Competitive inclusion

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One of my many character flaws is that I find it immensely satisfying when the Church of England, in spite of Justin Welby’s best efforts to be the Zeitgeist incarnate, is out-inclusioned.

The university that will host Lambeth 2020 is not happy that Kevin Robertson’s husband hasn’t been invited to attend: it is an inclusive university. To teach the Church of England a lesson in Christian inclusion, to show them how it’s done, to demonstrate good disagreement in action, to be a paradigm of reconciliation, the university will “ensure accommodation is available on campus” for Robertson’s other half.

For all intents and purposes, hubby will be there. Smile on.

From here:

A university which has come under fire for hosting an Anglican summit that will exclude same-sex partners is due to meet the Archbishop of Canterbury to raise “significant ethical concerns”.

The University of Kent, which is hosting next year’s Lambeth Conference, faced criticism when it emerged partners of gay bishops had not been invited.

The institution has now said it will ensure accommodation is available on campus for spouses affected who wish to be in Canterbury with their partners.

It comes after a gay bishop whose husband has been barred from attending the once-in-a-decade Anglican summit at the university accused the Archbishop of Canterbury of bowing to homophobia.

Kevin Robertson, a bishop in Toronto, was told by Archbishop Justin Welby that his husband, Mohan Sharma, could not attend the conference because of opposition from ultra-conservative church leaders.

Anglican ripples of sorrow

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In a world where, for their faith, Christians are being persecuted, tortured, set on fire, beheaded, scorned, sued and, if they are the lucky ones, ignored, it takes a tragedy of cosmic proportions to send “ripples of sorrow” through a community already numbed by such tribulation.

And it has happened in Canada of all places. Toronto bishops are lamenting; their lachrymose wails can be heard echoing in the chilly sanctuaries of empty churches from Toronto to Niagara.

All because Bishop Kevin Robertson’s hubby was not invited to the party: the Lambeth 2020 party.

I have to stop now, my keyboard is covered in tears.

From here:

It has been a long tradition for bishops’ spouses to be invited to attend Lambeth as well. However, this bidding has not been extended to same-gender spouses, including Bishop Kevin Robertson’s spouse, Mr. Mohan Sharma. This act of exclusion is troubling to us. While we recognize that the issues involved in a decision of this nature are many-faceted, we wish to express our dismay and sadness at the pain that this causes all of us within the College of Bishops, but in particular Bishop Kevin and Mohan as our friends and co-labourers in the gospel. St. Paul expressed it well in 1 Corinthians 12:26, If one member suffers, all suffer together with it…

We also acknowledge that the Archbishop of Canterbury’s decision not only touches Bishop Kevin and Mohan directly, but also sends ripples of sorrow, both locally and globally, especially within the LGBTQ community. Our diocese is strengthened, inspired and deepened by the faith and witness of our LGBTQ clergy and laity. As St. Paul continues in verse 26, …if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it.

Lexical misgendering

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The Oxford English Dictionary, having succumbed to contemporary gender voodoo, is including gender-neutral words in its latest edition.

You can now misgender someone and rest secure in the knowledge that you have not perpetrated a grammatical atrocity. In your gaol cell.

From here:

It’s a new issue that has proved a modern minefield – as the way we identify ourselves evolves and changes at a rapid rate.

But now The Oxford English Dictionary has introduced gender-neutral words to help us.

Editors said the latest additions were an ‘attempt to grapple’ with the sensitive topic.

These include ‘hir’ and zir’ as alternative pronouns to him, his or her, ‘peoplekind’ rather than mankind, and ‘Latin@’ as a gender-neutral term for someone of either sex from Latin America.

Meanwhile, the verb ‘misgender’ could apply to anyone who unwittingly or intentionally uses a pronoun that is not preferred by the person.

Father Jonathan Rowe is eager to perform same-sex marriages

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The rector St. Michael’s and All Angels Anglican Church in St. John’s can’t wait to get started; we must assume the queue of same-sex couples outside the church demanding ecclesiastical approval of their coupling is so long it’s causing traffic congestion.

There’s one thing to be said in Rowe’s favour: at least he’s honest about what the Anglican Church of Canada is up to:

Father Jonathan Rowe says it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when for the Anglican Church of Canada to allow for same-sex marriage in its parishes

Most clergy are too timid to admit this.

The principle under which Rowe seems to be operating is that if something is legal in Canada, the church should approve of it. Same-sex marriage is legal in Canada. But then, so is smoking cannabis, abortion, adultery and pornography.

From the CBC:

One Anglican parish in St. John’s is ready to allow same-sex couples to get married under its roof — but is caught in the middle of a waiting game.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Canada since 2005.

“Things seems to take a long time to happen in the church, and for an institution that’s 2,000 years old, that kind of makes sense,” said Father Jonathan Rowe, rector at St. Michael’s and All Angels Anglican Church in St. John’s.

Rowe said the Anglican Church has been having conversations regarding human sexuality, same-sex unions and most recently, same-sex marriage.

On Sunday, Rowe’s parish passed a motion during their annual meeting to request permission from the Bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador to, “offer the sacrament of Holy Matrimony to all couples who are legally entitled to marry in Canada, as soon as such an option becomes possible in this diocese.”

Justin Welby attends a “blame an Islamophobic politician” event

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Although he isn’t specifically mentioned, I imagine the political leader Welby and the organisers had in mind was Trump. The temptation to place blame on such an easy and obvious target would be too difficult to resist. Even during Lent.

Justin Welby was greeted by applause when he promised better “education” for children in CofE schools. Church of England Madrasa has a distinctive ring to it.

From here:

Action needed after New Zealand attacks, gathering at London mosque told

Political leaders must consider what responsibility they might carry in allowing Islamophobia to thrive, a gathering at a London mosque has been told.

[….]

The Most Rev Justin Welby was applauded when he made a commitment to discuss how, through the teaching of an estimated one million children at Church of England schools “we can be more effective in our education to be one people”.

He also pledged that the church will stand with Muslims who are being persecuted, apologising if such solidarity has been lacking in the past.

He said: “For Muslims who are under threat we will be with you, if we have not been with you sufficiently yet, and if we have not, I am so sorry.”

More tea vicar?

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The Church of England is putting on a sterling display of self-parody by holding tea parties to heal divisions in Britain, supposedly caused by the UK’s departure from the European Union.

At last we see good disagreement in action.

From here:

The Church of England is to host thousands of post-Brexit tea parties to heal divisions between Brexiteers and Remainers, complete with a set of “conversation starters” designed to break the ice.

New prayers have been written for priests to use at the gatherings, designed to bring together those who “lament” Britain’s exit from the European Union with those who will be celebrating.

Remainers and Brexiteers will be asked to “get together and chat over a cup of tea and pray for our country and our future”.

Justin Welby want us to pray to Allah

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Christian leaders have rightly condemned (here is Bishop Peter Carrell’s statement)  the horrific murders at a New Zealand mosque. Justin Welby has gone a step further and suggested Christians attend a mosque to worship Allah.

Here is the lower half Welby is retweeting:

If Jesus is really the Son of God who died for the sins of the world, surely the loving thing to do is to try to find a way to convince Muslims that this is the only way to be saved, rather than indulging in a bizarre syncretism in order to project an aura of culturally sanctioned piety?

I don’t want to make this atrocity political, I really don’t, but I can’t help noticing that the murder of 32 Christians by radical Muslims last week received almost no media coverage at all. Nor did the murder of 120 Christians by Muslim herders. I haven’t seen Justin Welby wringing his hands over them, either. Neither were committed by white Europeans and only Christians died, so I suppose they don’t count.

I agree with Bishop Kevin Robertson

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Toronto’s Bishop Kevin Robertson is married to another man and, as a result, even though he has been invited to Lambeth 2020, his spouse has not.

Robertson thinks that this decision was “driven by homophobia”. I don’t agree with him about that since the word “homophobia” is a meaningless insult hurled at anyone who believes homosexual practice is inconsistent with a Biblical understanding of marriage and human sexuality.

I do agree with the last thing Robertson said in this article, though: ”Keeping people away and excluding people is not the answer.”

Justin Welby is still trying to present the appearance of straddling the fence on homosexual clergy and same-sex marriage while, in unguarded moments, it is obvious he has no disagreement with either. Welby privately “attempted to comfort” Robertson after breaking the news to him; it’s quite clear where Welby’s sympathies lie.

Is it too much to expect an Archbishop of Canterbury to be honest and straightforward? It seems so.

It is time for Welby to come clean, openly admit he is in favour of same-sex marriage, tell us he is taking the Church of England in that direction, invite all bishops and all their spouses to Lambeth 2020 and let those who disagree take the action that their consciences dictate.

Read it all here:

ONE of the bishops who were told that they could not bring their same-sex spouse to next year’s Lambeth Conference has accused conservative Primates of homophobia in their opposition to his presence.

The Area Bishop of York-Scarborough, the Rt Revd Kevin Robertson, a suffragan in the diocese of Toronto, said that he was not convinced that archbishops from the global South who had insisted that his husband, Mohan Sharma, could not attend the Conference were motivated solely by theological conviction.

Bishop Robertson was told in person by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace earlier this year that Mr Sharma, unlike the husbands and wives of all other bishops, would not be invited to the Lambeth Conference in 2020.

“It was disappointing, absolutely, and I expressed that to the Archbishop,” Bishop Robertson said. He had been at Lambeth Palace for an induction event for new bishops from across the Ang­lican Communion.

[…..]

He said that in their private conversation at Lambeth Palace, Arch­bishop Welby attempted to comfort him by noting that, at the last Lambeth Conference, gay bishops themselves, let alone their partners, were not invited.

But this did not seem like much progress, Bishop Robertson said. “This is the great frustration of Lam­beth — by excluding spouses like Becki and Mohan it doesn’t allow for frank, even difficult, conversations.

“If they are not present, not seen, not known, how do we advance the conversation and build bridges through the disagreement? Keeping people away and excluding people is not the answer.”

Archives from the Diocese of Niagara’s LGBT times

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The Diocese of Niagara’s newspaper, the Niagara Anglican, has been published for 64 years. For the last 63 of those years, in keeping with the inclinations of its clerical masters, its interest in Christianity has diminished at the same rate that its obsession with homosexuality has grown.

You can see some photos from the archive here.

I particularly like this one of the hipster cathedral clergy plunking “The Lord’s My Shepherd” to the tune of “The Happy Wanderer”:

Despite such discriminating musical taste it, couldn’t compete in cultural relevance with the competition; even though the glasses were almost the same: