Returns licence, calling church's ban on blessings 'unjust'

[Anglican Journal] Rev. Shawn Sanford Beck, an Anglican priest in the diocese of Saskatoon who recently declared that he intends to marry gay couples if asked and who was asked by his bishop to reconsider his position by March 31 or risk losing his license to minister, has resigned his position. In the absence of a licence from the bishop, Mr. Sanford Beck is now considered "On leave without permission to officiate," said Bishop Andrews. In an open letter, Mr. Sanford Beck said the church's ban on same-sex marriages and blessings "is theologically problematic and fundamentally unjust." Meanwhile, Bishop Andrews expressed the hope that the decisions on sexuality that will be made at the coming General Synod in June "will not become a church dividing issue, and that we will rise to a new level of acceptance and tolerance."

All are invited to a Friends of L'Arche Prayer Night, hosted by the L'Arche Saskatoon Project, on Wednesday May 2, 2007 from 7:00-7:45pm in the hall of St. Timothy's Anglican Church, 2101 Lansdowne Ave. (2 blocks south of Taylor St.). L'Arche Saskatoon Project is part of an international network of communities where people with and without intellectual disabilities share life together in the spirit of the Gospel and of the Beatitudes that Jesus preached. For more information, contact Wyndham Thiessen at 262-7243 or Robert and Margaret Sanche at 374-5501.

The Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences will be in Saskatoon from May 26 to June 2. Congress, as it is now called, was once known as the Learned Societies' Conference. Now in its 76th year, it is an important annual gathering of academic societies in the liberal arts from across Canada. According to the website, it is the largest annual academic gathering in Canada; and its multidisciplinary character marks it as unique in the world. In 2006, approximately 8,000 delegates representing over 68 learned societies went to Toronto from all over North America, Europe, Africa and Asia to present their research and to debate some of the most important social and cultural questions of the day.

Participation in Congress requires registration, however there are day passes available. Please see the Congress website for further information.

Some events of interest to the ecumenical community will include the annual meetings of the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association (CETA), Canadian Theological Society (CTS), Canadian Society of Patristic Studies (CPS), Canadian Society of Medievalists (CSM), Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (CSBS), Canadian Society of Church History (CSCH), Canadian Catholic Historical Association (CCHA), and Canadian Society for the Study of Religion (CSSR).

Complete programs of events planned by these societies are available on their individual websites. Some highlights include:

Saturday, May 26 all day The theme of the CETA annual meeting is Evangelical-Roman Catholic encounter. All of the presentations will relate to aspects of this theme. Keynote speaker: Gregory Baum (McGill)

Sunday, May 27, 10:30-11:25 (CTS)
Laurie Lamoreux Scholes (Concordia) -- Building Bridges across Difference: A Study of the Christian Ecumenical Movement of the Early 20th Century (A Blueprint for the Interfaith Movement?)

Tuesday, May 29, 11:00-12:30 (Joint session of CSCH & CCHA)
Panel: Commemorating the contribution of John Webster Grant to Canadian religious historiography

Tuesday, May 29, 3:35-5:30 (CTS panel)
Bridging Churches: Development of the Understanding of Church through Canadian Ecumenical Dialogues -- Moderators: Gail Allan and Mary Marrocco; Presentations: Helmut Harder, Sandra Beardsall, Susan Brown