What the Anglican Church of Canada promoted:
What they should have promoted:
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Category Archives: Anglican Church of Canada
Bishops for reconciliation meeting ends in Coventry
From here:
Beginning in 2010, a group of approximately two-dozen bishops from Canada, the United States, and a number of African countries, have met annually in England, Tanzania, Canada, and South Africa. Their gatherings facilitate learning about each other’s contexts and finding pathways for healing and reconciliation. Their time together in Coventry focused specifically on approaches to reconciliation and becoming a reconciling community.
[.…]
At the close of this fifth Consultation, the bishops committed themselves to support the Archbishop of Canterbury’s priority of reconciliation in the Anglican Communion. In response to Archbishop Justin’s appeal, the bishops will “pray for wisdom to know what to do, and for the patience to know when to do it, and the courage to act.”
The Canadian reconciliation contingent is listed below; the choice seems a little odd since it includes bishops who have sued fellow Christians and yet haven’t expended much energy to reconcile with them. No-one from ACNA was invited, probably because the ACoC and TEC are unwilling to reconcile with ACNA, all of which leads me to suspect that the exercise has more to do with propaganda than reconciliation:
The Most Rev. Colin Johnson – Diocese of Toronto (Metropolitan of Ontario)
The Rt. Rev. John Chapman – Diocese of Ottawa
The Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald – National Indigenous Anglican Bishop
The Rt. Rev. Jane Alexander – Diocese of Edmonton
The Rt. Rev. Michael Bird – Diocese of Niagara
The Rt. Rev. Michael Oulton – Diocese of Ontario
The Rt. Rev. Michael Ingham – (Retired) Diocese of New Westminster
The Rt. Rev. Robert O’Neill – Diocese of Colorado
The Rt. Rev. Stacy Sauls – The Episcopal Church Chielf [sic] Operating Officer
Marriage Canon submissions now online
The Anglican Church of Canada’s proposal to change the marriage canon to permit same sex couples to marry is supposed to be preceded by a “broad consultation” among those who are still its members. I think the whole exercise is a smoke screen to conceal the fact that the decision has already been made, but if it isn’t, what will the commission do with the submissions? Tally the for and against and go with the winner: theology through democracy, the next step in secularising the church?
You can read the submissions here.
Anglican bishops meet in England
The Anglican Church of Canada participated in “gatherings [to] facilitate learning about each other’s contexts and finding pathways for healing and reconciliation.” What more could each side possibly need to know about each other’s “context”? The African approach is to interpret their “context” in the light of Biblical principles, Western Anglicans do the reverse.
Read it all here:
The fifth meeting of the Consultation of Anglican Bishops in Dialogue takes place in Coventry, England from May 22 to 25, 2014. The Consultation brings together Anglican bishops from Africa and North America in hopes of building common understanding and respect.
Beginning in 2010, a rotating group of approximately two-dozen bishops from Canada, the United States, and a number of African countries, have met annually at locales around the world. Their gatherings facilitate learning about each other’s contexts and finding pathways for healing and reconciliation. Their time together in Coventry focuses specifically on “Reconciliation in the Anglican Communion.”
This intentional dialogue was developed in response to theological controversies that strained relationships across the Anglican Communion in the early 2000s. These included issues relating to human sexuality and the blessing of same-sex marriages. In the face of pain and division arising from these controversies, Archbishop Colin Johnson of the Diocese of Toronto and the Rev. Canon Dr. Isaac Kawuki Mukasa, now Africa Relations Coordinator, spearheaded this important dialogue.
The bishops report this time together as one of powerful transformation and reconciliation. Kawuki Mukasa says that many at the table have grown tired of the tone of past discourse and that there is sincere interest in carving a new, respectful way forward. “There’s growing appetite for conciliatory voices in the Anglican Communion,” he says. There is also deepening appreciation that all who form this unique group carry out their lives and ministries as faithfully as they can in their contexts.
Anglican Church of Canada’s Marriage Canon Commission accused of bias – and they’ve barely begun
From here:
In a progress report to the Council of General Synod (CoGS) on the early work of the Commission on the Marriage Canon, chair Canon Robert Falby, noted that there had been “some controversy” over the membership of the committee after it was announced in early 2014.
Critics have said that the commission does not have a balance of members who are both for and against the resolution passed at General Synod 2013, which asked CoGS to prepare and present a motion to change the church’s Canon 21 on marriage “to allow the marriage of same-sex couples in the same way as opposite-sex couples” prior to the next General Synod in 2016.
In fact, Bishop Larry Robertson of the diocese of Yukon voiced those concerns, to CoGS meeting in Mississauga on May 3.
The only surprising thing about this, is that there is an extant ACoC clergyman naïve enough to believe that the Marriage Canon Commission is anything other than a decoy to lull a few remaining orthodox clerics into a mental torpor in preparation for the predestined outcome of the marriage canon vote in 2016 and 2019.
Anglican Church of Canada wants to know what you think about a proposed change to the marriage canon
The Anglican Church of Canada’s recently formed Commission on the Marriage Canon wants to know what you think about changing canon law to permit same-sex couples to marry in the church. To make submissions, you have to be member of the ACoC (I feel so excluded) so, if you are, let them know what you think. Apparently, they are obligated to publish all submissions as long as they don’t contain anything “objectionable”; I’m sure no one reading this would say anything objectionable.
I am reasonably certain of two things: 1) it’s going to happen no matter what anyone says; 2) thousands of words will be penned in an effort to obscure the truth of 1).
If I were of a cynical disposition, I might make the point that by submitting opinions that run contrary to the inevitable, you will merely be granting the commission the smug satisfaction of employing the well rehearsed strategy of declaring that they listened to diverse opinions – before ignoring those they didn’t like.
Submissions are made by filling out the form here.
From here:
Input from members of the Anglican Church of Canada is vital as the church enters this time of discernment. Commission chair, Canon Robert Falby, encourages broad participation in this process. “Commission members are aware of the strong feelings that many Anglicans have on the issues which it is looking at and we hope that we will receive input which reflects that spectrum.”
Submissions are welcome in both written and video form and must include the author’s name, parish or institution, diocese, and contact details. All of the commissioners will read or view each submission as they prepare their report.
The terms of reference for the Commission on the Marriage Canon require that all submissions to the Commission be posted on the national church’s website (www.anglican.ca). They will be reviewed prior to posting on the national church’s website. Submissions failing to conform to the Anglican Church of Canada’s existing code of conduct for online contributions will not be posted. Those making such submissions will be contacted and invited to revise their content accordingly.
Welby and Hiltz discuss sexuality and reconciliation
Read it all here:
When Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby met with the primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, he was “very interested” in the work of the Anglican Church of Canada’s commission on the marriage canon because of the reality that the Church of England will have to wrestle with the issue of same-sex marriage following its legislation in the U.K.
“Notwithstanding the declared position of the Church of England at this moment, he [Welby] is very conscious, of course, that there’s going to be a fair amount of pressure from within the Church of England to at least have some discussion around that [same-sex marriage],” said Hiltz in an interview with the Anglican Journal. “He hoped that we would stay in touch over the work of the commission, [because] inside the Church of England, they will need to have the same conversation.”
Here we have a rare example of a clear statement by an Archbishop of Canterbury. The Church of England will be following in the Anglican Church of Canada’s footsteps: conversations about same-sex blessings; decline in attendance; dioceses performing same-sex blessings; further decline in attendance; conversations about same-sex marriage; full steam ahead to extinction:
During their two-hour meeting April 8, Hiltz said Welby was interested in how the church has dealt with the conflict over human sexuality, in particular, how the 2010 General Synod in Halifax dealt with the issue in a non-parliamentary manner and how there has been “continuing conversation” about the matter. Hiltz quoted Welby as having said, “You’re actually on the frontline of where we’re going to be eventually. You’ve been on a journey; it hasn’t been an easy [one]— it has been conflicted at times, but you stuck with it.”
The Anglican Church of Canada has indeed been on the frontline of dealing with “the conflict over human sexuality”: it sues those who refuse to go along with it. I suppose this is “interesting”; the fact that Welby believes that that is where the CofE is “going to be eventually” should make orthodox CofE clergy very nervous.
Hiltz said he informed Welby about the Canadian church’s long history of “bending over backwards to hold people in dialogue, to create provisions for everybody to stay in the fold…”
Considering the number of defections from the ACoC to ANiC, these provisions have been spectacularly ineffective.
Overall, Hiltz described Welby’s visit as “good,” saying that he thought it provided the Archbishop of Canterbury “a sense of the commitment of the Canadian church to the Communion.”
Not sufficiently committed to pay any attention whatsoever to Provinces that are opposed to same-sex blessings.
Hiltz said that the dinner he hosted for Welby was an opportunity for him to meet “a host of people from Canada who are so deeply committed to the various works of the Anglican Communion…to get a sense [that they] have a broad, global view of the church.”
To invite ANiC church leaders would have been a diversity too far, of course.
“One of the blessings of the visit is that he has heard things about all of us and says we’re very diverse, even within our church…,” said Hiltz. “He was leaving us knowing of our deep commitment to preserving the unity of the church as best we can, being prophetic as best we can, being committed to the life and witness of the Communion.”
To put it more plainly: the Anglican Church of Canada continues on a course of theological liberalism; it has no inclination to change direction but is willing to offer the concession of a dense smoke screen designed to lure the unwary into believing that it cares about what those who disagree think.
Anglican Church of Canada marriage canon commission commences “listening”
Not necessarily hearing, though.
From here:
In a few weeks, the Anglican Church of Canada’s commission on the marriage canon will invite Anglicans in Canada and across the Communion, as well church ecumenical partners, to offer their views about changing the marriage canon (church law) to allow same-sex marriage.
“…One of the things the commission wants to make clear is that everyone [in the commission] has an open mind,” said its chair, Canon Robert Falby, in an interview.
What this really means, of course, is that the commission will be working hard – very hard; it is their main task – to present the illusion of having open minds. After all the talking, alleged listening, indabas and theological papers that we have already been subjected to, any member of the clergy who has not yet made up and closed his mind on the issue has been living in a cave in Afghanistan.
Asked whether the commission reflects the “theological diversity” that the primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, had promised, Nicholls said, “I think the group reflects the ability to hear the theological diversity of the church.” She added that each member has demonstrated “an ability to hear, to listen, to reflect from all perspectives.”
To confirm my suspicion that the outcome is a forgone conclusion, Bishop William Anderson had this to say in a comment:
How reassuring that the promise of theological diversity has been replaced by the “ability to hear the theological diversity of the Church”. What this really means is that they will go through the motions of listening, and then present their own already expressed beliefs as representing a ‘fair’ outcome.
The Primate and the members of this panel should be ashamed for having so blatantly perverted a process that was intended to be balanced. All should be ashamed for being involved in this travesty.
Anglican Church of Canada participates in Truth and Reconciliation
From here:
From March 27 to 30, several thousand Indigenous and non-Indigenous people will gather in Edmonton, Alberta for the seventh and final national Truth and Reconciliation Commission event.
The Anglican delegation will include Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, National Indigenous Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald, the Venerable Michael Thompson, General Secretary, and Archbishop Terry Finlay, Primate’s Envoy on Residential Schools.
Bishops, clergy, and parishioners from the dioceses of Edmonton, Athabasca, and Calgary will also be present for TRC events including the lighting of the sacred fire, statement giving by residential school survivors, church listening circles, and a public Anglican expression of reconciliation.
The purpose of the Sacred Fire is:
The Lighting of the Sacred Fire happens before we begin each National Event to ensure that the Spirits and the Teachings guide and protect us while the Commission does its work.
And:
The fire is generally started during the first part of opening ceremony after sacred space has been set. The Fire Keeper quietly calls in the powers of the directions as well as the fire powers when the Sacred Fire is first lit.
The most curious thing that strikes me about the Church’s attempts to atone for thrusting Western religion and cultural values on Indigenous North Americans is its eagerness to now do the opposite: displace Christianity with Indigenous Animist practices. The Church seems to be saying: “we were wrong all along and to prove it we will adopt your religious beliefs in favour of our own.”
I have a suspicion that this would not be happening if the church did not secretly think that any belief system is just about as good as any other. If Anglican Church of Canada clergy truly wanted to provide compensation for those their predecessors abused, they could sell their church buildings – many of which are almost empty – and donate the proceeds to the ex-inmates of the much loathed Residential Schools. A lot more practical than a “full-colour historical timeline of evolving relations between Indigenous peoples and the Anglican Church of Canada.”
The highlight of another Anglican year: Justice Camp
This year Justice Camp is in Edmonton and it is exploring such rivetingly interesting topics as “faith and the tar sands”. If only I could be absolutely certain that none of the jet fuel of the plane I would have to fly on would come from the demon tar sands, the temptation to attend would be irresistible.
From here:
Participants will choose from seven immersion experiences on topics ranging from the relationship between faith and the tar sands, urban responses to systemic poverty, and interreligious perspectives on land and human life. These are complemented by time for biblical reflection, worship, and relationship building. All of which will foster leadership for social justice skills in participants.