{"id":14407,"date":"2011-10-04T18:30:46","date_gmt":"2011-10-04T22:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/?p=14407"},"modified":"2011-10-04T18:30:46","modified_gmt":"2011-10-04T22:30:46","slug":"diocese-of-new-westminster-st-matthews-abbotsford-does-facebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/diocese-of-new-westminster-st-matthews-abbotsford-does-facebook\/","title":{"rendered":"Diocese of New Westminster: St. Matthew\u2019s Abbotsford does Facebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is an odd trend: when an Anglican Church of Canada diocese evicts an ANiC congregation from its building it starts a Facebook page. It happened at St. Alban\u2019s, Ottawa<\/a> and now at St. Matthew\u2019s Abbotsford where we can learn what the new parish is all about<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Who out there thinks Abbotsford needs a congregation that pays more than lip service to the Great Tradition; interacts energetically with the best in biblical and theological scholarship; grounds its worship in the Eucharist; is open to learning from everyone, including other religious and secular philosophies; is inclusive of all (period); where gifts and talents aren’t used to serve a leader’s vision but radically shape the very nature of the community; fosters an aesthetic that makes room for beauty in music, poetry and the visual arts; teaches children not merely information but the rhythm’s of worship; and where the priest is someone who takes the time not only to help people in crisis or grief but who participates in a mutual “confession of life” through spiritual friendship?<\/p>\n

If you like the sound of that or, you like it but notice missing pieces in the description, you may want to check out St. Matthew, Abbotsford, a place in formation; a place and a community where thoughtful, classic, Christian Spirituality is what we’re after though we’ve certainly not arrived at our destination! The congregation is in its beginning phase; if you or someone you know might be interested in helping shape this “path” please pass this note on.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As the new incumbent notes, the parish \u201cis inclusive of all (period)\u201d.<\/em> I assume \u201c(period)\u201d <\/em>is intended to signify that the inclusivity is so vast in its encompassing that a normal full stop insufficiently emphasises the impossibility of adding to what is already embraced by this \u201cplace in formation\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard not to notice, though, that while Allen Doerksen is eager to learn from \u201cother religious and secular philosophies\u201d<\/em> he isn\u2019t so keen on mentioning – or even including – Jesus, his death on the cross, his resurrection or our need for his atoning sacrifice because of sin.<\/p>\n

That must be the trend: throw out a believing parish, throw out Christianity along with it then, having no congregation, no financial support and no integrity,\u00a0 attempt to drum up business by starting a Facebook page that sputters about “thoughtful, classic, Christian Spirituality”<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here is an odd trend: when an Anglican Church of Canada diocese evicts an ANiC congregation from its building it starts a Facebook page. It happened at St. Alban\u2019s, Ottawa and now at St. Matthew\u2019s Abbotsford where we can learn … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":9,"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[2110,1473],"class_list":["post-14407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diocese-of-new-westminster","tag-diocese-of-new-westminster","tag-st-matthews-abbotsford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14407\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}