Banquet at Belbury

Posted on November 6, 2008 by David

For the Anglican Church of Canada words no longer mean – I was going to say “what they used to Add an Image mean” – anything at all. To attempt to assign meaning to the drivel that Bird and Hiltz spew forth is an invitation to join them in the land where language and ideas no longer have any connection.
From the Anglican Journal

“As is the case with our brother and sister Anglicans in the dioceses of Montreal and Ottawa, I believe we are among those who have been called by God to speak with a prophetic voice on this subject,” Bishop Bird said in a letter issued on the eve of the diocesan synod scheduled Nov. 7 to 8 in Hamilton, Ont.

“I, therefore, intend to ask for a rite to be developed for the blessing of same-sex couples who have been civilly married, along with a process to enable these blessings to take place that will at the same time honour the diversity of tradition and theology that exists across Niagara,” he said.
Bishop Bird said it is his hope that the process will “move ahead as expeditiously as possible and that I will be in a position to report back to the diocese within the next few months.” He assured, however, that all clergy and all parishes would be “fully free to follow their own conscience on this matter, as and when we are able to move forward.”

Bishop Bird’s announcement came in the heels of a recent statement issued by the house of bishops that a “large majority” of its members could affirm “a continued commitment to the greatest extent possible” to a two-year moratorium on the blessing of same-sex unions, while recognizing that this would pose difficulty for some dioceses “that in conscience have made decisions on these matters.” They also said they would accept the request made at the recent Lambeth Conference of bishops for moratoriums on the ordination of gay bishops in same-sex relationships and on cross-border interventions.

And here is an excerpt from That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis, where God confounds the language of the Enemy:

Banquet at Belbury
To different members of the audience the change came differently. To Frost it began at the moment when he heard Jules end a sentence with the words ” as gross an anachronism as to trust to calvary for salvation in modern war”. Cavalry, thought Frost. Why couldn’t the fool mind what he was saying. Perhaps-but hallo! what was this? Jules seemed to be saying that the future density of mankind depended on the implosion of the horses of Nature. ” He’s drunk,” thought Frost. Then, crystal clear in articulation, beyond all possibility of mistake, came ” The madrigore of verjuice must be talthibianised.”
Wither was slower to notice what was happening. He had never expected the speech to have any meaning as a whole, and for a long time the familiar catchwords rolled on in a manner which did not disturb the expectation of his ear. Then he thought: “Come! That’s going too far. Even they must see that you can’t talk about accepting the challenge of the past by throwing down the gauntlet of the future.” He looked cautiously down the room. All was well. But it wouldn’t be if Jules didn’t sit down pretty soon. In that last sentence there were surely words he didn’t know. What the deuce did he mean by aholibate? He looked down the room again. They were attending too much, always a bad sign. Then came the sentence, ” The surrogates esemplanted in a continual of porous variations.”

Anyone see much difference? No? I thought not.

Niagara: Bishop Michael Bird responds to statement from Canadian House of Bishops

Posted on November 2, 2008 by David

From Here

Dear Friends:

I write to you with a few brief reflections coming out of the House of Bishops meeting and in particular my thoughts with regards to the released statement that this meeting has generated.

I believe it is important that I express to you my profound disappointment with this statement and the deliberations that took place. My own words in response to the first draft of this statement, spoken on the floor of the House of Bishops, make this clear:

“I do not believe that this statement honours the faithfulness that the Diocese of Niagara has brought to this particular issue. I do not believe it honours the faithfulness we have offered to the Anglican Church of Canada. I do not believe that it honours God’s Mission for the Diocese of Niagara as we have discerned it.” These comments apply equally to the final draft as well.

I wonder, how does one honour what the Diocese of Niagara perceives is God’s mission for it: to have been instrumental in the breakup of a 400 year old communion is a rare and unusual calling. And it is one that the Diocese of Niagara has prosecuted with such rigour and diligence; Michael Bird is right, it should have been mentioned in the HoB statement.

While I agree that the statement does represent the majority view of the bishops present, I want to state clearly that I do not support the moratoria as it has been articulated. Even more disappointing is the fact that an opportunity has been missed to find a creative and generous solution to one of the most momentous challenges our church has faced in many years.

And the Diocese of Niagara is nothing if not creative and generous in finding a solution to its little problem; it was the first thing that came to mind as I was sitting in the court, listening to their lawyer argue the diocesan case for seizing the ANiC buildings.

Since Bishop Bird intones: “I do not support the moratoria as it [sic] has been articulated”, we can only assume that his agenda for SSBs will closely follow that of Ottawa, Montreal and New Westminster.

I will be making a more formal statement on this subject and the direction I believe the Diocese is now called to undertake in a few days time.

I want to express my sincere gratitude for the outpouring of support and the level of engagement that we have experienced as our new vision for the Diocese continues to emerge and I look forward to continuing this process at our synod this weekend.

Please continue to pray for the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit in the days and weeks to come.

Yours faithfully in Christ,

+Michael Bird,

Bishop of Niagara.

Unexpurgated version of Essentials blog post

Fred is up to the Hiltz in mendaciloquence

Posted on November 1, 2008 by David

The Canadian House of Bishops has issued a statement that said this:

“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. Members of this House, while recognizing the difficulty that this commitment represents for dioceses that in conscience have made decisions on these matters, commit themselves to continue walking together and to hold each other in prayer.”

A casual reading makes it appear that Canadian bishops are indeed willing to stop conducting same sex blessings; but then there is that surreptitiously inserted phrase “to the greatest extent possible”.

Later in an interview with the Anglican Journal, Fred:

acknowledged that this stance allows dioceses such as Montreal and Ottawa some wiggle room to continue what their bishops have recently described as “incremental” and “experiential” steps toward same-sex blessings.

“Experiential”? Doesn’t that mean “doing it”? “Incremental” is presumably intended as a condescending pat on the head to the recalcitrant fundamentalists who, given enough time, will become enlightened like Fred; just thinking about that gives me the willies.

So what is really going on, other than the usual emissions from Freddie’s Industrial Strength Fog Machine?

It seems clear that the official HoB statement is designed as a pacifier for Rowan Williams to suck on: through it Fred is whining: “listen Rowan, I’m a good boy, I’m saying what you told me to say, please, please don’t cut me off from Lambeth.”

As usual, Fred wants to hold on prestige and power at all costs, won’t discipline his wayward bishops because he secretly agrees with them and is waffling at full throttle in an attempt to conceal what is really going on.

The Anglican Church of Canada's plan for dealing with ANiC

Posted on October 29, 2008 by David

The Invasion of St. Hilda’s.

Posted on October 26, 2008 by David

The latest Niagara Anglican has an article on the Niagara diocesan squatters . To read it all, go here and scroll down to page 9; there is a similar article by Martha Tatarnic on page 1. Here is some of it:

St. Hilda’s, Oakville: A church that is just a church
LUCINDA LANDAU
In the midst of a break-up, something new is being born. A church community without a budget, committees, staff or even an altar guild is beginning to grow at St. Hilda’s in Oakville. “A church that is just a church,” is the approach of the newly appointed Priest-in-charge, Reverend Martha Tatarnic. “At this moment in time,” said Rev. Martha, “we have the unique opportunity of gathering simply as Church to worship and to be a community.”

When Lucinda tells us that the diocese has not allocated a budget for this political occupation masquerading as a church, she is correct. Poor Rev. Martha has not been given a cent by the diocese; but then, neither have we (the real ANiC St. Hilda’s) even though the court has ordered the diocese to share the cost of running the building. Now, to be fair, the diocese, in a moment of what I can only assume was feeble-minded magnanimity, offered to cover one seventh – 14.29% – of the cost.

Since the diocese is occupying the building when we would normally have our Sunday service and is there for no particular reason at other times of the week, we said, no, you should pay more. The diocese refused; in the case of such disagreement, the court ruled that an arbitrator should be appointed; the diocese refused. So the diocese is in contempt of court and we are paying all the bills. This is chronicled here and here. Since that was posted, the furnace that heats the sanctuary broke (we no longer use the sanctuary). Guess who leapt in like a flash to offer to pay and fix it? Correct, not the diocese; we couldn’t let Martha’s poor lambs freeze, so we paid (well, my teeth were gritted somewhat).

The invitation to attend Sunday worship at St. Hilda’s 8:30 a.m. service is open to everyone, with a particular invitation to those who are members of St. Hilda’s but have not agreed, or felt comfortable, with the decision to split. Right now the service is also supported by parishioners from St. Jude’s, Oakville.

I’ll say it again: the vote at St. Hilda’s to join ANiC was unanimous; there was no-one who disagreed with the decision to realign. None; zero; nil; zip; zilch; naught; zippo; n/infinity. Got it yet?

This paragraph does clear up one little mystery, though. During the tenure of the adorable Rev. Dr. Brian Ruttan, there were actually no people attending the diocesan service; none; zero; nil…. Well, you get the point. Martha on the other hand pulls in around 15 cars each Sunday. Who are these people? I have always suspected that this massive influx was not a result of the New Evangelism . The more likely explanation was that Martha brought people with her from St. Jude’s (her last parish) a few miles away in downtown Oakville. And this, it seems is indeed the case.

Which leads me to the obvious question: what is it that these stalwart St. Jude’s parishioners do in St. Hilda’s – by now – musty, damp, faux-50s, threadbare-orange-carpeted sanctuary that they cannot do in the plush, warm and handsome St. Jude’s? Why, make a political statement, of course! I am sure that, at the next court appearance – which could be as early as December – the diocese will want to point to something that has the appearance of a viable congregation even though this was said by one of their own.

We are compelled to do the majority of our community building outside the church walls – ironically,the limitations imposed by the court on our access to the church buildings may turn out to be our finest asset.

I have a way of enhancing your finest asset; stop occupying the building and leave it for those who paid for it – and continue to pay for it.

We gather in a building that is at the centre of intense legal scrutiny and unchristian argument.

That quote is from Martha’s article. Martha, the ‘unchristian argument’ is taking place in the courts; it is your employer, the Diocese of Niagara who initiated the court proceedings. Moreover, your diocese has repeatedly rejected requests by ANiC to negotiate outside the courts.

So, if you find the idea of church without bureaucracy appealing, if you are looking for “eckleisa” in its simplest form, come out and experience a fresh approach to worship at St. Hilda’s in Oakville.

This is a Diocese of Niagara church, right? The diocese has no bureaucracy? They’ve all been fired? They must be more broke than I thought.

c/p Essentials blog

There are still some Canadian Anglicans with guts

Posted on October 22, 2008 by David

God bless: St George’s, Ottawa; Church of St Peter, Hamilton; St. Aidan’s, Windsor.

These courageous parishes have chosen to join the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC). That means they have set truth above the cultural nicety of belonging to the Anglican Church of Canada’s social club – whose main interests consist of bazaar sodality and an old-boy fraternity of priestly misfits.

These parishes know that the local ACoC goon squad will soon descend, dressed in black, to demand keys, deliver court appearance schedules and generally make life miserable, all in the name of diversity. But that won’t matter because the battle is the Lord’s and it is already won.

Update (Oct 23): Let’s add St Bede’s Anglican Church in Kinosota, Manitoba to that list. They joined ANiC on Octber 15th.

Diocese of Niagara: hey buddy, can you spare a dime?

Posted on September 21, 2008 by David

The Diocese of Niagara’s Rev. Martha Tatarnic took over Brian Ruttan’s diocesan congregation at St. Hilda’s building this Sunday.

It’s good to see optimism and ambition at work: Martha has asked for her own phone line and would like the sign on the front lawn changed to include her name. And guess who she is expecting to pay for this? St. Hilda’s ANiC, of course, because the Diocese of Niagara is flat broke and has not given her any money.

Brings tears to the eyes, doesn’t it.

The Diocese of Niagara: down and out in Canada.

Posted on September 20, 2008 by David

Dear diocese, I know you are $777,000 in the hole, but perhaps you should cut back on Bishop Michael Bird’s salary a bit so you can pay your bills at St. Hilda’s.

These bills:

Brian Ruttan, the priest in charge at St. Hilda’s, in order to boost his Sunday morning congregation over the zero mark, took out a large ad in the Oakville Beaver. This was remarkably successful: the next Sunday Brian had a congregation of one. The only problem is, he didn’t pay the Beaver, so now the real ANiC St. Hilda’s – which has had a long standing relationship with the paper – is receiving repeated requests for payment. Come on, Bri, pay up.

St. Hilda’s proper (ANiC) has to rent space for its Sunday morning worship. The judge in the last court appearance ordered that the Diocese of Niagara and St. Hilda’s must share the building costs; to this day, the diocese has paid nothing to contribute to the running of the building. Which means St. Hilda’s proper has not only to fork out for rental space Sunday mornings, but also pay to keep a nice clean building for the diocese to occupy – with its congregation of zero.

Related posts Here and Here

Diocese of Niagara privately declares churches ‘non-viable’

Posted on September 18, 2008 by David

Time for a brief update on the continuing unpleasantness between the diocese of Niagara and ANiC churches, St. Hilda’s Oakville and the Church of the Good Shepherd St. Catherines.

In a recent Clericus meeting, the diocesan priest in charge at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Bruce McPetrie declared that neither Good Shepherd nor St. Hilda’s have ‘viable congregations’. No kidding, Bruce; how many years of theological training does it take to be able to figure out that a congregation of zero is non-viable.

Which leaves the obvious question: since the diocese of Niagara has been desperately maintaining the charade of needing the ANiC buildings to hold diocesan services, why admit the obvious at this point? Possibly because the diocese is so confident that it will eventually win the court battle, they are already paving the way to closing the buildings and selling them for 30 pieces of silver.

Which brings me to Brian Ruttan, the priest in charge at St. Hilda’s. He has received a commuted sentence from the diocese; his last Sunday at St. Hilda’s was September 14th and he is off to greener pastures in sunny Grimsby. His replacement is Martha Tatarnic, wife of the delightful Dan Tatarnic who, when approached by St. Hilda’s proper for support in our hour of need had this to say: “Dan Tatarnic here, keep your opinion to yourself, it is not worth two cents.”

Martha, welcome to the non-viable diocesan congregation at St. Hilda’s.

The Anglican Church of Canada and politics

Posted on September 10, 2008 by David

This is on the website of the Niagara diocese:

The current Canadian Government has called an election for October 14th 2008. The Church does not take any positions on the various parties and candidates that are running. Obviously each ballot that is cast, must be done so according to the conscience of the individual.
However, as a Christian community and as an Anglican Church we can at least pose questions that should be addressed during the upcoming weeks.
The first thing that we would like to do is encourage every citizen in this country to exercise their responsibility to vote. We all must contribute to the future of Canada by exercising our vote.
Secondly, we will place some resources as they come available in the column on the right. These are for discussion and they are guides.

There is only one entry on the ‘Resources’ sidebar: Eight Ways to Make Poverty an Election Issue
Which, when you click on it, takes you to the website of Make Poverty History.
Now, gently reader, take a wildly haphazard guess as to which political party endorses Make Poverty History?

Why, the NDP, of course!

“The NDP will continue to work with progressive parliamentarians from all political parties and civil society efforts such as the Make Poverty History campaign dedicated to ending poverty around the world and here in Canada, to make 0.7 by 2015 a reality,” said McDonough.

I bet that comes as a shock to everyone. And, of course, it makes nonsense of the statement above “The Church does not take any positions on the various parties and candidates that are running”

Which brings me to the point of all this: the Anglican Church of Canada has ceased to be a Christian organisation; instead it is a political one, albeit a particularly ineffective specimen.