Category Archives: Anglican Church of Canada

New Anglican anti-racism task force

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The Anglican Church of Canada has formed a task force that is supposed to dismantle racism within the church. Having already dismantled Christianity, the clerics have decided to take a break and try something a little easier.

Naturally, there are some new acronyms to learn and inwardly digest: BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour), ACIP (Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples) and BlAC (Black Anglicans of Canada). This will be bad news for those of you still struggling with LGBTQQIP2SAA. To avoid confusion, it might be worth lumping them all together to form LGBTQQIP2SAABlACACIPBIPOC.

Incidentally, any children reading this who want to find out more about LGBTQQIP2SAA can go to Kids Help Phone. It’s a Canadian registered charity that will explain more than your parents want you to know.

But back to our topic. In spite of the reservations of some, CoGS (Council of General Synod) will be employing certain aspects of Critical Race Theory. This, in a nutshell, tells us that all white people are racist. It’s innate: we are born that way. A pale person who claims otherwise is doubly racist for not recognising it, confessing, donning sackcloth and ashes and self-flagellating over her white racist privilege. There is no way out.

Unfortunately for CoGS, most of its members are non-BIPOCs, and thus riddled with racist bias, so the whole project is a bit of a non-starter.

Still, it’s good to see that in this time of contagion, the clergy are hard at work trying to entice congregations back to church by telling them they are loathsome racists in dire need of anti-racism training. That should work.

From here:

In a virtual meeting held July 25, the Council of General Synod (CoGS) voted to approve the creation of a task force charged with dismantling racism within the Anglican Church of Canada.

[……]

The motion called for CoGS to establish a dismantling racism task force that would:
“Review policies and processes to identify systemic barriers to full participation for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) in the structures and governance of General Synod and make recommendations for redress”;• Update and promote the Anglican Church of Canada’s Charter for Racial Justice;• “Recommend a process of anti-racism education and training for the Council of General Synod as well as Coordinating Committees, Councils, Commissions and employees of General Synod”;• Develop “a plan to engage the whole church in the work of dismantling racism, including identifying and/or developing resources and training to be offered to Provinces and dioceses”; and• Report the results of its work, at the latest, to the meeting of General Synod in 2022, “including recommendations for ongoing work to dismantle racism within the Church.”

Bishops rejoice at the possibility of life on Venus

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The discovery of phosphine gas in the atmosphere of Venus means there could be life there, since phosphine gas on earth is made by microorganisms that live in oxygen-free environments. This has excited Anglican Primate Linda Nicholls and Archbishop Mark MacDonald. Regrettably, no phosphine gas whatsoever has been detected in the Anglican Church of Canada, a similar oxygen-free environment.

Mark MacDonald, overcome with joy at the discovery, made this ecstatic, if incoherent, pronouncement: “It is in concert with an Indigenous-informed, Christ- and Spirit-infused view of this universe.” The Indigenous microbes of Venus have not welcomed the comment yet because they are still trying to find out what it means.

Linda Nicholls, not one to waste an opportunity provided by the discovery of galactic microbes, sees this as an excuse to promote her green crusade:

“She did, however, see the discovery announced Monday as one more cause for humans to be mindful of their place in creation and of their responsibility to it.

Nicholls goes on to muse that galactic microbes might be more important than humans made in the image of God. And they wonder why the Anglican church is in decline:

“It should also remind us that human beings are a part of that creation—with particular capacity to create and destroy—but we are not the only or best part!

Read it all here.

The Anglican Church of Canada Gong Show

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On the Anglican Church of Canada’s website you will find a link to a “Gong Meditation, Tibetan Singing Bowls” workshop, the ideal pastime for Anglicans who have had enough of Jesus and want to try the occult instead.

It’s booking up fast, so ACoC bishops: get your tickets now before it’s too late!

From here:

Wed Aug 19, 2020

7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Gong Meditation, Tibetan Singing Bowls

Sound frequencies emitted from Tibetan Singing Bowls and Gong influence our body’s energy centres (chakras) as well as our brainwave patterns; the special vibration of these instruments can help your brain shift gears, which ultimately facilitates harmony, intuitive insight and a general sense of well-being.

Enjoy an evening meditation class led by Ben, where he will discuss the history of Tibetan Singing Bowls and Gongs, and guide you through a wonderful 70-minute meditation, leaving you in a state of inner peace.

All you need to enjoy this experience is to bring your own yoga mat.

To find out more about Ben visit https://www.facebook.com/innerattainment/

Ben’s classes are sell-outs, so preregistration is highly advised.

Price: $25 plus service fee and taxes

Anglicans acquire a new faction: Black Anglicans of Canada

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There are so many lobby groups within the Anglican Church of Canada, it’s difficult to keep up. We have the Indigenous, LGBTs, Green Anglicans, Proud Anglicans, Conservatives (consisting of three people, assuming no one has died), Marxists (containing most of the rest) and now Black Anglicans of Canada. And they all seem to be in competition for attention. Black Anglicans of Canada, for example, is envious of the recognition of racism directed towards Indigenous people. Abject confessions of clerical racism are not inclusive enough:

I have observed and have been fascinated by the fact that when Canadians acknowledge racism at all, it is only to acknowledge the history of the dehumanization and destruction of Indigenous people. All other racialized groups are excluded from the narrative of racism in Canada. This narrative allows Canadians to ignore and dismiss the intricate web of racism that has systemically and institutionally shaped the development of the Canadian version of multiculturalism.

Canada, we are told, has a pernicious history of slavery of which it should be ashamed. So does just about any other civilization that has ever existed, including African blacks enslaving each other. But we mustn’t let facts intrude on our liturgy of self-flagellation. Besides, as Linda Nicholls has helpfully pointed out, if you are white, you are a racist no matter what you say, do, think or believe. You could spend the rest of your life comatose in a cave in the Himalayas and you’d still be a racist.

I’m pinkish-white so I’m not entitled to an opinion on this. I have one, nevertheless. The idea of racism, that one race is intrinsically inferior to another or deserving of contempt, is so discredited that it is believed by no one other than madmen or those so near the fringe of humanity they are the next best thing to madmen. Yet, somehow, we are all racists.

Our flawed, fallen human nature does nurse an instinctive suspicion or dislike of the other, though: protestants for Catholics; technicians for salesmen; the Welsh for the English; me for Anglican bishops. I have a Chinese friend who dislikes Chinese women drivers. Are any of these racist? By today’s standard of viewing everything through the lens of racism, all of them.

As far as I can see, Black Anglicans of Canada has only existed as an organisation since the beginning of June, 2020. Like so much of what is happening at the moment, it’s as if it spontaneously popped out of the Zeitgeist like a particle from a quantum vacuum.

As an aside, the photo at the top of this article (also in the Anglican Journal article) shows someone holding a sign demanding justice for George Floyd. We all like justice to be visited on others and the policeman who was instrumental in Floyd’s death will, no doubt, experience divine justice at some point. Human justice in North America, however, demands a number of things: a fair trial for the accused and a presumption of innocence. Has anyone anywhere in the media mentioned presumption of innocence – if so, I have not seen it? Do those holding up signs really want the justice our legal system provides? I doubt it.

Good riddance Michael Coren

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Michael Coren is a newly minted priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. He is supporting the current fad of tearing down statues of people who did not live up to contemporary standards of what is acceptable or not acceptable. I’m not using “right” or “wrong” in case it triggers someone.

Naturally, this amounts to whether the person was a racist or a slave trader. Hence we have Coren’s article applauding the casting of Edward Colston’s effigy into the the sea. I confess, although I am indifferent as to whether Edward Colston spends quality time with the fishes, I am uneasy of the impulse to expunge the parts of history that don’t live up to the expectations of contemporary mores.

Still, back to the headline. The Anglican Church of Canada has admitted that it is riddled with systemic racism. Michal Coren has joined the ACoC. That means he is, at the very least, drawn to a racist organisation; he is simpatico with it – it’s no good, I can’t bring myself to call it a church.

And to think he might have joined ANiC. Good riddance Michael Coren

From here:

Good riddance Edward Colston

Bristol, Liverpool and London were the three main slave ports of Britain in the 18th and early 19th century. It was an inconceivably lucrative business, and financial failure was virtually impossible. Ships sailed off to Africa, loaded up on human cargo, exchanged men, women and children in the West Indies for sugar or in America for cash and goods, and then returned home to sell what they had. Countless people made fortunes, and if slaves died on the voyage—and many did—there were plenty more to steal. And rape, beat and torture.

One of those profiteers was Bristol’s Edward Colston, who in the late 1600s as a prominent member of the Royal African Company transported more than 80,000 people, making what today would be tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars. He was also a moneylender. When he died in 1721 he left a substantial amount to local charities, perhaps out of a guilty conscience. There were oceans of blood on his hands.

It was the statue of this man that was torn down and thrown into the harbour last week in Bristol, and became a pulsating image throughout the world as those protesting against racial inequality had their long overdue say. Ten thousand people demonstrated in the western city of Bristol in a peaceful show of defiance, and when they disposed of the repugnant Colston the local police not only refused to intervene but also explained that they understood.

The Anglican Church of Canada confesses it is systemically racist

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The bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada want to make sure that we know they are “horrified by the public murder of George Floyd.” They’ve issued an Episcopal Statement to that effect. If they hadn’t, we might all have assumed they were pleased about it.

They are not horrified by the murder of David Dorn, though, a black, retired policeman, shot by Black Lives Matter rioters. We must assume the bishops’ horror is, if not entirely absent, at the very least somewhat muted because David Dorn doesn’t rate a mention in the Episcopal Statement.

The statement goes on to lament that “Systemic racism exists in every part of Canada” and in the church.

Merriam defines “systemic” in this context as something that is:

fundamental to a predominant social, economic, or political practice

In other words, the ACoC believes Canadian society, economy, and politics and, indeed the church itself, have racism built into them; it is fundamental to their existence. Much as, say, South Africa did during the years of apartheid. That must be why people of every race, creed, and complexion from all over the world are so eager to immigrate to Canada: it is a hotbed of racism.

What is to be done? The bishops have no idea: they are still looking for the racism on/off switch.

Most bishops in the Anglican Church of Canada have signed the Statement. Since they have only just noticed this rampant, long-standing racism and have admitted to being complicit in its thriving, the only honourable thing for them to do is resign en masse.

Read it all here:

The Anglican Church of Canada has committed itself to confronting racism in its own life and to acknowledging the place of racism and colonialism in our own nation. That commitment needs to be renewed daily.We have been horrified by the public murder of George Floyd. We are deeply distressed and profoundly disturbed by the images, rhetoric, violence, division, and chaos that has followed. We offer our prayerful support and solidarity with our sister church, the Episcopal Church, as it prays and guides its people while it simultaneously repents of, and protests the sin of racism. Our own house is not in order. Systemic racism exists in every part of Canada. The words of the Anglican Church of Canada’s 2004 Charter for Justice remind us:
“The assumption of racial difference and inequality was the basis of much of Canada’s social legislation. For example, as a result of the Indian Act, First Nations people were confined to their reserves and their lands, and made susceptible to exploitation and take over. Immigration policies restricted Black, Asian and Jewish immigrants. Canadians of Japanese and Ukrainian descent were rounded up and interned during World War Two. Labour legislation dictated who could and couldn’t work for whom, and who could do what kind of work.”
We repent of our complicity in the continuing structures of racism and oppression in our church and in our culture, for racism is not of Christ. It is sin.

Anglican Church of Canada Primate announces she is a racist

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She is a racist, she tells us, because she is white.

Let’s examine this heartfelt confession. The OED defines a racist as:

A person who is prejudiced against or antagonistic towards people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized

Linda Nicholls believes, sincerely we must assume, that anyone who has the misfortune of being born with a skin colour that is white, off-white or merely pasty is innately biased against his or her more fortunate brethren who have been endowed with a less pink complexion. She believes that bias against another’s race is itself determined by race. And Linda Nicholls is a member of the benighted race that is cursed with that bias.

That really does make her a racist.

From here:

Last year, in the months before General Synod and the primatial election, an acquaintance told me that she had heard someone publicly share that I am racist. My initial response was to be deeply hurt and to try to find out what I had said or done that would lead to those remarks. How had I acted? What had I said? How could this be when I abhor the thought of racism?

Since then I have recognized that I am racist. I am a white, privileged Canadian who is enmeshed in the cultural expectations and assumptions of the society in which I was raised. I have benefitted because I was born into the class and colour of those who have systemic power. As someone with power I unconsciously participate in and collude with racism and have absorbed attitudes deep within me. I am as enmeshed in racism by the benefits I have received as is the person enmeshed in racism by discrimination. The only aspect of disempowerment I have experienced directly has come from my gender as a woman. Even there, others had begun the battle for rights and recognition over the past one hundred years, and I enjoy the fruit of their hard-won justice.

Anglican Churches in Ontario closed until September

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In Ontario, the Anglican Church of Canada will not be meeting in its churches before September, regardless of government regulations.

I have no idea whether this is the right decision or not but I do wonder how many parishes will have ceased to exist by September.

ANiC has not made any announcement for Ontario yet.

From here:

The past three months have been difficult as we journeyed through a time of wilderness with the closure of our church buildings and as we have creatively adapted our ministries to respond to the emergency situation. Inspired from the witness of scripture, a time of sabbath rest invites our clergy and lay leaders, as well as the whole Church, to take time apart from our usual patterns in order to bring renewed energy and knowledge and skill to the practice of ministry.What this means is that regardless of where the Government of Ontario is with its reopening plan, our churches will not be reopening for in-person worship until at least September. This decision was made in consultation with public health experts as well as our diocesan executive officers and chancellors, with the well-being and safety of all our parishioners and the communities we serve uppermost in our hearts and minds

Anglican Church signs Just Recovery document

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The Anglican Church of Canada has signed a document that suggests that, since we are busy trying to sort out how to get back to work in the middle of a pandemic, while we are at it we might as well also fix the “climate emergency”, redistribute wealth, eliminate all inequality, get rid of fossil fuels, allow unrestricted immigration, provide free healthcare for all, and bring back the rainbow coloured unicorns and flying pigs.

After all, isn’t that what the church is really all about?

From here:

The other principles of Just Recovery include a paramount focus on people’s health and well-being, a stronger safety net and direct relief, prioritizing the needs of workers and communities, and building resilience to face future crises.

The Just Recovery document has been signed by the Canadian Labour Congress, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Toronto Environmental Alliance, the Canadian Federation of Students and many more.

Anglicans and politics

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The Anglican Church of Canada’s Primate, Linda Nicholls has written an article explaining how the church decides to align itself with a particular social or political cause. She says:

Let me share how our church approaches that discernment and share a recent example in the life of our church. The general secretary and I are sometimes approached to add our signatures to a public letter on a significant public issue. Deliberation on the issue requires careful listening to a variety of sources. It is governed first by statements and resolutions of General Synod. Then we turn to Church House staff with knowledge of the issue and to our archivist, Laurel Parson. We also explore where our current partnerships and working relationships are implicated by what we might say.

We explore the theological questions embedded in the issue. What gospel principles are at the core of this matter? Where does our baptismal covenant intersect with it? Is this an issue of justice; dignity of human persons; care for creation or love of neighbour?

One might be tempted to leap recklessly to the conclusion that “gospel principles” would nudge the church into questioning why, during the pandemic, Canada’s health care system finds the time to continue murdering babies in abortion mills but has to postpone almost all elective surgery. Or, if it wants to look farther afield, condemn China’s crushing of freedom in Hong Kong or, indeed, of its own people.

But why bother with these peccadilloes when another chance to condemn Israel presents itself?

From here:

We write to you with great concern about Canada’s silence regarding the plans of the current coalition government of Israel to propose a vote in the Knesset (likely July 1st) on annexing a significant part of the occupied Palestinian territories. These plans constitute a grave breach of Canadian and international law, specifically Article 147 of the IV Geneva Convention, prohibiting the appropriation of property. This silence of the Canadian government is puzzling in light of the recent vote at the UN affirming the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, Canada’s policy position on Palestine-Israel, and its staunch support for the rule of law.