From here:
This Sunday, Nov. 28, is the time to act. Everyone is encouraged to sing “Silent Night” and to send in videos to General Synod as part of the Silent Night Project.
Regrettably, Bishop Michael Ingham and half the other bishops in the ACoC succumbed to choking fits when they sang the line “Round yon Virgin Mother and Child’. Luckily, there were no fatalities since the bishops, having recited the Creeds every Sunday, are well-practised in spouting what they have long ceased to believe.
From here:
1. That the Philanthropy department be authorized to initiate and facilitate a nation-wide diocesan-centred fundraising initiative to benefit parishes, dioceses and General Synod.
2. That dioceses not involved in a similar campaign be encouraged to engage in this initiative, with the understanding that the “case for support” will include aspects of the case for [support of] General Synod.
3. That a feasibility study for this initiative be conducted in up to 10 dioceses. The results will be shared with the participating dioceses and the CoGS.
4. That the Council of General Synod approve $200,000 to invest in the nationwide fundraising initiative being undertaken by the Philanthropy department.
With CoGS approval of the additional $200,000 for the initiative, its budget for the year is $360,000.
As the article goes on to observe: “there are pools of generosity in the life of our church that have not yet been fully tapped.” I expect the average Anglican parishioner will be excited to be thought of as a pool of generosity ripe for tapping.
In between dinner-time phone calls peddling windows and duct cleaning, brace yourself for a new one from the Anglican Church of Canada trying to raise money to pay for its litigation lawyers.
He managed to revolt me, at least.
Here is the gospel of global warming according to the ecclesiastical commissariat for hot air.
From here:
Bishop John Chapman of the Anglican diocese of Ottawa, spoke from a faith perspective to the over 50 people who attended the workshop, entitled, Science and Faith: Climate Change as a Moral Issue. “Through the cross, Christ redeemed the world, not just humanity, he said. “All has been redeemed.”
It is the theology of the cross that “embraces covenant rather than domination,” and one that requires a change in the way many Christians think, said Bishop Chapman. “Truly, we have been called to a revolution–and I’m thinking of the word in terms of how we react to one another, how we interact with the established norms that we have inherited generation after generation,” he said. “That’s revolutionary and there’s sacrifice when one engages in a revolution.”
This whole article is worth reading if only to reinforce the suspicion that when the ACoC uses the word “evangelism”, what it means has absolutely nothing to do with saving people from hell through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Instead, it is about market share: how do you entice more people into the church building.
Several years ago, Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente wrote about how much she enjoyed attending Christmas Eve worship. She was raised an Anglican.
She also said she didn’t believe a word of what was said.
What struck me was not that she didn’t believe the Christmas story, but that she still attended church on Christmas Eve. In fact, she even received communion.
As you can see, Margaret Wente doesn’t believe a word of what was said – just like many Anglican priests.
On Monday November 15th, the legal wrangling between the Diocese of New Westminster and parishes that have left the diocese because of theological disagreements reached another milestone.
The highest court in British Columbia ruled not to overturn an earlier court decision that said the parishes could not continue to use their buildings for non-diocesan purposes: the buildings remain with the diocese and the departing congregations must vacate them. No decision has yet been made to pursue one more possible appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Ostensibly, this Anglican squabble began with the Diocese of New Westminster’s decision to proceed with the blessing of same-sex civil marriages in selected parishes. The disagreements run far deeper than that, though. Liberal Anglican dioceses – New Westminster is one of the most liberal – have been slowly eroding the basic Christian faith for decades. Bishop Michael Ingham, in interviews and his book “Mansions of the Spirit”, has questioned the bodily Resurrection of Jesus, his Virgin birth, his divinity and his uniqueness. What, as a bishop, he should defend, he has undermined.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, sought to calm the storm created by the vehemence of such disagreements by trying to find an Hegelian middle ground between the diametrically opposed positions taken by Anglican liberals and conservatives. At the Lambeth conference he used indaba groups – small groups where everyone has a chance to speak – to accomplish this. Although his technique made everyone moderately unhappy, it at least held things together, so it was hailed as a success and adopted by the Anglican Church of Canada at its recent synod.
The result was a statement on human sexuality which declares that the Canadian national church has not officially approved the blessing of same-sex civil marriages, but dioceses are free to make their own decision. It’s an Anglican version of “don’t ask, don’t tell”. Dioceses are proceeding apace with same-sex blessings while the national church quietly averts its gaze: the dioceses that are performing same-sex blessings are doing so in the closet.
Although the Anglican Church delights in trying to find doctrinal middle ground, when it comes to who owns church property, the quest for compromise is strangely absent. As one of the trial judges noted: “I could not help but feel that counsel’s respective submissions were like two ships passing in the night, as were the legal authorities on which they relied.” There were no courtroom indaba groups; when it comes to buildings, winner takes all.
The judges perceptively noted that: “[p]resumably the Bishop and the Synod have chosen to take the risk that the policy allowing same-sex blessings will indeed prove to be ‘schismatic’; or that clergy in the Diocese will for the foreseeable future find themselves ministering to vastly reduced or non-existent congregations.” As the number of people attending an Anglican Church declines, many dioceses, including New Westminster, are busy merging parishes and closing unused buildings. If there is a final legal victory for the diocese, it will be a pyrrhic victory won at the cost of taking fellow Christians to court to obtain possession of buildings for which they have no real use – other than to sell to the highest bidder.
In former times, a sustained decline in church attendance would have been cause for self examination, a time to ask the question “are we doing something wrong?” – particularly when evangelical churches who have a less fluid view of what constitutes Christian doctrine are growing. Not so here. In a move that in business would be seen as a sign of mental instability, the strategy appears to be to win the hearts of potential parishioners by suing the largest congregation in Canada, evicting them from the building for which they have a legitimate use and proceeding full steam ahead with the agenda that caused the rift in the first place.
There are numerous similar court cases in progress with other dioceses. This decision by the BC court of appeal does not bode well for parishes that have left their diocese. The consolation that these parishes have, though, is that a church is a community of people whose allegiance cannot be dictated by a court. A church building can change hands but, when standing empty, it will be nothing more than a rather sad reminder of the folly of a church hierarchy that has lost its way.
At a Eucharist to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Integrity, Fred Hiltz apologised to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Anglicans for hurting them. He didn’t extend the apology to sadomasochist Anglicans for the obvious reason.
From here (Page 8):
AT a 35th anniversary celebration for Integrity, the organization for Anglican gays, lesbians and bisexuals, the primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, publicly apologized for the hurt the church had inflicted on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people.
“I know many of you have suffered the consequences of homophobia in the church,” he said. “I know many of you have suffered subtle forms of persecution.” He acknowledged that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people have been labeled as disordered and unnatural, have suffered anxiety and depression and “have been pressured to hide the truth about what you are.”
He said, “I stand before you as one member of the church called by office to care for all members of the church.” He admitted the church had silenced them, refused to listen to them, and failed to see them as deeply committed to the church. Then, speaking slowly and emphatically, he said, “I am sorry for the many ways in the past, and maybe in the present, in which you have been hurt by the church. I am sorry.”
Other than their theology, that is.
From here:
Lutheran and Anglican bishops brainstorm solutions to common problems.
Canadian Lutheran churches appear to be faced with many of the same problems known to Canadian Anglicans.
Trying to find homosexuals to marry?
Well, yes, but also:
These include shrinking congregations and an increased interest in weekly eucharist.
What this really means is that many congregations are too small to warrant their own priest, so, if members of these “shrinking congregations” want a weekly eucharist, it may have to be a do-it-yourself job. Not that there’s much wrong with that – at least the sermons might make sense:
Speaking here at the Oct. 22-25 joint meeting of the Anglican House of Bishops and Lutheran Conference of Bishops, she added there has also been pressure to revive a practice of permitting lay people to preside at the sacrament, as some Lutheran churches did at one time.
According to Fred Hiltz, Bishops are reclaiming their ‘identity, authority and voice’.
About time, you might might think, but anyone falling into the trap of thinking that this means they are going to teach and maintain Christian doctrine and discipline should watch this for clarification:
From here:
Staff at the national offices of the Anglican Church in Canada learned more yesterday about the impact of the financial cutbacks and the new look of Church House and its programs.
Although it was announced Oct. 5 that most departments will be affected, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, filled in more of the details of the restructuring that will take effect Nov. 1.
The Partnerships department, from which four staff positions were cut, effectively has been closed. Its work – focused in three program areas – Partners is Mission, EcoJustice and the Anglican Healing Fund.
Trees throughout Canada are wearing a black ribbon. I was going to say the angelic hosts are raising a toast to the recession, but I decided not to.
After years of searching unsuccessfully for homosexuals willing to tie the knot, the Anglican Church of Canada has, at last, found a community of suitable candidates: gay penguins.
Bishop Michael Bird – no relation to a penguin – has stated that the requirements in the Diocese of Niagara for gay penguin matrimonial bliss is that one penguin must be baptised – no problem for the average penguin – and that the gay penguins must be in a long term monogamous relationship. The latter qualification may be relaxed since it poses a bit of a problem for the average gay penguin. And then Bishop Bird will be back to having no-one to marry.
From the BBC:
King penguins do not form long-term homosexual pairs despite same-sex “flirting”, one of the first evidence-based studies has revealed.
Researchers found that over a quarter of the birds in one colony displayed in same-sex pairs, yet only two pairs bonded by learning each other’s calls and both were later seen caring for eggs in heterosexual pairs.
The scientists suggest that these same sex displays could be caused by an excess of males or high levels of testosterone.
I’d like to make sure everyone understands that Bishop Bird has never been accused of having high levels of testosterone.