Category Archives: Liberal denominations

London’s MCC Church says farewell to its pastor

Posted on by
4

It is all the fashion these days to add letters to the ubiquitous LGBT initialism, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and add one of my own: LGBTC. The “C” stands for “closing”.

London’s MCC Community church is a denomination that affirms and celebrates all things LGBT. It declares itself to be welcoming, inclusive, diverse and tolerant, all qualities that seem to drive people away rather than attract them. A church that makes no demands of its members other than that they remain as they are clearly isn’t peddling anything worth having. As a result, there aren’t enough people to pay the pastor:

It is with deep regret that we announce that this evening January 6, 2019 will be Reverend Bruce Lee’s final service as our Pastor of MCC London.  The Board, in collaboration with Bruce, have come to the difficult decision that this congregation cannot financially maintain the cost associated with a full-time Pastor.

New study discovers conservative churches are more likely to grow than liberal churches

Posted on by
4

What a surprise.

From here:

The paper’s authors state that by “conservative,” they mean views that are typically held by conservative Protestants, such as a high regard for the authority of the Bible, a literal belief in teachings such as the deity and resurrection of Christ, and a belief that Christianity is true to the exclusion of other religions.

The article summarizes the results of a recent study done of 22 churches in southern Ontario, drawn from the Anglican Church of Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the United Church of Canada. Seeking to identify the possible reasons for growth and decline among mainline Protestant churches, the authors looked at both churches that had gained and lost congregants over the previous 10 years. It surveyed 2,255 regular attendants and 29 clergy on their theological views, religious practices and other matters; the study also involved interviews of clergy and selected congregants.

I think this is one of the most telling parts of the study:

The survey found that both congregants and clergy of growing churches tended to score highly on a questionnaire intended to gauge their theological conservatism. For example, asked to agree or disagree with the statement, “Jesus rose from the dead with a real, flesh-and-blood body leaving behind an empty tomb,” 93 per cent of clergy and 83 per cent of parishioners from growing churches agreed, versus 56 per cent of clergy and 67 per cent of parishioners from declining churches. Asked to respond to the statement, “The beliefs of the Christian faith need to change over time to stay relevant,” 69 per cent of clergy from shrinking churches agreed, compared to zero per cent of clergy from growing churches.

“56 per cent of clergy” from declining churches do not believe Jesus rose bodily from the dead. As far as I can see, these clergy fail to meet one of the minimum requirements needed to claim to be Christian, which means their “churches” are not churches. What else could an organisation that poses as an imitation of the real thing do other than decline to the point of extinction? It doesn’t truly exist in the first place. Welcome to the Anglican Church of Canada.

A new way for liberal denominations to make money

Posted on by
1

Erect cell phone towers on church property. This has two benefits: an influx of cash and irradiated parishioners emerge from church with a brightly glowing halo.

From here:

One more church, Roxboro United, has decided to allow Telus to erect a cell tower on its property, joining St. Barnabus Anglican Church, in a pitched battle against the city of Pierrefonds that is determined to prevent it.

Pierrefonds had threatened to fine or take legal action against St. Barnabus Church should it go ahead with plans for a Rogers cell tower on its property. City councillor Christian Dubois said the same policy would apply to Roxboro United. “We are the local authority and we can refuse to have cell towers erected,” said Dubois, who attended a recent Canadian Federation of Mayors conference in Halifax where he introduced a motion urging the federal government to re-evaluate its current cell tower policies. As it stands now, Canadian municipalities are caught in the middle of a federal regulation that involves Industry Canada and communications companies like Rogers and Telus.

Dubois, however, did add that if people in the area or the parishioners of either Roxboro United or St. Barnabus wanted the cell towers, then the city would support the decision. Which muddies the waters for both churches and the city of Pierrefonds as the congregations of both churches have given their support to the projects.

Erik Mathieson of the United Church of Canada in Toronto said there are no firm guidelines for churches wanting to have cell towers on their property but added that many churches are looking for additional revenue sources and cell companies know this. “Some churches are well-located for cell towers,” said Mathieson. “The general idea is to run the idea by the congregation, taking into account the safety concerns and the aesthetics of the tower.” He said cell tower installations are an “incremental” source of income for a church, bringing in anywhere from $5,000-$30,000 per year of the lease taken out. Mathieson admitted that some churches have balked at the idea of having a cell tower on site and that cell companies then move on.