Monthly Archives: April 2014

Only in the Anglican Church of Canada: the porous-edge Cathedral and the transgender indie singer

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Christ Church Cathedral in the Diocese of Montreal has developed porous edges. I had to curb my rejoicing at the news that the Cathedral is taking on water and will soon be a fitting metaphor for the church to which it belongs – a decrepit heap of rubble – because that’s not what having porous edges means in Anglican-speak.

The astute Rev. Rhonda Waters has concluded that up until now, people didn’t come to church because they couldn’t find the door; hence the attraction of a church with porous edges – we can all ooze through the walls.

To make this even more enticing, the Cathedral recently screened a musical documentary about “a transgender indie singer who grew up in a fundamentalist Christian home on the Canadian prairie.” It’s called My Prairie Home; other, less pastorally sensitive authors than I might have yielded to the temptation to replace the trailing “e” with a different vowel.

From here (page 3):

People are no longer familiar with churches and what goes on in them, quite the opposite in fact. As a result,we need to create edges that allow people to peek inside, to slip in and out at their own pace, to test our spaces and our communities without an invitation and without a commitment.

[….]

My Prairie Home, a porous-edge event designed not only to create an opportunity for people to check us out but maybe to surprise them as well. My Prairie Home is a musical documentary about Rae Spoon, a transgender indie singer who grew up in a fundamentalist Christian home on the Canadian prairie.

Anglican Church of Canada wants to know what you think about a proposed change to the marriage canon

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The Anglican Church of Canada’s recently formed Commission on the Marriage Canon wants to know what you think about changing canon law to permit same-sex couples to marry in the church. To make submissions, you have to be member of the ACoC (I feel so excluded) so, if you are, let them know what you think. Apparently, they are obligated to publish all submissions as long as they don’t contain anything “objectionable”; I’m sure no one reading this would say anything objectionable.

I am reasonably certain of two things: 1) it’s going to happen no matter what anyone says; 2) thousands of words will be penned in an effort to obscure the truth of 1).

If I were of a cynical disposition, I might make the point that by submitting opinions that run contrary to the inevitable, you will merely be granting the commission the smug satisfaction of employing the well rehearsed strategy of declaring that they listened to diverse opinions – before ignoring those they didn’t like.

Submissions are made by filling out the form here.

From here:

Input from members of the Anglican Church of Canada is vital as the church enters this time of discernment. Commission chair, Canon Robert Falby, encourages broad participation in this process. “Commission members are aware of the strong feelings that many Anglicans have on the issues which it is looking at and we hope that we will receive input which reflects that spectrum.”

Submissions are welcome in both written and video form and must include the author’s name, parish or institution, diocese, and contact details. All of the commissioners will read or view each submission as they prepare their report.

The terms of reference for the Commission on the Marriage Canon require that all submissions to the Commission be posted on the national church’s website (www.anglican.ca). They will be reviewed prior to posting on the national church’s website. Submissions failing to conform to the Anglican Church of Canada’s existing code of conduct for online contributions will not be posted. Those making such submissions will be contacted and invited to revise their content accordingly.

Bishop of Montreal, having noted an objection to the ordination of an actively homosexual candidate, proceeds anyway

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The Bishop of Montreal, Barry Clarke, recently ordained Alain Brosseau, a candidate  who is in a same-sex relationship with Peter Wessel. A number of clergy and laity objected to the ordination, an objection that, predictably, was ignored by the bishop. In Anglican jargon, what the bishop did is known as listening.

The objectors must have known that their statement would have no effect because they have tried it before with the same result; perhaps the time has come for more radical action.

From here (page 7):

As has happened at several recent previous ordinations of candidates with same-sex partners, Bishop Barry Clarke noted briefly at the March30 ordination that he had received an objection to the ordination of one of the candidates but was proceeding in the light of his own reflections and decisions of the diocesan synod.

The announcement was greeted by applause from a number of those at the well attended ordination service.

The objection was to the ordination of Rev. Alain Brosseau (whose partner, Peter Wessel, read the lesson,Peter 5:1-4, at the ordination service).

The objection, not read out at the service, was also similar to ones filed on earlier occasions. It was signed by Rev. Nick Brotherwood on behalf of three other clergy and seven lay people.(Previous objections were signed by six clergy.)

It says in part: “We, the undersigned laity and clergy, understand that one of the candidates for ordination to the presbyterate on March30th is in a sexually-active, same-gender relationship. We believe such relationships to be incompatible with scripture, and, when they are also Civil Marriages, with our Marriage Canon, which defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. We believe such relationships are also inconsistent with the received tradition of the Church Catholic, as well as resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference. Proceeding with such ordinations would not respect the previous Archbishop of Canterbury’s request for gracious restraint in these matters for the sake of the unity of the whole Church.

“For these reasons we believe the manner of life of the candidate so described to be unsuitable for the exercise of this ministry, and respectfully ask you not to proceed with his ordination.”

The letter was signed by Nick Brotherwood on behalf of Linda Faith Chalk, John and Diane Degrace,Bruce Glencross, Marilyn Miles, Stan and Joan Pepler, Roger Spack, Susan Wallet and Tim Wiebe.

African bishops concerned about clergy flouting a ban on same-sex weddings

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From here:

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was last night facing mounting pressure to crack down on clergy who marry their gay partners – as the threat of a split in the Anglican Church grew.

A powerful group of conservative African Archbishops said they were ‘deeply troubled’ by liberal Western attitudes towards homosexuality and that Church of England clerics were flouting a ban on same-sex weddings.

The Archbishops said it was ‘very concerning’ that the ban was being ‘openly disregarded’ and added: ‘We look to the Church of England to give clear leadership as moral confusion about the status of marriage [in England] deepens.’

I’m sure the GAFCON bishops know this already, but looking to the Church of England to provide moral leadership on the nature of marriage is going to be as fruitful as asking a madam to elaborate on the virtues of chastity.

Diocese of Brandon sues Bishop’s son

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Noah Njegovan, the son of the Bishop of Brandon, was arraigned on fraud charges in April 2013. In March 2014, the charges were withdrawn but now the Diocese of Brandon is suing Njegovan for $350,000.

The bishop, Jim Njegovan, attempted to endear himself to his congregations by forbidding them from distributing the Anglican Planet, by removing a portrait of his predecessor Bishop Malcolm Harding from the cathedral and informing him that, because he had joined ANiC, “he could no longer exercise any ordained ministerial function within the Church and not use ministerial titles or wear clerical vesture.” So much for inclusion and diversity. As it turns out, it seems that the bishop would have been better off diverting some of his energies into explaining to his son why embezzling from one’s employer is a career limiting endeavour.

From here:

The Anglican Diocese of Brandon is suing a priest in a bid to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars allegedly embezzled using a credit card.

According to a statement of claim recently filed in Brandon Court of Queen’s Bench, the diocese is suing Noah Njegovan for $350,000, plus other damages and costs.

Fond memories of the first Earth Day

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As church leaders go through their annual propitiatory Gaia rituals, it is worth recalling the first Earth Day event hosted by Ira Einhorn. Such was Ira’s eco-fervour that after murdering his girlfriend, he composted her body in a trunk. Alas, he was arrested before being able to spread the contents on his vegetable patch. Compared to Ira, the faith of Anglican greenies is positively Laodicean.

From here:

Ira Einhorn was on stage hosting the first Earth Day event at the Fairmount Park in Philadelphia on April 22, 1970. Seven years later, police raided his closet and found the “composted” body of his ex-girlfriend inside a trunk.

Canadian oil not good enough for the USA so Canada exports foetuses instead

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The US has postponed the decision whether it is ethically permissible to transport Canadian oil via the Keystone pipeline to supply energy to Texas.

Meanwhile, Oregon, also unwilling to burn detestable, polluting fracked Canadian oil, is importing aborted Canadian babies to burn instead. The dead babies, along with other medical “waste”, are placed in “sealed boxes and [are] carried to the furnace on a conveyor belt”. Remind you of anything?

From here:

The British Columbia Health Ministry has admitted that the remains of babies destroyed by abortion in B.C. facilities are ending up in a waste-to-power facility in the United States, providing electricity for residents of Oregon.

The province’s Health Ministry said in an email to the B.C. Catholic that “biomedical waste” shipped to the U.S. to be incinerated includes “human tissue, such as surgically removed cancerous tissue, amputated limbs, and fetal tissue.”

An Earth Day message from Primate Fred Hiltz

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Having Easter with its embarrassingly fundamentalist insistence that Jesus rose bodily from the dead safely behind us, Primate Fred Hiltz has moved on to events of more cosmic significance. Easter is, after all, but a pale foreshadowing of – wait for it – Earth Day.

This year’s observance of Earth Day follows immediately on the events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  In them we see movements from enmity to reconciliation, suffering to hope, and death to new life. They speak not only to humanity but also to the interconnectedness of all of creation.

The Scriptures tell us that our first vocation as human beings is to tend God’s creation.  An honest assessment of our diligence in that call inevitably leads us to confess “our waste and pollution of creation and our lack of concern for those who come after us.” (Ash Wednesday Liturgy)

Hiltz draws his inspiration from the IPCC, a fitting source since the IPCC is as lacking in credibility on climate science as the ACoC is on its corresponding neurosis, human sexuality.

Reports on the state of the environment as documented by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are increasingly alarming.

Hiltz wishes to learn from “global partners” – except, that is, the Global South whose views on human sexuality he studiously ignores.

We learn from global partners.  A call from the Anglican Communion Environmental Network to a deeper commitment to the fifth Mark of Mission shared by Anglicans worldwide influenced the Anglican church’s recent decision to have candidates for baptism make an additional vow “to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and respect, sustain, and renew the life of the earth.” (An Act of General Synod, 2013).

Emissions must be reduced:

Our churches commend the UN effort to reach a global treaty in 2015 to secure a global agreement on a net zero emissions goal. Canada, with the second highest greenhouse gas emissions intensity per capita of the G8 countries, is expected to announce an emission-reduction target for 2030 that would be significantly lower than 2020 levels. While progress is being made, without new measures, absolute emissions in 2030 would be projected to reach 815 megatonnes — 81 megatonnes more than projected for 2020.

China, one the largest consumers of fossil fuels, will ignore any global emissions treaty; ironically, it is also one of the places where Christianity is flourishing most vigorously: 10,000 people per day are being saved – from hell, not pollution.

It’s just as well that no-one has bothered to tell Chinese Christians that their first vocation is not “make[ing] disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”, but – gardening:

On this Earth Day, our hope is that we will rise up more conscious than ever of our first vocation as human beings caring for the Earth with the utmost respect for the Creator and the utmost regard for the generations of all those who come after us.

Married lesbian threesome

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Apparently, there is a word for this: throuple.

When asked what the benefits are to having three people in a marriage, one of the ladies notes that chores are much easier when distributed between three people; good point. She went on to say: “poly-fidelity is not something seedy…. it can be a perfectly acceptable choice of life and love.”

The obvious question for the Western Anglican Church is, since blessing same sex married couples is now de rigueur, what possible reason could our trendy bishops have for not blessing – for excluding – committed poly-monogamous throuples? After all, Jesus said absolutely nothing about poly-fidelity.

happy throupleFrom here:

Doll, Kitten and Brynn, from Massachusetts, were joined together in a marriage-style ceremony last August and are expecting a daughter in July.

Kitten, 27, is pregnant after undergoing IVF treatment using an anonymous sperm donor, and the trio eventually plan to have three children – one for each of them.

[…..]

The so-called ‘throuple’ worked with a specialist family lawyer who drew up the paperwork and drafted the ceremony so that all three of them were obligated and bound to each other .

While Brynn and Kitten are legally married, Doll is handfasted to both so the threesome are as equally married to each other as legally possible.