From Bach’s B minor Mass, Karl Richter
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEABN5yejpc]
B minor Mass. Et resurrexit
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Monthly Archives: March 2009
Diocese of Niagara: what are the "priests in charge" in charge of exactly?
The diocese of Niagara has appointed “priests in charge” of the three ANiC parishes that have left the diocese. But, since there are almost no people left in the diocesan version of the parishes, just what are the priests in charge of?
Bruce Willis provides the clue:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Iqk841qUQ]
Canada's funding of nut case exemplar, Khaled Mouammar
Canadians are mild, well-mannered, tolerant and, well – nice. I should know – I am one.
Sometimes we are too nice: take the case of arch-twerp, Khaled Mouammar who described the Canadian immigration minister, Jason Kenney as a ‘professional whore who supports war’ because of Canada’s support of Israel. Khaled Mouammar is national president of the Canadian Arab Federation, an entity which receives Federal funding – in other words receives money from the average, nice, Canadian tax-payer.
I already have enough reasons for disliking paying tax without the nigglingly irritating knowledge that some of it is going to fund jihadist halfwits like Mouammar. I manage to reconcile myself to this outrage by realising that living is a compromise and so is democracy: the benefits outweigh the idiocy; grin and bear it. But when I see protestations like this coming from recipients – who, given half a chance, would cheerfully destroy the foundation that makes those dollars possible – of my democratically mandated beneficence, the irritation is in danger of metastasising into thoroughly un-Canadian intolerance.
OTTAWA – Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says the Canadian Arab Federation will have to change its leadership and adopt a more moderate stance or risk losing federal funding.
The federation reacted Friday by saying it is undemocratic and dangerous for a cabinet minister to “bully” an elected president and board of directors, and the minister’s comments should concern all immigrant-settlement agencies in Canada.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said a decision will be made soon on the funding threat he made after Canadian Arab Federation president Khaled Mouammar described the minister as a ‘professional whore who supports war’ during the Israeli bombing of Gaza last month.
The Diocese of Niagara, Desperately Seeking Someone to Sue
On March 11th, the three ANiC parishes that used to be in the Diocese of Niagara were once again in court. The diocese is seeking the legal expenses squandered by the extravagant pettifogging of the diocesan lawyer, John Page.
The only problem is, the diocese can’t decide who to sue! It could be the parishes or it could be the wardens of the parishes; in the courtroom, after a period of diocesan dithering, the judge finally lost patience and told everyone to submit more documentation once the diocese has made up its mind.
Of course, if the diocese does decide to sue the wardens, the “priests in charge” at the three parishes also become fair game: a fact that may explain the high turnover of “priests in charge“.
The question is, why would the diocese even consider a suit against the wardens, considering they don’t have any money to speak of? The only explanation is as an act of intimidation and object lesson to the wardens of other parishes who may be considering a move to ANiC.
In the Diocese of Niagara, All You Need is Love.
Diocese of Niagara: A tribute to bishop Michael Bird
Michael, I realise that you are under the misapprehension that the deviant, maniacal, hyper-liberal, neo-pagan, sub-Christian clap-trap which you are foisting upon your unwilling victims in the Niagara diocese is courageous, but I beg to differ.
This is how courageous I think it is. I will not be surprised or offended If you don’t get it:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GazlqD4mLvw]
Anglican Church of Canada: No-one wants to read my story *sob*
The ACoC’s Vision 2019 site has been attracting some interesting comments.
I thought I’d join in the fun and leave a few comments of my own: sadly, my comments are languishing in comment moderation purgatory unable to find their way either to the light of day or to be buried irretrievably in darkness. I feel quite hurt: other people’s comments are being published.
Looking on the bright side, this must mean that the ACoC knows who I am and is avidly absorbing the unvarnished truth by reading what yours truly has to say here. Hi Fred!
Roman Catholics grovelling before the altar of Islam
It’s good to see Roman Catholics competing with Anglicans who, hitherto, have been hogging the Politically Correct pottiness spotlight.
The Archbishop of Birmingham, Vincent Nichols, has defended the use of a Catholic university college chapel for an event marking the birthday of Mohammed. Unbelieveable, I know. But here it is:
In a statement issued today, Thursday 12 March, Peter Jennings, Press Secretary to the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Birmingham, and the Archdiocese of Birmingham, said: “The chapel at Newman University College, Birmingham, was properly prepared for this event which consisted of two talks and a discussion of an interfaith nature.”
Mr Jennings added: “Christian/Muslin dialogue is an important part of the Catholic Church’s agenda. College authorities were fully aware of what was taking place.”
I am sure that Christian/Muslin dialogue is an invigorating undertaking, but what does allowing Islam use of a room dedicated for Christian worship have to do with dialogue? A necessary part of being a Christian is acknowledging Jesus’ divinity; unsurprisingly, no other religion is willing to do that. Therefore, from a Christian perspective, Islam is mistaken on this and all that logically follows from it.
The fact that the RC Archbishop of Birmingham is allowing a Christian chapel to be used for a celebration of Mohammed’s birthday can only mean that he thinks appeasing Muslims is more important than revealed Christian truth.
When will Muslims invite Christians to celebrate Christmas in a mosque? I think Archbishop Vincent Nichols should ask Anjem Choudary.
Anglican Church of Canada: political lobbying through prayer
The bishop of Toronto, Colin Johnson and his liberal henchmen took a day off from preparing same-sex blessing liturgies to instruct God on how He should be influencing Canadian Provincial politics. In pursuit of this dubious endeavour, the reverends exercised their uncanny knack for reading a passage of Scripture and teasing out of it meaning that isn’t there.
Archdeacon Patterson’s reading of the Biblical account of the healing of the blind man Bartimaeus sparked a lively dialogue. Since he had no way of earning a living, he was poor, noted Bishop Johnson. “At first he’d been told to be quiet. Yet he asks Jesus for healing, to be restored to active community. Jesus gives us an example. He heals the whole person. Today we call for dignity for all people.”
The story of Bartimaeus is about overcoming isolation, commented the Rev. Paul MacLean. “Poverty isolates people,” he said.
In these tough, uncertain economic times, it’s easy to be gripped by fear, said the Rev. Beth Benson. “Maybe this wonderful story (of Bartimaus) has an echo for us about fear.”
A normal reading of this passage would note things like: Bartimaeus recognised Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah; he asked for mercy – perhaps in recognition his own sinfulness; in spite of Bartimaeus’ obvious need, Jesus asked him what he wanted, giving Bartimaeus a chance to exercise his faith; Bartimaeus did demonstrate his faith and Jesus healed him; Jesus commended Bartimaeus on his faith. The supernatural reached into the natural and changed it: a miracle was performed.
Colin and his compatriots, groping for political relevance see:
Someone who is poor; someone who wants to be ‘restored to active community’; the isolation of poverty; fear similar to that which we are experiencing in our current economic troubles.
It is one thing to allow Scripture to speak to our circumstances today; it is quite another to conform Scripture to suit one’s own cultural preconceptions.
Anglican Church of Canada: tell us your stories – but read them really quickly before they disappear
As part of the ACoC’s Vision 2019, Fred Hiltz has asked people to “tell their stories”. The stories are being published on the Vision 2019 site. Oddly enough, the one I commented upon here has mysteriously vanished, to be replace by “story removed at authors request”. The author didn’t sound as if he were in the mood to have his post removed; not to worry, you can still read it.
In the meantime, here is another interesting comment;
Where is my Church now?
It is lost in the wilderness of secular society, trying to fit in. It has forgotten that Jesus Christ is not of this world, and neither is His Church. By trying to fit in to this world, the Anglican Church of Canada has moved away from Jesus Christ. Like the tree that bears bad fruit, it is being cut down and cast into the fire. Like the worthless servant, what treasure it was trusted with is being taken away.
What would I like my Church to do?
1. Get rid of the Book of Alternate Services, and use exclusively the Book of Common Prayer.
2. Remove from the Priesthood all homosexuals and women. Put an end to woman ordination. Require all Clergy, Priests, Deacons, and Bishops to be “a man of but one wife”, along with all of the other requirements given in 1 Timothy 3.
3. Remove from the Priesthood any and all persons who do not publically acknowledge Jesus Christ to be Devine, Resurrected (and that includes in body), and the one and only way to salvation.
4. No longer recognize any so called “marriages” or divorces performed by the courts of the secular government. Recognize only the marriages that were performed by a Priest in a Church, and only those divorces in which one of the spouses committed a sexually immoral act.
5. Define marriage as “an Act of God in which God Himself joins a man to his wife”.
6. Concentrate on following and obeying the Teachings of Jesus Christ and the Holy Word of God (that being the Holy Bible in its entirety). Spread His Holy Word to all who might hear it. Stop wasting time, effort, and resources on the Millennium Development Goals.
Read the surviving stories quickly before they evaporate.
A little child shall lead them
A 13 year old girl, Deborah manages to grasp concepts that elude the average North American Anglican bishop:
Deborah Drapper looks every inch your average 13-year-old. Her bedroom in Dorset is pink and filled with
dolls, she “tweets” on Twitter, and she has a blog in which she talks about her pet rabbits, and what fun it was when it snowed recently.
But it is when she is shown a picture of Victoria Beckham that it becomes apparent that Deborah is very different from the average adolescent. Her face goes blank. “It’s someone with dark glasses on,” she says. “Someone married to a Mr Beckham? I don’t know her, I’m sorry.”
Deborah is in this (enviable) position because her deeply religious parents have ensured all her life that she is protected from the sins of the outside world. Instead of being nurtured on a diet of celebrity culture, Deborah has been brought up on a combination of Christianity and traditional family values.
She has never watched television, or been to school, and the only people she really sees are her mother, father and 10 siblings, most of whom she lives with on a rambling farm, which she rarely leaves, bar the odd trip to the supermarket. The Bible, as opposed to Heat, is her required reading.
On Friday nights, Deborah doesn’t have girlie sleepovers. Instead, she heads into nearby Bridport to preach to the youths whom she feels have lost their way: the hoodies and the non-believers.
“Dad takes us to the skate park or the bus stop,” she says, playing with a pink pen adorned in fluff and glitter. “Sometimes they are drunk and have no idea what we are saying. But it’s OK. I never get scared.” And last summer, a BBC documentary crew set out to capture just what effect this had on her life.
I ask Deborah to pretend that I am one of the hoodies and show me how she speaks to them. She asks me if I consider myself a good person. I say that I try to be. Her eyes widen.
“Have you ever lied?” she asks.
I tell her I have told a few fibs in my time.
“OK, so that makes you a liar. And have you ever stolen anything?”
I admit to the theft of a rubber from Woolworths when I was a small child.
“So you are also a thief. And have you ever used God’s name in vain?”
She knows the answer to this – I mistakenly did so almost immediately upon meeting the Drapper family.
“So you are a lying, thieving blasphemer.” She looks very seriously at me. “Would you still consider yourself to be a good person?”
Deborah has the almost preternatural self-confidence that comes from being home-schooled. She spends half of each day praying, cooking, exercising, painting and gardening, and the other half studying a Christian curriculum that includes collectivism and creationism. She is super-bright and fiercely opinionated. She thinks that evolution is “one of the most ridiculous theories ever” and blames it for most of the nation’s ills.
“If you are taught from the start that you are just a piece of slime and that you have evolved from an animal then is it any surprise if you act like one? Survival of the fittest; if you don’t like someone, kill them. That’s what evolution teaches people so is it any wonder when children go to school and do just that?”
“I am not envious of other girls my age. I am happy as a person. A lot of the people I meet on a Friday night are not happy. If anything, they should be envious of me.”
I think Fred Hiltz should talk to Deborah so she can enlighten him on what the gospel is.