Author Archives: David

Reaction from Bishop Kevin Robertson

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Bishop Kevin Robertson is married to another man; Justin Welby invited Robertson to Lambeth 2020 but not his spouse.

There’s an old story about a vicar who wanted to move a piano from one side of the church to the other. He knew that his congregation didn’t like change so, rather than move the piano all at once, he moved it two inches per week. No one noticed until it was too late and the piano had arrived at its final destination a year later.

What is clear from the article below is that Justin Welby is using the old piano tactic.

Welby told Robertson he was “willing to move beyond what happened in 2008 when Gene Robinson was not invited. He was willing to invite me and Mary, but that it was too much of a step to invite our spouses as well.” Rest assured, if there is a Lambeth 2030, same-sex spouses will be invited.

Bishop Robertson finds the disinvitation offensive but not so offensive that he will stay away. Robertson is certainly right about one thing: this whole fiasco is riddled with hypocrisy. Justin Welby, reconciler extraordinaire, by striving mightily to outdo the best self-parodying efforts of Rowan Williams the Druid has made Western Anglicanism a laughing stock – for those who can still be bothered to notice its ever-diminishing existence.

From here:

Diocese of Toronto Bishop Suffragan Kevin Robertson married Mohan Sharma on Dec. 28, 2018. The diocese congratulated him on his marriage, which was attended by Toronto Archbishop Colin Johnson and Toronto Bishop Diocesan Andrew Asbil.

Robertson said in a telephone interview with ENS Feb. 18 that Welby told him in person that Sharma would not be invited. Robertson was at Lambeth Palace, Welby’s official London residence, on Feb. 7 as part of an annual 10-day new-bishop orientation run by Canterbury Cathedral when he was summoned to Welby’s office. The conversation occurred two days before Brown’s election in Maine.

“He said to me there are only two of you in the communion in this situation, you and Mary, and he said if I invite your spouses to the Lambeth Conference, there won’t be a Lambeth Conference,” Robertson said.

Welby, Robertson said, seemed to be “willing to move beyond what happened in 2008 when Gene Robinson was not invited. He was willing to invite me and Mary, but that it was too much of a step to invite our spouses as well.”

Their conversation came on the same day that Nigerian Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, the primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria and the chairman of the Global Anglican Future Conference, or GAFCON, issued a “warning” saying that he expected that Robertson “and his partner will be attending [Lambeth] and received in good standing.”

Okoh said, “With great sadness we therefore have to conclude that the Lambeth Conference of 2020 will itself be an obstacle to the gospel by embracing teaching and a pattern of life which are profoundly at odds with the biblical witness and the apostolic Christianity through the ages.”

Robertson said the refusal to invite his and Glasspool’s spouses is “hurtful.” He said he and Sharma, who have two children, have been together for 10 years.

“I actually find it quite offensive. I know that’s a strong word, but I’m aware the Anglican Communion is not of one mind around marriage,” he said. “However, the decision to invite all the other spouses without inviting ours, I think, sends a very clear message about the way that same-sex relationships are regarded in the communion. I think that’s a troubling sign.”

Robertson said his first instinct was not to go with Lambeth without his spouse. While he has not made a final decision, he said that, at the moment, he thinks it’s important for all of the bishops who will find themselves in this position to go so that their voices are at the table.

During his time with the 29 bishops who were part the orientation in Canterbury, Robertson said some of them discussed Okoh’s letter. While they all did not agree, those conversations “reminded me that it’s so important to be in conversation; it’s so important to being in the process of building relationships, that that is only way we are going to get through this,” Robertson said.

“Frankly, it’s why I am so disappointed about the spouses not being invited. If we’re going to get through this, it will be because people come to know bishops in same-sex relationships and realize that we’re people too. It’s not by keeping people away. I think that’s the worst thing to do.”

The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada is scheduled to vote in July 2019 on changing its marriage canon to allow same-sex marriage.

Aborting Canadians

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Canada has had no law limiting abortion since 1988, when the existing abortion law was ruled unconstitutional by the supreme court of Canada. Babies are killed up to and during birth and the Anglican Church of Canada, for all its posturing on social justice, is oddly silent on the issue. ACNA and ANiC, on the other hand, are explicitly pro-life.

This is why you should care:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiysLKrfpic

I believe in God and God ain’t me

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Joan Baez was never a great guitar player. She still isn’t; competent but not very good. But she had a beautiful voice that soared effortlessly above the hubbub of raucous pop cacophony that passed for music in the ‘60’s. In those days I was beguiled by her voice and her politics: the politics no more and the voice isn’t quite what it used to be but still  a nostalgia indulgence for me.

Here she is in a farewell concert playing what appears to be a rather delicious Martin 0-45 guitar:

Bishop Kevin Robertson’s spouse will not be invited to Lambeth 2020

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The spouses of homosexual bishops will not be invited to attend Lambeth 2020 which means Toronto Bishop Kevin Robertson’s wife/husband, Mohan Sharma, will not receive an invitation.

I wonder whether Justin Welby has really thought this through. It’s only a matter of time before a male Anglican bishop marries another male Anglican bishop. I suspect the Anglican Church of Canada already has a matchmaking Task Force working strenuously to produce such a paradigm of proud diverse inclusion. What will Welby do when they succeed?

From here:

I need to clarify a misunderstanding that has arisen. Invitations have been sent to every active bishop. That is how it should be – we are recognising that all those consecrated into the office of bishop should be able to attend. But the invitation process has also needed to take account of the Anglican Communion’s position on marriage which is that it is the lifelong union of a man and a woman. That is the position as set out in Resolution I.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference. Given this, it would be inappropriate for same-sex spouses to be invited to the conference. The Archbishop of Canterbury has had a series of private conversations by phone or by exchanges of letter with the few individuals to whom this applies.

Bishop Susan Bell invited to Lambeth

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Justin Welby invited Bishop Kevin Roberston to Lambeth for a conference for new bishops this month, in spite of the fact that Robertson has married another man, flouting  the rules of the church that Welby purports to be in charge of.
In order to reinforce his studied indifference to the Lambeth 1998 Resolution 1.10 on human sexuality, Welby also invited the Diocese of Niagara’s Bishop Susan Bell, who officiated at the marriage of Robertson to Mohan Sharma.

There is a rumour circulating – yet to be confirmed – that not all of the remaining attendees are ecclesiastically entangled, directly or indirectly, in same-sex relationships, despite many claiming to be in the hope of enhancing the probability of promotion.

Toronto Bishop Kevin Robertson invited to Canterbury

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The Diocese of Toronto’s Bishop Kevin Robertson married his same-sex partner in 2018.

On February 7th 2019, Justin Welby welcomed him and 29 other bishops to Lambeth Palace. He is in the second to last row fifth from the left wearing a similar grin to the one he sported in his wedding photo:

Not much confirmation is needed on where Justin Welby stands on same-sex marriage but, for those who remain unconvinced that he fully supports it, inviting a male bishop who is married to another man for a cosy chat at Lambeth Palace should do the trick.

From here:

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will this afternoon (Thursday) welcome nearly 30 new Anglican bishops from around the world to his official London residence Lambeth Palace. This morning, the bishops are at the Anglican Communion Office (ACO) in west London. They are taking part in an annual 10-day course run by Canterbury Cathedral – the Mother Church of the Anglican Communion – to teach them about the role of a bishop and the Anglican Communion. This year’s cohort comes from Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, Kenya, Madagascar, Melanesia, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Scotland, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, the US, and Zimbabwe.

GAFCON’s Archbishop Nicholas Okoh has already warned faithful bishops not to attend Lambeth 2020 because, among other things, Kevin Robertson and his spouse will probably be there. No need to speculate: it has already happened:

We have also learned with deep concern that the Assistant Bishop of Toronto, Kevin Robertson, entered into a same sex union using the marriage service in St James’ Cathedral, Toronto. This step by the Anglican Church of Canada underlines the urgency of our advice in the Jerusalem 2018 ‘Letter to the Churches’ warning against attending the 2020 Lambeth Conference as currently constituted. For the first time assistant bishops and their spouses will be invited, so we can expect that Bishop Robertson and his partner will be attending and received in good standing.

London’s MCC Church says farewell to its pastor

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It is all the fashion these days to add letters to the ubiquitous LGBT initialism, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and add one of my own: LGBTC. The “C” stands for “closing”.

London’s MCC Community church is a denomination that affirms and celebrates all things LGBT. It declares itself to be welcoming, inclusive, diverse and tolerant, all qualities that seem to drive people away rather than attract them. A church that makes no demands of its members other than that they remain as they are clearly isn’t peddling anything worth having. As a result, there aren’t enough people to pay the pastor:

It is with deep regret that we announce that this evening January 6, 2019 will be Reverend Bruce Lee’s final service as our Pastor of MCC London.  The Board, in collaboration with Bruce, have come to the difficult decision that this congregation cannot financially maintain the cost associated with a full-time Pastor.

Respect Justice Camp 2019

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I’ve always harboured the suspicion that the Anglican Church of Canada’s Justice Camps are actually places where conservative clergy who refuse to deny their faith are sent for re-education, rather like Mao’s RTL camps.

This year’s inmates are to be sequestered somewhere deep in the bowels of the Diocese of Huron to learn all about Respect:

Respect Justice Camp, 2019 thus seeks to bring together people of faith in an effort to further explore the ways in which we can respect God’s Beloved children, including God’s creation, so that we, in turn, seek to collaborate with these individuals in meaningful and progressive ways.

No one is suggesting respecting God’s Beloved children who haven’t yet made it out of the womb, of course, because that would not be meaningful and progressive. To make up for that, the organisers have found some more letters to respect on the end of LGBT:

Respect for and Collaboration with LGBTQ2ia+

I gather the “i” is for Intersex where a person has an indeterminate mix of primary and secondary sex characteristics. As you can imagine, the church is teeming with people in this category.

The “a” is for Asexual where a person experiences no or little sexual attraction to people. I understand many ACoC bishops have taken up this calling, leaving their wives and sleeping, instead, with inanimate objects. Like hairbrushes and tea strainers.

The fact that the “a”s and the “i”s have been reduced to insignificant lower case letters is a clear indication that, defying the best efforts of Justice Camp indoctrinators, prejudice still runs rampant in the Anglican commissariat.

The “+” is for anything yet to emerge from the sludge of the lurid fantasies that gurgle noxiously from the fevered sexual longings of our Canadian Anglican clerics.

Ontario terrorism arrests

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From the CBC:

The RCMP’s national security team has arrested and charged an Ontario youth with a terrorism-related offence, the police force said Friday following an investigation in Kingston, Ont.

Police have laid two charges against the young person, who is accused of knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity and counselling another person to “deliver, place, discharge or detonate an explosive or other lethal device … against a place of public use with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury.”

[…..]

A second individual, an adult male CBC News has identified as Hussam Eddin Alzahabi, was also arrested Thursday but has not been charged. Alzahabi’s father told CBC News that police have now released his son.

Interestingly, St Thomas Anglican Church in Kingston sponsored the Alzahabi family in 2016:

We have undertaken to sponsor the Alzahabi family: Amin and Samah as well as their children Firouz (19), Hussam Eddin (18) and Layth(10). They are Sunni Muslim, a persecuted minority in Syria.

Naturally no one is talking about ideology or motive, although it’s safe to assume the would-be perpetrators are not radical Anglicans.

Anglicans tying the Gordian Wedding Knot

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The Anglican Church of Canada is trying to decide how those who worship the gods of inclusion and diversity can get along with those who prefer to worship God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Since it’s impossible, the church is industriously tangling itself into dense knots of confusion in the hope that the resulting impenetrable obfuscation will lull everyone into a passive torpor, unable to think straight, let alone act coherently.

In the latest Council of General Synod meeting, members suggested that there should be a “variety of understandings of marriage”. No one seemed interested in defining the limits of the variety: should it end before or after polyamorous gender-fluid ménages?

It doesn’t help that someone proposed making marriage value-free in a similar vein to the church being doctrine-free. There is nothing more lasting than a valueless marriage:

“any acknowledgement should not include any explicit or implicit value judgment, namely that one form of marriage is somehow better or more virtuous than the other.”

In order to cut through the chaos, Fred Hiltz is proposing an amendment to an amendment – a bit like growing a pimple on a boil – in order to protect the losers in the 2019 Marriage Canon vote. All meaningless twaddle, of course, since, as Bishop William Love discovered, when Presiding Bishop Michael Curry (the excitable “All you Need is Love” wedding preacher – unless it’s a bishop called Love who doesn’t toe the LGBT line) restricted his ministry, nothing stops the Anglican homoerotic rainbow steamroller.

Read about the whole sorry mess here:

A desire to stay together as a church, despite a diverse range of understandings of what marriage is and should be.

That theme arose consistently during discussions across three sessions at the November meeting of Council of General Synod (CoGS) regarding the proposed amendment to the marriage canon.

But exactly how this “theme,” or aim, may be fulfilled is more complicated.

In a session titled “Marriage Canon: Way Forward, Next Steps” on November 25, CoGS members began to consider the potential for an acknowledgement of a variety of understandings of marriage within the Anglican Church of Canada.

At the meeting, CoGS members broke into table groups to discuss the questions, “Do you think it would be helpful if in considering the change to the canon, it would include an expression of acknowledgement of and respect for a continuing variety of understanding of marriage within the Anglican Church of Canada?” and “What might such an acknowledgement include?” All of the table groups reported back on their discussions to say that, yes, it would be helpful to name that there are different understandings and teachings of marriage.

Details of how this acknowledgement might look were more nuanced.

One group suggested that “accommodation should be made for our Indigenous brothers and sisters,” and that Indigenous communities should have the right to make their own decision on the matter.

Another group noted that as soon as accommodations are made for one point of view, questions arise about other viewpoints. “Each of us is perceived as being marginalized depending on where you stand in the story…[if] we’re saying we’re bracketing one particular group, what happens if the motion goes in a completely different direction…maybe we need to create a bracket for someone else. If we’re walking together, how are we really going to do that?” Another group said that whatever is proposed must be clearly laid out, to avoid legal challenges.

“We have to admit that we are different, we have different views…if we’re going to do this, both views have to be clear in saying this is part of the doctrine of our church… and we walk together in love.”

Another table pointed out that careful attention must be paid to language: “any acknowledgement should not include any explicit or implicit value judgment, namely that one form of marriage is somehow better or more virtuous than the other.”