According to various parish profiles reported to the Synod of 1995 (the latest figures available in the 'Profile'), Niagara parishes claimed to have 38,000 total members but average Sunday attendance is less than a third of that figure - a mere 12,124. Factoring in further steady decline over the last seven years and the number of church closures, that figure is undoubtedly lower. The diocese claims that 98 churches have organized into 85 parishes. The majority of the parishes (now 74) are "single-point parishes." It should be noted that clergy working less than full time serve eleven of the "single point parishes". Ten parishes are without clergy and searching for virtually anyone who can or will fill them. Apparently no one wants to climb aboard a sinking ship.

According to leaders of the Prayer Book Society (PBS), factoring in the number of churches that have closed since 1995 then "something is dramatically wrong, namely, nine (or more) out of ten Anglicans DO NOT support (the Diocese of) Niagara's version of Anglicanism; hence they are denying the Anglican Church of Canada their attendance."

PBS leaders believe that the subsequent dwindling of attendance on Sunday started because of "It started with the blatant disregard of the historic Book of Common Prayer, a disregard that set forth a decline that fed on itself."

"The obvious conclusion is that most Anglicans of Niagara despise the last twenty years of innovation of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and that more innovation is not likely to bring them back to the fold of Anglicanism."

There is the greater concern that the premise of the 2001 population Census displays the same general characteristics as the population of Ontario.

"Perhaps it is time to stop, ponder, and return to the roots before nothing is left to return to," wrote PBS leaders.

Time is running out for Niagara Bishop Ralph Spence who has been a strong advocate of gay rights and same-sex marriage blessings. He calls the division over gay rights a growing "chasm." According to newspaper reports Spence is worried.

"Niagara is a very liberal diocese," he said recently. The bishop faces a revolt in his diocese even as his province faces possible censure from the Archbishop of Canterbury and Global South leaders.

His diocese is also home to the Rev. Canon Charlie Masters, head of the conservative Anglican Essentials. He is presently crisscrossing the country trying to rally support against his church's innovations. The group has said it will break with the Canadian church if it votes at its synod next month to allow such blessings and will petition the archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual head of the church worldwide, to recognize it as the true church in Canada.

"Charlie will have a tough time of that," says Spence. After years of straddling what he calls the growing "chasm" between liberals and conservatives over gay rights, Spence does not want to alienate conservatives even as he plans to leave office in February 2008.

Rev. Canon Michael Patterson, director of evangelism in Niagara, says same-sex marriage is now the law of the land and the church needs to accept the reality of such unions or risk becoming irrelevant.

On property issues, the Niagara bishop says local control is the Anglican way, stretching back to the founding of the church, when King Henry VIII bristled at the influence of the Pope over British affairs - including his choice of queen, with the tussle over his many marriages becoming the focus of debate.

Similarly, the fight today over same-sex marriage is just one manifestation of a dispute that runs far deeper. It is really about liberal interpretations of Holy Scripture versus more orthodox interpretations of Scripture.

A new independent survey reveals that The Anglican Church of Canada has experienced a huge decline over the past 40 years. During the period of 1961 to 2001 the Canadian region of the worldwide Anglican Church lost 53% of its members, with numbers declining from 1.36 million to 642,000.

An even more worrying sign for the worldwide Church is that the survey suggests that the decline is accelerating. In the period between 1981 and 1991 the Church membership decreased by 13%, however between 1991 and 2001 the numbers reduced by a greater proportion of 20%.

Road to schism

June 2002: The diocese of New Westminster, B.C., votes 67 per cent to allow same-sex blessings.

June 2003: Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, is chosen as the bishop of New Hampshire.

October 2004: The Windsor report calls for a moratorium on blessing same-sex unions and ordaining gay bishops worldwide, and "invites" the Canadian and U.S. churches to apologize for past actions.

June 2006: Katharine Jefferts Schori is elected U.S. presiding bishop, the first woman to hold the top post in an Anglican church.

February 2007: A worldwide meeting of Anglican bishops in Tanzania tells the U.S. to recant its support of gay clergy and same-sex marriage blessings by Sept. 30 or be expelled from the communion.

March 2007: The U.S. House of Bishops says it has no plans to change church policy as a result of the ultimatum and calls for a meeting with the archbishop of Canterbury.

April 2007: Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams visits Canada and urges the church here to consider the unity of the worldwide church when deciding whether to support same-sex marriage blessings.

June 2007: The Anglican Church of Canada will meet in Winnipeg to vote on several resolutions, including one to allow local churches to decide on blessing same-sex unions.

September 2007: Williams will meet with the U.S. House of Bishops at its fall meeting, just days before the Sept. 30 deadline.

Fall 2007: If there is a crisis, Williams is expected to call an emergency meeting of bishops from around the world.

July 2008: The once-every-10-years Lambeth Conference on spiritual issues will begin in Britain, promising to be one of the most important such sessions in church history.

END