June 26, 2013 Bishop Dobbs' Statement Regarding US Supreme Court Decision on the Defense of Marriage Act Earlier today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a split decision striking down a key section of the defense of Marriage Act and forcefully criticizing the definition of marriage which has endured for millennia in what it called unconstitutional discrimination. The Rt. Rev'd Julian M. Dobbs of the Missionary Diocese of CANA East said today, "I am very disappointed with the decision of the Supreme Court. The institution of marriage as a covenantal relationship between one man and one woman was established by God in his creation of man and women to live together in a lifelong covenant. Marriage was not made by any government, and no court can change what is divinely established. By departing from the critical norms that have formed and fashioned society since the beginning of the human race, the Court is adopting the trends of current culture at the expense of the unchangeable laws fashioned by the God who designed and made us." Responding to the Court's decision, The Most Rev'd Robert Duncan* of the Anglican Church in North America lamented, "The Church has countered the culture throughout most of its history. We find ourselves, both sadly and increasingly, in this position in a nation once seen as a 'light upon a hill,' and a 'hope of all the earth.'" Bishop Dobbs went on to stress, "The Christian Church has a responsibility to model strong lifelong marriages between one man and one woman that impact society in a healthy life-giving manner. The Church proclaims the gospel message that Almighty God loves every individual and that every life is precious to the Creator God. In Him we find the redemption and grace to change lifestyles and turn from behaviors that do not reflect His holy love. In His healing love we find a path to sexual-wholeness which reflects His love for all of humanity." The ACNA and the Missionary Diocese of CANA East both affirm in their constitutions and canons our Lord's teaching that Holy Matrimony is, in its very nature, a covenantal union, permanent and lifelong, between one man and one woman.