Tag Archives: Anglican Church of Canada

Archbishop of Canterbury wants industry to show generosity

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From here:

The Archbishop of Canterbury has criticised energy companies for imposing huge price rises that will hammer struggling families.

Justin Welby said power giants had a ‘massive’ moral duty beyond squeezing customers for maximum profit, and challenged the firms to justify their huge increases in bills.

The Archbishop, himself a former oil executive, said he understood the anger over apparently ‘inexplicable’ rises and called on the companies ‘to behave with generosity and not merely to maximise opportunity’.

Whatever next? Justin Welby exhorting the Anglican Church of Canada ‘to behave with generosity’ and stop suing congregations and individuals in order to acquire their assets? Probably not.

Anglican Peace in Our Time

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At the recent Toronto Pan-Anglican Congress, Rev. Canon Christopher Seitz summarised the aggressive plans for a stalwart defence of conservative orthodoxy: they intend to go down with a whimper .

Sietz, acknowledging that that battle has already been lost, concentrated on whether conservative parishes will be permitted to retain their orthodoxy. In other words, the retreat continues apace: no more reforming North American Anglicanism from within; the best conservatives are now hoping for is to be ignored by their dioceses, as they remain (if they are permitted to remain, that is) little islands of orthodoxy afloat in a festering swamp of heresy. Anything to preserve unity.

Read it all here:

Conservatives should seek terms for a negotiated peace to the Anglican wars, the Rev. Canon Christopher Seitz, Old Testament Scholar and Senior Research Professor at Wycliffe College in the University of Toronto and a leader of the Anglican Communion Institute told a conference marking the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 Toronto Pan-Anglican Congress.

The battle had been lost leaving conservatives as “strangers in their own church,” he said on 18 Sept 2013, and “the question for conservatives [now] is about encouragement. Will we be allowed to walk the well-worn paths of the faith,” he asked “or must we follow the trailblazers?”

[….]

But the political battled had been fought, and the conservatives had lost. It was “no longer a matter of saying the new ways are wrong. That point has passed. “

“We are in a new time. It is now here. We can see a before or after” in the Episcopal Church since the consecration of Gene Robinson and in the rise to power of Katharine Jefferts Schori. One group has been defeated” and “traditional Anglicans have lost a battle.”

There is now “no single understanding” of the faith. New Prayer Books will emerge that will enshrine the majority faction’s dogmas. The question for conservatives is not whether they can stop this but if the majority will allow “two rites [to] exist side by side.”

Prof. Seitz noted the “intermediate steps” taken at the 2012 to allow each bishop to approve or reject local gay marriage rites had “no long term integrity.”  The General Convention endorsed “diocesan autonomy here, but rejects it elsewhere.”

In the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada “we are in a genuinely new time. A time of accomplishment and tidying up,” Prof Seitz said, and this is “why encouragement matters” for conservatives remaining in these churches. “Others have left us and our blazing new trails,” but not all hear the call to depart.

Encouragement for the conservative remnant “would be allowing the status quo ante. Not a new church allowing traditional Anglicans” a home, but the existing churches giving conservatives “the moral space and right to exist.”

“Will dioceses and parishes be permitted to do what has been done before,” he asked. Will we be given the “moral space to conserve our traditions? Can bishops let go of parishes? Can dioceses choose to say no? Can we [as Episcopalians] remain a valued and trustworthy expression of the church catholic?”

[….]

“Conservative parishes are waiting and trusting,” he said, as “God is hiding his face for a season for his own purposes.”

Perhaps God is hiding his face because the conservative parishes still in TEC and the ACoC have ignored his call to disentangle themselves from institutional apostasy.

Today was “Back to Church Sunday”

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Back to Church Sunday is not to be confused with returning to Christ, of course; this is, after all, the Canadian Anglican Church.

In 2009 Toronto bishops dressed up in all their finery and handed out leaflets outside Union Station:

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There hasn’t been a repeat performance by the bishops. As one observer noted:

Well intentioned, but . . well, those of my friends who are not now churchgoers wouldn’t go to church because a scary, robed bishop gave them a leaflet.

He has a point: the Anglican Church of Canada in its desperate quest for relevance, contorts its beliefs to accommodate contemporary culture – from same-sex marriage to there being many ways to God to having no set dogma at all, just community whose commonality is doctrinal incoherence.

The one thing that visibly separates bishops from the common herd is the one thing they won’t give up: dressing up in robes and pointy hats. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Anglican Church of Canada statement on Peshawar and Nairobi

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Whatever you do, don’t mention Islam; or Muslims; or jihad; or al-Qaeda. Best to concentrate on the futility of violence, love, justice, compassion, sprinkled with a few references to the myths we no longer believe in like the Resurrection – you know the routine. Oh, and don’t forget to bring in at least one Mark of Mission.

Actually, the statement isn’t that bad, although I can’t help noticing that the only time the Anglican Church of Canada manages to keep politics out of its pronouncements is when doing otherwise would necessarily drag in Islam, Muslims, jihad and al-Qaeda – oops, sorry, I wasn’t supposed to mention them.

Violent attacks on civilians in Pakistan and Kenya over the weekend remind us that peace is a fragile reality, always vulnerable to those who trust in the power of death to define and shape the world. Whether such attacks target Christians, as the bombing outside a Peshawar church did, or shoppers, as in Nairobi, it is the business of the disciples of Jesus to bear witness to the ultimate futility of violence, even as we express compassion and practical concern for its victims.

We follow the One whose death and resurrection unmask that futility and embody that compassion. Canadian Anglicans can hardly imagine what it is to live under the sort of fear imposed by the attack in Peshawar. We can only watch and witness to the courage and faithfulness of sisters and brothers in that place and give thanks for their continuing witness to the power of love, especially where it is bitterly opposed by those wielding death.

[….]

The fourth Mark of Mission calls us “to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation.”

Bishop Patrick Yu’s remarks in the Toronto Back to the Anglican Future Conference

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Bishop Patrick Yu is a bishop in the Diocese of Toronto. He is a self-proclaimed conservative bishop who has decided to stay put in the Anglican Church of Canada.

He spoke towards the end of the Toronto Back to the Anglican Future Conference and Sue Careless, Senior Editor at the Anglican Planet, recorded and transcribed what he said. She kindly gave permission to post his remarks here.

You can draw your own conclusions about Bishop Yu’s remarks, so I will confine myself to just one thing that struck me:

In the second paragraph Bishop Yu laments the limited theological diversity of those attending the conference and in paragraph six, perhaps forgetting what he said in paragraph two, laments the presence of “people ordained by other communions sitting in this room [who] still tend to plant churches in Toronto”. Evidently a diversity too far.

Bishop Patrick Yu. Photo: Sue Careless

Bishop Patrick Yu. Photo: Sue Careless

On Sept. 18th when Dr George Sumner, Principal of Wycliffe College, opened the last ten minutes of the Back to the Anglican Future Conference to a question-and-answer period, Patrick Yu, the area bishop for York Scarborough in the Diocese of Toronto, stepped up to the podium at St. Paul’s Anglican Church on Bloor Street and used the full ten minutes to deliver the following comments:

I would like to speak on a point of privilege.

This conference is not as geographically and theologically as diverse as the Toronto Congress [of 1963] was. I wish it was more theologically diverse.

In this Diocese [of Toronto] people are not judged or driven out by their theological convictions. We have canons and even bishops who self-identify as conservatives. I was a founding member of Fidelity, a group set up to have a conservative discussion about homosexuality. Paul Feheley was the vice-president and we still have our jobs. [Feheley is currently Principal Secretary, Primate’s Office of the Anglican Church of Canada.] I do not want any students or clergy or international guests to think that here in the Diocese of Toronto we persecute conservatives.

The question was asked: “How can we support conservatives? I have two comments. I would like to question the definition of the word ‘orthodox’. Are there only 1,000 orthodox priests in the United States? I known they are in a bad way but surely there are more than that? We can define orthodoxy in terms of one’s belief in the Trinitarian formularies of the Church, in one’s commitment to Christ, in adherence to the Scriptures, and the historical creeds. But I have been guilty in the past of putting those who disagree with me theologically as unorthodox.  As someone has said, “Orthodoxy is my doxy and heterodoxy is your doxy.” I have met unfortunately unorthodox conservatives as well as orthodox liberals and the converse is also true.

I have personally suffered as a conservative who did not leave the church and there was guilt by association internationally. I think that when we castigate people in the United States and Canada or both if you are there [staying in the church] you must be in the ranks of sinners. It makes conservatives who decide to stay in this church very fearful.

I am the first Chinese bishop and the only one in Canada and I must say that all of the four Chinese churches in Toronto have adopted a conservative stance towards the issue of homosexuality. And it is to their great surprise, disdain and anger when someone ordained a bishop from the Province of Rwanda comes without their knowledge and begins to lure their parishioners away. And I understand that other people ordained by other communions sitting in this room still tend to plant churches in Toronto. That does not help conservatives who stay in the church. And as speaker once said: “If we are not at the table, we cannot contribute to development in the future.”

Lastly, a lot has been spoken about being victims. I caution you – particularly our international friends – to be very cautious in listening to victim narratives. In Canada victim narrative is one of the most powerful political forces around. Our gay and lesbian friends have used this narrative very powerfully and very successfully. For those who attempted to claim victim it is a very tempting short-term tool but in the long term it is very damaging. It helps you to think of yourself as always the outsider. My counsel is to go into the church and act as if you own it, because it is your church. This church is for conservatives and liberals. My mentor Professor Oliver O’Donovan who was one of the authors of the St Andrews Day statement said: “We invite everyone who confesses the Trinitarian formularies of the Church into this discussion.” So when we protest about being excluded, let us be aware not to exclude others from the conversation.

I also speak as the convener of the Evangelism and Church Growth Initiative of the Anglican Communion. Now it is called Anglican Witness. I have to say that people’s experience of Lambeth [2008] was very different. I agree with Archbishop Ian Ernest that evangelism is a difficult topic here as well as in your diocese. When people think about Lambeth they think about sex. Actually the other issue that was very prominent in the report of the indaba discussions was the strong commitment to evangelism. My organization was a follow-up of that.

Let me share with you my own five years of involvement in that organization. When you talk of evangelism with people from Nigeria and Canada and Solomon Islands and South Africa and Burundi there is very little disagreement even though our perspectives on certain theological issues must be very different. So it seems to me we can talk about the Anglican Communion in terms of its organization, and indeed in terms of its issues and problems but when we do that we would commit our resources in a certain way. But if we commit our resources in terms of evangelism and mission, it seems to me that the things that divide us, the problems that seem intractable, may not be so intractable after all.

I’m very glad that Justin Welby spoke to us. We met in London… He said: “I have only two priorities for my archepiscopate. One is reconciliation and the other is evangelism.” My prayer for the Communion is not overcoming [differences] as that seems more difficult but with our differences and with our imperfect instruments we will take into account and deeply embrace the mission and evangelism that is God’s call to us. Then we may discover that we have a Communion after all. God bless you and that’s my response of my privilege.

***

Dr. Sumner then concluded with: “Part of our hope is free exchange, hearing and being heard, candor, parrhesia, free expression. That is certainly our goal at Wycliffe College: theological reflection with a free expression of views. That is a good thing. Our promise was 9pm. Our time is done.”

Anglican Communion Alliance statement on the Anglican Church of Canada’s intent to vote on same-sex marriage

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You can read the whole statement here on page 5. It would be remiss of me not to mention that, to reflect the importance it assigned to the missive, the Anglican Journal has given the ACA’s statement a prominent column in the letters section. Still, at least it was published.

The statement makes a good point: if we attempt to bless something that God doesn’t, we are not doing those who supposedly are being blessed any favours:

The ACA doesn’t view the preparation for changes to the Marriage Canon as a loving gesture towards those with same-sex attraction. To bless and even sanctify what God has not blessed is to lead people in a direction that cannot promise flourishing.

Moreover, the ACA has noticed that the ACoC, after years of vehemently denying that it intends to marry same sex couples, is now talking about marrying same-sex couples:

We are thankful for the pause that slows down the move to adopt sexual innovation in the process dictated by a canonical change to doctrine. We draw attention to the shift in emphasis from “blessings” to “marriage” that occurred incrementally without discussion and is now before us.

Having spent decades in conversations, consultations, dialogue and faux-Bantu indabas with the ACoC about same-sex blessings, the ACA is now proposing a radical new strategy to combat the drift towards same-sex marriage: conversations, consultations, dialogue and faux-Bantu indabas:

We endorse heartily the four-part amendment of the Rt. Rev. Dr. Stephen Andrews, Bishop of the Algoma, to Resolution C003 to change Marriage Canon XXI to accommodate same-sex marriage, and we look forward to participating in the “broad consultation” process that determines if a theological rationale exists for gay and lesbian marriage. May God’s grace and truth be our guide.

Faux feather headdresses offensive to Aboriginals

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Feather-BishopFrom here:

H&M stores across Canada have pulled faux feather headdresses from their shelves after receiving complaints the items are offensive to aboriginals.

Bishops have put in a bid for the entire stock to wear in their mitres at the next Anglican Church of Canada smudging ceremony.

Anglican Church of Canada: the “I’m so sorry” celebration

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It’s an odd thing for an organisation to celebrate apologising for abusing children but, then, the Anglican Church of Canada is an odd thing.

Here they are celebrating a 20 year old apology for sexually, physically and emotionally abusing children. It’s a nauseatingly self-congratulatory statement, awash with revolting faux-humility, lamenting the supposed attempt to remake the children in a white man’s image.

That was never the problem: the problem was that those who abused the children were not Christians; they couldn’t have been. The Anglican Church of Canada’s fault was – as it is today – allowing those who believed and peddled a false gospel to remain within its leadership ranks.

As if to compensate, the ACoC in its sacred circles and smudging ceremonies has, for some time, been attempting to remake itself in an aboriginal image.

Anglican Church in Canada celebrates the twentieth year since the apology to American Indians in Canada

Twenty years ago, on August 6 1993, the Anglican Church in Canada apologized to the Canadian-American Indians, who attended Anglican residential school in Canada.

Like the United States, Canada also did their share to destroy various nations and people, using both genocide and their own brand of Carlisle Schools, but Canada’s government and Anglican Church gave a formal public apology.

Today, the Anglican Church in Canada celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the Church’s apology.

Archbishop Michael Peers listened the stories of the Natives and felt moved to make amends. During the National Native Convocation in Minaki, Ontario on August 6 1993 Peers, devoted to healing, gave an apology for how the Church treated the Natives in Anglican residential schools.

He made a series of “I’m sorry” statements, which included an apology for the Church’s sexual, physical, and emotional abuses, attempting to remake them into the White man’s image, taking away their identities, and then stated that he understood words are meaningless and action means more.

Cardboard cut-out police cut crime

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From here:

As part of an effort to cut crime at the Alewife MBTA subway and bus station in Cambridge, transit police placed a cardboard cutout of a police officer in the bicycle cage. Hundreds of people use the racks daily.

Deputy Chief Robert Lenehan says the fake cop, along with video cameras and a new lock, has cut bike thefts by 67 percent.

It’s also a money saver. Lenehan estimates it would cost $200,000 a year to have an officer watch over the cage full-time.

The Anglican Church of Canada could learn something from this: replacing bishops with cardboard cut-out replicas would save Anglicans millions of dollars. No more high salaries; no more travel expenses; no more lawsuits.

Anglican Church of Canada asks clergy for three-year extension to bridge underfunded pension plan

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Ironically, one of the threats the Anglican Church of Canada holds over clergy considering extricating themselves from its tender embrace to join ANiC is that they would be jeopardising their pensions by leaving.

As it turns out, clergy may be jeopardising their pensions by staying.

From here:

The Anglican Church of Canada is asking members of its pension plan to vote in favour of a proposal that would buy it more time before having to top up its underfunded pension plan by hiking premiums or cutting benefits.

By law, the plan must have the support of two-thirds of members before government will consider giving their OK to the proposal. A vote is scheduled for Sept. 6 in which the plan members hope to get permission from its active, inactive and retired membership.

[….]

Pension liabilities are calculated in two broad ways. They are valued on a “going concern” basis (that measures the plan’s health on the assumption it will operate indefinitely) and on a “solvency” basis — which measures the plan’s ability to pay all its debts if it were liquidated immediately.

On the first count, the church’s plan isn’t faring too poorly. At the end of the church’s last fiscal year, the pension plan had $602.8 million in assets, but a $28.7 million shortfall. Still, that’s considered 95 per cent funded over the long term. On the second count, however, the plan faces a cash crunch. The Anglican Church’s pension plan is only 70.5 per cent funded on a solvency basis were it to be wound up tomorrow.

The plan’s administrators are asking for a three-year extension on having to address that gap. The hope is that by then, the plan’s finances will have improved, no doubt helped along by rising interest rates that improve the plan’s valuation.

“With funding relief, we will have three years to try to improve our plan’s funding level,” the plan administrators told pension members in a recent letter. “At the end of three years, we will do another valuation of the plan. If there is still a solvency funding shortfall, we will likely have no choice but to cut benefits.”

The church’s pension plan returned 13.2 per cent last year, and has averaged 7.5 per cent per year for the past decade.

A spokesperson for the Anglican Church of Canada declined to comment on the story.