Yesterday’s Edmonton Journal reports that a Saskatchewan priest has been told he will be fired at the end of this month over the issue of same-sex blessings.  The story says he’s being dismissed because he supports such blessings, but the priest’s own statement indicates that it goes deeper than that.

The Journal story is behind a subscriber wall, but blogger sameo416 has posted the whole thing:

Sacked Anglican becomes 'priest in exile'

Saskatchewan clergyman fired for supporting same-sex marriage

SASKATOON – An Anglican priest has been told he will be dumped from his job in Saskatoon by the end of the month for supporting same-sex marriage.

Shawn Sanford Beck says he made a stand on the issue – and won’t back down from his views that gay and lesbian couples should be able to marry.

Beck has been told he will also lose his job working with a Lutheran inner-city project.  Even though he has being turfed by the Anglican Church, he says he won’t renounce his faith.

He calls his views on the issue an act of “civil disobedience” within the church and calls himself a “priest in exile”.

Last year, Terence Finlay – the retired Anglican archbishop of Toronto – had his licence to perform marriages revoked after he officiated at the wedding of a lesbian couple.

To get the error in that last paragraph out of the way first, Terence Finlay had his wrist slapped.  His licence was not “revoked”; it was merely suspended for three months.

An open letter from The Rev Shawn Sanford Beck to his bishop The Rt Rev Rodney Andrews, Bishop of Saskatoon, has been posted here. To me, this is a key paragraph.

As a priest in the midst of this struggle, it has become clear to me after much prayer and soul-searching, that my spiritual conscience can no longer abide by the laws which I am required to uphold in regard to the blessing of same-sex unions and marriages. It is my conviction that our current ban on such practices is theologically problematic and fundamentally unjust. Upholding such a position (even unwillingly) forces me to bend severely (if not break) my priestly vows, my baptismal covenant, and the Word of God inscribed within my heart. I therefore publicly declare that I will, when requested, officiate at same-sex marriages and offer blessing upon committed same sex unions. I will no longer discriminate against homosexual people when it comes to the exercise of my priestly duties.

Not only has Rev Beck expressed his disagreement with the policy of his diocese, he has announced his determination to violate said policy at the earliest opportunity.  The latter statement is crucial.

I doubt that disagreeing with one’s bishop is a firing offence in the Anglican Church of Canada.  Stating one’s intention to perform unauthorised liturgies is something else entirely.

The website of the Diocese of Saskatoon does not appear to mention Rev Beck’s dismissal, but I strongly suspect that the firing was motivated by his resolution to disobey his bishop, not by the mere fact of disagreement.

Why did Edmonton Journal focus solely on Rev Sanford-Beck’s change of mind on same-sex blessings and neglect to mention his decision to defy his bishop over the issue?

h/t: felix hominum

Previous related post: Retired Archbishop reprimanded for officiating at same-sex “marriage”

UPDATE (11 Mar.):  Bishop Andrews says that Rev Beck's licence will be suspended indefinitely on 31 March unless he reconsiders his intention to perform same-sex blessings.