From the comments:

I think Kate is likely correct in assuming the story was written for the print edition on Christian Week, which explains both the date of the story and the “stale” news it contains. –Marilyn J.

By Frank Stirk, BC Correspondent

From Christian Week Magazine

Hat Tip to Virtue Online

October 1, 2008

The prospect of having to walk away from their building-and more than a century of cherished memories-seems not to have shaken the resolve of most of the parishioners of St. Matthew’s Anglican Church to stand by their orthodox beliefs.

Earlier this year, the church voted almost unanimously to quit the Anglican Church of Canada and align itself withthe Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC). At issue was what they saw as the ACC’s abandonment of Anglican orthodoxy, and in particular the diocese of New Westminster’s continued advocacy of a same-sex blessing.

Three other churches in Vancouver also voted to join the ANiC at about the same time.

In August, the diocese invoked canon law, ordering clergy at two of the parishes-St. Matthew’s in Abbotsford and St. Matthias and St. Luke in Vancouver-to get out by mid-September.

“They cannot leave the Anglican Church of Canada, as they chose to do voluntarily, yet continue to occupy premises set aside for worship for members of the Anglican Church of Canada,” George Cadman, the diocese’s chancellor (or chief legal officer), said in an e-mail.

In their place, Bishop Michael Ingham has named interim priests and new trustees and wardens loyal to the diocese.

Linda Seale, a long-serving lay leader at St. Matthew’s, says while people are saddened it has come to this, most have stuck to their convictions, even if it means following their ministers out the door.

“Overall, people are still resolved that this is the right thing to do,” she says. “They’ve said right from the start ‘Bible over buildings’-what we believe is more important than property and that sort of thing.”

Even the memorabilia of the parish’s 108-year history will not deter them from leaving to worship elsewhere, says Seale. And yet she does not deny it will mean “a huge tug on the heart,” especially for some older members.

“I just had a conversation,” she says, “with a parishioner whose [wife's ashes are] buried in the memorial garden. He’s concerned about whether or not he’ll still have access to that area… I’ve had others mention that to me as well.”

Such fears are unfounded, says Cadman. “Only clergy have been asked to leave… All (except the clergy) are free to remain and worship in the two parishes,” he wrote.

Ed Hird knows first-hand what these people are going through. In 2005, his church-St. Simon’s in North Vancouver-was among the first to leave the ACC. They also decided to abandon their property rather than risk bankruptcy by fighting to keep it.

“That was a hard transition, because some of our people were in the building since the 1950s,” he says.

But Hird adds that the hardship was more than offset by the fact that “we’re not stuck in endless limbo… There are churches that didn’t act and they’ve lost hundreds of people, because basically orthodox believers won’t put up with that. They’ll either give up on Anglicanism entirely or they’ll find an Anglican alternative.” In a letter to diocesan clergy, Dean Peter Elliott states that because restructuring a parish is “time-consuming,” no action has been taken as yet against the other two parishes-St. John’s Shaughnessy and Church of the Good Shepherd.

ANiC executive director Cheryl Chang, a Vancouver lawyer, says challenging the diocese in court is “definitely” an option. She points out all four parishes are managed by self-governing corporations that have registered title to the buildings.

Seale also feels they have a moral obligation to try to stop the diocese from taking away their property-but within limits.”Now whether we would pursue it for years and years for huge amounts of money, I think… depends on what basically the Holy Spirit is leading the parish to do,” she says. “You do what’s right to do in the moment.”