Wayne Holst, a Lutheran pastor, tells us in the Anglican Journal that mainline Canadian churches have, since the 1960s, been becoming more diverse. He seems to think that is a good thing. What he fails to mention is that in the same period, mainline churches have also lost most of their people. Those that remain, though, are more diverse, apparently. Diversity is more important than countless run of the mill Yahweh worshippers because diversity is – god.
One definition of diversity is “the inclusion of individuals representing more than one national origin, colour, religion, socioeconomic stratum, sexual orientation, etc.” A half-century ago, little was made of diverse communities of faith. At best, we tended to deny or soft-pedal this characteristic in favour of a certain “uniformity.” Sameness, even combativeness, was honoured. But Canadian social values have evolved. Today, we are much more committed to embracing diversity.
As Canadian society has changed from mono- and bi-cultural to multi- and intercultural, our Christian communities have continued, albeit hesitantly, to reflect societal composition and tendencies.
When and how did we change from being churches that valued uniformity to becoming communities valuing diversity? I believe it was during the 1960s when (at the Canadian centennial) we became more intentionally focused on our distinct identity as a nation.
Meanwhile, another group established by Justin Welby last year has been picking over what diversity really means. To forestall any inadvertent stumbling into discovering anything useful, they avoided theological discussions completely. The reason is obvious: it’s much easier to maintain unity in a church devoid of theology; a side benefit is that a diverse church, unshackled from the constraints of having to believe in anything coherent, attracts no-one – other than clergy. No people, no arguments. This is called “walking together”
From here:
“We have been developing a greater understanding between us of the diversity within the Communion,” he said. “But, significantly, we have been seeing the many, many areas of commonality.
“It has not been a theological discussion. Instead, we have been examining what differences mean at a practical level. In particular, we looked at marriage practices and relationships in different parts of the Communion. But we also looked at the spiritual dimensions of the idea of walking together.”
The secretary general of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon – who serves the group as secretary – added that it had been considering how the authority of primates and bishops was practiced in different parts of the Communion.
The group was established in January 2016 by the Archbishop of Canterbury at the request of the primates. It was given the task of restoring relationships, rebuilding mutual trust and responsibility, healing the legacy of hurt and exploring deeper relationships. The group met for the first time last September. Seven of the nine-member group met this week. Canon Elizabeth Paver – the former vice chair of the ACC — and Bishop Paul Sarker from Bangladesh were unable to attend on this occasion.
“One definition of diversity is ‘the inclusion of individuals representing more than one national origin, colour, religion, socioeconomic stratum, sexual orientation, etc.'”
By that definition, Holst has just established that “diversity” is contrary to Christian belief.
National origin, colour and socioeconomic strata: no doctrinal problem there.
Religion (unless it’s, er, Christianity), sexual orientation (unless it’s heterosexual): problem!
Yes, yes, I know.
Silly me for insisting on anything as unimportant as Christian belief.
“how the authority of primates and bishops was practiced in different parts of the Communion.”
Like the Cheshire cat’s grin, the authority of Anglican primates and bishops will remain long after the church has entirely rid itself of biblical authority, and well after the last parishioner has, for the last time, turned off the lights. It is the rock upon which the modern Anglican church is built.
By the way, am I the only one puzzled by this idiot modern fixation on “diversity”? Individuals – i.e., human beings – cannot be diverse; they can only be themselves.
And diversity as a communal description strikes me as neither good nor bad, just a feature of the demographic landscape, certainly not some “Canadian value”.
Sadly I must disagree. The woman at NAACP who said she was black and all those who identify as having genders the were not born with. They don’t like being themselves they want to be someone/something else.
Didn’t someone once write: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”?
Yes, indeed but the Scripture is quite clear on the matter of sexual orientation and condemns homosexuality and other perversions which are now prevalent in society. This quotation from the Scriptures simply means our race, position in life or whether we are male or female does not make us superior or inferior to others. This definitely does NOT endorse homosexual activity or other perversions that are generally accepted within society. Tragically many so-called leaders in the church have changed their worship of God to that of political expedience and have deliberately rejected the authority of Scripture.
About the same time that this arrived I received a phone call from HURON COLLEGE. I was Class of 1959. It may have been an Invitation to a Convocation. I told the person calling how disgusted I was that the DIOCESE OF HURON now had a female “Bishop” and the College now had a convert from Roman Catholicism who was now a MOSLEM SCHOLAR on Staff. The person replied to the effect that “THE WORLD WAS DIVERSE” I hung up in total disgust !