Rev. Susan Johnson was named the first female national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. “I'm just overwhelmed by this incredible honour,” Johnson said after her election in June at the denomination's national convention in Winnipeg. She will succeed National Bishop Raymond Schultz, who will retire in September.
The Anglican Church of Canada, meeting in Winnipeg at the same time as the ELCIC, elected Bishop Fred Hiltz as its new primate, or national leader.
Hiltz, bishop of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island defeated Bishop Victoria Matthews of Edmonton in the final ballot. If Matthews had been elected, she would have been the first woman to become an Anglican archbishop.
Both denominations rejected proposals to approve ceremonies of blessing for same-sex unions. The general synod of the Anglican Church of Canada narrowly defeated a resolution that would have allowed dioceses to decide for themselves whether or not to bless same-sex unions.
“I think everyone's a loser. Traditional Christians can't take comfort in the vote and those who want to move on are held back by a small number of bishops,” said Bishop Michael Ingham, who in 2002 approved a same-sex blessing ceremony for his Diocese of New Westminster.
The Lutherans defeated a proposal to introduce same-gender blessings by a vote of 200 to 181. The Lutheran convention in 2005 defeated a similar proposal.
The issue of same-gender blessings came before the churches, in part, as a result of Canada's parliament making civil marriages for gay couples legal.
If delegates at the Anglican meeting had voted in favour of the proposal, it would have put the Canadian church at odds with most of the 77 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion.
– Ecumenical News International
