The resolution adopted by the Anglican Communion’s archbishops said the Episcopal Church’s decision at its general convention in 2015 to allow a marriage rite for same-sex couples was a “fundamental departure from the faith and teaching held by the majority of our provinces on the doctrine of marriage.”For the next three years, the Episcopal leaders will not be allowed to represent the Anglican Communion at meetings with other churches or other faiths, will not be appointed or elected to internal committees and will not be allowed to participate in decisions in the Anglican Communion “relating to doctrine or polity.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main storyAdvertisementContinue reading the main storyThe presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Michael Curry, said before the vote that “this decision will bring real pain” for all Episcopalians, but especially for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members, according to the Episcopal News Service.“For many who have felt and been rejected by the church because of who they are, for many who have felt and been rejected by families and communities, our church opening itself in love was a sign of hope,” Bishop Curry said. “And this will add pain.”The archbishop of Canterbury permitted the participation at the gathering this week of Archbishop Foley Beach, who leads the Anglican Church in North America, a breakaway group formed in the United States and Canada to protest the moves there to ordain gay bishops and recognize same-sex marriages. The Anglican Church in North America counts just over 100,000 members.A group of conservative primates said in a statement that they were “pleased” at the sanctions and the inclusion of Archbishop Beach, but that they were disappointed the meeting did not call for “repentance” from the provinces that support same-sex marriage and gay bishops.The Rev. Susan Russell, a senior associate rector at All Saints Church in Pasadena, Calif., was among the Episcopalians who said sanctions would not change their position: “As a lifelong Episcopalian and a married lesbian priest, I think it’s not only an acceptable cost, it’s a badge of honor in some ways.”But the sanctions may be more than a temporary measure. The Rev. Canon Andrew K. Gross, a spokesman for the conservative Anglican Church in North America, said the sanctions were imposed for three years because that is when the Episcopal Church holds its next general convention and could reconsider its actions on gay marriage.

Source: Anglican Archbishops Discipline U.S. Episcopal Church Over Gay Marriages – The New York Times