Monthly Archives: December 2014

What the Diocese of Niagara wishes for the people of Hamilton

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Better sewers – and a few other things. Notably absent is a desire for the people of the city which is home to the diocesan cathedral to come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour; that must be less important than waste disposal.

From here:

  1. That our elected mayor and councillors provide wisdom, insight, and prophetic vision in governing our city.

  2. That Hamilton become, and is known as, the Canadian city which cares and reaches out most effectively to the poor and to those who live on the margins.

  3. That we provide resources to continue to improve our infrastructure – roads, transit, antiquated systems (water, sewers, etc.).  If this means slightly more in property taxes, it is worth it!!!

What it takes to be a heroic vicar in the Church of England

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According to Giles Fraser, a fellow – albeit rather strange – vicar, all it takes is to be “married” to another man and admit to meeting interesting people while dogging. For the sheltered few who are unacquainted with the unappetising term dogging, it’s something most self-respecting dogs would have little interest in:

the practice of carrying out or watching sexual activities in semi-secluded locations such as parks or car parks, often arranged by e-mail or text messages.

From here:

Heroes of 2014: Richard Coles

A happily partnered gay vicar, former pop star and cool radio presenter, Richard Coles is the patron saint of psychological integration.

Most trendy pop stars don’t ask for a new washer-dryer when being signed by their record label. Most Anglican vicars don’t admit to having met the most delightful people out dogging. How does Richard Coles get away with it, with being so many things at he same time?

Pop star and vicar. Lanky, awkward country bumpkin crossed with politically engaged boy-about-town. Confidently high and low brow. Both Radio 4 and Magic FM. A happily partnered gay man in a still deeply homophobic institution. Beneath the effortless exterior of radio-presenter cool must lie a plate spinner of Olympic talent.

Or maybe that should be past tense, because his national treasure status is partly built on the ability to integrate a set of comedy polarities into one quirky and glorious whole. Which means there is always hope for the rest of us. And not just fellow vicars – but everyone who thinks and feels several different and often seemingly contradictory things at the same time: ie everyone. He has become the patron saint of psychological integration.

What excites Giles Fraser’s imagination – well, other than dogging of course – is our hero’s capacity for living with inner conflict, the only virtue left for liberal Anglicans whose chief delight lies in embracing the anarchy of professing one set of beliefs while living by the light of their opposites: anti-existential Anglicanism.

O Magnum Mysterium

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O magnum mysterium,
et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,
jacentem in praesepio!
Beata Virgo, cujus viscera
meruerunt portare
Dominum Christum.
Alleluia.

O great mystery,
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the new-born Lord,
lying in a manger!
Blessed is the Virgin whose womb
was worthy to bear
Christ the Lord.
Alleluia!

Fred Hiltz plumbing the depths of understatement on the marriage canon

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Apparently, the ACoC’s impending change to the marriage canon is causing “a bit of anxiety.”

Fred Hiltz visited Justin Welby recently to talk about the proposed marriage canon changes; and reconciliation – an odd juxtaposition since adoption of the former will eliminate the possibility of the latter. Funnily enough, during his last visit, Hiltz cautioned Welby about recognising ACNA; we wouldn’t want to overdo the reconciliation charade, would we.

From here:

“The archbishop was interested in where we are with the marriage canon matter, and in the interests of transparency I took a copy of the resolution from General Synod, the resolution from Council of General Synod giving the commission a mandate,” said Hiltz, who met with Welby on Dec. 17. “I gave him an update in terms of where the commission was at this particular moment, and that was as much as I could do. I think he appreciated that.” The commission is looking at a proposed change to Canon XXI to allow for same-sex marriage.
[…….]
Hiltz also met with officers at the Anglican Communion Office and at Lambeth Palace, and noted that the question of the marriage canon came up more than once. “There’s a bit of anxiety in the Communion about what might happen here and the fallout that might come from that.”

Anglican reaction to U.S and Cuba diplomatic ties

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From here:

Upon hearing the news that the U.S. and Cuba would re-establish diplomatic ties, Bishop Michael Bird of the diocese of Niagara said in a statement that the diocese “rejoices at the transformational opportunities that this announcement holds for the Cuban people and the ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Cuba.” The diocese of Niagara and the Episcopal diocese of Cuba maintain a companion relationship.

When asked how changes in diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba might affect the position of the ECC, Archdeacon Michael Thompson, general secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada, stressed that there is still much that is unknown.

Does anyone believe that the thawing of relations between the U.S. and Cuba will result in transformational opportunities? Will Cuba cease to be a totalitarian state where political dissent is brutally suppressed, or will there be relief for the grinding poverty in which most Cubans live, including those working at luxury resorts that cater to vacationing Canadians – and soon Americans?

Cuba is insisting that the U.S. “respect Cuba’s communist rule“, a demand that will not perturb Western Anglican bishops one iota:

Cuban President Raul Castro on Saturday demanded that the United States respect Cuba’s communist rule as the two countries work toward normalizing diplomatic ties.

The main transformation may be that Obama will be able to obtain Cuban cigars legally.

Anglican Standing Commission urges the Anglican Church of Canada not to amend the marriage canon

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From here:

The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO) has urged the Anglican Church of Canada not to amend its marriage canon (church law) to allow the marriage of same-sex couples, saying such a move would “cause great distress for the Communion as a whole, and for its ecumenical relationships.”

The IASCUFO’s statement came in response to a request from the Canadian church’s Commission on the Marriage Canon for an opinion about proposed changes to Canon 21 that would allow for same-sex marriages. Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, decided IASCUFO would be the “most appropriate” body within the Communion to deal with such a question.

The Anglican Church of Canada has the prerogative “to address issues appropriate to its context,” the IASCUFO said, but it noted the ramifications of “a change of this magnitude” for the Communion and its ecumenical partners. In a letter addressed to Canon Robert Falby, chair of the marriage canon commission, IASCUFO members said they were unanimous “in urging you not to move beyond your present policy of ‘local option,’ ” which allows dioceses to choose whether or not they will offer same-sex blessings. They noted that the absence of a General Synod decision about the blessing of same-sex unions or same-sex marriages “has given space for the rebuilding of fragile relationships across the Communion.”

When deciding whether to allow the blessing of same-sex civil marriages, the ACoC delegated downwards: the ever slippery national church has made no statement that unequivocally gives its approval for same-sex blessings, yet it doesn’t censure individual dioceses that do. In this way, the ACoC nurtures the hope that it will not be held accountable for the chaos created by its sexual agenda.

I’ll be interested to see how the ACoC attempts to wriggle out of accepting responsibility for continuing with the marriage canon discussions; there aren’t enough conservatives left in the dwindling denomination to prevent the almost inevitable marriage canon change, yet there can’t be a local option marriage canon.

Perhaps the church will abdicate its responsibility by exiting the marriage business altogether.

Living Reconciliation in the Anglican Church of Canada

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The ACoC is going return the church buildings it acquired through the legal system from ANiC parishes; Bishop Malcolm Harding’s portrait will be restored to its rightful place in the Diocese of Brandon; James Packer will be invited to preach at St. John’s Shaughnessy; a certain bishop and a certain blogger who were entangled in a defamation lawsuit will tearily kiss and make up; Anglican Church of Canada bishops will call ANiC the “Anglican Network” not the “Network”. Projectile pigs with “Indaba” tattooed on their porcine posteriors will float gracelessly skyward during the Marriage Canon debate at the 2016 General Synod.

From here:

It is a fractious time in the life of the Anglican church, both in Canada and in the world, but even as the Communion struggles to overcome pernicious divisions over issues such as human sexuality or the ordination of women, it is also turning to the tradition of the scriptures and the indigenous wisdom of its diverse membership to find potential ways forward.

Living Reconciliation, a new book published jointly by SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge) in the U.K. and Forward Movement in North America, tries to use the resources that exist within the church to explore more peaceful ways of handling disagreement.

The authors, the Rev. Canon Phil Groves, director of Continuing Indaba for the Anglican Communion, and Angharad Jones, former communications and resource manager for Continuing Indaba, understand reconciliation to be one of the foundational principles of Christian doctrine. The Christian story, they suggest, is fundamentally about how God reconciles his people to himself through Christ, which means that a faithful response to this story must be one that places reconciliation at the heart of Christian ministry.

Huron College professor denounced for being insufficiently anti-homophobic

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Gary Badcock is a theology professor at Huron University College; his crime was to state in a keynote address that homosexuality is a first world problem. That seems to me to be a self-evident truism: when civilizations descend into affluent decadence as the West has, sexual mores crumble and homosexual activity increases. Unfortunately for professor Badcock, a lesbian heard his address and is castigating the professor for hate mongering.

It doesn’t help that Professor Badcock is a member of ANiC, an organisation which is, apparently, ultra conservative, an archetypal infamy against which all other infamies beg to be measured; I am so pleased to be a part of it.

From here:

The principal of a liberal arts college in London, Ontario — which is affiliated with the publicly funded Western University — says that his school does not condone discrimination in any shape or form, as one of the school’s professors denies homophobia allegations.

A Canadian teacher alleges that Gary Badcock, a professor at Huron University College, made homophobic comments while giving a keynote speech on Nov 8 at St Philip’s Theological College in Kongwa, Tanzania.

[…..]

In a letter sent to Huron University College principal Stephen McClatchie, the teacher alleges that Badcock described homophobia as a first-world problem, because people in Tanzania have to have children for economic needs and therefore can’t be gay.

Anglican priest washes lesbian’s feet, forgets the bit about go and sin no more

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Rev. Sean Major-Campbell was not just washing a woman’s feet, of course, he was making a point: the washing was part of a service in celebration of human rights. Redemption from sin through Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross had no place in the service; nor, it goes without saying, did repentance.

It doesn’t seem to have occurred to the foot washing Rev. that without the forgiveness gained through Jesus’ costly sacrifice, we have no rights before God at all; even with forgiveness, everything we have is a gift rather than a right. Had Jesus’ ministry been one of celebrating our rights rather than freeing us from our sin, Christianity would not have endured its early persecution, let alone manage to form a church that would survive long enough to sink into the decadent self-destructiveness of paying the ilk of Major-Campbell to distort its central message.

From here:

An Anglican priest this morning washed the feet of a Jamaican lesbian as part of a service calling for the Church to be more forthright in its demand for the recognition and respect of human rights for all. ‎

Reverend Father Sean Major-Campbell conducted the ritual at the Christ Church in Vineyard Town, where he is also the Rector.

The service, dubbed ‘In celebration of human rights’, was attended by several of Jamaica’s leading human rights groups and advocates.