Author Archives: David

Rumblings of chaos in ACNA

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Rt. Rev. Stewart Ruch III has been charged with the mishandling of sexual abuse disclosures and was being tried in an ecclesiastical court which was not open to the public.

The trial collapsed when the prosecutor, Alan Runyan, resigned because:

“the trial process had been irreparably tainted” by a member of the ACNA’s Court for the Trial of a Bishop who improperly questioned one of the prosecution’s witnesses for over an hour on the fifth day of trial.

The questioning allegedly brought in external material that had not been admitted into evidence by the court before the trial. This material, which pertained to the ACNA’s previous investigation rather than to the charges against Ruch, had been explicitly ruled improper by the court in an April 2025 pretrial order.

Archbishop Steve Wood appointed a new prosecutor so the trial could continue.

Meanwhile, Rachel Thebeau, the deputy prosecutor released a letter calling into question the integrity or competence – possibly both – of ACNA’s leadership. This was a career limiting move that led to her being persuaded to resign.

Archbishop Steve Wood has issued his own letter in response, a spectacle of duelling letters, defending himself and the other ACNA leaders tangled up in this:

The past few days have presented great challenges for our Anglican Church. As you may be aware, on Friday, a now-former employee of the province who was assisting in the prosecution for the ecclesiastical trial that is currently before the Court for the Trial of a Bishop, widely circulated a letter to individual members and clergy across the province that levels serious but misguided allegations against me, the provincial Chancellor, the Executive Director of the Province, and the Court. The letter suggests that we acted unethically and compromised the integrity of the Church. These accusations have sent a wave of pain, confusion, and division rippling across our province.

This makes me cringe, since the focus seems to be less on the truth or otherwise of Thebeau’s accusations and more on the aggravation it is causing ACNA leaders.

The College of Bishops has been pressed into service with yet another letter to help circle the ecclesiastical wagons. Maybe I’m imagining it, but it reads rather like a Trump cabinet meeting where toadying is the order of the day. The standout sentence is this piece of Newspeak: ” We are grateful for their ongoing commitment to appropriate levels of transparency”

Where is the truth in all this? I don’t know. What I do know is that the whole process is exceedingly murky and that makes me very suspicious.

There are some more opinions in the latest Anglican Unscripted:

 

The Sean Feucht fuss

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Sean Feucht is an American musician and pastor who has been refused permits to perform in a number of Canadian cities because his performance “goes against the values of inclusion, solidarity and respect.”

He opposes abortion, is less than enthusiastic about 2SLGBTQ+ demands and he is not reluctant to prance around in the political minefield of MAGA. He supports Donald Trump, the embodiment of everything that is shallow, vulgar, crass, and egomaniacal in the American psyche, which is, in my view, a failure in discernment, taste or both.

Feucht has been accused of ethical and financial misconduct by other faith leaders, although, until proved otherwise, the accusations might well be bogus.

It’s easy to have sympathy for Sean Feucht and what he claims to stand for and I am quite sure that he should be allowed a platform in Canada. If he really is as off the wall as his detractors would have us believe, then I’m confident we have the resilience to withstand his onslaught on our religion of diversity and inclusion.

Nevertheless, I question the wisdom of tying politics and Christianity together so tightly, whether it be from the left or the right. I suspect that many Christians who do so would be unable to resist Satan’s third temptation to Jesus in the wilderness.

To end on a lighter note, here is a video of a daft policewoman telling us that those of us who “lean towards traditional values” are on the road to the perdition of extremism. So whatever Sean Feucht is up to, it can’t be all bad.

[fvplayer id=”24″]

Losing the wonder of salvation

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Entropy is a measure of a system’s disorder; with time, it increases. When applied to the universe, it is a degradation of matter and energy to an eventual state of cold uniformity. When the universe reaches maximum entropy, it will be lifeless and inert. Reversing entropy is the stuff of science fiction, although I imagine it will happen at Christ’s return when the universe is remade.

I’ve come to think that there is also a form of spiritual entropy. When first we are saved from sin and reconciled to God, we are filled with the wonder of it all. John Bunyan put it like this (my emphasis):

Now I saw in my dream, that the highway up which Christian was to go, was fenced on either side with a wall, and that wall was called Salvation. Isaiah 26:1. Up this way, therefore, did burdened Christian run, but not without great difficulty, because of the load on his back.

He ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending; and upon that place stood a cross, and a little below, in the bottom, a sepulchre. So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do till it came to the mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell in, and I saw it no more.

Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said with a merry heart, “He hath given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death.” Then he stood still a while, to look and wonder; for it was very surprising to him that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden.

When – or just before – I became a Christian in 1978, my first prayer was that if all the claims of Jesus were true, I would somehow be able to believe them. And, while you are at it, please give me a hand quitting smoking. The next morning I woke up convinced that Jesus is who he claims to be. And as a non-smoker.

I was overcome with the wonder of it all. How could He save a wretch like me? Numerous things that had made no sense suddenly came into focus like pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle flying together with a loud click. Not everything became clear, of course: I still don’t understand quantum mechanics.

Over time, spiritual entropy sets in: the wonder of it all fades and I have once more to bring the early days to mind; to do otherwise is to grow cold to the Gospel or even forget what it is.

The church has the same problem. It doesn’t just grow cold, though, it replaces the Gospel with something else and calls it the Gospel. Social justice is the usual substitute. Or “equal marriage” as it’s called. Or “climate justice”. Or “inclusion”.

There is no wonder in these, just dreary shabbiness.

Eager to enter the competition for who can pollute the Gospel with the most drearily shabby, cliché-ridden tripe from the fevered imagination of underemployed theologians, ACNA has joined the race.  The Matthew 25 Initiative is live and is inviting all who wish to abandon their first love to join it. And lose the wonder of it all.

On social justice, ACNA now in hot pursuit of TEC

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I recently received an email extoling the benefits of attending a new ACNA course: Living Isa58, a project of the Matthew 25 Initiative (M25i for those who dislike typing).

There is a lot of what I would consider gobbledegook in the Matthew 25 Initiative. Here, (you have to sign up to read the whole thing) for example:

God’s purposes for this world are not for its destruction, but for its renewal. In the end, shalom is rewoven through all of creation and within all of God’s people. Peacemaking, then, is the work of co-substantiating this hope, the Kingdom of God, with God. It is pursuing justice and the reweaving of shalom with an orientation to healing and repair.

That sounds like what William Buckley used to call immanentizing the eschaton, although the next sentence was included to allay that suspicion:

God leads the work and will accomplish it fully at the final consummation of the new order, when heaven and earth become one. But today we are God’s co-creators: we are given the agency and ability to help put flesh on this coming Kingdom now. In word and deed, it is the very work of declaring the good news of the gospel: that Jesus is King and His Kingdom is at hand.

I remain suspicious and wonder whether the authors remember that Jesus also said “My Kingdom is not of this world”.

Archbishop Steve Wood has recorded a video on the Matthew 25 Initiative:

It was recorded in March and has had 285 views. One of those views was me. Such is the level of interest in what he had to say.

In his video he laments that some of what he says might be interpreted as political whereas, really, it is just the Gospel. He’s right, that is how I interpreted it. I have no problem with clergy venting their political inclinations, I just wish they wouldn’t call it the Gospel.

That’s how the rot set in with TEC and the ACoC.

For more evidence that this is political – generally left-leaning – the M25i’s white paper on peace-making (you have to sign up to see it) quotes a  Palestinian theologian Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb:

“Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb states, “Hope is what you do.”

I’m not sure what he means by that but, elsewhere, Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb is perfectly clear and perfectly political: Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza and the solution is political action. He doesn’t mention Hamas or any responsibility it might bear.

From here:

Yet, the more I thought about it, the more I started understanding her answer. In this context of a war crime, committed against the civilian population in Gaza, what is needed is more than prayer; what is needed is advocacy, what is needed is political action, what is needed is for people to go on the streets demanding an end to this aggression.

Similarly an M25i (yes, I know the abbreviation is irritating. It sounds like a UK motorway) white paper on immigration regrets that:

Churches in North America may not always be able to substantially influence public policy or affect changes to current laws that seem unjust, out-dated or contradictory.

The author clearly wants to influence public policy, a position I wouldn’t necessarily quarrel with had his archbishop not claim that it’s all about the Gospel not politics.

To be clear, as individuals I’m all for the Gospel influencing our political choices, but I’m wary when clergy start equating those choices with the Gospel.

Even allowing for the fact that, on occasion, I am given to undue pessimism, none of this looks good for ACNA.

Bishop of Ottawa Shane Parker elected primate

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In case anyone is under the impression that things are going to change under the new leader, Parker sets us straight by assuring us that “We need to think differently and behave differently.” Newspeak for thinking and behaving as we’ve done for years.

As a friend used to say when I worked at IBM and the management changed: “Same circus, different clowns”.

From here:

In a follow-up interview with the Journal, Parker added that he planned, as primate, to continue down the route of change set up by the listening process that brought forth the transformational commitments and the primate’s commission’s pathways—the set of recommendations calling for dramatic change in the church.

“A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that it is strategic or operational change when in fact it’s cultural change” that’s needed in the church now, he said. “We need to think differently and behave differently.” The rest of this week’s meeting of General Synod (running June 23-June 29) will determine the shape that change takes, he said.

In case you have any doubt:

Parker has spoken out publicly in support of LGBT people before, including as a signatory to the Global Interfaith Commission on LGBT+ Lives 2020 declaration, Declaring the Sanctity of Life and Dignity of All. In a 2023 letter Parker commended the commission and its work to his diocese amid what he described as an alarming increase in hateful words, actions and political posturing against LGBT people. “Not everyone or every parish in our diocese participates in Pride events, but each of us are called to participate in making a safe, loving space for 2SLGBTQI+ people, and to build meaningful connections with one another,” he said.

Does he even know what 2SLGBTQI+ people actually are? Does anyone?

Bishop Michael Curry preaches at the opening of the ACoC Synod

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He pointed out that the disciples, in spite of their humble origins, “changed the world”.

Quite true.

After his sermon the worship service was “characterized by [a] celebration of the cultural diversity within the Anglican Church of Canada”.

A celebration of how the world has changed the church.

And there’s the problem.

From here:

Curry also spoke about the limitations of Jesus’ disciples, noting that four of them—Peter, Andrew, James and John—were fishermen, yet never catch any fish in the Bible and relied upon Jesus to feed the multitude.

“They were not the A-Team of apostolic disciples,” Curry said. “And look what they did. There are followers of Jesus all over the world because of them … They changed the world.”

“What was true for them in the first century is true for us, the followers of Jesus, in the 21st century,” he added. “What was true in Jerusalem is true in London, Ontario… The power to be who God dreamed and intended us to be in the first place—when we live that, Anglican Church of Canada, it is no secret what God can do. What he did for Moses and Esther, what he did for ‘[not] the A-Team of apostolic disciples,’ he’ll do for you.”

Audience members interjected with shouts of “Amen” throughout Curry’s sermon, which anchored a worship service characterized by celebration of the cultural diversity within the Anglican Church of Canada.

The service began with the Algonquin “Water Song”, as singers beat their drums and faced the four directions of east, north, south and west, followed by the intertribal Indigenous “Strong Women’s Song.” The St. Paul’s choir led delegates in singing the hymn “Christ is Made the Sure Foundation” with an Indigenous smudging ceremony filling the worship space with the smell of sacred herbs.

UK votes to decriminalise abortion at any point up to birth

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Following in Canada’s footsteps, the British parliament has voted to permit abortion up to birth. Predictable but tragic nevertheless.

A labour MP observed: “the current abortion law was “outdated”, and added: “This is not justice. It is cruelty, and it has got to end.”  No thought for cruelty or injustice inflicted on the babies, the most innocent and vulnerable members of our species.

From here:

Women will no longer be prosecuted for aborting their pregnancies at any point up to birth.

MPs have voted with a majority of 242 to decriminalise seeking an abortion at any stage of gestation for any reason, which means that women will no longer face an investigation or arrest for doing so.

How homosexuality found its way into the Bible

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According to Rev. Chris Brouillard-Coyle, the notion of homosexual activity being sinful found it’s way into the Bible accidentally: it’s a mistranslation by a group 22 white men. Had they been blessed with more melanin in their skin, I’m sure they would not have made this silly mistake.

Read the whole thing here (Page 8)

RECENTLY I had the opportunity to watch the documentary 1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture. This movie follows the stories of three individuals whose life experiences lead them to struggle with questions about whether one could be a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and Christian. This search brings these three individuals together and ultimately leads to this project. A key part of this journey was to explore how homoexuality found its way into the Bible. As it happens, the first time the word appears is in the 1946 English translation of the Revised Standard Version (RSV). In developing this edition, the group of 22 white men, chose to combine two words from the original Greek, malakoi and arsinoskoitai, found in 1 Corinthains 6:9-10, to become ‘homosexuality’.

The collapse of the Anglican Church of Canada

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There is nothing new about this, it has been happening for years. But, like any background noise that we have been hearing for a long time, we cease to pay it any attention. Such has been the faint gurgling sound at General Synod, as the Anglican Church of Canada flushes itself down the toilet.

Now, however, as the article below says, even the church hierarchy have started to pay attention. Their solution is, as ever, institutional reform rather than a return to the Gospel. As such, it will do little to slow the demise.

Before he joined the RC church Malcolm Muggeridge used to say he had no use for organized religion; I am veering towards agreement, although I would state it as institutional religion. The ACoC is a lost cause but even ACNA is starting to exhibit some cracks in the foundation. Women’s ordination continues to be divisive, Calvin Robinson was treated shabbily by Archbishop Steve Wood, trendy clerics are wobbling on the gay problem.

Here is the article:

(ANALYSIS) In the year of our Lord 1967, the Anglican Church of Canada had 1,218,666 members and 272,400 worshippers on a typical Sunday.

In a recent report, the church found 294,382 members on parish rolls and 58,871 people attending Sunday worship services.

“The religious institution many of us have long known and loved does not look now as it did even 20 years ago, and it will not look the same 20 years from now,” noted the report, “Creating Pathways for the Transformational Change of the General Synod.”

Waves of declining statistics will “evoke grief, fear and longing. … This report does not seek to reverse current trends, but to respond to them to empower a much smaller church to thrive as it proclaims the gospel today and in the future.”

Obviously, the “church is changing,” noted the Rev. Neil Elliot of the province of British Columbia in the report. “But that change is not the same as the end of the church. That change may be uncomfortable, but being uncomfortable is not the same as the end of the church.” Elliot’s X profile says he is the “official stats nurd for the Anglican Church of Canada.”

The “Creating Pathways” text noted that, while pew-level statistics have plunged 75%, the denomination, as of 2023, has 1,474 parishes, compared to 1,849 in 1967. Meanwhile, the number of bishops has increased from 36 to 39.

The Bullet, the Ear and the Metaphysics

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When Donald Trump narrowly avoided an assassin’s bullet last year, many Christians, and Trump himself, ascribed the near miss to providential intervention. Trump’s ear did not go unscathed, but he rarely seems to listen to anything but his own voice, so it didn’t get much productive use anyway.

Unlike Naturalists I don’t view the universe as a closed system. I think it’s perfectly reasonable for an intelligent agent exterior to the natural universe to act on it; so I have no problem accepting that miracles have occurred or that they continue to occur.

MAGA (Make Anglicans Great Also as I like to think of it) enthusiasts hailed Trump’s survival as evidence that God really does want to make America great again. The most obvious problem with this is that America was never great in the first place. Obscenely wealthy, admittedly and that, in TrumpWorld, is much the same thing.

I offer a few possible explanations for what happened.

  • The whole thing was simple chance, a matter of physics, Trump’s neurons firing randomly – something that happens a lot – leading him to turn his head at just the right moment.
  • God did intervene because He wants Trump to survive. That in itself may be for a number of less than obvious reasons. Trump could be an instrument of divine judgement about to be visited on the West. It could be a precursor to Armageddon. MAGA evangelicals might think it is a precursor to revival, although that seems unlikely since Paula White is Trump’s spiritual advisor. If we are to be optimistic, it could be to protect the unborn, to support Israel, to usher in a new golden age where they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid. I’m not much given to optimism.
  • Satan intervened and turned Trump’s head at just the right moment. Those suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome might well subscribe to this view. A variation on this would be that God permitted Satan to intervene or goaded him into it for one of the reasons I mentioned above.
  • Shelley was a prophet and Ozymandias was a type of Trump.

I have no idea which of these is the true reason, although I am inclined to the last.

One thing I am sure of though is that, as Tolstoy maintained in War and Peace, the more we think we are in control of our own destiny, the less we actually are. And the more worldly power we wield, the more that applies.