The Anglican Communion has voted to suspend the Episcopal Church over its decision to allow its clergy to perform same-sex marriages, a move not taken by the majority of churches in the Anglican Communion.
The Huffington Post reported that the vote Thursday (Jan. 14) in Canterbury, England suspended the Episcopal Church from voting and decision-making for a period of three years.
“Recent developments in the Episcopal Church with respect to a change in their canon on marriage represent a fundamental departure from the faith and teaching held by the majority of our provinces on the doctrine of marriage,” the Anglican archbishops said in a statement. The statement was hastily arranged after news of the decision was leaked to the media reported CNN.
The Episcopal Church is largely known as the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion, which dates back to the Church of England and its missionary activities in the 17th century. With nearly 85 million members, including 1.8 million in the United States, the communion is the third largest Christian body in the world, after the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.
