Author Archives: David

Ripples of Anglican angst

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The Anglican Church of Canada has placed itself in the odd position of protesting that not everything it does is coloured by obsessive homoerotism while at the same time claiming that the entire province is reeling in shocked disbelief that the marriage canon change failed to pass at synod.

The reality is that dioceses that want to marry same sex couples are doing so regardless of the vote so it makes no practical difference, and the average person in the pew is indifferent to the all the theatrical antics because he is too old and set in his ways to contemplate whether copulating with someone of the same sex is even possible or worth the attempt, let alone whether the church approves of it.

From here:

Marriage vote failure ripples through church

General Synod’s failure to pass a resolution to amend the marriage canon to expressly allow solemnization of same-sex marriage, followed by a communiqué from the House of Bishops effectively commending diocesan-based decisions on the matter, has triggered a wave of responses across the Anglican Church of Canada. Bishops, priests, laity, officers and deacons alike have weighed in with concerns about the decision. Some bishops, including then-Primate-elect Linda Nicholls in her capacity as bishop of Huron, have outlined plans to exercise a “local option” for same sex marriage in their dioceses.

[…..]

The initial announcement of the vote results left many synod members visibly in shock, with some crying. Almost immediately, delegates approached the microphones and asked about the process by which General Synod could reconsider a vote. But Primate Fred Hiltz, acknowledging the “pain in this place,” soon moved to dismiss synod for the night.

The emotional upheaval caused by the results led to official statements from all levels of the church. First to respond on July 15 was the House of Bishops, whose members had played the decisive role in voting against the motion. 

Diocese of Western Newfoundland to ignore marriage canon vote

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The Diocese of Western Newfoundland is the latest diocese to announce that it will proceed with same-sex marriages.

Here is an updated list of dioceses that will marry same-sex couples:
Diocese of Western Newfoundland
Diocese of New Westminster
Diocese of Toronto
Diocese of Niagara
Diocese of Montreal
Diocese of Ottawa
Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
Diocese of Rupert’s Land
Diocese of Kootenay
Diocese of Edmonton
Diocese of B.C.
Diocese of Huron

From here:

The vote for the Diocese of Western Newfoundland to move forward with same-sex marriages came in at around 94 per cent in favour of during a special synod meeting.

Cynthia Haines-Turner, a lay person in the Anglican church, said it was an amazing moment when so many people stood up to cast their vote during the special synod.

“It was really quite powerful,” Haines-Turner said.

“We don’t want to be putting up barriers. So what I hope for our diocese and the people of western Newfoundland is that it will be kind of a healing action that we’re taking.”

Now the barriers are down, no doubt churches will be filled with rainbow congregants. Either that or the diocese will initiate a task force to scour Newfoundland for willing same-sex attracted couples to justify its decision.

Justin Welby apologises on behalf of Anglican Jihadists

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Not that there are any, but you never know: Welby’s irritating elevation of reconciliation to the status of demigod could end up driving the most mild-mannered curate to the brink of frenzied barbarism.

From here:

The Archbishop of Canterbury said all religions and their leaders must own up to extremist activities within their faith and examine which of their traditional teachings enable extremists to commit evil.

Rev. Justin Welby, the figurehead of the worldwide Anglican Church, told interfaith leaders in Sri Lanka that accepting responsibility is key rather than disavowing an evildoer as not a good enough follower of a religion.

Welby arrived in Sri Lanka on Thursday and first visited St. Sebastian’s Church near the town of Negombo and paid homage to those killed in the Easter suicide bomb attacks blamed on Muslim extremists.

Later Thursday, he met with Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim leaders.

Discussion among faiths has become more difficult in the last 30 or 40 years and in every faith, including in Christianity, extremist attitudes have grown, he told the religious leaders.

“And it is the duty of every religious tradition, for its leaders to resist extremism and to teach peaceful dialogue. So the first challenge to all of us is take responsibility,” he said.

“If a Christian does something evil, it is not for me to say ‘well they are not a real Christian’; I have to ask myself ‘what is within my faith tradition, our historic teaching that makes it easy for them to do that?’”

New primate intends to make changes

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When she was Bishop of Huron, Linda Nicholls closed and amalgamated many parishes that were not financially viable. No one cares much whether a parish is theologically viable, of course; if they did, there would be none left.

Now she is primate, Nicholls tells us there will be national changes. Painful changes. A clue to the nature of the changes is found in this snippet: “a significant decline in contributions from the dioceses to the national church”. Whatever euphemisms are thrown around to obfuscate the changes, it is easy to guess what they will be.

From here:

The Anglican Church of Canada’s new primate says her top priority will be a review of the church’s mission and ministry—a re-examination of its role that could result in “painful” change for some as the church adjusts to challenging times.

Linda Nicholls, bishop of the diocese of Huron, was elected the church’s 14th primate in Vancouver on July 13, partway through General Synod. She is the first woman in the history of the Anglican Church of Canada to hold the position.

In her first interview with the Anglican Journal as primate, two days after the installation, Nicholls said her first priority would be to get started on a strategic review of the national church’s ministry and mission. The review, mandated by General Synod after a vote July 14, is to be undertaken by the Council of General Synod (CoGS), which the primate chairs, and is to culminate in the presentation of a strategic plan to General Synod when it next meets in 2022.

The process, Nicholls said, is likely to bring improvements as well as change that some will find difficult.

Drag Queen Gospel Story Time

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Drag Queen Story Time has become a popular activity in children’s libraries. Trendy parents like to send junior to the readings to be indoctrinated with the latest in gender fluidity propaganda.

Christ Church Deer Park, not to be outdone by the secular spectacle of men attempting to impersonate a bu ffarilla, celebrated Pride Week with a “Eucharist, followed by a drag show in the parish hall”.

Here is Carlotta Carlisle, drag queen, reading the Gospel during the Eucharist:

When not busy reading the Gospel in church, Carlotta likes to perform at Woody’s, a gay bar in Toronto:

From here, (page 9) where you can find more edifying and inspiring photos:

Christ Church, Deer Park’s Church on Tap community celebrates Pride month on June 14 with a Eucharist, followed by a drag show in the parish hall. Clockwise from top right: drag performer Carlotta Carlisle reads the gospel during the service.

Anglican clowns and the menstrual cycle

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Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Edmonton has decided to make Christ visible through the arts, an endeavour I heartily endorse. Or I would if the church’s efforts bore even a passing resemblance to Christ or art. I’m not much given to optimism, so I didn’t anticipate anything resembling the Sistine Chapel or Bm Mass, but “Beatrice the clown” giving a “wild sex education lesson” manages to sink beneath my most pessimistic expectations.

From here:

The Cool Air Rentals Stage at Holy Trinity Anglican Church

It’s almost impossible to break down all of the elements in this comedic romp let alone write about them. But I can assure laughter was endless and it is worth visiting Beatrice the clown for her wild sex education lesson.

Raunchy at points and most definitely not for everyone, Beatrice delves into reproductive organs, the menstrual cycle and sexual intercourse in a way like never before. And that’s actually literal. In the hour-long show’s most hilarious segment, Beatrice (now an investigative reporter) goes undercover in a man’s body to get the full scoop on what fertilization is like and how long it can take.

Church of England has a course on how to disagree

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Creating a course on how to disagree makes as much sense as a course on how to engage in sexual intercourse. If you can’t do it without instructions, you probably should find something else to occupy your time.

The meandering path Justin Welby trundled down to take him from the Alpha Course to the Disagreement Course is shrouded in mystery, a fantasy that would be beyond even the fertile imagination of Bunyan and his Byways to places like the Hill of Difficulty or the Slough of Despond.

For those who would like to descend into the Ditch of Disagreement to explore Disagreeing Agreeably, here you are.

Anglican Church of Canada, infertility cult

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The Canaanites worshipped the fertility god, Baal; they abandoned themselves to orgiastic excesses in order to please their god. And possibly, themselves.

It goes without saying that this did not please the triune God who created the heavens, the earth and all that is in them. It is, however, a step up from the gods before which the Anglican Church of Canada has chosen to abase itself: infertility and death.

Here is the Diocese of Ottawa inviting its members to participate, not in a fertility rite, but in a bacchanalia of orgiastic homoerotic infertility.

Even worse, when, in May, the national March for Life took place in Ottawa to protect the most vulnerable in our society, unborn babies, there was no invitation and no representation from the diocese.

An infertility and death cult.

Queerly beloved Anglicans

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As night follows day, so the Vancouver Pride Bacchanalia follows that of Toronto. Why Anglicans have become so devoted to it is beyond me; but they have. Instead of staid strawberry socials, we have Cathedral breakfasts celebrating “diverse sexualities and gender identities”.

I’m tempted to conclude that this infusion of homoerotic sexual obsession is demonic, a ploy of principalities and powers that seeks to pollute this world until Christ’s return. But it is so lacking in subtlety that it’s hard to believe that our Enemy would try something so ambitiously crass. Unless, that is, he has concluded that his victims have lost all common sense, all instinctive understanding of what is right and what is wrong.

From here:

Christ Church Cathedral provided the springboard for local Anglicans to become involved in the Pride festival on Sunday, and get involved we did!

In tandem with Dean Peter Elliott, Cathedral parishioner Peter DeGroot organized this year’s Anglican entry in the Pride Parade and made it known that marchers from other parishes were welcome to join in. Peter DeGroot was also the server and leader of prayers at the Cathedral’s 8am Pride Service; the Feast of the Transfiguration (transferred) was celebrated, with Dean Elliott presiding and the Rev. Alisdair Smith preaching. The service began with the rainbow candelabra being lit on the altar as we offered prayers of thanks for all God’s beloved children and lamentations for the harms experienced by people of diverse sexualities and gender identitities [sic – a Freudian slip if ever I saw one].

The service was followed by an excellent breakfast supplied by Cathedral volunteers and a sign-making session in the parish hall, after which marchers found leisurely lunches in various places before gathering for the 1:30 “call time” on Robson Street. Our contingent of roughly 40 people was near the very end of the parade, and thus it was all the more amazing to witness the energy and enthusiasm with which we were greeted by people who had already been standing in the hot sun for hours. As a marcher, it was remarkable to witness the variety of ages and enthnicities in the crowd – Vancouver is truly a vibrant, multi-cultural oasis.

An interview with Archbishop Linda Nicholls

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Here is an interview with the Anglican Church of Canada’s new Primate.

We have a unique opportunity to witness within the Anglican Communion to what it means to live together in faith. In a world of increasing polarization where differences become reasons to hate, we are a Church that gathers first around our call in Jesus Christ. We have differences – language, culture, race, sexual orientation, liturgical preferences, theological preferences – and we could divide on any or all of these. Yet, our beloved Church seeks a unity in God built on respect, dignity of every person, and the humility grounded in our need for each other as we each seek to be faithful to the Gospel and need to hear how God is speaking to each of us and to the whole Church. Despite the sometimes pain of our differences – we are family in Christ.

As you can see, Nicholls is living in a fantasy world, where a fantasy church is undivided, unified and all live in harmony together. In our world, the Anglican Church of Canada divided in 2008 when parishes left en masse to join the Southern Cone and later ANiC. Those who remain are even less unified than in 2008 and, as we could see from the last General Synod, there was crying, wailing and people rolling on the floor in anguish. Delegates were not getting along with each other.

In fairness to Nicholls, though, she has been striving diligently for unity.

As this report predicts:

the results of a controversial study presented to Anglican bishops five years ago that said that at the present rate of decline – a loss of 13,000 members per year – only one Anglican would be left in Canada by 2061.

In the Diocese of Huron, no one has worked harder to close churches and watch as people flee than Nicholls. Today Huron, tomorrow the rest of the church until, by 2061, only one person will be left. Then we’ll have perfect unity.