Breakaway Anglicans find new worship space

A group of Anglicans from St. John’s Shaughnessy in Vancouver, the largest of four dissident parishes in the diocese of New Westminster, will begin Sunday services at Oakridge Adventist Church beginning Sept. 25.

The group left the Anglican Church of Canada in 2009 over the issue of same sex blessings, and joined the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC). They later filed a lawsuit against the diocese for control of assets, but lost in proceedings heard by three judiciary bodies: the British Columbia Supreme Court; the British Columbia Court of Appeal; and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Last July, the diocese of New Westminster was awarded $155,000 in costs resulting from the lawsuit.

Regular Sunday services conducted by Anglican Church of Canada clergy will resume at St. John’s, according to the diocese’s website.