Archbishop to meet breakaway Anglican congregations Friday

The South American archbishop at the centre of a controversy in Canada's Anglican community will meet his flock in Delta, B.C., Friday morning.

Archbishop Gregory Venables has taken in 15 congregations which have split from the Anglican Church of Canada in the last several months. The congregations, including eight in B.C., are opposed to the blessing of same-sex relationships

The breakaway group is known as the Anglican Network in Canada.

Venables said the head of the Anglican Church of Canada is opposed to his visit to Vancouver and has asked him to stop interfering and to stay away.

But Venables said he is only responding to those in need — as blessing same-sex relationships is not in keeping with God's word, he said.

"In the Holy Scripture, God blesses the marriage relationship of men and women for life," he told CBC News Thursday night.

"I haven't come to visit the Anglican Church in Canada. I have come to visit a small group of people who have made the costly decision to leave the Anglican Church in Canada.

"These people are no longer a part of the Anglican Church of Canada, so I am coming to meet people who are part of my own flock now," he said.

Peter Elliott, dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver, agrees with the Anglican Church of Canada, saying Venables should stay away.

"It would be as if Arnold Schwarzenegger picked up a few regions in B.C. who didn't like the leadership of Gordon Campbell," Elliott said.

Elliott said he believes the Anglican Church should be able to debate issues like same-sex marriage and still stay together.

Venables said the differences are fundamentally deeper and could permanently split the Anglican Church.