Author Archives: David

Mammon ambivalence in the Anglican Church of Canada

Posted on by
2

The Anglican Church of Canada is more of a crypto-Marxism cabal than it is a Christian denomination, so it isn’t surprising to find a bishop writing this in the Anglican Journal:

The intimate connection of individual lifestyle and global economic and political practices has been revealed in forceful detail. Yes, there are big actors that enflame this crisis—governments and corporations—but it is very clear that the tolerance that lets such deadly misbehaviour continue arises from our personal captivity to comfort, luxury, and wealth. And this tolerance is not just for what is overwhelming our planet. We have also accepted, with no major protest that I can see, the hideous damage that our present greed-related practices have inflicted on the poor, Indigenous peoples, and on the creatures that share Creation with us.

[…….]

Jesus showed us how to make this world and its relations sacred through the ceremony he gave us. This ceremony looks and acts towards his coming again, a time when God “will be all in all.” (1 Cor 15:28) What humanity has done through the global culture of money is the opposite, with the poor bearing the consequence. To make no choice in regard to these realities is an act of violent moral consequences. We must engage in a spiritual revolution, based in Eucharistic discipleship, and move in concert with and activate public policies and practices that will change these things. We must, in a hallowing of the Name of God, choose life.

A few pages further on in the paper we learn that clergy are rejoicing in how much profit (sorry, budget surplus) the church raked in in 2021:

Archdeacon Alan Perry, general secretary of General Synod, said the church was running a surplus for the year, to date, of more than $600,000. “That’s really extraordinarily good news,”

This is peanuts in the overall picture, though: The Anglican Church of Canada has around $1.2 billion invested in church pension funds, diocesan investments and trust funds. Shameless Capitalism.

Presumably, these considerable sums are somehow cleansed of the global culture of money and greed-related practices by virtue of Eucharistic discipleship. Whatever that is. To put it more simply, the ACoC is a major player in ecclesiastical money laundering.

Further on in the paper, we find the new ACoC treasure intoning these words that were clearly inspired by Squealer’s speech in Animal Farm:

“We don’t look at the work we do [as] bringing money for profit,” she says.
“We’re bringing money to help others. This is not the organization’s money, to be honest with you. We look at it as God’s money, and God gave it to us so we can utilize it to the best interests of everyone and to the benefit of everybody.”

Diocese of Niagara shuts churches because of Omicron

Posted on by
4

Just in time for Christmas.

From here:

Dear friends:

You will have heard by now that I have made the difficult decision to shutter our churches for public worship as a preventative measure against the unrestrained spread of the Omicron variant of concern which is circulating in our midst.

This is a hard time.  We are being asked to dig very deep to accede to this moment with strength and maturity.  The psalm quoted above, is one of assurance.  It’s about trust in the power of God to guide and fortify us in the face of fear.  God is called a fortress and a refuge – places of protection and shelter.  Well, we have need of both in this moment.

But we are not helpless.  Added to this deep trust is the use of the good judgement and common sense gifted to us as God’s beloved children.  So, equipped with these abilities and God’s steadfast presence and care, we move forward into this next chapter of the pandemic.

It seems amazing that a scant three weeks ago, the word Omicron was not in our lexicons.  Yet as I write to you, the number of cases in Ontario from this now predominant variant are doubling every two or three days, with case counts in our diocese rising to levels we haven’t seen since the third wave of the pandemic.

The extent of transmission in our communities has led many to urgently call for a set of new guidelines to act as a “circuit breaker” to slow infection and buy time to ramp up vaccination efforts. We are doing our part to contribute to this effort even as we place our trust in God.

It seems, the bishop has lost her faith – in the vaccines:

British Columbia sets church capacity limits based on vaccine status

Posted on by
9

From here:

Worship services

If all participants are vaccinated as determined by the worship service leader, there are no capacity restrictions on worship services and choirs.

If participants are not all vaccinated, worship services and choirs are limited to 50% seated capacity.

Masks are required but can be temporarily removed for ceremonial eating and drinking, and by officiants, readers or for singing a solo where physical distancing is observed.

This, of course, has no effect on the Anglican Diocese of BC, since they struggle to fill their churches to 25% capacity at the best of times.

It does place great responsibility in the hands of “the worship service leader”, though. Who inspects the vaccine passports? The greeters (good morning, welcome to St. Elgiebetea’s, show me your papers)? If the church becomes half full, do you ask only the latecomers for papers, or do you throw everyone out and, in your egalitarian zeal, start again? Must masks be N95? Will an old scarf do? A pair of my wife’s pantyhose? Must churches hire bouncers to eject unclean interlopers?

In comparison to this, the mystery of the Trinity is simplicity itself.

An update from the Diocese of BC as of December 21st:

Unvaccinated individuals over the age of 12 will be asked to participate in worship virtually only for the next few months, while vaccination rates continue to improve, and the threat of the new variant is assessed.

I’m dreaming of a non-white Christmas

Posted on by
8

Well, I’m not, but Bishop Anna Greenwood-Lee is because there are no white people in the Bible and because white people exchanging gifts is yet another example of white supremacy. I presume the centurion in Matthew 8 was white, not to mention Herod and other assorted gentiles in Galatia and Ephesus. Perhaps they don’t count. Or perhaps the bishop hasn’t actually read the Bible.

So, if your skin has a whitish tinge to it, add another knot to your knout and indulge in a little Advent self-flagellation.

If COVID hasn’t made you feel depressed this Christmas, watch this video to complete the job.

play-sharp-fill

It just occurred to me: there are no Welsh people in the Bible either. I’m off to add yet another knot to my scourge.

Diocese of New Westminster lights candles to ease eco-anxiety

Posted on by
Reply

From here:

Please light a candle in your window every Monday evening this winter. You will be joining a community from over 345 organizations across the province to keep vigil for those people, plants, and animals that have lost their lives in heat domes, wildfires floods and mud slides this year.

Take a moment to honor the grief and eco-anxiety that lurks in many of our hearts.

[…..]

Turn that hope into action. By lighting a candle together, we will be lighting up the need for climate action.

To gain a little perspective, let’s compare candles to a modest 18 Watt LED light:

An 18 Watt LED light produces about 1300 lumens. A candle produces about 13 lumens. It takes 100 candles to produce the same amount of light as an 18 Watt LED bulb.

Pollutants produced by burning a candle can include (depending on the candle): toluene, benzyne, acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, acrolein, naphthalene and, of course, the much-hated CO2.

So by all means ease your conscience for all the plants you’ve murdered. Light candles. Let your 13 lumens shine. Inhale deeply of the toluene and formaldehyde. As your brain fogs over, rejoice in the certain knowledge that you are playing your part in the community (have you noticed that every loosely connected ragtag bunch of eccentrics now constitutes a ‘community’) of 345 eco-befuddled, lumen-addled organisations across the province.