James Ferry
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Rev. James Ferry is a priest of the Anglican Church of Canada, who was stripped of his parish in 1992 after coming out as gay and in a partner relationship with another man.
Raised in the United Church of Canada, later a member of a Baptist congregation, Ferry joined the Anglican Church in his twenties. He studied at the University of Toronto at Scarborough, Tyndale University College (then Ontario Bible College), and Wycliffe College.
After a homophobic parishioner infiltrated his rectory, Ferry was exposed as living in a conjugal arrangement with another man. During the ensuing uproar, Ferry's partner left him. A Bishop's Court found Ferry guilty of wrongdoing for not adhering to the guideline that gay and lesbian clergy remain abstinent. He was inhibited from functioning as a priest, and became affiliated with the Metropolitan Community Church, a gay and lesbian founded denomination which has taken an explicitly gay-affirming stance including the ordination of openly gay candidates for the ministry. He was later partially reinstated as an Anglican priest and now occasionally celebrates the Eucharist and preaches at the Church of the Holy Trinity.
Ferry published a book about his experience, In the Courts of the Lord, in 1994.
In 2006, Archbishop Terence Finlay, who had inhibited Ferry, married a lesbian couple in a United church, prompting Ferry to publicly demand an apology for Finlay's treatment of him [1].
