church of Canada did not anticipate such division and the Canons and Constitution are not capable of addressing it appropriately.
* That the current division and its causes are unprecedented in the history of the Communion.
Witnesses for the ANiC parishes included: Dr John G Stackhouse, Jr (professor of theology and culture, Regent College), Bishop Don Harvey, Bishop Ron Ferris, Linda Seale (churchwarden, St Matthew’s, Abbotsford), Error! Reference source not found. (long-time parishioner, St John’s Shaughnessy), Peter Pang (Church of the Good Shepherd), and the Rev David Short.
Professor Stackhouse appeared as an expert witness and said:
* The current dispute is unprecedented and very complex.
* The Solemn Declaration was intended to be the constitutive document of the ACoC and has been treated as such. It, together with the historic creeds and 39 Articles, form the touchstones of Anglicanism. The 39 Articles presupposed the creeds and denoted what marks Anglicanism out from other Christian denominations.
Counsel for the Diocese and Bishop Ingham, Mr George Macintosh, QC, in his cross-examinations of the witnesses seemed to be focusing on these assertions:
* Anglicanism is territorial; dioceses and provinces generally have a set geographic footprint which does not overlap. The creation of ANiC to operate within the same footprint as the ACoC is irregular.
* Congregations are distinct from parishes. Congregations may have left the diocese and the ACoC, but not parishes; people can leave, but the property cannot.
* A parish is a creation of a diocese and cannot exist apart from the diocese
More information and resources on the legal case, including daily summaries of the court proceedings, are available on the ANiC website
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