Two churches shun Canada Anglicans over gay unions

By Janet Guttsman

TORONTO (Reuters) - Two congregations with roots in the Anglican Church of Canada have joined a bishop who abandoned the church because of its position on homosexuality, deepening divisions within the worldwide Anglican movement.

The two churches, both in British Columbia, oppose the blessing of gay marriages and will serve under a more orthodox archbishop in Argentina.

"We are sending these churches out to minister ... and help rebuild an orthodox Anglican witness in Canada," Bishop Donald Harvey said in a statement on Friday.

Harvey said last week he would come out of retirement to lead the conservative Canadian Anglicans, who will serve under the authority of Gregory Venables, Argentina-based archbishop of the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of the Americas.

Harvey has said 18 to 20 congregations might pull out of the Canadian Anglican movement and put themselves under Venables. Another 12 churches have already put themselves under the authority of conservative African archbishops.

The two churches that joined the conservative group on Friday were formed in 2005 and 2006 as breakaway congregations angry at the decision of the liberal New Westminster diocese to allow individual churches to bless gay unions.

"We are thrilled to be embraced by a God-fearing Province that allows us to remain fully Anglican and fully in communion with the worldwide Anglican Church," said Rev. Archie Pell, who was ousted from his parish by the New Westminster Bishop. "We no longer have to feel alone."

The Canadian Anglicans stepped back from the brink of giving all their churches the option of blessing same-sex unions earlier this year when their bishops overruled votes from the clergy and from parishioners.