In a united show of support, about 100 Anglican clergy with the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador reaffirmed their allegiance to the church Monday in the wake of a rift over same-sex unions that led to the departure of their previous bishop.One by one, retired and current clergy signed declarations renewing their licences - a move the diocese has not taken in at least two decades.
Rev. Cyrus Pitman, the diocese's current bishop, said he called on the clergy to attend the mandatory meeting to offer them a sense of renewal after his predecessor, Donald Harvey, left the Church in protest.
"Today, my friends, is a fresh start," Pitman said in his sermon at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. "It's not a power grab as has been suggested by some.
"Whether someone is of a conservative bent or a liberal bent or some other bent, whatever these labels mean, I will support you. ... But let's not make any mistake about it. There are boundaries."
Pitman sent a letter last month to the clergy of his 37 parishes, notifying them of the meeting that was arranged in part as a response to Harvey's departure.
In that ad clerum, Pitman asked any clergy who have aligned themselves with a more conservative, breakaway Anglican movement in Canada that opposes same-sex unions and gay clergy to "do the honourable thing and resign." None did.
"Today has been a tremendous turnout of clergy, which tells me that the bishop of this diocese has great support from his clergy," said Rev. Ed Keeping, moments after receiving his new licence in a manila envelope.
Harvey left three years ago over what he saw as the church's liberal drift away from biblically authentic Anglicanism. He is now affiliated with the more orthodox Anglican Network in Canada.
He did not return messages seeking comment.
The issues of gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex marriages has divided members of the 700-year-old Anglican Church around the world. Some bishops in Africa, South America and Asia are strongly against blessing same-sex unions.
In November, the head of the Anglican Church of Canada, Primate Fred Hiltz, harshly denounced the efforts of a South American archbishop for trying to convince Canadian Anglicans to switch their allegiances to his more orthodox, 27,000-member church representing Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
At one point during his sermon, Pitman poked fun at the amount of media attention his ad clerum generated.
"I have gone from being relatively unknown as bishop ... to one of the better known in this country," Pitman said as clergy laughed in their pews.
Several clergy did not attend the two-hour ceremony because they were out of the province or ill, Pitman said.
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