Category Archives: Anglican Church of Canada

For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me

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And that which I was afraid of is come unto me. Job 3:25.

What do Anglican Church of Canada clergy fear most? Losing their stipend.

General Synod 2016 has begun and a vote to change the marriage canon is scheduled for Monday. In the unlikely event it passes, the few remaining conservatives will have yet more incentive to leave. If it fails to pass, many dioceses are determined to proceed with same-sex marriages without the approval of synod. For the national church this would be ideal, since it accomplishes what their leaders want while allowing them to protest that no official approval has been granted. Either result signals further division resulting in more people leaving and less revenue for clergy salaries; a tragedy of biblical proportions. That which the bishops fear most is about to come upon them.

Hence, hot off the press from the synod ostrich farm, we have the quote of the day:

Fear

When is a church not a church?

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According to Canada Revenue, when it is non-creedal and more interested social justice than divine justice.

The CRA is concentrating on Unitarianism at the moment but the Anglican Church of Canada easily slides into the same category. For example, St. John’s Shaughnessy rather than state what its members believe, advertises that it embraces doubt. Most dioceses concentrate on social justice and advocacy – couched in pieties from a Bible in which they have long ceased to believe – and the national church promotes  political agendas while its bishops boast that they will accomplish something that the church’s founder said would never happen: eliminate poverty.

Come to think of it, since most clergy are, at best, fuzzy on the divinity of Jesus, the ACoC is, itself, effectively Unitarian.

From here:

It is not easy to get indignant over the Canada Revenue Agency’s audit of the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) — indignant, that is, either for or against. Unitarians are not supposed to inspire any strong feelings. They are, famously, only sort of a church; more of a disposition than a denomination, really.

Unitarianism is explicitly “non-credal,” ecumenical and receptive to “humanism;” the international statement of Unitarian “principles” mentions God’s love (with a capital G), but identifies “the guidance of reason and the results of science” as a source for what it is hard to call a “faith.”

[….]

The Unitarian council is angry, as the CBC reported Sunday, about a “political activities” investigation by the taxman. The CRA, it seems, is uncomfortable with the mentions of “justice,” particularly “social justice,” in the council’s bylaws. (The council is, organizationally, a close approximation to a national “Unitarian church,” although some small-u unitarian congregations are non-members.) Much, perhaps most, of what the CUC actually does has political implications and dimensions. The Canadian state has no objection to that sort of thing being done by a tax-exempt church, as long as the activity is “charitable.”

But auditors appear to be raising the obvious truth about the notion of “social justice:” that it is essentially politics; a metaphor imposed on religious scripture. The Bible, not that the Bible is of much use to Unitarians, does not promise social justice, but something like its opposite — perpetual inequality and suffering.

Anglicans in the Toronto pride parade

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As usual, the Anglican Church of Canada abased itself before the zeitgeist yesterday at the Toronto pride march.

There was an archbishop:

finlay

There were nuns:

sjtd

Many grinning clergy:

clergy

Some with children:

And some graduates of the Anglican seminary of bumper sticker theology:

sign

Michael Coren to preach at queer Eucharist

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As part of the final convulsion accompanying his metamorphosis from conservative Christian to liberal substitute with a homosexuality obsession, Michael Coren will be preaching at a queer Eucharist this week. I imagine there will be tears and maudlin apologies for his pre-Epiphany benightedness for those interested in such things,

MC Queer

Anglican Journal displays its bias

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The Anglican Journal is biased: it reports with breathless reverence on what looks to me like a couple of hundred people on Parliament Hill indulging in a blanket exercise “to help people understand Canada’s history from an Indigenous perspective” and completely ignores 22,000 people meeting on Parliament Hill for the March for Life.

There were Anglicans at both; which looks more newsworthy to you? Here are the blankets:

Blanket Exercise

And here is the March for Life:

Primate Fred Hiltz suspects there might be stress at General Synod over same-sex marriage

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Fred Hiltz, as perceptive as ever, has realised that, whichever way the vote over same-sex marriage goes in July, some people will leave aggravated. A vote for will upset the few remaining conservatives and a vote against will upset the disproportionately high number of homosexual clergy. This is all a repeat performance of the lamentations and appeals for unity that accompanied the voting over same-sex blessings in prior synods. Then, as now, the so-called unity is bogus. Also bogus were the assurances that same-sex blessings would not lead to same sex marriage. Does anyone truly believe that priests will not be compelled to perform same-sex marriages if the vote goes that way?

Hiltz has as much as admitted that the whole synod exercise will be a vacuous farce since, even if the same-sex marriage motion is voted down – as it probably will be – dioceses will go ahead with it anyway.

Still, at least the synod will be green, that’s the main thing.

From the Anglican Journal:

“No doubt in this synod there will be some stress and some strain, but I hope and pray that in the grace of the waters of baptism in which we have been made one with Christ, that we will be able to continue to do our work in synod and that we’ll know that in the midst of it all, we are, in fact, members one of another.”

This General Synod, the 41st in the history of the Anglican Church of Canada, is expected to be momentous, involving as it does a vote to change the church’s canon (law) on marriage.

“That’s a fairly huge issue for our church, so I think people who come to this General Synod will rightly have some anxiety about that,” says General Synod Deputy Prolocutor Cynthia Haines-Turner, in another video released by the office of General Synod.

It also seems likely that, whichever way the estimated 269 delegates assembling in Thornhill, Ont., July 7–12 vote, the impact will be felt in Anglican churches across Canada. In an April 12 interview, Hiltz told the Anglican Journal that bishops are concerned that clergy and parishes may decide to leave the church if the vote is not acceptable to them. (Avowals to this effect have also been made by followers of the Journal’s Facebook page.) Hiltz also said he believed some clergy, if faced with a “no” vote, might decide to marry same-sex couples anyway.

As a fitting summary of the mess, Hiltz utters two tautologies followed by an appeal from the Beatles:

Hiltz said that as he reflected recently on the upcoming General Synod, the words from an Anglican night prayer came repeatedly to mind: “What has been done has been done. What has not been done has not been done. Now let it be.”

The Anglican Church of Canada is finally hitting its stride by becoming a tango school

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I admit I have not quite decided which prospect I find most appealing: ACoC churches that are bankrupt, ACoC churches that are empty or ACoC churches that have become tango schools. The last I think; so long as they have same-sex partners, of course.

From CTV News

Churches convert into tango schools and daycares to stay financially stable

The idea of turning her local Ottawa church into a community hub was at the forefront of Leanne Moussa’s mind when the building went up for sale two years ago.

With a group of other residents, Moussa paid $1.52 million for All Saints Anglican Church, once the site of the state funeral for Prime Minister Robert Borden.

“We had a real interest in preserving what we see as an important place of Canadian history, and preserving that as a public space in some way,” she said. “We think this building and this property has served some important functions, not just for the congregation but for the larger community.”

Once the renovations and repairs are complete, the church will be home to a coffee shop, a wedding event space and meeting rooms for book launches, art shows and activist groups. Eventually, the church’s lower hall will be turned into a permanent restaurant.

Moussa, who is not religious, notes that All Saints is still a home of worship for smaller faith-based groups. It’s used as a mosque on Friday, a synagogue on Saturday and a church to two Christian groups on Sunday. It’s also is a destination for tango and yoga classes nearly every night of the week.

How to get around the marriage canon vote

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The motion to change the marriage canon to accommodate same-sex couples is unlikely to pass at the Anglican General Synod in July, so liberal Anglicans are looking for ways to circumvent the vote.

Michael Coren, who may or may not have inside information on the machinations of the post-Christian contingent of the Anglican Church of Canada, has elucidated in this article a hitherto unexplored way of twisting Scripture to justify the unjustifiable:

In Canada, the most plausible hope is probably some sort of creative compromise where the canon is amended to allow for a marriage liturgy that would include same-sex couples, based around a theology inspired by Acts 10. This is the passage where the Roman centurion Cornelius is accepted by St. Peter, who says, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” The Kosher laws are no longer required; God’s plan extends to all. Applied to sexuality, God’s love is for all: Jew and gentile, straight and gay.

It’s far from ideal, but the reality is that equal marriage simply won’t be achieved in the short-term. If an amendment satisfies enough people and is purely optional it might, just might, be acceptable to all sides. As such it could enable the Canadian church to avoid the treatment handed to the Americans.

Some priests likely to marry same-sex couples even if marriage canon change fails to pass

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Fred Hiltz has suggested that even if the vote to change the Marriage Canon fails to pass at General Synod, some priests will ignore the fact and go ahead with same-sex marriages anyway. Although Hiltz frames it as “civil disobedience”, I am left with the impression from the article below that, by mentioning it at all, he is dropping a broad hint to liberal dioceses as to how they should proceed.

The same strategy was adopted by the national church in 2010 when at the General Synod, while approval was not given for dioceses to start blessing same-sex unions, it was understood that many dioceses would still do so. And they did. An easy solution for Hiltz, since he was absolved of responsibility and liberal dioceses got what they wanted.

In 2010 we had the local option for same-sex blessings, along with the assurance that there would be no same-sex marriages.

In 2016 we will have the local option for same-sex marriages along with the assurance that no priests will be compelled to perform them.

In 2022 we will have…. well, you get the drift.

Some bishops have expressed concern about the possibility that some priests may go ahead and marry gay couples in the event that a resolution changing the marriage canon to allow same-gender marriages is rejected at General Synod this summer, said Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.

“If it’s not approved, then, as we sometimes, say…there could be some ‘civil disobedience’ on the part of clergy and parishes, and the bishops are going to have to handle that, because all of us that are ordained make a solemn promise to conform to the doctrine, discipline and worship of the Anglican Church of Canada,” Hiltz told the Anglican Journal April 12. Hiltz made the comments during an interview on the House of Bishops meeting last week, April 4–8.

Asked to clarify if by “civil disobedience” he meant same-gender marriages in defiance of a “no” vote, Hiltz replied, “That’s a possibility. Bishops are aware of that. We’re mindful of our need to reach out to those who are going to be hurt or offended by a decision of General Synod.”

Marriage canon change vote unlikely to pass, so what’s to be done?

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A process as trivial as voting doesn’t stop liberals; if liberals don’t get their own way through a vote, obviously the rules will have to change to make voting redundant. The important thing is to discern what the spirit is saying to the church – the spirit of theological liberalism, that is.

From here:

Council of General Synod (CoGS) unanimously agreed March 12 to send to the upcoming General Synod a draft resolution prepared by the Commission on the Marriage Canon changing the Anglican Church of Canada’s law to pave the way for same-sex marriage.

At the same time, however, CoGS said that while it is legally obliged by General Synod 2013’s Resolution C003 to send the same-sex marriage motion to General Synod 2016, it has also considered “the possibility of other options.”

In a message to the church,  CoGS said, “The General Synod may discern a legislative option is not the most helpful, and if so, we faithfully hope that through dialogue at General Synod an alternate way will emerge.”

CoGS did not indicate what these “other options”  might be, but the message was clearly a response to an earlier statement it received from the House of Bishops that a vote to allow same-sex marriage was “not likely to pass in the Order of Bishops.” In their statement to CoGS, the bishops had also questioned whether “a legislative procedure is the most helpful way” of dealing with the issue of gay marriage.

[….]

In its statement to the church, CoGS also said,  “We recommend the greatest pastoral response possible, allowing same-sex couples to be fully included in the life of our church with full and equal access to its liturgies and pastoral offices.”

The wording of this last sentence was cause for much debate on the floor of the Council when it was presented to members for approval. The original draft had read, “We must permit the greatest pastoral response possible, allowing same-sex couples to be fully included in the life of our church with full and equal access to its liturgies and pastoral offices,” and some CoGS members felt this came too close to telling General Synod how it should vote.

“When we do this, when we say, ‘You have full access to the liturgies and pastoral care,’ we’re saying, ‘Go ahead and marry,’ ” said Bishop Larry Robertson, of the diocese of the Yukon, expressing an opinion also stated by Archdeacon Terry Leer, of the diocese of Athabasca. “I cannot and will not accept that.”