Author Archives: David

The offense of the Cross

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The Cross offends the world – and an increasing number of church denominations – for a number of reasons. The Church of Sweden has found a new one.

The Swedish Church’s head of communications, Gunnar Sjoberg, thinks it is offensive to wear a cross in support of persecuted Christians; he makes no mention of whether he finds persecuting Christians to be offensive.

Coincidentally, around the same time Sjoberg made his pronouncement, membership in his church plummeted.

From here:

“Provocative and un-‎Christian”: ‎That is how Gunnar Sjoberg, the head of communications for the Swedish Church, chose to ‎comment on the August social media campaign #MittKors (“MyCross”), which urged Christians and ‎others to wear a cross in support of the world’s persecuted Christians. ‎

The campaign was a reaction to Christians being murdered or kidnapped and enslaved by the Islamic State group, the Islamic terrorists pillaging village after village throughout the ‎Middle East, and one would think this campaign would be given unanimous support.

But ‎then, one would be mistaken. ‎

[….]

Sjoberg says, “The ‎cross of Christ may end up being used as a weapon against another faith and not as a ‎symbol of support for Christians,” thus choosing not to engage with the issue. This is cowardly and unjust, although it is in line with the Swedish Church’s documented lack of moral compass. Sweden’s ‎largest daily newspaper, Aftonbladet, has a similar and equally offensive reaction, ‎comparing the cross to the swastika and the #MyCross campaign to that of Nazi ‎propaganda, thus playing shamelessly into the hands of the extremists who have made ‎Christians into the world’s most persecuted group. ‎

Alberta government issues thinly veiled threat to Christian schools

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Alberta’s NDP government has an anti-bullying policy in schools. To the NDP mind, a school that refuses to have gay straight alliance clubs or cross-gender lavatories is guilty of bullying – as defined by the Humpty Dumpty Theory of Language.

To discourage such defiant flouting of gender politics pieties, the Alberta government is bullying schools into compliance.

From here:

Education Minister David Eggen says he’s willing to strip two Christian schools of their public funding if they won’t abandon their Christian principles and allow clubs promoting homosexuality and/or transgender students in washrooms of the opposite sex.

These measures are part of the New Democratic government’s anti-bullying policies that single out sexual minorities for protection, though surveys indicate that physical appearance and grades are far more likely causes of school bullying.

Last month, Spruce Grove Baptist pastor Brian Coldwell, who is also chairman of an independent Christian school board with two small schools with 200 students, said neither cross-gendered washrooms nor gay straight alliances would be allowed in his schools.

Asked about Coldwell’s comments at a school opening where he was joined by Premier Rachel Notley, Eggen said, “It’s not acceptable, not just for the kids that are attending those schools, but it sends a negative message across the province, that I’m quite concerned about as well.” According to the Edmonton Journal, Eggen also said he “won’t rule out” defunding Coldwell’s schools.

R.I.P. David Jenkins

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Avian celebrations would be premature however, since this David Jenkins was the Bishop of Durham who cemented his credentials as an authentic Anglican bishop by denying the virgin birth and bodily resurrection of Jesus – among other things.

To distinguish between the two of us, a few years ago I wrote a song about Jesus’ resurrection called Risen Lord. Here it is, dedicated to the other David Jenkins:

World Day of Prayer for a minute part of Creation

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The size of the earth is 0.000000000000000000019% of that of the entire universe, a fact that goes to show that mainline denominations are not nearly as inclusive as they would have us think. They are only praying for the earth, leaving the rest of Creation to fend for itself.

No matter; much as I dislike pollution as much as the next man, it seems fairly obvious to me that the church has made an idol out of environmentalism, the catchphrase used to conceal the real agenda of wealth redistribution, an activity near and dear to the hearts of liberals in every denomination.

No right-thinking liberal believes that God actually answers prayer, of course – that’s why we needed the Paris get-together on climate change last year, when the world’s elite flew their private jets across half the world to tell the rest of us we are using too much gas in our cars.

Entropy is causing the universe to run down. Eventually all activity will end – even Anglican clergy having conversations, hard to believe, I know – and the universe will end up motionless and dead in thermodynamic equilibrium at a few degrees above absolute zero. In spite of the combined best efforts of Al Gore, the Pope and Fred Hiltz.

Meanwhile, to take up the slack left by the negligent environmental department of the World Council of Churches, I suggest we all start praying for the black hole over-population in the vicinity of SAGE0536AGN. It’s very worrying.

To end on a positive note: according to Revelation 21, God will reverse entropy and remake the universe. The only problem is, mainline churches no longer believe the Bible.

From here:

Christians around the globe are uniting in a World Day of Prayer for Creation September 1 – a move which was started by the spiritual leader of the Orthodox churches. The day of prayer – and the Season of Creation that runs from today to the Feast of St Francis of Assisi (4 October) – was launched by the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios in 1989. Last year Pope Francis called on Catholics to join in; and the Anglican Consultative Council – while not specifying any particular period – has repeatedly called on Anglican Provinces to set aside a liturgical season of prayer for creation and the environment.

[……]

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Revd Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, said: “As Christians, we have hope. We believe God does not abandon creation and that we ourselves can become beacons of that hope by sowing the seeds of a different future.

He called on Christians worldwide to pray together for “God’s beautiful work” and also to take practical action, by calling on governments to ratify the last year’s Paris agreement on climate change.

Married homosexual clergy make their case in the Sunday Times

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A number of Church of England married homosexual clergy and laity have written a letter to the House of Bishops in support of “the full inclusion of LGBTI people in the Church”. You can read the letter here.

It was also sent to the Sunday Times, making it more of a political machination than anything else, particularly coming hot on the heels of the announcement by the Bishop of Grantham that he is in a “gay relationship”, albeit a celibate one. What exactly is a celibate gay relationship? Two men who just cuddle in bed? I haven’t seen it explained anywhere.

Also lacking an explanation is how the bisexual element mentioned in the letter is to experience “full inclusion” since, for optimal satisfaction – and, let’s face it, that’s what this is all about – the Bs in the LGBTI huddle would need to marry two people, one of each sex.

What I find most interesting in the letter is the list of signatories. It comprises 50% clergy and 50% laity. I’m sure the overall ratio of clergy to laity is not one to one, so it seems apparent that the Anglican church has a disproportionate number of homosexual clergy in its otherwise rapidly shrinking ranks. The Anglican obsession with marrying people of the same sex is primarily one of clergy desperate to legitimise their unbiblical matrimonial arrangements.

Here is the list:

Clergy
The Revd Andrew Foreshew-Cain and Stephen Foreshew-Cain
The Revd Richard Harris and Ricardo Goncalves.
The Revd Garry Lawson and Timothy H. Wane
The Revd Clive Larson and John Markham
The Revd Paul Collier and Mr Collier
The Revd Canon Jeremy Davis and Simon McEnery
The Revd Geoffrey Thompson and Tony Steeles
The Revd Prof Mark Cobb and Keith Arrowsmith
Laity
Jeremy Timm & Mike Brown
Ruth Wilde & Ellie Wilde
Jack Semple and Ross Griffiths
Paul Jellings and Andrew Carter
Erica Baker and Susan Strong
Karen and Samantha Bregazzi-Jones
Keith Barber and Tim Mills
Simon Dawson and David Mooney
In addition a further seven clergy couples and Readers have indicated their support for this letter whilst wishing to remain anonymous in order to protect themselves, and often their Bishops, from attack.

Anglican Church of Canada takes a prophetic stand on euthanasia

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After a year of studying, conversation, theological reflection and discernment, the Anglican Church of Canada has produced a report on Canada’s recent law permitting state sponsored assisted suicide. The report boldly proclaims that it is a reality – it is actually happening. Really! It is!

The ACoC is neither for nor against euthanasia because it doesn’t want to upset anyone; upsetting people is reserved for same-sex marriage.

From here:

In a nod to changing times, the Anglican Church of Canada’s latest report on physician-assisted dying, rather than opposing the practice, recognizes it as a reality. The report offers reflections and resources around assisted dying and related issues, such as palliative care.

[….]

In a statement accompanying its release, Primate Fred Hiltz acknowledged that everyone would like the fact that the argued neither against nor in favour physician-assisted dying. “A report like this is not going to please everybody because it doesn’t give a direct answer, and that will frustrate some people,” Hiltz said. “But…to give a direct answer is, in fact, to alienate people over very sensitive and complex issue.”

The article goes on to note that the law ‘allows assisted dying only to those who are either near death or whose death is “reasonably foreseeable.”’ The Anglican Church of Canada itself falls into that category and, I understand, will soon request to be put out of its misery.

Anglican Church of Canada: Toronto church develops sex-change liturgy

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The battle for same-sex marriage is as good as over in the ACoC. For the canons to be changed, it still has to pass the 2019 general synod but that is largely irrelevant since bishops – like Niagara’s Bird – who want to perform same-sex marriages have decided to do so now, voting be damned. As the bishops are quick to point out, there is nothing and no-one to stop them.

Now that’s over, there is new ground to conquer so the Diocese of Toronto has a church that has concocted a sex-change liturgy. And why not? There is nothing and no-one to stop them.

From here (page 10):

Church creates liturgy for gender transitionSex-Change-LiturgyTHE church has always gathered as a community to mark the most important life passages of its members, so when Beck Schaefer, a member of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields, Toronto, legally transitioned from female to male, changing his name and identity documents to reflect a truer sense of his identity, the parish witnessed and blessed the moment.

However, a liturgy for that purpose doesn’t exist in the Anglican Church, so the parish created one. “We understood that this wasn’t a re-baptism,” said the Rev. Maggie Helwig, incumbent. “God always knew who Beck  was in his fullness, and received him as himself from the beginning. But we also knew that this was a moment closely tied to the baptismal covenant, and Beck’s growth as a disciple.” The liturgy was modelled on the Anglican Church’s reaffirmation of baptismal vows, but also included an acknowledgement of Beck’s new name and gender identity as a part of his baptismal vocation.

“God created me transgender, and calls me to live openly and authentically,” said Beck at the service. “This is not a solitary path but rather a call that I am to live out in relation to others and as a member of the body of Christ.”

Sex in the Diocese of Niagara

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The Anglican Church of Canada would like you to believe that it has more important things on its mind than sex; homosexual sex, in particular.

In Canada, around 0.12% of the population are same-sex couples in a civil marriage. Of those, the number pining for a liturgical Anglican seal of approval on their matrimonial state would be even smaller, to the extent that they would represent an extremely small portion of the Canadian population. So the ACoC should have more important things on its mind.

But it doesn’t. Here is the headline of the front page of the Diocese of Niagara’s newspaper:Headline

And so it begins. In the Church of England

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From here:

A group of parishes is preparing what could be the first step towards a formal split in the Church of England over issues such as homosexuality, with the creation of a new “shadow synod” vowing to uphold traditional teaching.

Representatives of almost a dozen congregations in the Home Counties are due to gather in a church hall in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, later this week for the first session of what they say could eventually develop into an alternative Anglican church in England.

Organisers, drawn from the conservative evangelical wing of Anglicanism, say they have no immediate plans to break away – but are setting up the “embryonic” structures that could be used to do so if the established church moves further in what they see as a liberal direction.

The new alliance will be viewed as a “church within a church” but founders have not ruled out full separation if, for example, the Church of England offers blessing-style services for same-sex unions – a move expected to be considered by bishops in the next few months.

I have no doubt whatsoever that the Church of England will follow the lead of TEC and the ACoC. Western Anglicanism is in the grip of the dominant principalities and powers of our age and its submission to the rulers of the darkness of this world has been willing, defiant and full of pride – or should I say Pride. The outcome is inevitable.

The Diocese of Niagara connects with its inner gardener

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Two churches have been awarded $45,000 in Trillium grants – donated by you, the generous taxpayer – for planting gardens. My wife is a keen gardener so, next year, she will be applying.

Sadly, both Anglican churches that applied received nothing but honourable mentions, notwithstanding the copious number of green tears emitted by its well-rehearsed clergy – who, it must be admitted, are generally overly lachrymose due to the excessive number of smudging ceremonies they are obliged to attend.

From here:

Two local groups are the recipients of a one-year, $45,000 seed grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

The announcement was recently made during the Greening Sacred Spaces (GSS) Halton Peel chapter’s annual Green Awards Night and Networking Event.

The evening, held at the Church of the Incarnation, celebrates faith communities working together.

[…..]

The Green Awards Night and Networking Event also featured Terrylynn Brant who spoke on the ‘Spirit in Gardening’.

Brant is a member of the Mohawk Nation Turtle Clan from Six Nations and shared her learned skills from a long line of traditional knowledge holders. “She inspired the audience to connect with their inner gardener and their spirit,” stated the release.

The evening ended with an awards presentation.

Unitarian Congregation Church and Applewood United Church in Mississauga were this year’s two award winners.

Honourable mention went to St. Simon’s Anglican Church and Church of the Incarnation in Oakville.