Anglican Samizdat

Since the Diocese of New Westminster succeeded in removing the ANiC congregation that worshipped there, St. Matthew’s hasn’t actually had a viable congregation, so at Doerksen’s installation, everybody else was invited to enjoy the spectacle. All the clergy from the Regional Deanery of Yale were there, elected officials were there; even the mayor was there.

The only people missing were the congregation.

In his introduction, Bishop Michael Ingham, lamented the fact that he hadn’t been invited to the parish for 16 years; I imagine the wardens were afraid he’d bring a lock-smith with him.

Still, he ended his oration by declaring his repentance. Repentance for what exactly? Well, he doesn’t say. But we can be sure it was not for blessing same-sex unions or for turfing a thriving congregation out of its building.  He does give us a hint when he says “Our public divisions and disputes these last ten years have damaged the mission of God”, but he can’t be repenting of that, since his actions have been instrumental in rending the worldwide Anglican Communion asunder – and he’s still at it.

He is probably repenting of not being inclusive enough: despite Ingham’s best efforts, the remaining smattering of conservatives in his diocese have  not yet been driven to abandon ship by rampant maniacal inclusion – a bitter disappointment for Ingham.

It has been 16 years since I last entered this church. Normally, a diocesan bishop visits every parish about every two years, but the last invitation I received to St. Matthew, Abbotsford came in October 1995.

You will note this was long before any actions were taken by our Diocese that led to the events of the last decade. The process of separation from the Anglican Church of Canada had already begun. This has been a painful and agonizing experience for people on all sides, and it is appropriate tonight that we express our thanks to God that a new era of mission and ministry in the service of Jesus Christ has begun.

It is also important that we express our sorrow and repentance. On the last night of his earthly life, Jesus prayed that the church might be one. He prayed for unity so that the world might believe. Our public divisions and disputes these last ten years have damaged the mission of God. Words have been exchanged, and words have been written, by people on both sides, that should never have been said.

Tonight we repent, and ask God’s forgiveness. We extend the hand of friendship to those who have left this place and ask for mutual forgiveness. And as we move forward from these sad years into a new and better future, we ask that God’s grace and love be showered on this place, on all its people, on all who have worshipped here, all who have felt it necessary to leave, all who have felt welcomed to return, and all who might once again find the inclusive, welcoming love of God here in the years to come.

The Diocese of New Westminster is billing this as a “joyous event”; it will be, of course, since nothing – other than ordaining another homosexual priest – brings joy to Michael Ingham’s heart quite like acquiring a building he has absolutely no use for other than, after a decent interval has elapsed, to deconsecrate and sell.

As this announcement notes, “diocesan unity will be restored”, a relatively simple task since, after the event imports have dissipated, there won’t be enough people in the diocesan version of the parish to start a minor quarrel, let alone foment “disunity.”

You are invited to join in the celebration! On September, 7th, 2011 at 7:30pm at St. Matthew, Abbotsford, 2010 Guildford Drive, The Rev. Allen Doerksen will be installed as “Missioner to the Central Fraser Valley and Priest-in-Charge of St. Matthew, Abbotsford” by the Right Reverend Michael Ingham, Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster, Anglican Church of Canada.

This is a joyous time for St. Matthew! Diocesan unity and ministry is being restored! Helping us celebrate will be singers, servers and parishioners from parishes throughout the Deanery and Diocese. Bishop Michael will preside at the Eucharist, Missioner Allen will preach and Award-winning musician Cathy Hardy and professional accompanist Lloyd Bates and singers from around the D of NW will help us worship through song.

Now that the Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed the leave to appeal made by four Vancouver ANiC parishes, the congregations are preparing to vacate the buildings.

Predictably, Michael Ingham’s response includes the familiar recitation:

I want to take this opportunity to repeat that no one is being asked to leave the church buildings in which they worship, except those clergy who have resigned their ministries in the Anglican Church of Canada. My hope is to work with each of these congregations to appoint mutually agreeable clergy who will be loyal to the Church in which they serve.

It’s anyone’s guess as to why he keeps repeating this: does he think a big enough lie repeated often enough will eventually be believed? Is Ingham projecting his own love of buildings over faith onto others? Is it a clumsy PR stunt?

What sane Christian would willingly attend a parish in a diocese run by a bishop whose beliefs are no longer recognisably Christian?

William Blake’s The Defiled Sanctuary is apposite:

I saw a chapel all of gold
That none did dare to enter in,
And many weeping stood without,
Weeping, mourning, worshipping.

I saw a serpent rise between
The white pillars of the door,
And he forc’d and forc’d and forc’d,
Down the golden hinges tore.

And along the pavement sweet,
Set with pearls and rubies bright,
All his slimy length he drew
Till upon the altar white

Vomiting his poison out
On the bread and on the wine.
So I turn’d into a sty
And laid me down among the swine.

I admit that explaining the existence of evil from a Christian perspective isn’t that easy. But, although even the best attempts tend to leave some loose ends and intellectual explanations are not necessarily emotionally consoling, Michael Ingham has not brought the Christian understanding of evil to new heights in his musings on the Japanese tragedies.

According to Ingham: “Natural evil is the result of things over which we have no control” and “We call them evil because they are evil” and “Natural evil is random. It is not planned”.  Eat your heart out, Thomas Aquinas.

From here:

Bishop Michael Ingham told the audience that disasters such as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan are examples of “natural evil,” which happen randomly and can’t be explained by any divine plan.

“Natural evil is the result of things over which we have no control — earthquakes, tsunamis,” Ingham said during the 90-minute service.

“We call them evil because they are evil. They wreak havoc upon the innocent and the defenceless. … Natural evil is random. It is not planned. It afflicts us without reason and without human deserving.”

In the face of such unspeakable horror, Ingham said, the world must come together as a community of neighbours.

“We must cultivate the virtue of compassion,” said Ingham. “We cannot survive as isolated individuals or isolated societies. The pain of our neighbours is our pain. When neighbours suffer, neighbours respond.”

Has Ingham said anything the Humanist Canada society might not have said? No.

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Christians believe that when Jesus said “no-one comes to the Father except through me”, he meant it. If Jesus was wrong and, as Ingham says, “all the great religions are authentic pathways to God”, Jesus blundered rather badly, didn’t really need to die on the cross for our sins and suffered from delusions of grandeur.

Or perhaps it’s Michael Ingham who suffers the delusions.

It’s very difficult to see how someone can be a Christian and not take one of Jesus’ major claims seriously; it’s even harder to see how that person could be a bishop in a Christian church – but, then, he is a bishop in the Anglican Church of Canada.

From here:

New Zealand’s second biggest city Christchurch has been hit by devastation after a major earthquake struck during the busy lunch break today.

Police said ‘multiple fatalities’ were expected and many people were trapped under the rubble after buildings and homes collapsed in the city centre.

The city was being evacuated amid fears that more buildings would come down and fires were breaking out.

Dozens of buildings have crashed down and roads have broken open as the quake ripped through the stricken city. The famous cathedral in the city centre has been destroyed.

The bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch is Victoria Matthews, a product of Wycliffe College Toronto and, at one time, in line to be Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. Although Matthews is supposedly theologically conservative, at the 2007 synod  she voted in favour of a resolution acknowledging that “the blessing of same-sex unions is not in conflict with the core doctrine of the Anglican Church of Canada”. Yet she voted against permitting same-sex blessings, encouraging a contradiction both within her church and her convictions.

The destruction of Christchurch Cathedral by an earthquake brings to mind another – what we used to call – act of God.

David Jenkins (not me – really), bishop of Durham was infamous for disbelieving in Jesus’ bodily resurrection; he called it “a conjuring trick with bones”. Naturally, he became one of the first clergymen in the Church of England to bless a civil partnership between two homosexual men, one of whom was a vicar. He was consecrated at York Minster; three days later, York Minster was struck by lightning, resulting in a catastrophic fire. Rumour has it that the sky was clear that night, and nobody heard any thunder – but there were reports of  a “sword-like stab of fire” descending from above.

Another act of God? Hard to say, but if I were Michael Ingham, I’d move to the basement.

Yes, you heard that right: Bird and Ingham, the suing bishops, will be participating in a “Healing relations through Bishops’ dialogue” gabfest. Everyone else should bring a lawyer.

From here:

Healing relations through Bishops’ dialogue

Two primates and 18 bishops from Africa and North America will meet in Dar es Salaam this month to continue a process of dialogue that they hope will contribute toward “healing relations” in the Anglican Communion.

Since 2007, there have been initiatives to bring together Anglican bishops from Canada, the United States and some provinces of Africa, to help bridge a divide resulting from deep disagreements over the issue of human sexuality………

The participants are: Bishop John Chapman (diocese of Ottawa), Bishop Michael Bird (diocese of Niagara), Bishop Michael Ingham (diocese of New Westminster)………

The Diocese of New Westminster has filed a brief requesting that the Supreme Court of Canada not hear the appeal of the case between the diocese and ANiC.

From here:

VANCOUVER, February 11 – The Diocese of New Westminster today asked the Supreme Court of Canada to bring an end to a lawsuit brought by the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) that has dragged on since September of 2008.

In a Brief filed with the Court today, it is asking that the court decline to hear the Appeal initiated by ANiC so the Anglican Church in the Vancouver area can stop spending money on lawyers and devote more resources to ministry for its people and those in need.

The mincing piety of the diocese not wishing to waste money lacks the conviction it might have had if it had not gone to court to take possession of the four parish buildings in the first place. And if the diocese had lost the last round in the courts, I very much doubt that Ingham would have let matters rest and surrendered the buildings for which he so pines – yet has no use for – in order to devote his dwindling resources to ministry.

The bishop has said that it has always been the diocese’s policy never to ask priests or parishioners to participate in same sex blessings – an issue that contributed to this dispute. “No one is required to act against their conscience,” he said.

Ingham appears to be ascribing the same unprincipled deviousness that afflicts his conscience to those who used to be his flock: merely to be a part of the Ingham regime requires the sacrifice of conscience to the inevitable contamination that results from being tethered to a heretic.

The good news is his lawyers are sucking him dry.

From here:

Last month, the national Canadian ARC Bishops’ Dialogue celebrated 40 years of bringing Anglican and Roman Catholics closer together. “The Canadian Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue is one of the longest running in the word [sic],” says Bishop Michael Ingham of the Anglican diocese of New Westminster in Vancouver.

As Malcolm Muggeridge observed in the title of one his books: Tread Softly for You Tread on My Jokes.

How does one compete with the grotesque irony of Bishop Michael Ingham – the Diocese of New Westminster’s heretic in residence – declaring that it’s taken 40 years of yakking to bring Anglicans and Catholics “closer together”, when he has managed to drive 77 million Anglicans apart  in just 10?

From here:

During His time on Earth, Jesus Christ often upset the apple cart of people’s and society’s beliefs and norms.

You could say in some ways Anglican Bishop Michael Ingham has done the same over the years.

The head of the Vancouver-area Diocese of New Westminster will be in Calgary for an upcoming presentation on the parables of Jesus, which will offer many people some new ways of looking at some of the most important stories in the Bible. …..

“So you have to find yourself in the story. Some of the stories when we look at them lead to quite unconventional conclusions and might even be subversive in the sense of overturning convention. So I’ll be exploring some of the well-known stories and some of the not-so-well-known ones. We might find some surprises along the way.”

Ironically, Michael Ingham has make a career of taking the radically unconventional views of the Gospel and forcing them into the mould of contemporary culture in order, supposedly, to make them palatable to modern man. In Ingham’s closed, cramped world there is little room for the miraculous: no Virgin Birth; no physical resurrection of Jesus; no unique atonement for original sin. Thus, he has robbed the Gospel of its power making it, for the unbeliever, not palatable, but laughable.

“Throughout Christian history, it’s been the role of the pastor to comfort the disturbed, but the role of the prophet to disturb the comfortable.”

Bishop Michael Ingham has actually found for himself a new role: to be disturbed.