Antigay Anglican bishop faces discipline

The Anglican bishop for Canada's Yukon Territory could be suspended or removed for challenging the authority of Vancouver bishop Michael Ingham in a dispute over the blessing of same-sex unions, a church leader says. Metropolitan David Crawley, the top Anglican church leader in British Columbia and the Yukon, said Wednesday that he had begun disciplinary proceedings against Bishop Terry Buckle. Buckle "unlawfully" has claimed authority to represent 11 Vancouver-area parishes that oppose wedding-style blessings for same-sex couples, Crawley said in a prepared statement. "Many of us are deeply grieved and embarrassed that a bishop, who has sworn an oath to maintain order in the life of the church, is himself the author of disorder," the statement read. Chris Hawley, a spokesman for the dissident parishes, said the attempt to punish Buckle "isn't unexpected at all." Hawley, attending a conference of conservative Anglicans and Episcopalians in Dallas, said in a telephone interview that Crawley warned Buckle in a private letter in September that he could face suspension.