Category Archives: Anglican Church of Canada

The Anglican Church of Canada welcomes the queens

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From the National Post:

Just a week after rioting and mass arrests rocked the city’s core, yesterday Toronto was the scene of mass inclusiveness, welcome and friendship as huge crowds welcomed Queen Elizabeth II, just ahead of a welcome for up to a million attending the annual gay and lesbian Pride Day parade.

Her Royal Highness, who wore a blue and white dress, and a robin-blue straw hat with a ribbon, sat in the front row of the Cathedral Church of St. James this morning as Dean Douglas Stoute knit the day’s two themes deftly together with a sermon calling for the Anglican Church to hold a “respectful, inclusive dialogue with all God’s people,” adding, “this is not easy.”

Also in the packed church, which boasts Canada’s largest steeple, were the Queen’s husband, Prince Philip and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and his wife, Terry McGuinty.

“The church is undergoing a rebirth,” the Very Reverend Stoute told the congregation. “It is at times destructive.” He noted that some in the Anglican church have sought to defend traditional biblical ideas of who belongs and who does not, a reference to a schism in the Anglican church over the blessing of same-sex unions.

“A church grounded by inclusiveness and openness is becoming more relevant,” he said.
“Polarization within Anglicanism is not new,” Rev. Stoute added, noting the 16th-century division between Catholicism and Protestantism and the 19th century dispute between high church and low church.

“Throughout history Anglicanism has sought to find a middle road,” he added. “It is a recognition that we do not have all the answers. It requires that we let go of pride and reach out to listen with open minds and open hearts.”

I’m tempted the think that the Very Reverend Stoute has been over-imbibing in the drink of his namesake.

“A church grounded by inclusiveness and openness is becoming more relevant”; never in its entire existence has the Anglican Church been less relevant or more ignored. When it isn’t ignored, it is ridiculed for abandoning its own beliefs in favour of galloping as fast as it can on the treadmill of trendiness like a demented hamster in its wheel.

“The church is undergoing a rebirth,”. That must be why the number of people attending church has fallen from 1.2 million in 1960 to 650,000 in 2001 to 325,000 in 2009. This rebirth bears a remarkable resemblance to a death rattle.

““Throughout history Anglicanism has sought to find a middle road,” he added. “It is a recognition that we do not have all the answers. It requires that we let go of pride and reach out to listen with open minds and open hearts.” The new evangelism: we have no idea what to believe; do you? Why not join us on Sunday and we can all wonder what it’s all about together.

The poor Queen – with any luck she had jet lag and fell asleep.

A Church celebrates Earth Hour by polluting the air

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Parishioners of St. Cuthbert’s in Toronto celebrated Earth hour at their second annual Candlelight Meditation. Here they are:

I can’t help noticing that everyone is holding a paraffin wax candle. Paraffin, when ignited is a rich  source of numerous toxins:

Paraffin is a derivative of petroleum. When burned they release carcinogenic toxins such as benzene, toluene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein and soot into the air. The emissions from paraffin candles contain many of the same toxins produced by burning diesel fuel. It is like starting up a diesel engine inside you home!

St. Cuthbert’s, Toronto, polluting for Jesus.

The Anglican Church of Canada continues its scorched earth policy

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As it loses more and more people, the ACoC is consolidating parishes, selling empty buildings and laying off staff at head office just to stay solvent. Regrettably, this frugality does not extend to negotiating outside the courts with parishes that have left the ACoC. Rather, large sums of money are being paid to lawyers in order to seize buildings for which dioceses have little use – other than to sell – from congregations who are using them for their intended purpose: worship.

The latest salvo is being directed at the Ottawa churches, St. Alban’s and St. George’s; both left the Anglican Church of Canada for ANiC in 2008.

In 2008, the Centertown News published this:

Ross Moulton, executive archdeacon to Bishop John Chapman of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, said the break has brought sadness and sorrow to the Anglican community.

Moulton said it’s too early to tell whether St. Alban’s will be able to keep its church building…..

But Moulton said the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa is adamant about the wish to settle this property dispute in the most cordial manner possible.

“I think it is everybody’s hope that some amicable arrangement could be made,” said Moulton. “To get into long court battles, it consumes a lot of resources, time, and money. And at the end of the day, nobody wins.”

In spite of this welcome intrusion of common sense from Moulton in 2008, the lawsuits are now forging ahead, naming volunteer wardens in the suit – a vindictive, take no prisoners strategy that was also used in Niagara and New Westminster.

In Niagara a clumsy disinformation campaign was also launched to convince parishioners still in ACoC parishes that the lawsuits were instigated by the ANiC parishes. An acquaintance in a local Diocese of Niagara parish walked out of a service when a letter claiming this was read from the pulpit.

Now, as the Hairy Eyeball reports, a similar manoeuvre is being attempted in Ottawa:

Well, it seems that there are rumours circulating around the Diocese of Ottawa about the latest rounds of  lawsuits between the Anglican Church of Canada and ANiC parishes.  Specifically, there’s a rumour circulating that the latest lawsuits involving St. Alban’s Ottawa and St. George’s Ottawa were started by ANiC.  This is absolutely untrue.  The Diocese of Ottawa sued St. Alban’s, not the other way around.

The cliché of the month for the Anglican Church Of Canada is that it is becoming a “missional” church – the word was to be found in every second sentence at the recent Anglican Synod. The precise meaning of “missional” is unclear, but it must have something to do with trying to appeal to those who do not presently attend a church.

Perhaps “missional” means “join now, be sued later.”

There is action in the Anglican Church of Canada. Really

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From here:

The Anglican Church of Canada agreed last week not to take any legislative action in response to differing views on same-sex blessings.

Rather, they chose to have “more conversation,” said Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.

“That’s an action,” Hiltz insisted, according to the Anglican Journal.

Hiltz also noted other Anglican actions, some quite dramatic:

  • The Archbishop of Canterbury will not trim his eyebrows this year: the indigenous nesting cormorants will not need to find a new home.
  • The Anglican Church will not stop congratulating itself on having discovered the song “Amazing Grace”.
  • Anglicans in the “conversation” will not stop talking even though they ran out of things to say 20 years ago; some will continue to talk after they die.
  • Hiltz will not stop using the phrase “our beloved church” no matter how many people beg him to do so.
  • The church will not stop suing people: it is part of the generous pastoral response to the call for moratoria.
  • Bishop Michael Bird will not stop playing the bagpipes. Not until Rowan Williams trims his eyebrows.

There you have it: a frenzy of activity.

Turning church into a self-help group

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A number of dioceses in the Anglican Church of Canada have jumped on the “Back to Church Sunday” bandwagon in the hope of luring the unwary into one of their parishes.

Back to church for what, though? I’ve always been partial to attending church to worship God: as the Westminster Shorter Catechism notes, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” That seems good enough for me; but it’s not good enough for Michael Harvey, the developer of Back to Church Sunday. According to him, church should be more about discovering the potential within. Worship is merely a small but important – so far – element of what church should really be.

Anglican Church of Canada: The Me Church.

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You can watch the whole thing here.

A comparison of historic Anglican events in Canada

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The Anglican Church of Canada’s synod has sputtered to an end producing little more than a bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Nevertheless, Fred Hiltz has hailed the synod as “historic”. It’s difficult to imagine a less historic event, although I did trim my toenails this morning and I suppose that might just qualify.

General Synod 2010 full of historic and holy moments.

In a media conference following the closing Eucharist service, Archbishop Hiltz spoke of several, “historic and holy moments in the life of the church” that took place throughout General Synod.

Coincidentally, an article appeared in the National Post this morning about an insignificant little parish in Oakville full of a peculiar – if not downright eccentric – people who seem to be in the middle of something that really is historic:

Oakville Anglican parish home of profound revolution

There is nothing that hints at revolution on this suburban road in Oakville, where St. Hilda’s Anglican parish has sat for more than 50 years. No wild signs of protest, no warnings of hell and damnation, and no list of Luther-like demands nailed to the main door — just a not-so-extraordinary church building in the midst of a neighbourhood easily forgotten by those driving through.

Nevertheless, a religious revolution has taken place here as profound as anything seen in modern Christian history.

Also sprach Zarathustra – and Peter Elliot

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The remarkably fitting theme music for Peter Elliot’s musing is the tone poem by Richard Strauss, inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophical novel about the death of God.

It is more widely known, of course, as the music in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey; it introduces a bunch of monkeys banging bones on the ground in front of a large black obelisk. Symbolic of a contemporary Anglican synod, perhaps.

I’m not sure which of these ideas is supposed to be the backdrop for Dean Peter’s exhortations, but I suppose either would work.

ACoC Director of Philanthropy “resigns”

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From here:

The executive director of the department of philanthropy for the Anglican Church of Canada has resigned, effectively immediately.

Dr. Holland Hendrix was appointed executive director of General Synod’s new philanthropy department in October 2008.

“…this morning the Primate (Archbishop Fred Hiltz) and I accepted the resignation of Dr. Holland Hendrix as executive director of philanthropy. …,” said Sam Carriere, acting general secretary of General Synod, in a statement. “We wish him well in future endeavours.”

Anyone who has worked in a large organisation knows what the above coded message really means: he was fired. Perhaps it was this less than stellar idea that brought about his premature demise.

Fred Hiltz is to be a missional primate

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From the ACoC:

A missional Primate?
What is the Primate’s role in the Anglican Church of Canada? Over the past three years, the Primatial Role Task Force explored this question through historical research and consultation with active Anglicans.

What does “missional primate” mean? It’s hard to tell, but the ever helpful Wikipedia advises us that:

“Missional living” is a Christian term that describes a missionary lifestyle; adopting the posture, thinking, behaviors, and practices of a missionary in order to engage others with the gospel message. The use of the term missional has gained popularity at the end of the 20th Century due to Tim Keller, Ed Stetzer, Alan Hirsch, the Gospel and Our Culture Network, Allelon, and the Emerging church movement, as well as others to contrast the concept of a select group of “professional” missionaries with the understanding that all Christians should be involved in the Great Commission/mission of Jesus Christ.

This seems to imply that to be a “missional primate”, Fred Hiltz would have to cease being a professional clergyman, give up his salary and become a normal Christian – good news indeed.

Christianity Today, thinks that:

A missional theology is not content with mission being a church-based work. Rather, it applies to the whole life of every believer. Every disciple is to be an agent of the kingdom of God, and every disciple is to carry the mission of God into every sphere of life. We are all missionaries sent into a non-Christian culture.

Missional represents a significant shift in the way we think about the church. As the people of a missionary God, we ought to engage the world the same way he does—by going out rather than just reaching out. To obstruct this movement is to block God’s purposes in and through his  people. When the church is in mission, it is the true church.

This is written by Alan Hirsch, who goes by the nails-on-a-blackboard title of “missional activist”. Here we are told to go out, not just reach out – although I am unsure of the distinction.

It is instructive to enter “what is missional” into google; from the results, it seems that the term is sufficiently slippery to appeal to just about anyone who is not allergic to trendy words.

In spite of the fact that I am all for taking the Gospel – the real Gospel – outside the church walls, my unease with what appears to be yet another fruitless attempt to build the Kingdom of God on earth before God is ready to participate is not assuaged by things like this:

More and more evangelical and missional leaders have begun to characterize the gospel of justification by faith alone, penal substitution, and the salvation of souls as a “small gospel.”

Why is that a “small gospel”? What could be larger than the salvation of even a single soul, over which the angels of heaven rejoice?

An Anglican-Lutheran joining

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Anglicans and Lutherans join forces:

The Rev. Brad Mittleholtz has been officially appointed as priest for a newly combined Anglican-Lutheran parish in the Bruce Peninsula. This new expression of the Full Communion relationship between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and Anglican Church of Canada was celebrated at a service at Trinity Anglican Church in Wiarton, Ont. on April 26.

Seven Anglican churches, which make up the Anglican Parish of the Bruce Peninsula, and St. Peter’s Lutheran church, will share in a ministry but will maintain their own buildings and identities. At the service in Wiarton, members of the parish proclaimed:

We believe God is calling Lutherans and Anglicans
to witness, and the Holy Spirit will enable us to join
in Ministry on the Bruce Peninsula by
sharing, celebrating, and rejoicing in God’s gifts to us.
We believe that in sharing equal partnership, no congregation
will lose its autonomy, identity, integrity, history or traditions.
We believe in working together as disciples
For the spiritual well-being of the people of the Bruce.
We believe in witnessing to God’s message
By sharing both ordained and lay leadership in ministry.

What does this really mean?

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