James Ferry (priest)

A bishop's court is a practice that was introduced in the Tudor period to persecute and subdue heretics and other people that the church deemed sinners. It was rarely ever used but was reintroduced to reprimand Ferry's unwillingness to end his relationship with his partner after being advised by Archbishop Finlay.

In the 1992 trial, Finlay ruled that "Ferry was guilty of wrongdoing by refusing to refrain from a homosexual relationship",^{[citation needed]} which subsequently reinstated the 1979 ruling put in place by the Anglican House of Bishops in Canada. This ruling recognizes gay priests, but states that they must remain celibate and not act upon their sexualities.

Ferry had been a priest for 11 years at the time of his trial but was defrocked after the proceedings. He vowed to fight his removal from the church and called attention to over 40 homosexual clergy in the Toronto Anglican diocese who were known by the bishops, signalling the hypocrisy of the church and how they handled these issues. The results of these court proceedings sent Ferry into nearly a decade of grieving, where he viewed God as an "abusive father" who was allowing his son to be prosecuted out of love. Despite the loss of his ministry as a priest, he remained engaged within other forms of ministry because of his strong religious beliefs.^[4][5][6][7]

In 2011, after 20 years of estrangement, Ferry and the former Archbishop of Toronto, Terence Finlay, reconnected in a service of reconciliation. This service included a sermon, a Eucharist, and Ferry's forgiveness of Finlay's prior actions. Finlay had outed Ferry to the parish after Ferry had confided in him about his sexuality, resulting in the bishop's court revoking his priesthood. In the time since Finlay's outing of Ferry's sexuality, he came to deeply regret his decision. He began advocating for lesbian and gay members of the church, even going as far as to officiate at a same-sex wedding. Finlay has become very supportive of the queer community. He wishes that he had made more of an effort to de-escalate the situation instead of outing Ferry. Finlay has said that conversations about homosexuality have led the church's opinion on the community and their inclusion to advance.

Ferry called the service a moment of grace for both he and Finlay, and it symbolized a moment of healing and understanding between two people who represented conflicting perspectives on LGBTQ+ inclusion within the Anglican Church. The service led Archbishop Colin Johnson of the Diocese of Toronto to reinstate Ferry's license as a priest.^[8][9][10]