See our earlier report here.
There is now a “Highlights” report of the meeting available as a PDF file.
There is further detail about the church’s position in respect of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill in the (bi-lingual) report of the Standing Committee.
There are some interesting Ministry Statistics in this report.
It is a promising shift to consider that baptism is the primary sacrament, not ordination. That opens a whole new world on every possible level. It invites participation and discipleship.
It also promises to be scary for some, as no one is barred from baptism. Some people don’t seem to be happy if they don’t get to personally insure that the “right sort” be invited and no one else…
Cynthia, I guess the Sacrament of Baptism being primary for Christians is absolutely vital. After all, it confers God’s blessing on all who partake of it. Priestly Ordination is quite something else – except that Baptism may be the primary ‘ordination’ into the ‘priesthood of all believers’ per St. Paul.