Author Archives: David

Father Jonathan Rowe is eager to perform same-sex marriages

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The rector St. Michael’s and All Angels Anglican Church in St. John’s can’t wait to get started; we must assume the queue of same-sex couples outside the church demanding ecclesiastical approval of their coupling is so long it’s causing traffic congestion.

There’s one thing to be said in Rowe’s favour: at least he’s honest about what the Anglican Church of Canada is up to:

Father Jonathan Rowe says it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when for the Anglican Church of Canada to allow for same-sex marriage in its parishes

Most clergy are too timid to admit this.

The principle under which Rowe seems to be operating is that if something is legal in Canada, the church should approve of it. Same-sex marriage is legal in Canada. But then, so is smoking cannabis, abortion, adultery and pornography.

From the CBC:

One Anglican parish in St. John’s is ready to allow same-sex couples to get married under its roof — but is caught in the middle of a waiting game.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Canada since 2005.

“Things seems to take a long time to happen in the church, and for an institution that’s 2,000 years old, that kind of makes sense,” said Father Jonathan Rowe, rector at St. Michael’s and All Angels Anglican Church in St. John’s.

Rowe said the Anglican Church has been having conversations regarding human sexuality, same-sex unions and most recently, same-sex marriage.

On Sunday, Rowe’s parish passed a motion during their annual meeting to request permission from the Bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador to, “offer the sacrament of Holy Matrimony to all couples who are legally entitled to marry in Canada, as soon as such an option becomes possible in this diocese.”

Justin Welby attends a “blame an Islamophobic politician” event

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Although he isn’t specifically mentioned, I imagine the political leader Welby and the organisers had in mind was Trump. The temptation to place blame on such an easy and obvious target would be too difficult to resist. Even during Lent.

Justin Welby was greeted by applause when he promised better “education” for children in CofE schools. Church of England Madrasa has a distinctive ring to it.

From here:

Action needed after New Zealand attacks, gathering at London mosque told

Political leaders must consider what responsibility they might carry in allowing Islamophobia to thrive, a gathering at a London mosque has been told.

[….]

The Most Rev Justin Welby was applauded when he made a commitment to discuss how, through the teaching of an estimated one million children at Church of England schools “we can be more effective in our education to be one people”.

He also pledged that the church will stand with Muslims who are being persecuted, apologising if such solidarity has been lacking in the past.

He said: “For Muslims who are under threat we will be with you, if we have not been with you sufficiently yet, and if we have not, I am so sorry.”

More tea vicar?

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The Church of England is putting on a sterling display of self-parody by holding tea parties to heal divisions in Britain, supposedly caused by the UK’s departure from the European Union.

At last we see good disagreement in action.

From here:

The Church of England is to host thousands of post-Brexit tea parties to heal divisions between Brexiteers and Remainers, complete with a set of “conversation starters” designed to break the ice.

New prayers have been written for priests to use at the gatherings, designed to bring together those who “lament” Britain’s exit from the European Union with those who will be celebrating.

Remainers and Brexiteers will be asked to “get together and chat over a cup of tea and pray for our country and our future”.

Justin Welby want us to pray to Allah

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Christian leaders have rightly condemned (here is Bishop Peter Carrell’s statement)  the horrific murders at a New Zealand mosque. Justin Welby has gone a step further and suggested Christians attend a mosque to worship Allah.

Here is the lower half Welby is retweeting:

If Jesus is really the Son of God who died for the sins of the world, surely the loving thing to do is to try to find a way to convince Muslims that this is the only way to be saved, rather than indulging in a bizarre syncretism in order to project an aura of culturally sanctioned piety?

I don’t want to make this atrocity political, I really don’t, but I can’t help noticing that the murder of 32 Christians by radical Muslims last week received almost no media coverage at all. Nor did the murder of 120 Christians by Muslim herders. I haven’t seen Justin Welby wringing his hands over them, either. Neither were committed by white Europeans and only Christians died, so I suppose they don’t count.

I agree with Bishop Kevin Robertson

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Toronto’s Bishop Kevin Robertson is married to another man and, as a result, even though he has been invited to Lambeth 2020, his spouse has not.

Robertson thinks that this decision was “driven by homophobia”. I don’t agree with him about that since the word “homophobia” is a meaningless insult hurled at anyone who believes homosexual practice is inconsistent with a Biblical understanding of marriage and human sexuality.

I do agree with the last thing Robertson said in this article, though: ”Keeping people away and excluding people is not the answer.”

Justin Welby is still trying to present the appearance of straddling the fence on homosexual clergy and same-sex marriage while, in unguarded moments, it is obvious he has no disagreement with either. Welby privately “attempted to comfort” Robertson after breaking the news to him; it’s quite clear where Welby’s sympathies lie.

Is it too much to expect an Archbishop of Canterbury to be honest and straightforward? It seems so.

It is time for Welby to come clean, openly admit he is in favour of same-sex marriage, tell us he is taking the Church of England in that direction, invite all bishops and all their spouses to Lambeth 2020 and let those who disagree take the action that their consciences dictate.

Read it all here:

ONE of the bishops who were told that they could not bring their same-sex spouse to next year’s Lambeth Conference has accused conservative Primates of homophobia in their opposition to his presence.

The Area Bishop of York-Scarborough, the Rt Revd Kevin Robertson, a suffragan in the diocese of Toronto, said that he was not convinced that archbishops from the global South who had insisted that his husband, Mohan Sharma, could not attend the Conference were motivated solely by theological conviction.

Bishop Robertson was told in person by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace earlier this year that Mr Sharma, unlike the husbands and wives of all other bishops, would not be invited to the Lambeth Conference in 2020.

“It was disappointing, absolutely, and I expressed that to the Archbishop,” Bishop Robertson said. He had been at Lambeth Palace for an induction event for new bishops from across the Ang­lican Communion.

[…..]

He said that in their private conversation at Lambeth Palace, Arch­bishop Welby attempted to comfort him by noting that, at the last Lambeth Conference, gay bishops themselves, let alone their partners, were not invited.

But this did not seem like much progress, Bishop Robertson said. “This is the great frustration of Lam­beth — by excluding spouses like Becki and Mohan it doesn’t allow for frank, even difficult, conversations.

“If they are not present, not seen, not known, how do we advance the conversation and build bridges through the disagreement? Keeping people away and excluding people is not the answer.”

Archives from the Diocese of Niagara’s LGBT times

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The Diocese of Niagara’s newspaper, the Niagara Anglican, has been published for 64 years. For the last 63 of those years, in keeping with the inclinations of its clerical masters, its interest in Christianity has diminished at the same rate that its obsession with homosexuality has grown.

You can see some photos from the archive here.

I particularly like this one of the hipster cathedral clergy plunking “The Lord’s My Shepherd” to the tune of “The Happy Wanderer”:

Despite such discriminating musical taste it, couldn’t compete in cultural relevance with the competition; even though the glasses were almost the same:

Celebrating 25 years of women’s ordination

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When I saw this photo, I thought the Rev. Jane Willis was celebrating the Eucharist. You know, the thing that Christians do because it was commanded by the most important person to enter history to commemorate the most important event to occur in history: God becoming flesh, dwelling among us, taking our sin upon himself, giving his life for us and reconciling us to God the Father.

Then I read the caption, saw the grin and realised it was something of far greater cosmic import: 25 years of lady priests. A silly mistake that anyone could have made.

Anglicans swinging from the rafters

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The Diocese of Montreal is in a state of advanced disintegration. To combat the rot, St. Jax Anglican Church in downtown Montreal has consummated the Anglican Church of Canada’s pilgrimage from Christian denomination to pagan circus by having a troop of acrobats swing from its rafters to the accompaniment of a light show.

The rector, transported from the dark night of penury to a beatific vision of performing elephants (why are Canadian bishops so overweight?), counts it “a fantastic joy to see for the first time, we believe, a circus company permanently installed in an active, consecrated church”.

From here:

An acrobat dangles from the rafters of a 150-year-old church while a lightshow paints the altar in blue, pink and yellow lights.

Call it a leap of faith.

This was the first show of Le Monastère — the monastery, in English — a circus cabaret show held inside a downtown Montreal church.

Le Monastère has partnered with the Anglican church of St. Jax — and it could be the first agreement of its kind.

“It’s been a fantastic joy to see for the first time, we believe, a circus company permanently installed in an active, consecrated church,” said Rev. Graham Singh, incumbent pastor at St. Jax.

With lagging attendance and surging maintenance bills, churches in Quebec and elsewhere have struggled to stay afloat.
Singh’s three-year mission with St. Jax has included not only keeping the old, creaky church standing, but also redefining what it is to be a church in a downtown core.

Niagara Diocese, a safe church

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Christianity isn’t safe.

Early Christians had to look forward to an early unpleasant departure from this vale of tears, a fate that is still in store for many persecuted Christians today. St. Paul was: beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, robbed, imprisoned, hungry, thirsty, betrayed, nearly drowned and five times received forty lashes.

If the early church had concentrated its efforts on becoming safe, I don’t suppose much would have come of it; after all, Aslan is not a tame Lion.

Nevertheless, the Diocese of Niagara is a safe place – for everyone except orthodox Christians.

From here:

Safe Church initiatives within the Diocese of Niagara are dedicated to ensuring that the church is a safe and holy place for all people at all times.

We affirm the dignity and worth of all persons, young or old, male or female, rich or poor.

To that end, our protocols apply to all of the people of the Diocese of Niagara in all of our faith communities, no matter what ministry they partake in, be it volunteer, paid, lay or ordained.

[….]

Truly, the Spirit moves in our midst as we come to terms with what it means to be the Christian Church in the days of #MeToo and #ChurchToo.