Author Archives: David

Another scandal strikes at the heart of the Church of England

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I am almost starting to feel sorry for Archbishop Justin Welby.

Recently he has had to deal with a child abuse scandal in which his detractors suggested he could be implicated, the rejection by his clergy of a report on human sexuality written at great expense by his bishops – in reality, the average British schoolboy knows more about sex than any bishop and could have produced something similar for nothing – and has squandered countless carbon credits flying all over Africa trying to drum up support for his bishop’s opinions about sex – the ones his own clergy just rejected.

And now, we have the last straw, the coup de grâce, the final assault on Canterbury’s mission to reconcile refined, effete, public school cultivated homosexuality with the raw condemnations one unavoidably stumbles across in Scripture.

Someone has placed plastic furniture in a 12th Century Church.

Various theories have been suggested as to the reason for this clear act of sabotage. The most plausible is that by placing a by-product of the demon fossil fuel, oil, in a sacred space, Welby’s enemies are making a subtle reference to his time as an oil executive, thereby calling into question his credentials as a green bishop, a true devotee of Gaia, the fourth person of our 21st century augmented Trinity.

Kevin Sims, the person who first spotted this outrage, has his own explanation: it’s a deliberate attempt to create an aesthetic aberration. And, apparently, the change was made without going through the proper procedures. As he says: “that means effectively anyone could change anything”. Like marrying people of the same sex, for example. It’s a slippery slope.

From here:

A vicar faces an official complaint for installing a childrens’ plastic table and chairs in a 12th century church.

Rector Lynda Klimas introduced the pint-sized white furniture set as a way to keep young children entertained during services.

But a disgruntled churchgoer has made an official complaint as he feels it has no place in the “historically sensitive and sacred” Lady Chapel.

The matter will now be investigated and, if taken to a tribunal, Rev Kilmas could be given a “lifelong prohibition from exercising any ministerial functions”.

Kevin Sims, 67, who has been attending the St Mary the Virgin Church for 20 years, said: “I definitely do not feel the number of children warrants it. My main issues are for aesthetic reasons and reasons of demand.

“There are procedures in place that anyone who makes changes in church has to go through.

“My concern is that if nothing is done it means effectively anyone could change anything.”

The Episcopal Church finally does something useful

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I know I tend to be a trifle negative about the Anglican Church of Canada and The Episcopal Church, implying, at times, that they are nothing but the sub-Christian, desiccated remains of once influential denominations that do little more than give Christianity a bad name, make a laughing stock of their congregants and bring grief and misery to anyone who questions what they see as their divinely appointed mission to empty Christianity of metaphysical coherence.

But today, all that has changed!

Michael Curry, presiding Bishop of TEC, has truly seen into the mind of God and is forging a new path to a future glowing brightly with the transcendent luminosity of harmony, truth and justice. He has signed an amicus brief urging the high court to allow men to use women’s toilets and vice versa. The New Jerusalem is upon is.

Read it all here:

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and House of Deputies President the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings are the lead signers on an amicus brief filed March 2 by 1,800 clergy and religious leaders in a U.S. Supreme Court case involving transgender-bathroom use policies.

The “friend of the court” brief comes in the case of G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board, which the American Civil Liberties Union and its Virginia chapter filed on behalf of Gavin Grimm and his mother, Deirdre Grimm, in June 2015.

The signers urge the high court to see that the ability to live in a country that guarantees transgender equality is a religious freedom issue. They said their faith communities have approached issues related to gender identity in different ways, but are “united in believing that the fundamental human dignity shared by all persons requires treating transgender students like Respondent Gavin Grimm in a manner consistent with their gender identity.”

Archbishops Peter Jensen and Peter Akinola in Burlington

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Archbishops Peter Jensen and Peter Akinola in were in Burlington Ontario this evening to talk about GAFCON.

Here are some photos:

Bishop Charlie Masters

Archbishop Peter Jensen

Archbishops Peter Jensen and Peter Akinola

Archbishop Peter Akinola

The gathering

Here is a video of the talk:

There wasn’t a time of questions and answers but I did briefly chat with Peter Jensen afterwards and had a chance to ask a couple of questions.

I asked if the GAFCON Primates were going to attend the Primates Gathering in Lambeth that Justin Welby has planned, given the fact that conservatives were bamboozled at the last Primates Gathering in 2016. He agreed that they were bamboozled and that it would probably be a repeat performance in 2017 but that it would be an individual choice for each Primate. Apparently, the English Church is very adept at exerting subtle pressure on the Primates.

The other question I had time to ask was whether a complete break with Lambeth was coming. He thought it was inevitable but when I asked, “soon?”, the reply was “not necessarily”.

A safe space for Trumpophobics

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The Diocese of New Westminster along with St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church, representatives of the fastest declining denominations in North America, are banding together “to offer an antidote to the fear and despair” resulting from democracy in action in the USA.

Franklin Graham seems to have been the catalyst for this but honourable mention is given to “right-wing groups” in Europe, Vladimir Putin and Rodrigo Duerte. “The list goes on” as the article below notes, but it doesn’t go on to include Iran, Syria, North Korea, China, Iraq or any of the other countries that concentrate much of their national energy on persecuting Christians.

The featured speakers include an imam, a Zen Buddhist and Michael Ingham, one of the most divisive Anglican bishops of the 20th Century.  Anglicans should feel quite at home.

The event is called: Hope Amidst the Politics of Fear: Conversations for Creative Resistance. Even though Franklin Graham will be in Vancouver, he hasn’t been invited to state his side of the story; liberals generally can’t cope when both sides of an argument are presented. Their brains shut down in self-defensive panic. These days, I think it’s called “triggering”.

From here:

People have been confiding in Vancouver Rev. Gary Paterson that they’re having trouble feeling hopeful.

In a political era characterized by U.S. President Donald Trump, growing immigrant-skeptic movements in Europe and the murder of six Quebec Muslims, the minister at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church wanted to offer an antidote to the fear and despair he’s hearing from members of his church and the public.

So Paterson, past moderator of the United Church of Canada, teamed up with another downtown Vancouver clergyman, Rev. Peter Elliot of Christ Church (Anglican) Cathedral, to have a multi-faith group of speakers lead a four-part series in March titled Hope Amidst the Politics of Fear: Conversations for Creative Resistance.

“It’s partly a reaction to what’s happening in the United States. But the U.S. has such an influence on the world, especially Canada,” Paterson said, noting the city has been divided by the Vancouver crusade of American evangelist Franklin Graham, a major Trump supporter, to be held March 3-5.

“It’s also a reaction to reports from Europe about right-wing groups gaining traction … and to the aplomb with which (Russian President Vladimir) Putin seems to be acting these days and to (strongman Rodrigo) Duerte in the Philippines. The list goes on.”

The Diocese of Dire Straits aka Huron

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The Diocese of Huron has financial problems, its cathedral is starting to fall down and its churches are being closed and sold.

An example from an annual vestry report from St. James Westminster serves to illustrate the aura of doom and pessimism that has settled over the diocese. The rector of the parish at the time of the report was Rev. Dr. Gary Nicolosi. In 2011 Nicolosi prepared a document called Twelve Steps to Church Growth; in his 2016 vestry report he bemoaned the “state of the church in these times emphasising decreased attendance” and that that the ACoC “will probably have to decrease the number of dioceses in the future”. So much for the twelve steps to church growth – perhaps its readers failed to recognise the existence of a Higher Power.

A vestry report for St. Paul’s, the diocesan cathedral, is equally sombre. The diocese is failing to meet existing financial commitments, still owes $5Million in court costs and the cathedral can’t find the money to fix the roof and doesn’t have enough toilets. The one bright note in all this is that a “gender neutral washroom” is on the horizon; at least that may attract some peeping toms and boost the numbers.

To counter the falling away of parishioners, the financial problems and the wavering faith of the few remaining faithful, the cathedral’s Rev. Deacon Pat Henderson recently led an expedition to a local Mosque to learn about the five pillars of Islam. If that doesn’t reverse the tide, nothing will. Come to think of it, perhaps Henderson is looking to the future when the cathedral finally falls down and the last parishioners still managing to cheat death need to find somewhere compatible to worship.

Women’s March Anglicans

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For those who just can’t get enough of Anglican clergy mixed up in politics condemning Franklin Graham for being too mixed up in politics, here is another choice selection of assorted reverends demonstrating in support of the Women’s March on Washington – you remember, the one where the alleged singer, Madonna, lovingly intoned that she “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House”

From here:


The Rev. Canon Mark Kinghan of St. George on Yonge, Toronto, the Rev. Joanne Davies, chaplain at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the Rev. Dawn Leger, pastor of First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Toronto, were among tens of thousands who attended the Toronto Women’s March on Jan. 21 at Queen’s Park. The three-hour demonstration for justice, equity and social change was one of hundreds held worldwide in support of the Women’s March on Washington following the American Presidential inauguration.

Politics and the Bishop

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Bishop Kevin Robertson, in this case, the newly minted Bishop in the Diocese of Toronto who happens to be a practising homosexual.

Here, he uses Lent to lecture us about the evil of walls:

Lent is an invitation to tear down walls

It is vital that this work of tearing down walls continues. Over the past few months, the world has witnessed an increase of suspicion and mistrust of “the other.” The proposed border wall between the U.S. and Mexico threatens the further separation of two peoples that, though divided by citizenship, are united in so many other ways. In a speech in Berlin 30 years ago, American President Ronald Reagan famously challenged his Russian counterpart, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” But now, a new president is threatening to erect new walls with the aim of keeping people apart. The recent executive order to restrict entry into the U.S for people of seven Muslim-majority countries is another kind of wall. It paints entire nations and peoples with a single brush, and heightens a sense of xenophobia around the world. Even here in our own country, we were shocked and saddened by the murder of six Muslim men at a Quebec City mosque in late January. Again, a reminder of the wall s that divide us.

None of this is surprising, of course. It is worth pointing out that the Mexico wall is designed to keep illegal immigrants out of the US while the Berlin Wall was used to imprison East Berliners in their communist paradise by their own government; that doesn’t matter much to Robertson. Robertson’s article is quite clearly one that aligns with a liberal-left view of immigration and national sovereignty; it has nothing to do with the Gospel and is likely to alienate people whose politics don’t match Roberson’s.

Now, had Robertson been in favour of the US-Mexico wall, he probably wouldn’t have got his new job in the first place, but if by some miracle he had, I’m sure there would be howls of righteous indignation from our clerical elite denouncing his opinions and demanding that he be prevented from speaking from any pulpit in Canada. Just as they have done for Franklin Graham.

Here is the bishop smiling happily within the walls of one of his churches:

Bishop of New Westminster joins in petition to prevent Franklin Graham speaking in Canada

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Bishop Melissa Skelton has added her voice to those attempting to stop Franklin Graham’s Vancouver crusade.

Read it all here:

I’m writing to let you know that I have signed on to a letter from a group of concerned civic leaders and clergy about the upcoming visit of Franklin Graham to Vancouver as a part of The Festival of Hope. This group, of which I am a part, sent the letter in advance to Franklin Graham. He responded in writing yesterday.  I thought you might appreciate knowing the reasons why I, along with the leaders of our group, still believe that we should release the letter linked here.

The letter contains this little gem of hypocrisy:

Such blending of politics and religion is dangerous. First, it comes close to aligning the power of the church with the power of the state. Second, it does so by seeming to develop a false religious narrative to support an exalted and troubling American nationalism. Third, it can divide Christians who do not view things the same way as Mr. Graham. Fourth, we are concerned that some of the policies of the Trump administration have introduced unprecedented structural shifts that put the most vulnerable in our world at risk of greater harm. These policies may jeopardize refugees and reinforce prejudice.

For decades the Anglican Church of Canada has been “aligning the power of the church with the power of the state”. Not that the ACoC has much power but, insofar as it has any influence, it exerts it on behalf of liberal-leftist politics. Here, for example is the letter of congratulations to Justin Trudeau on his election to Prime Minister from Bishops Fred Hiltz and Susan Johnson, awash with more breathless sycophancy than could be gushed by a couple of teenage girls over Justin Bieber’s haircut:

Dear Prime Minister:

On behalf of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), we extend our heartfelt congratulations to you as our new Prime Minister.

You have set a bold vision for our country. The times in which we live call for visionary leadership in Canada and in the world so that we may build a truly just, healthy and peaceful world.

We welcome your approach to governance and your commitment to work closely with all levels of government on issues such as homelessness, lifting children and seniors out of poverty, improving our welcome of refugees, and refocusing development assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable. Anglicans and Lutherans from coast to coast to coast share a deep concern and profound hope for justice, peace and the well-being of creation. Your invitation to Provincial Premiers and to representatives of other political parties to participate in the Climate Change Conference in Paris is an important sign of the kind of partnership needed to address critical issues.

The Canadian blooming of Franklin Graham hysteria

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The Anglican Journal, bastion of liberal thinkpol, tweets its smug approval of attempts to block Franklin Graham’s visit to Canada:

Naturally, a United Church minister must get in on the act:

“We live in a country that has free speech, but there’s a difference between free speech and hate speech” said Stevenson, who is also an ordained minister of the United Church of Canada.

And there is the problem in a nutshell: if, when liberal orthodoxy is challenged, what is said is automatically classified as hate speech, then in Canada we do not live in a country that has free speech, do we?

Anglicans against anti-sodomy laws

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The latest from the Diocese of Niagara:

Anglicans for Decriminalization (AfD) is a group of Anglicans from across the Global Anglican Communion (GAC) which supports the decriminalization of private, consensual, adult samegender intimacy.

AfD was formed after the Primates of the GAC issued the first-ever unequivocal call for decriminalization on January 15, 2016. However, this revolutionary message was overshadowed by other events in the Communion, such as debates about same-gender marriages and the ordination of gay clergy/bishops.

Members of AfD, therefore, hope to first remind our more than 80 million GAC members that the lives of same-gender loving people across the world continue to be destroyed by British colonially imposed antisodomy laws, which initially reflected the teachings of the Church of England. Armed with this information we expect that right-thinking Anglicans will petition governments to repeal these laws.

Here is the stalwart bunch who are enthusiastically pursuing their vocation to smite anti-sodomy laws wherever they find them. In all fairness to them, I suppose it is pretty tricky to fulfil the great commission, to spread the Gospel message to every corner of the world, to make disciples of all nations without concentrating on anal sex just a little.