Tag Archives: Anglican Church of Canada

Fred Hiltz and his stories

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Primate Fred’s Easter message:

“Christ is Risen, Christ is Risen; Tell it with a joyful voice”

Having made our journey through Holy Week, commemorating the events of the Lord’s passion, death and burial we come now to Easter and the joy of His Glorious Resurrection.

Sunday by Sunday throughout the great festival of Easter, we take delight in hearing those stories of how the risen Lord appeared to so many — greeting and calling them by name, opening the scriptures and teaching them, breaking bread in their midst, bestowing his peace, breathing the Holy Spirit into their hearts and then sending them into all the world.  Alongside these wonderful stories are accounts of the earliest Christian preaching recorded in The Acts of the Apostles.

The important thing about Easter is that these were events not stories: they actually happened,  they have objective reality. At Easter, Christians delight in the fact that Jesus rose physically from the dead, not in hearing those stories. I’m sure Fred realises this – maybe.

For a Lent study, a Quebec Anglican Church invites imam to speak about Islam

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Just what every Anglican needs to meditate on during Lent: the basics of Islam:

Also, on three Tuesday evenings at 7:30, beginning Feb. 23, we welcome Dr. Ahmad Shafaat, the imam of the local mosque, who will teach us some basics about Islam. He will bring several members of his congregation to join us in conversation. Take the time for what interests you; everyone is welcome.

The series was called, “Understanding Islam” and:

Dr. Shafaat’s lectures dealt with the life of the prophet, the roots of Islam, and the prayer recited by the faithful five times daily. It begins, “In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, Master of the Day of Recompense.” Everything we have comes from God, Dr. Shafaat said, and our relationship to Creation is based on respect. The nature of God is indescribable but unmistakable, a transcendental reality.

As Anglicans we do need to remember, particularly during Lent, that Jesus died on the cross to help us understand Islam better.

Vision 2019: the Anglican Church of Canada is in serious decline

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At least someone in the ACoC has noticed it is in serious decline:

“The church of Christ in every age, beset by change but Spirit led, must claim and test its heritage and keep on rising from the dead.”  (“The Church of Christ in Every Age,” #584, Common Praise)

“Beset by change but Spirit led”—this description of the church could apply to any century and certainly applies today. Media reports confirm what our best demographics tell us, that the Anglican Church of Canada is in serious decline in terms of numbers and influence. It is time to claim our heritage and be open to the leading of the Spirit.

If we reclaim our vocations—as evangelists, storytellers, caregivers, advocates for peace and justice, and stewards of creation—the church can and will find new ways to express service to God and neighbour.

This message is begging for a little translation. When the ACoC says open to the leading of the Spirit, it is not referring to God the Holy Spirit, third member of the Trinity. It is referring to the institutional zeitgeist, a junior demon subject to strict orders from the National Zeitgeist, the senior demon.

In addition, since, by and large, the ACoC no longer believes in the innate sinfulness of man, that he deserves God’s judgement and without redemption will end up in hell,  it isn’t aware that there is anything he needs saving from other than global warming. So when evangelism is mentioned the good news that is the subject of the evangelism is nothing more than nice liturgy, nice preaching and nice stories – and who, other than the usual coterie of effete clergy, really cares about that.

As the title says, the Anglican Church of Canada is in serious decline.

What is the Anglican Church of Canada all about?

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The April edition of the Anglican Journal provides the clue. Here is a selection of headlines:

Falling in love with Mother Earth
The green wave is sweeping across many Anglican parishes in Canada.

Eco-spirit strong in New Westminster
Respond to one of the most urgent issues of our time: care for the earth. (What the hell is an “eco-spirit”?)

Begin with a simple cup of joe
If congregations want to take action on environmental and climate change issues, they can begin with a simple cup of joe.

You can go green at home, too!
Even if you can’t go off the power grid, you can buy your electricity from Bullfrog Power, which sources electricity from wind and hydro-electric facilities.

Small steps
Look to Greening Sacred Spaces

There you have it: The Anglican Church is getting into the eco-spirit of things by loving Mother Earth while drinking fair-trade coffee heated with Bullfrog Power all in a lush verdant sanctuary. I think I’m turning green; pass the sick-bag.

Nuns are not what they used to be

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I have a friend who used to be an Anglican Nun; she is a bit of a stickler for correct doctrine.

In contrast, here is a creed written by a current Anglican Church of Canada Nun:

A Creed for the Twenty-First Century
I believe in God, I guess
well no. I am pretty sure.
I do believe in God.
I don’t know
who God is
or
what God is
or
how God is
but
I believe in God.
I guess.
I believe in Jesus Christ. I guess.
well, I believe in Jesus,
God-born man,
my brother, friend and guide.
Yes, I believe in Jesus.
But as for Christ
anointed one
Messiah
Savior
sacrifice
I do, I guess, believe in Christ,
But wonder
How? and why? and what?
So I believe in Jesus Christ.
I guess.
Do I believe in Holy Spirit?
well I guess.
For something
part of me yet not,
inborn yet not of me
Something makes me yearn
and search and open
something quite
against my will,
and that, perhaps, is Holy Spirit.
So I believe in Holy Spirit.
I guess.

Sr. Sue Elwyn, SSJD

I wonder how quickly the early church would have spread if this had been its creed. Not very. I guess.

Rev. Alan T Perry should wear a burka

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Perhaps it would shut him up. From the Montreal Gazette:

Yolande James, Quebec’s immigration minister and the Liberal MNA for the West Island’s Nelligan riding, got a rude awakening yesterday.

Rev. Alan T. Perry, the Anglican pastor of St. Barnabas Church in Pierrefonds, took James to task for her decision last week to bar a woman wearing a niqab from French classes for immigrants.

In a letter to The Gazette, Perry chastised James for reneging on her baptismal and confirmation obligations as an Anglican “to strive for justice and peace among all people and respect for the dignity of every human being.”

“I was surprised to see that,” James told The Gazette. “Notably because, first of all, I’m Catholic.

Perry later apologised to James for misidentifying – stigmatising – her as Anglican. Nevertheless, his insistence on striving for peace and justice is only in evidence when convenient. Here, for example, Perry is determined to illegitimately strip the clerical title from Anglican clergy because they refused to acquiesce to the heretical drift of the church that employs him.

Arctic winds responsible for much of the loss of sea ice

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In December 2009, the Anglican Church of Canada implored its membership – whose size is diminishing far more rapidly than Arctic ice – to petition parliament to combat melting sea ice in the Arctic:

What was, only a few years ago, seen as one possibility among several has now become an undisputed fact: Climate change is real and is having increasingly serious impacts on the environment and people. More worrisome, its impact is stronger and faster than was predicted even a short time ago. Artic [sic] ice is melting much faster than expected, so are the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. In Canada, we see impacts of changing climate in the melting of permafrost in the North and weather- related events such as floods and droughts in the South. The changes are taking place at an increasing speed and the predictions are repeatedly turning out too optimistic.

Oops. It appears that strong winds are causing much of the loss of Arctic sea-ice:

Strong winds and not global warming are to blame for much of the record-breaking loss of ice in the Arctic Ocean in recent years, new research reveals.

Ice blown out of the Arctic area by winds can explain the one-third drop of sea ice since 1979, scientists believe.

The study helps to explain the huge loss of ice in the region during the summers of 2007 and 2008, after which some commentators suggested the Arctic Ocean would be ice-free during the summertime within a decade.

Still, there is probably enough wind generated by the ACoC to blow all the ice back again.

And the winner of the Anglican Church of Canada's Highest Award is……

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Yes! You’ve guessed it! Not the person who has won the most souls for Christ, but the Diocese of New – we have a heretical bishop – Westminster’s Business Administrator.

Diocesan Business Administrator and St. Christopher, West Vancouver parishioner Rob Dickson will be one of five recipients of this year’s Anglican Award of Merit. The award is the Anglican Church of Canada’s highest award available to laity and is presented to those who have contributed with distinction and dedication to the work and life of the church at the national and international level.

I’m sure Rob is a lovely bloke and has done a fine job administering the…. er… business.

Being green makes you mean

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Says the Guardian

According to a study, when people feel they have been morally virtuous by saving the planet through their purchases of organic baby food, for example, it leads to the “licensing [of] selfish and morally questionable behaviour”, otherwise known as “moral balancing” or “compensatory ethics”.

This goes go a long way to explain the behaviour of the Anglican Church of Canada, which is very keen on green.

The Anglican Church of Canada and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada shacking up together

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The ACoC and ELCIC have been unified in their determination to continue a Gadarene plunge into the oblivion of diverse, inclusive neo-pagan Gaia worship and left wing political agitation. So it is only fitting that, as each becomes increasingly financially embarrassed, their leaders share an office.

In other business, CoGS voted to authorize Archbishop Fred Hiltz, in consultation with Susan Johnson, the national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and the co-chairs of the Canadian Joint Anglican Lutheran Commission to explore the pros and cons of sharing a national office in Ottawa.

Archbishop Hiltz, who is primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, added that a greater presence in the nation’s capital could “position us in new and different ways in terms of our work with government leaders and our capacity to have influence and shape public policy.”

I’m all for Fred and Susan positioning themselves in new and different ways; it should prove most entertaining.