Category Archives: Diocese of Huron

Diocese of Huron in rapid decline

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From the diocesan paper:

Between the years of 2007-2017 Huron witnessed the disappearance of more than fifty congregations. Each of these was a mission light that has gone out in our Diocese.

[….]

Statistics that show that between the years 2007-2017 Huron’s membership declined by 15,771 baptized members, with 5,037 fewer worshippers on Sunday, seeing 10,846 fewer participants for Easter celebrations and witnessing the disappearance of 2,346 children who had previously been learning God’s story through Sunday ministries. Trends that document that 85% of congregations in Huron were marked by membership decline in that decade, while roughly 10% were holding steady.

The article goes on to note that some may find it consoling that the rest of the ACoC is also evaporating at a similar rate. There are few things as comforting as all gurgling down the toilet together.

Some in our Church find consolation in these changing times knowing that most Anglican dioceses in Canada are in the same boat together – that widespread membership trends of decline are being experienced across the country. Researchers Brian Clarke and Stuart MacDonald have calculated that the annual decline of national Anglican membership to be roughly 22,700 members per year!

The same edition of the paper invites us all, on October the 11th, to celebrate:

National Coming Out Day. Celebrate with your queer and trans* friends and parishioners. Honour their journeys; hear their stories; lift up the voices of queer and trans* people within your community.

The author goes on to explain that ney (that’s nem’s pronoun – or perhaps it’s the other way around. It gets confusing), over the years has:

… gone by many different terms for my sexuality – lesbian, pansexual, demisexual, gay, and now the all-encompassing “queer”.

That’s a lot to celebrate.

If that hasn’t convinced you to come back to church, this workshop, described in the same newspaper, will:

A total of four workshops on allyship and the  place  of  queer  and trans* identities within the church  were  offered  online    on  August 22 and August 29 by the newly-formed Proud Anglicans of Huron.

I still don’t know what the asterisk affixed to “trans” means. Perhaps it’s another pronoun for those yet to come out with more arcane, hitherto undeclared, sexual inclinations.

If, for some inexplicable reason that doesn’t halt the diocesan slide into oblivion, this video is sure to do the trick.

After watching that, I am experiencing an irrepressible urge to move to Huron myself. Just so I can attend an Anglican church there.

Diocese of Huron to hold Queer and Trans* Virtual Workshops

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I only have one question: Why is there an asterisk attached to “Trans”? Is it a wildcard that permits any other combination of letters? Like Transistor?

I know, I’ll attend this, it will explain everything:

Now I get it. Creating labels and terminology modifies reality: pronoun selection bends the universe to ney/nem’s will. I was right, a Trans* person really could be a Transistor.

Why has no one thought of this before? It’s so convenient.

Diocese of Huron: special permission to conduct same-sex marriages no longer needed

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The floodgates are open. Don’t all come at once.

From here:

Dear Clergy and People of the Diocese of Huron,
Ever since my ordination to the diaconate, and before, the Anglican Church in our Diocese has been on a journey to listen to the stories of members of the LGBTQ2+ communities. Many of us have come to understand that all persons are wholly made in the image of God. We have welcomed LGBTQ2+ persons into our parishes, they have become our deacons and priests and within the last year have been able to be married in churches that have been given permission to hold same-sex weddings. After thought and prayer, I have decided to remove the requirement that special permission be required by priests or parishes before a same-sex wedding can be held in a parish. All priests in the diocese may marry any two persons who meet the requirements found in our Marriage in the Church Guidelines which is available here.

I know that some of you will disagree with this decision. The Anglican church is a large tent of diverse theologies and the Diocese of Huron is no different. Priests have always been able to determine whether or not they are comfortable performing a particular wedding ceremony and this has not changed. I do ask that a priest who does not wish to do a same-sex wedding refer to the couple to another priest or to my office.

The marriage rite that I am authorizing for same-sex weddings and also for opposite-sex weddings is that from the Episcopal Church which may be found here. It has been slightly amended to ensure that the marriage laws of Ontario are being followed. As the marriage rites in the BCP and BAS are authorized by General Synod only for opposite-sex marriages, they may not be used for same-sex marriages

I pray that we may continue to reveal the love of God in all our relationships.

Yours in Christ,

+Todd

St. Aidan’s displays Black Lives Matter sign

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St. Aidan’s is in London Ontario in the Diocese of Huron. Its rector is Rev. Kevin George.

The organisation, Black Lives Matter which Kevin George is keen to advertise, declares on its website that it is dedicated to overturning the nuclear family, dismantling cisgender privilege, dismantling the patriarchy, fostering a queer‐affirming network and uplifting Black trans folk. Among other things.

The founders of BLM, Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Alicia Garza were accused recently of not having an ideological framework. They have hastened to assure us that they do: they are Marxists. They want to overturn capitalism and Western civilisation.

As you can see, this fits in nicely with the agenda of the Anglican Church of Canada.

So as to leave no doubt about his political bias, the rector of St. Aidan’s, Rev. Kevin George has a twitter feed on which he displays things like this:

And this:

If he had said similar things about Justin Trudeau, would he still be employed by the Diocese of Huron?

Diocese of Huron has a Pride Pentecost

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From here:

Celebrating Pentecost with Pride

Pentecost will be celebrated on Sunday, May 31, but the season of Pentecost will continue for the next several months.

[….]

One could easily say that the Holy Spirit came down upon the people at the Stonewall Inn, lighting a fire within them to advocate for change. Still today, we see many examples of homophobia, transphobia, heterosexism and cissexism running rampant within the world and our society. This time of quarantine and isolation has empowered certain people to speak out against inclusive sex education, to call for the repeal of laws that protect against discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation, and claim that gender-confirmation surgery and other transition-related procedures for trans* people “should be outlawed altogether”. People are being empowered through social media to commit “Zoom-bombing” and other acts of hate crime with little repercussion.

I only have a few questions: what is the asterisk for in “trans* people”? Is it a wildcard? What is cissexism and would I break out in a rash if I had it?

If your curiosity is piqued enough to want to see what a Pride Pentecost looks like and you are not worried that it might trigger your phobias, you can view it here.

Bishop of Huron sees battling global warming as his top priority

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Since the Anglican Church of Canada has given up on the idea of saving people from roasting in hell, it has taken up the task of saving them from roasting on earth.

“Consumers in the Hands of an Angry Gaia” doesn’t have the same resonance or weight as the original but neither does the purveyor of the message, Robert Todd Townshend, the new bishop of the Diocese of Huron.

Townshend has declared, in a diarrhoetic flood of stale platitudes, that a “push for greater environmental action may mark his tenure”. It will probably be more of a stain than a mark.

From here:

Reverend Canon Robert Todd Townshend is hoping to bring an environmental focus and action on climate change to Anglican churches across its Southwestern Ontario diocese.

Townshend was ordained Bishop of the Huron Diocese on Saturday afternoon, drawing about 1,000 people to St. Paul’s Cathedral on Richmond Street in downntown London.

After the ordination, Townshend reflected on the global climate change crisis and how faith can serve as a call to action, he said.

“The environmental movement has revived the biblical idea of us as stewards of the Earth, which is in every major religion because God is the creator,” Townshend said.

“I consider it an emergency,” he said of climate change. “If we call something a crisis for too long it is not considered urgent, but this is the most urgent thing.”

The Huron Diocese has always shown the ability to adapt and change as times demand and the push for greater environmental action may mark his tenure, he added.

“It will take a big movement of people, of political will. It’s crucial.”

Townshend becomes the 14th Bishop, succeeding Linda Nicholls, who was elected the head of the Anglican Church of Canada in July.

Diocese of Huron votes Todd Townshend as its new bishop

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Since 2001, the average Sunday attendance in the Diocese of Huron has been declining at a rate of 3.13% per year, so the new bishop has an interesting time ahead of him.

It will come as no surprise that his sympathies align with his predecessor, Linda Nicholls. On his Facebook page we find this:

You can read all about his views and vision for the future here. Those with the stamina to wade through the clichés and boilerplate will discover that Townshend thinks he has too many white English-speaking people among his parishioners. Imagine the outrage if he had said “black” instead of “white”.  He is himself white and speaks English – well, Canadian, at least so unless his first act is to resign, it seems to be a case of the pot calling the kettle white.

I would go so far as to say that the “flock that is Huron” suffers from a painful lack of diversity when compared to the Anglican Communion world-wide. In terms of language and ethnicity, most churches in our diocese are more “white” and “english” than the Church of England! We can cherish parts of that heritage but we’ll be much better off if we can insist on transforming our communities, wherever possible, so that the proportion of “white” and “english” is better balanced by a more prominent place for the presence of our indigenous sisters and brothers and, generally, if we make a strong move towards a rainbow of colours and the sound of many languages (and music!) in our churches. This would better reflect the genius of God’s human population and the creative potential of “difference” in the Christian body.

Diocese of Huron will ignore Marriage Canon vote

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Since Bishop Linda Nicholls has made the career jump to Primate, she won’t be the Bishop of the Diocese of Huron for much longer. As a parting gift, she is authorising same sex marriages in the diocese. Or perhaps she is hammering the final nail in the diocesan coffin.

From here:

Given the strong support in Huron for this possibility, as of August 1, 2019, I am authorizing the availability of marriage to same-sex couples as a pastoral local option under the following guidelines:

1. Same-sex marriages will be permitted in parishes where the priest and the Parish Council have considered this matter and agreed that the parish will do so.
2. Any parish desiring to do so will write a letter to the Bishop requesting permission – signed by the priest (rector/incumbent) and the Wardens and including a description of the consideration taken by the Parish Council.
3. No parish is required to offer same-sex marriage in their location.
4. Clergy already have provision by canon to refuse to perform a marriage for reasons of conscience.
As this is a pastoral local option it is at the discretion of the diocesan bishop. It is an option that I believe is appropriate for the Diocese of Huron at this time and is supported by many, though not all, in the diocese. I am however aware that I will be the Bishop of Huron for only a short time longer. This may be a consideration in the discernment of the next Bishop of Huron. I pray that the diocese will recognize that the work of the bishop is much broader than this issue.