Category Archives: Anglican Church of Canada

Canadian Anglican Primate, Fred Hiltz: Financial Wizard

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Canadian Anglican Primate, Fred Hiltz is never reticent about telling the Canadian Government how to run the affairs of state, particularly when it comes to money. As a contributor to Kairos, a Canadian ecumenical organisation that agitates for its version of social justice, he has this to say:

KAIROS understands this financial crisis as a systemic failure in global financial markets. Over the last 30 years, governments have increasingly deregulated these markets, allowing them to be manipulated in favour of short-term interests of the wealthiest and most powerful.

“Canadians look to their Members of Parliament for strong leadership to address poverty, adequate housing and affordable health care,” says Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. “We also call for action in making the eradication of poverty the top priority for our foreign aid policy. Now is the time for the federal government to affirm our place as a responsible neighbour in the global village.”

Obviously the answer is more government intervention in the financial markets.

Let’s see how well Fred Hiltz manages his own organisation:

The Council of General Synod (CoGS) on Nov. 16 approved, but not without dissent from some members, the 2009 General Synod budget. Although pruned by $1.3 million, the budget still projects a deficit of $745,639, with revenues anticipated at $8.6 million and expenditures at $9.4 million.

And:

Major developments in the financial management of General Synod took place in the fall and winter with the resignation, effective Dec. 31, of treasurer Peter Blachford, and the layoffs Nov. 25 of seven staff at the national office in Toronto.

The layoffs were part of a plan to cut the 2009 budget by $1.3 million, reduce the deficit to $800,000 and to try to put an end to what had been a pattern in recent years of incurring deficits.

And we mustn’t forget:

The Anglican Church of Canada has experienced a huge decline over the past 40 years, according to a new independent survey.

Over the period of 1961 to 2001 the Canadian region of the worldwide Anglican Church has lost 53% of its members, with numbers declining from 1.36 million to just 642,000.

An even more worrying sign for the worldwide Church is that the survey suggested that the decline is accelerating. In the period between 1981 and 1991 the Church membership decreased by 13%, however between 1991 and 2001 the numbers reduced by a greater proportion of 20%.

So, Fred, what’s the solution to your mess in the Anglican Church of Canada?

Obviously, more government intervention in the Anglican Church of Canada.

The Anglican Church of Canada has been infiltrated!

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The parishes across Canada who decided to leave the ACoC and join ANiC did so because they could no longer follow the increasingly heretical path that the ACoC is treading. The ANiC parishes made this decision – often at some cost – on the principle that it is better to follow Jesus than an organisation.

But the Primate, Fred Hiltz, blinkers firmly in place, has declared in a talk he gave in the Diocese of Niagara that parishes are leaving because:

They have been infiltrated!

Special meetings have been called!

People were lured to the special meetings!

There is an Agenda!

Elvis is alive!

Here is a snippet from the talk he gave.

All will be well though, apparently, due to the clarity with which Hiltz and his bishops speak in the interminable, deviously convoluted conversations which they inflict on the gullible few who are still awake and willing to listen; and the pastoral care offered, as time permits, in between lawsuits.

Freebie Friday at St. Hilda's

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A baby girl was baptised at St. Hilda’s ANiC this morning. Her mother is a young Christian woman who has been attending St. Hilda’s during the last year or so. A little less than ten years ago, every Friday lunchtime she used to walk from the high-school she attended to St. Hilda’s building for a free lunch at Freebie Friday. Part of the free lunch is a short talk on the Gospel by St. Hilda’s Pastor Paul; seeds sometimes fall on fertile ground, take root and grow, resulting in a saved sinner and great joy in heaven. The student who used to come for free lunches is now a fine young Christian who has baptised her baby and brought other Freebie Friday alumni to Sunday worship.

The last court ruling on the dispute between the Diocese of Niagara and St. Hilda’s ANiC, was that – until final ownership of the building is settled – the building must be shared between the diocese and St. Hilda’s. The diocese was given the Sunday morning time slot, so St. Hilda’s is meeting in a school gymnasium for Sunday worship. But St. Hilda’s ANiC is still present in the church building during the week and, for the moment, Freebie Friday continues.

Freebie Friday began just over ten years ago. St. Hilda’s building is located close to a high-school; every lunchtime there was a steady trickle of children past the church on their way to the mall. We wanted to try and convey to the children the idea of the free gift of salvation that Jesus offers us as the result of his atoning death on the cross: just as salvation is free, so is lunch.

The lunch is run and paid for by volunteers from St. Hilda’s and it quickly became popular: there are two sittings which attract about a hundred children every Friday. The principal of the high school regularly expresses his gratitude for this ministry.

The children sponsor two World Vision kids with their own money and buy yearly Christmas gifts for them. Recently they paid for three wheelchairs for the Free Wheelchair Mission, an organisation that provides wheelchairs as a gift of mobility for the physically disabled poor in developing countries.

Which brings me to the reason why we are fighting in the courts to keep our building. The diocese of Niagara has a congregation of about five people using St. Hilda’s building; it is managed by two priests. If they win ownership of the building, Freebie Friday, along with other ministries will stop. St. Hilda’s ANiC would not be able to continue it because it has to take place at a location close to the school; the diocese will not continue it because, even if they had the inclination, they do not have the people needed to keep the building open, let alone engage in time consuming ministries. Even their own priests admit that their congregation is not viable.

If the diocese wins the court battle for the building, after a decent interval it will be sold and bulldozed; God’s work in that place will cease.

This is why we fight.

Dancing the Clergy Conga in Orillia

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Having escaped from St. Hilda’s, Martha Tatarnic has become a compulsive building sharer and is now borrowing a Lutheran congregation in Orillia.

Anglican, Lutheran churches merge

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The merger of two local churches is a sign of the times – and it just makes sense, say congregation heads.

St. David’s Anglican and Holy Cross Lutheran churches recently joined to become St. David’s Anglican/Lutheran Church.

“We were sharing a building and resources and decided that was working well. We thought we could go one step further and become one congregation,” said Pamela Harrington, diaconal minister.

The notion of a merger was presented to the two congregations, as well as the one at St. Athanasius’ Anglican Church. That congregation decided to remain independent.

Average attendance at Holy Cross was 30 to 35, while it’s about 50 at St. David’s.

Rev. Martha Tatarnic said it’s important to put a “strong emphasis on grassroots decision making.”

“A bishop isn’t going to get far with a top-down approach,” she said.

The last sentence is a lesson Martha learned from Niagara bishop Michael Bird’s top-down approach; even though his top isn’t too far from his bottom.

Announcing the 2008 Canadian Anglican Awards…

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for dowfart of the year.

This year’s runner up:
Bishop Michael Bird for his burgeoning Napoleon complex and for persistently suing the pants off anyone who gets in his way.

And the prize goes to:
Archbishop Fred Hiltz for giving –

“a continued commitment to the greatest extent possible to the three moratoria — on the blessing of same-sex unions, on the ordination to the episcopate of people in same-sex relationships and on cross-border interventions — until General Synod 2010.”

While simultaneously cheering on the dioceses of Ottawa, Montreal, New Westminster and Niagara for proceeding with same-sex blessings. And all done with aplomb and no hint of shame or embarrassment.

Honourable mentions:

  • Rev. Ephraim Radner for his ability to use so many words to say so little.
  • Bishop Cyrus Vance for trying to keep a roster of traitors.
  • The whole diocese of Niagara for ruining “Amazing Grace” for everyone.
  • Bishop Michael Ingham for trying to get rid of the most famous evangelical theologian alive today.
  • Archbishop Rowan Williams for proposing Sharia law in the UK while being unable to maintain any order whatsoever in the church he is pretending to run. Yes, I know he’s not Canadian, but I’m being inclusive.
  • Everyone at the ACI for changing the word “trajectory” into a theological term and then overusing it to the point of wearing it out.

Fred Hiltz and Marvin the Robot.

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It’s taken some time, but I’ve finally realised who played Marvin the Robot in the BBC production of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Fred Hiltz with an assumed English accent. He’s a natural.

Watch these 2 videos for the proof:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIEc2wyuXXg&feature=PlayList&p=D3CEE796BA2DE9DA&index=0]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4P3pvKmbsg&feature=PlayList&p=E49C9B119B93BA56&index=0]

Federation Determination

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In April 2008 the Anglican Essentials Federation said this:

Our approach, within Federation, to effecting this change has been to quietly, faithfully, persistently work within our congregations, dioceses and synods to build God’s Kingdom. As your leadership, however, we sense that the time has come to change our approach. The “quiet” approach has simply not been working. The “faith once received” has been so altered as to be unrecognizable in many parts of our Church. Our “quiet”, non-confrontational approach has simply not stemmed the tide.

[………….]

The policy of the Anglican Essentials Federation is not that we will “stay” but that we will “stand”. As leaders of Federation, we have determined that it is now time to chart a new course. You will see this unfold over the next weeks and months as we take a higher profile, unequivocal stand.

We, as leaders of Federation will publicly take a stand. We expect Bishops committed to orthodox Christian teaching, historic Anglican practice, and our position within the Anglican Communion to take a stand, particularly in the House of Bishops’ meeting next month.

This looks promising: perhaps we are going to see some action from the Federation.

Not so fast! In November, 7 months later, following the Federation Consultation there is this.

About 50 conservative Anglican leaders, including eight young theological students, gathered in Toronto for a one-day consultation on Nov. 25 and emerged with a determination to remain within the Anglican Church of Canada. They came from 16 dioceses across the country.

Since the Federation has made a request that they and ANiC not ‘demonise’ each other:Add an Image

Without any intentional demonising – in 7 months the Federation has drifted from a policy of ‘not staying, but standing’ to one of being determined to stay in the ACoC. Reports from the Consultation relate that it was a tightly controlled meeting where the real crisis facing the ACoC was ignored with fierce resolve.

The implication appears to be that, no matter what the ACoC does, the Federation will stick by them through thick and thin. I hope that is not so, since it would be a clear case of setting an organisation above the gospel. Hiltz, Ingham and Bird etc, will undoubtedly capitalise on this determination by publicly parading the tame conservatives so all can witness the benign inclusiveness of the ACoC politburo.

Another sad but inescapable consequence of this determination to stay within the ACoC, is that the money given by conservatives will be used to help finance current and future litigation against ANiC parishes; and conservatives are the group who are likely to be the biggest financial contributors.

He who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon

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From the Anglican Journal

Conservative Anglicans determined to stay within church
About 50 conservative Anglican leaders, including eight young theological students, gathered in Toronto for a one-day consultation on Nov. 25 and emerged with a determination to remain within the Anglican Church of Canada. They came from 16 dioceses across the country.
Rev. Brett Cane of St. Aidan’s Anglican Church in Winnipeg is chair of Anglican Essentials Federation who was quick to point out that the organization is going through a name change. He said that the “Essentials” label has negative connotations in some parts of the country. He said that the federation is loosening its connection to the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC). “We will still maintain links of fellowship with the network but we will not be organizationally tied together.”

The “Essentials” moniker does indeed have a bad reputation – amongst heretics posing as believers in the ACoC. One can only assume from this that Brett feels more at home with the heretics, so long as they are part of the Canadian Anglican establishment. But to soften the blow for those in ANiC with fragile sensibilities he says this:

Mr. Cane said that the federation will continue to meet together with those involved in ANiC, “being together in preaching, youth work and mission.” “We are all still brothers and sisters in Christ; we need to recognize their pain because it isn’t easy to leave the denomination you love.”
He said that the one day consultation dealt with “reformulating our vision” rather than issues around structure. He said he saw this conservative federation as more of a movement within the Anglican Church of Canada than an organization.

Looking forward to seeing the “reformulated vision”, Brett; although I do wonder how one can reformulate something that was never there in the first place. And I can’t help feeling that calling the Federation a “movement” is akin to calling a tortoise a Ferrari.

The concerns of conservative Anglicans reach beyond the blessing of same-sex unions, he said. There is a need for theological reflection on the uniqueness of Jesus, biblical interpretation, marriage, and the rights of children. Mr. Cane says the federation – whatever its new name – will be encouraging theological students to become engaged in these conversations.

We’re on the right track, then: more reflection and conversations; oh joy.

He said there are five key areas on which the federation will focus: giving voice to the issues at various meetings of dioceses and synods, continuing to network with other conservative organizations and denominations in Canada, international representation (Mr. Cane says he will attend the Common Cause Partnership meeting in December as an observer), encouraging conservative theologians to meet and work on the issues, and working with theological students and others under age 40 to “help the rest of the church affirm authentic Anglicanism.”

Yes, but what are you actually going to do?

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, sent a lengthy pastoral letter to the consultation in which he acknowledged differences in biblical interpretation and expressed appreciation for the fellowship’s determination to work within the Anglican Church of Canada.

Only on Anglicans would the irony of having to have determination to stay within one’s own denomination be lost.

In his letter, the primate said that “the St. Michael Report itself acknowledges that ‘the interpretation of scripture is a central and complex matter’ and that, at times in the church’s history, ‘faithful readings have led to mutually contradictory understandings, requiring on-going dialogue and prayer toward discernment of the one voice of the gospel.’

Another example of foggy Fred’s fuzzy logic. A “faithful reading” must surely be an accurate one; so how can two faithful readings of scripture be contradictory? They can’t except in Fred’s miasma clouded little dream-world.

Mr. Hiltz said he was “deeply mindful of your conscientious struggle over this matter.  I acknowledge with deep gratitude your faithfulness to Christ.  I recognize your commitment to remain within the fellowship of the Anglican Church of Canada, to support its witness to the gospel and to take your place in its councils.  I assure you that there continues to be a place for your voice at the table.  That assurance is in keeping with an abiding conviction that as Anglicans we value the comprehensiveness so long a characteristic of our history and tradition as a church.”

To translate: we have no interest in your opinion but we’re glad you’re staying because we need your money. You’re welcome to sit in at our synods, but we will ignore you because you’re a bunch of antediluvian fundamentalist throwbacks.

Memo from the Anglican politburo

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From Here

Archbishop Fred Hiltz and Bishop Susan Johnson sent a reminder today to Minister Diane Finley, the newly appointed Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development to live up to a pre-election promise that a Conservative government would renew three key programs for affordable housing in Canada.

If I were Minister Diane Finley, this is how I might reply:

Freddie, since you are so concerned about the homeless, build your own houses and give them away. After all, I have to use the taxpayer’s money; you’re not one of those fundamentalists trying to build a theocracy are you? Fred? You still there, Fred?

And now I have your attention, perhaps I can remind you of your election promise in the Solemn Declaration of 1893:

WE declare this Church to be, and desire that it shall continue, in full communion with the Church of England throughout the world, as an integral portion of the One Body of Christ composed of the Churches which, united under the One Divine Head and in fellowship of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, hold the One Faith revealed in Holy Writ, and defined in the Creeds as maintained by the undivided primitive Church in the undisputed Ecumenical Councils; receive the same Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as containing all things necessary to salvation; teach the same Word of God; partake of the same Divinely ordained Sacraments, through the ministry of the same Apostolic Orders; and worship One God and Father through the same Lord Jesus Christ, by the same Holy and Divine Spirit who is given to them that believe to guide them into all truth.

So perhaps you’d better get on with that and mind your own damn business.

Niagara: The Bishop's charge – well, more like a retreat, really

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From Here

This brings me to our present financial position, and the request I am making around the passing of the 2009 Budget. The diocese faces significant financial challenges that must be addressed soon to ensure that we can continue to meet our obligations around payroll and our standing with the bank.  The current pressure on cash flow in 2008 is the result of costs associated with the breakaway parishes including legal, administrative and operating expenses, significant historical, outstanding parish receivables, return on investments below our budgeted figures, increasing operating deficits associated with Cathedral Place, and the size of the deficits incurred by the diocese over the past two years.

It is with no small sense of satisfaction that, after over 30 years of seeing St. Hilda’s diocesan assessment being at best flushed down the toilet and at worst being used to oppose the gospel, having broken free of the Diocese, we are now contributing to its financial downfall.

My dear friends, here is the bottom line: the status quo is no longer an option both in terms of how we function as parishes and how we function as a diocese. Let us be united in this firm commitment that we are moving well beyond a position of mere survival and passionate

Let me see, we’ve had the moribund Anglicans in Mission, Decade of Evangelism and Survive and Thrive. Now we have: the Status Quo is No Longer an Option. That should do it; I can’t think why no-one came up with that before.

Over the past several months, I have endeavoured to prayerfully and faithfully wrestle with these two critical duties of a bishop in the Church and at times dealing with the issue of the blessing of same sex unions has felt like a monumental task and a heavy burden to bear.  How do I keep in balance the responsibility I feel toward those who have elected me as their bishop, while at the same time remaining faithful and loyal to the members of our National Church and the Anglican Communion?    So many times I have prayed for the wisdom of Solomon around this issue and I continue to wait upon God for a more complete answer.

The interesting point here is that Bird obviously thinks that those who elected him as bishop didAdd an Image so with the expectation that he would proceed with same-sex blessings; he sounds like  someone whose strings are being pulled. As you can see (2nd from the left), he is somewhat shorter than the average cleric; this, of course is a distinct advantage for Puppet Bishops.

I am fully aware that some on both sides of the issue will see this as a lack of wise leadership on my part and I accept that.  Having consulted as widely as possible, across our own diocese, across our country, at the House of Bishops (including many discussions with our Primate), and of course at Lambeth, I believe that I have come to a better understanding of what is at stake and what the implications are of the decisions we make at this critical period in the history of our Church.

I don’t remember Solomon accepting the epithet of Unwise Leader from others, so one assumes that Bird’s prayer was not answered. But it is a relief to know that at least he realises what is at stake: no more invitations to Lambeth; shunned by most of the world’s Anglicans; massive defections; bankruptcy. I wonder where he is getting his advice?