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A gay vicar who exchanged vows with his partner in a London church has gone to ground while the diocese he was once part of remains tight-lipped.
Former Reverend David Lord of Hamilton and Rev Peter Cowell have upset many in the Anglican Church after they exchanged vows and rings at the 12th century St Bartholemew The Great Church in London on May 31.
A leading figure of the Anglican Church, which is facing an upheaval over homosexuality, has since ordered an investigation into the blessing.
Mr Lord, expected to be joined by Mr Cowell in New Zealand, reportedly handed his licence for clerical duties back to the Bishop of Waikato, the Archbishop David Moxon, on Sunday.
The former emergency room doctor, who was ordained as a deacon in late 2005, was not at his central Hamilton home yesterday and several calls to his house went unanswered.
Archbishop Moxon did not take calls yesterday and members of the Waikato Diocese would not talk to the Herald.
But Anglican Church media officer, Lloyd Ashton, maintained the clergy line that services or public blessings for civil union partnerships were not authorised in any diocese in New Zealand.
But Archdeacon Dr Hone Kaa said there was no theological, biblical or legal reason for gays and lesbians not to be ordained in the Anglican Church in New Zealand.
