In June 2002 the decision-making synod of the Anglican Church in the Greater Vancouver area (the Diocese of New Westminster) voted to ask the bishop to allow clergy to bless their long-term, covented relationships. Bishop Michael Ingham consented to the request, and in May 2003 he issued a rite of blessing. The first blessing took place a few days later.

The synod had voted not once but three times to bless permanent, faithful same sex relationships. The desire was to ensure that homosexuals who seek to be included in the Anglican Communion in New Westminster feel safe and respected.

The majority of Anglicans in the Greater Vancouver area acknowledged their belief that homosexuality is a normative variation of human nature, morally neutral in and of itself, and that what is wrong is homophobia and religiously based prejudice.