Author Archives: David

Highlights from the Council of General Synod

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The Council of General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada met in May to discuss, among other things, anti-racism, repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery, Vision 2019, and how to mangle the Marriage Canon.

The complete highlights can read here, but for those who are reluctant to wade through that ponderous document and would like a summary of how effectively these deliberations will further the Kingdom of Christ in the twenty first century, the following extract will suffice:

Council members took a short coffee break from 10:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Justin Trudeau does Robin Hood imitation

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From here:

Justin Trudeau is gambling that he can get away with a tax hike on wealthy Canadians to fund a middle-class tax cut for those who get “an ever-shrinking piece of the pie.”

The Liberal leader, long criticized for speaking in generalities, revealed the core theme of his election platform — Fairness for the Middle Class — at a folksy event in an Aylmer, Que., diner on Monday.

Specifically, he committed to a $670 tax cut for every Canadian who earns $44,701 or more — a pledge that will cost $3 billion.

It will be paid for by creating a new tax bracket of 33% for those who earn more than $200,000, he said. The Liberals project this change will bring in $3 billion, making the move revenue neutral to the federal government.

How is this really all is going to work, you might wonder. Like this:

The Anglican Church of Canada’s marriage canon report

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In 2014, the Anglican Church of Canada set up a commission to consider whether the marriage canon should be changed to include marrying same sex couples. The chair of the commission announced that “everyone [in the commission] has an open mind”. It’s hard to believe, I know, but some were suspicious of this declaration of openness; after all, in Angli-speak, an “open mind” is code for “we’ve made up our minds but we want to lull the gullible into a false sense of security”. “Open mind” is just so much more succinct.

To bolster the façade, the commission invited Anglicans to submit their opinions and many have done just that.

Now the report is ready for at least internal consumption, it appears that the sceptics were right. Bishop Linda Nicholls has clearly stated that the commission did not try to determine whether there is any Biblical or theological warrant for marrying same-sex couples. Its task, she says, was to squeeze from the Biblical texts a justification for marrying same sex-couples whether one exists there or not: Anglican sophistry at its finest. Apparently, this revelation is “still not being heard”. This can only mean that the level of deceit has reached such proportions that the few remaining members of the ACoC have turned off their hearing aids in disgust.

My emphasis:

Bishop Linda Nicholls, commission member, spoke about the content of the report and initially about the commission’s mandate. “Our task was to provide the support for a change to the marriage canon. It wasn’t a debate whether a change was necessary or right to do, that will be the determination of General Synod,” she said. “It is a fine point but it is one we have to keep telling people because it is still not being heard.”

The report will include a consideration of the Solemn Declaration of 1893 (which established the Anglican Church of Canada), a consideration of the biblical and theological rationale for same-sex marriage, the wording of an amendment to the marriage canon to permit same-sex marriage, including a conscience clause. “We gathered a legal opinion on the conscience clause and how it might be worded so that it could provide the space for all members of the Anglican Church of Canada if it this were too pass,” said Nicholls. “The largest section will be the biblical and theological rationale,” she added.

Despite protestations that there are more important factors in being an Anglican than sex, Fred Hiltz has finally admitted that sex really is the uppermost thing on the minds of pastorally sensitive clergy. We all knew that. Even Michael Coren knows that.

“What’s churning in my gut and rumbling through my soul is that this matter is one of the most critical and crucial matters before our church”

Why Michael Coren is no longer a Roman Catholic

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It’s all here, although the nub of it seems to be:

I could not remain in a church that effectively excluded gay people. That’s only one of the reasons, but for someone who had taken the Catholic position on same-sex marriage for so long, I’d never been comfortable with that even though I suppose I was regarded as being a stalwart in that position. But I’d moved on, and I felt a hypocrite. I felt a hypocrite being part of a church that described homosexual relations as being disordered and sinful. I just couldn’t be part of it anymore. I could not do that. I couldn’t look people in the eye and make the argument that is still so central to the Catholic Church, that same-sex attraction is acceptable but to act on it is sinful. I felt that the circle of love had to be broadened, not reduced.

I have a strong suspicion that he won’t be particularly comfortable being an Anglican either; luckily there are about 21,000 other Christian denominations still to try.

Another Diocese of Niagara church on the brink of closing

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The congregation of St. David and St. Patrick in Guelph will be worshipping in a Lutheran Church starting in June. The Anglican Church of Canada and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada have been combining their office space and holding joint synods for some time now, so it’s not surprising to see consolidation at the parish level; this is almost certainly the first of many. The ACoC and ELCIC, for all their spiritual posturing, are behaving in much the same way as secular businesses. Unlike secular businesses, though, while paying no tax themselves, the ACoC and ELCIC lobby the government to redistribute other people’s wealth by increasing their taxes; this is called prophetic social justice making.

After the public relations debacle with the closing of St. Matthias in Guelph, the diocese is understandably leery about yet another church closure and probable sale of the property to developers. It seems that the parishioners are not “allowed to talk about the issue”. What would happen to them if they do, I wonder? Shipped off to Justice Camp for re-education, I expect.

From here:

GUELPH—As the debate around the sale of the St. Matthias Anglican church heats up, the future of another Anglican place of worship in the Royal City is left uncertain.

The Anglican Diocese of Niagara says the congregation at St. David and St. Patrick, at 520 Speedvale Ave. E., will move to worship at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church this June.

Reverend Bill Mous, director of justice, community and global ministries at the diocese, wrote in an email to the Mercury the Anglican parish has entered into a two-year “partnership agreement” with the nearby Lutheran church.

That leaves the future of the Anglican church building unclear.

[….]

A person who answered the phone at the Anglican church said no one there was allowed to talk about the issue.

Anglican priest denounces Christian Zionism as heresy

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At a time when there are so many heresies to choose from in Western Anglicanism, it’s tempting to think that selecting Christian Zionism – which, whether you agree with it or not, can hardly be counted heretical since it does not deny any foundational doctrine – is little more than yet another attempt to bash the only Middle Eastern country that bears any resemblance to a sane democracy – Israel.

Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek counsels the Anglican Church of Canada to “work to curb its political influence”. This would be a first for the ACoC since almost all it does normally is seek to exert, not curb, political influence; thankfully, it exhibits just as much impotence in this as in everything else.

From here:

The Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek, the Palestinian Anglican who heads the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Centre in Jerusalem, told a conference in Vancouver April 23 that Anglicans were instrumental in developing the doctrine of Christian Zionism over hundreds of years, and should now work to curb its political influence.

British Anglicans as early as the 16th century promoted the belief that the Jewish people must be restored to the Promised Land of Palestine to fulfill a biblical prophecy before the Second Coming of Christ, said Ateek.

His speech began a three-day conference organized by the Canadian Friends of Sabeel at St. Mary’s Kerrisdale in Vancouver. The conference, Seeking the Peace of Jerusalem, was co-sponsored by the Anglican Church of Canada, the Presbyterian Church in Canada, the United Church of Canada and Friends of Sabeel North America.

[…..]

Theologically, Ateek said he objects to Christian Zionism—which he labelled “a Christian heresy”—on several grounds. It violates Christ’s message of love, justice and peace, he said. Its prophecy of the world ending in violence contradicts the view of a loving and merciful God. And it accepts, unquestionably, a tribalism evident in some parts of the Old Testament that is based on racial exclusivity.

To counter any possible objections that might be based on the Bible, Ateek advises selective use of the troublesome book; leave out the bits you don’t like:

He said that Anglicans should use the biblical text “as Jesus used it,” to convey messages of justice and love. He said that Jesus never quoted from books in the Hebrew scriptures of Numbers, Joshua or Judges or any passages that were “punitive, imperialistic or exclusionary.” Texts that appear to promote tribalism should be used carefully, if at all, said Ateek. He encouraged visits to Palestine and Israel so that people can “discover for themselves the reality on the ground.”

Ateek was introduced by Michael Ingham, well known for promoting unity, love and harmony in his former Diocese of New Westminster.