Jeremiah 17:9 strikes again.
To the Anglican Church of Canada’s credit, those in charge acted quickly after as yet unspecified allegations were made against Cliff, in spite of a possible temptation to sweep it under the rug.
No-one is immune. Recently Canon Mike Pilavachi, pastor at an orthodox Anglican church in the UK has stepped down because of allegations of dubious behaviour. And, of course, there was Ravi Zacharias, Jean Vanier and numerous other less illustrious examples, liberal and conservative.
As Psalm 146 advises: Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help
That includes clerical princes.
From here:
Only three days after he was elected as the next Bishop of Ontario, Bishop William Cliff of the Diocese of Brandon has been inhibited in both the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario by Metropolitan Anne Germond and in his home Province of Rupert’s Land by Archbishop Greg Kerr-Wilson.
An allegation has been received by Archbishop Germond, and she reports that “the proper authorities have been informed.” The nature of the allegation has not been made public.
While the allegation is being investigated, Bishop Cliff may not exercise the functions of ordained ministry.
He was to succeed Bishop Michael Oulton, who wrote to the diocese May 2:
Archbishop Greg Kerr-Wilson: “The Inhibition does not imply, or presume guilt on Bishop Cliff’s part, but is enacted in keeping with our church’s commitment to take all allegations seriously and to facilitate transparency in the investigation process.”
If it not were for the pain that this allegation is inflicting upon many of us, it would have been enormously interesting to see how -after maybe a public lynching of Bishop Cliff’s character assassination- the media and trolls respond once the Bishop is cleared of any wrong doing.
The problem within the Anglican Church of Canada is that there is no review of a candidate’s beliefs and this has resulted in most cases that the ACoC now worships the “god of political expediency” rather than upholding the Word of God as found in the Bible. This is what happened with St. Matthews Anglican Church in Abbotsford when our building was in essence legally stolen under Michael Ingham about seven years back. The church needs to be certain that candidates are true to THE WORD — not their word. As faithful believers in THE WORD we lost our property due to the actions of an apostate.
CLEARLY AND UNAMBIGUOUSLY INNOCENT
https://anglicanjournal.com/cleared-in-misconduct-investigation-william-cliff-set-to-be-next-bishop-of-ontario/
I would tend to disagree with your headline. The quote from the Jounal says, ‘… a “clear and unambiguous” finding that the evidence did not support the claim of his misconduct.’ This does not square with your claim of ‘innocent’. The three Press Releases around this case are full of legalese and use similar verbiage.
As with many other high profile cases in the courts these days, there must be clear evidence to convict. As we will see, some of the accused will be found ‘not guilty’ by virtue of lack of evidence. That in no way means that there has not been a misdemeanor. My hope and prayer is that the truth will eventually be revealed in this case..
Nor it means there has been a misdemeanor.
My hope and prayer is that the truth will eventually be accepted in this case.
While the Archbishop has been declared “innocent” in the matter of “misconduct”, where on record is his Episcopal acquittal, as also has been reported for his voting “for” changing the Marriage Canon at the 2019 General Synod in Vancouver, B.C, this in full violation of his Ordination vows? If in her official correspondence circa May, 2023, The Primate can affirm that said Marriage Canon has not been changed, where does that leave not only them both, but also all those who joined their anti-Scriptural hypocritical queue with their Clerical collars still on?