The time for dialogue is over

Posted on October 29, 2015 by David

In a recent pastoral letter, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, Primate of Kenya and Chairman of the GAFCON Primates Council said:

My experience of this new wineskin in North America brought home to me just how much is at stake when the Primates of the Communion meet in Canterbury at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury next January. I believe this will be an historic meeting unlike anything that has gone before. There is now a shared realisation that the time for dialogue is over and there must be a decision that will settle the future direction of the Communion and free us from being dragged down by controversy and confusion.

The Anglican Church of Canada has set up a Commission consisting of theologians, bishops and laity to initiate a broad consultation on how to interpret “the time for dialogue is over” in the light of cultural context while leaving a generous space for deep disagreement. And even mutual criticism.

We all understand, of course, that the one thing it cannot mean is that there really will be no more dialogue because dialogue is all that is left in Western Anglicanism.

Preliminary findings of the Commission lean towards the Post-Modernist Redaction hermeneutic, where “is over” is a later addition caused by cosmic ray induced bit errors in the memory hosting the original document. The reading should be: “the time for dialogue!”

The Commission will recommend a conscience clause for clergy who wish to exercise the deeply unAnglican option of shutting up.

United Church of Christ and Canada to pool their ineffectiveness

Posted on October 27, 2015 by David

Apparently, there will be a great deal of living into things; always a bad sign.

From here:

The United Church of Christ and The United Church of Canada have both formalized a full communion agreement in a worship service at St. Andrew’s United Church, Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Through the agreement, the U.S. and Canadian-based churches, both members of the World Council of Churches, agreed to “commit to living into a common vision of ministry and mission together.”

On Oct. 17 they “committed to exploring the possibilities of this full communion relationship, and to finding ways of living into deeper, fuller expressions of witness that will strengthen the Church as we learn and grow together.”

The important similarities between the two denominations are that they have both displaced the Gospel with obsessive social action, same sex-marriage, gender confusion and an openness so vast that all meaning has dissipated. A marriage of convenience, made in hell:

There are similarities between the two churches in their commitment to social justice and commitment to inclusion of diversity in sexual and gender identities, in disabilities, in theological openness and expression.

The painful Anglican Church of Canada

Posted on October 27, 2015 by David

In an uncharacteristic flash of insight, the Anglican Church of Canada’s bishops have realised that overturning 2000 years of Biblical teaching on marriage by merely voting to do so, might not be what God wants. That doesn’t mean they won’t do it, of course: the few tenacious conservatives remaining in the ACoC haven’t felt enough pain yet.

From here:

The Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada say that they recognise the “deep pain” that will be caused by next year’s General Synod vote on allowing same-sex marriage in Church; and question whether the Synod’s parliamentary-style procedures are “the most helpful way to discern the mind of the Church, or of the Spirit, in this matter.”

Niagara Colours

Posted on October 25, 2015 by David

Along the Grand and Niagara rivers:

Autumn Colours

Posted on October 19, 2015 by David

My morning walk with the dog through the Wild Wood. We did encounter some weasels with cudgels but the dog saw them off.

Biblical advice for the Canadian election

Posted on October 19, 2015 by David

Ecclesiastes 10:2 (ESV)

A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right,
but a fool’s heart to the left.

Anglican Church of Canada makes Middle East peace an election issue

Posted on October 15, 2015 by David

The Anglican Church of Canada wants to tell you how to vote. In a consummately tendentious article, the ACoC informs us that Israel is responsible for the lack of peace in the Middle East because: Israelis continue to settle in Palestinian territories; Israel’s response to being bombarded by rockets is “disproportionate”; Israel denies the Palestinians’ right of return.

Arabs who inconveniently persist in firing rockets into Israel, murdering Jews whenever they get the chance, calling for Israel’s destruction and teaching their children that Jews should be hated because they are the offspring of apes and pigs are not in the least bit guilty. They are just being mildly inconsiderate.

The party that most consistently supports Israel is Stephen Harper’s Conservatives. The Anglican Church of Canada doesn’t want you to vote for them. I was going to vote Conservative anyway, but I’d like to thank the ACoC for confirming my decision.

From here:

The General Synod’s Global Relations Director, Dr. Andrea Mann, pointed to three key issues that continue to animate the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

The steady and increasing settlement of Palestinian territories by Israeli settlers with the support of the Israeli government is a major point of contention, Mann noted, pointing to ongoing claims on Palestinian villages as Israeli land through the continued bulldozing of Palestinian houses.

Counter-measures by Israel to Palestinian incursions such as rocket attacks, which Mann indicated are often disproportionate to the initial Palestinian actions, are another major issue.

“Where there is an initiative or a strike, say, from Gaza into Israeli territory, the response by Israel is in far greater measure, and has been shown to be without consideration for civilian life or hospitals or schools—the places where people gather for safety from those counter-strikes,” she said.

A third major issue is the Palestinians’ right of return, which relates to compensation to Palestinians for lands taken from them beginning in 1948 with the formation of the state of Israel, and the flight of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who left homes behind and were never invited to return or compensated for the loss of their homes, livelihoods and communities.

Kathleen Wynne guest speaker at synod

Posted on October 15, 2015 by David

Ontario’s premier, Kathleen Wynne was a guest speaker at the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario’s recent synod.

Other than the fact that the Anglican Church of Canada has reimagined itself into a political lobbying organisation – albeit an impotent and penniless specimen – I’m not sure why she was there. Perhaps it was to garner advice from the real experts on how further to spice up her controversial sex education propaganda.

She claimed to have a good time: