Category Archives: ANiC

Statement from the ANiC House of Bishops

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Below is a statement from the ANiC House of Bishops regarding the 2019 General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada.

July 17, 2019

Our dear friends,

For the last while many of us have been much in prayer, knowing that the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) would be convening July 10-16, 2019 in Vancouver for some very significant decisions.

Among them was the second vote potentially to confirm the decision of the 2016 General Synod to change the Marriage Canon.

Friday evening, July 12, 2019, the historic vote happened and though the overall vote was overwhelmingly for the change, because it was to be a Canonical change it required a 2/3 majority in all three houses: Laity, Clergy and Bishops.

The outcome was the motion was defeated by the narrowest of margins because, although the laity and clergy houses both had votes far exceeding the 66.6 % vote required, the House of Bishops only had just over 62% which meant the motion was defeated.

In reflecting on this outcome, while knowing that many Dioceses have already gone ahead for years and have no intention, it would seem, of changing, the ANiC House of Bishops would humbly like to share the following thoughts:

  • We Commend the courage of the 59 who voted “no”—all of whom (but especially in the House of Bishops) stood for scriptural integrity in spite of intense pressure from within and the culture from without. They have resisted the temptation to confirm the motion and through their faithfulness have managed to avert, even temporarily, the tragic path their church seemed to be taking.
  • We are relieved that General Synod has paused somewhat in its departure from the clear teachings of Scripture, and from the Global Anglican majority. This trajectory of departure has not just been evident in questions of sexuality, but also sanctity of life, and key areas of belief in the person and work of Christ.
  • It appears to us that with such narrow margins no one has won and the Body of Christ is fractured even further.
  • The vote seems to confirm that two incompatible gospels are being promoted within the Anglican Church of Canada, tearing the fabric of the Communion at its deepest level.
  • We pray that even now a transformation can take place in the church that so many of us loved and served for so many years, and for that we will continue to pray.
  • We call on The Anglican Church of Canada to return to the common Christian witness that Christ is Lord of all, that he lays claim to every human heart, and that he summons the world to holiness and truth.
  • We express solidarity with many within present Anglican Church of Canada structures who tirelessly upheld and advanced these beliefs over so many years of endless controversy and decline.
  • We rejoice that a realignment is underway in Anglicanism around the globe through the Global Anglican (GAFCON) Movement. We seek ecumenical unity with partners in other Christian traditions upholding strong biblical beliefs. We rejoice that in just 10 years The Anglican Church in North America has launched over 1200 churches throughout the continent who share in these aims.
  • We believe that the Lord wants a great and eternal future for every follower, and for every Church that honours His sovereignty.

Whatever the ultimate outcome, we are very thankful for those who have stood so faithfully in these days and assure them of our prayer for them and for us all in the days ahead, and desire to stand with them in any way that they might find helpful.

We believe our faithful friends have indeed contended “for the faith once for all delivered to the saints”(Jude 1:3) and with them we rejoice in the Lord:

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

Jude 1:24-25

The House of Bishops of the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC)

Archbishop Peter Jensen in Burlington, Ontario

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The General Secretary of GAFCON, the Most Rev Dr Peter Jensen, spoke in Burlington today.

Audio from his talk can be found below; the quality is not the best but, of the January Primates’ meeting, the Archbishop can be heard to say, quite clearly: “The January meeting has already been shown to be a complete failure”.


An itinerant minstrel opens in worship:_DSC9991Bishop Charlie’s introduction:
_DSC9995Archbishop Peter Jensen:

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Huron College professor denounced for being insufficiently anti-homophobic

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Gary Badcock is a theology professor at Huron University College; his crime was to state in a keynote address that homosexuality is a first world problem. That seems to me to be a self-evident truism: when civilizations descend into affluent decadence as the West has, sexual mores crumble and homosexual activity increases. Unfortunately for professor Badcock, a lesbian heard his address and is castigating the professor for hate mongering.

It doesn’t help that Professor Badcock is a member of ANiC, an organisation which is, apparently, ultra conservative, an archetypal infamy against which all other infamies beg to be measured; I am so pleased to be a part of it.

From here:

The principal of a liberal arts college in London, Ontario — which is affiliated with the publicly funded Western University — says that his school does not condone discrimination in any shape or form, as one of the school’s professors denies homophobia allegations.

A Canadian teacher alleges that Gary Badcock, a professor at Huron University College, made homophobic comments while giving a keynote speech on Nov 8 at St Philip’s Theological College in Kongwa, Tanzania.

[…..]

In a letter sent to Huron University College principal Stephen McClatchie, the teacher alleges that Badcock described homophobia as a first-world problem, because people in Tanzania have to have children for economic needs and therefore can’t be gay.

Bishop Don Harvey Passing the Crosier to Bishop Charlie Masters

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Bishops Don and Charlie were at St. Hilda’s this morning for Bishop Don’s Transfer of Authority as ANiC Moderator to Bishop Charlie.

More photos here:

Bishop Don’s address:

 

The bishops:
Passing the peace:

More peace:

Bishop Don:

Passing the Crosier:

The Cake Before:

After:

The Professional Cake Cutters:

An interview with Bishop Don Harvey

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The whole thing is well worth reading here.

On reforming the ACoC from within; or, as Malcolm Muggeridge used to like saying, playing hymns in the whorehouse:

Then the Essentials Movement itself split, mainly because there were those who wanted to reform the Anglican Church of Canada from within. This was an interesting concept, as I don’t think any one of us would have left if we had thought there was the slightest possibility of reform happening. We saw things getting worse there instead of better.

On ANiC’s growth:

at the start of that first Synod, we were 2 bishops, 2 priests, 2 deacons and 2 parishes. At least we were being very biblical, being “sent out by 2’s!” Five years later, we were 4 active bishops, 2 retired bishops (1 retired and 1 working as a church planter), well over 150 clergy members, 72 parishes, church plants and forming congregations, and an average Sunday attendance over 3900.

On Wycliffe College:

At one time here in Canada we could say Wycliffe College was ideal for them. It is not the case anymore. The college doesn’t like us. Our students are treated as second class students. I know these are explosive words, but I am willing to stand by them, because I have seen the evidence of them. I have been told that our students would be treated like anybody else. Their usual practice was that sometime during the course of the 2 or 3 years that a student was there, they would have their bishop come and spend a day with them, show them around, meet the staff, and what not. Usually that was planned for a day when there was Chapel with a sermon and the bishop would be invited to preach.

“That being the case,” I said, “does that mean that Bishop Charlie or I, one of us, would be given a chance to preach here, to walk in procession at your convocation?” And their reply was …? “No, I’m sorry. You couldn’t.” This from the college supposed to be favourable to us. If that is our friend, spare me from our enemies. Believe me, that is very sad. It’s sad because Wycliffe College was built on the very premises that ANIC exists on.

Wycliffe is in the ACoC’s pocket, a fact that was very apparent when, in 2010, I interviewed George Sumner, Wycliffe’s principal here, here and here. There was a lot of dancing.

On Bishop Malcolm Harding:

Here’s an example of what happened to Bishop Malcolm Harding. Usually when you complete your term as Diocesan Bishop, your picture is hung on the cathedral wall with all your predecessors and the dates underneath. After he came with us, his photograph was taken down from the wall at the Cathedral in Brandon. His name was taken away. It simply said, “The person who held the position of 8th Bishop of Brandon is no longer a member of the church” or something like that.

How could anyone try to rewrite history that way? The fact was that between the year this and the year that, he was the 8th Bishop of Brandon. And his picture should still be there.

On abortion:

I still haven’t heard a definitive stand from the Anglican Church of Canada over abortion. There have been all kinds of words about it, but to come out and say, it is taking another human’s life, they don’t say it. So this phrase ‘wishy-washy’ has been said to me about them many times. We want to know where we stand and where our church stands, and we want be proud of where our church stands. I used to say in the early days, “I’m praying for the time when I can go across this country and say I’m Anglican without having to apologize for it.

Incidentally, there are Anglicans in Canada (including some in the ACoC) standing against abortion; see Anglicans for Life Canada.

St. Aidan’s Windsor: Supreme Court denies Leave to Appeal

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St. Aidan’s Windsor has been in a dispute with the Diocese of Huron over the ownership of the church building and a bequeathment.  On 4 September 2013, the Court of Appeal, upheld the conclusions of the trial court judge, Justice Little. In addition, the Diocese of Huron was awarded partial costs of $100,000.

St. Aidan’s applied for Leave to Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada and, as I suspected would happen, it has been denied.

From the ANiC newsletter:

 St Aidan’s rector, Canon Tom Carman writes, “Yes, sadly the Supreme Court has decided not to grant us leave to appeal.  It’s not really surprising – not from a human standpoint – but we were hoping for a miracle.  Sometimes, though, God simply calls us to bear reproach for his name’s sake.  And we know that in the end our reward is with Him and in Him.  He will see us through this. Please do continue to keep us in your prayers.”

St. Aidan’s Windsor to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada

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In the ANiC Newsletter, received via email:

St Aidan’s (Windsor, ON) has decided, after much prayer and thought, to appeal the loss of their church building and funds to the Supreme Court of Canada. Please remember the congregation, leadership, legal counsel, and judges in your prayers.

St. Aidan’s appealing the loss of its building to the Ontario Court of Appeal was not only unsuccessful but resulted in the reversal of an earlier ruling that each side should pay its own legal fees: St. Aidan’s was ordered to pay $100,000 of the Diocese of Huron’s legal costs, in addition to their own costs.

The Supreme Court of Canada may choose, like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear, not to hear the appeal; that was the case in the New Westminster appeal. Even if it does, in human terms, a reversal seems unlikely. Still, God has more influence than even the Supreme Court of Canada, so we should pray.

More on St. Aidan’s Windsor appeal

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A legal magazine has an article on the recent court case between the Diocese of Huron and St. Aidan’s, Windsor. The whole article is worth reading but a few points stand out to me:

The costs judge in Delicata adopted the minority view from the litigation in Bentley and made a no-costs to promote harmony and because the litigants were moved by their conscience. The congregation of St. Aidan’s appealed the trial judge’s decision, and the Synod cross-appealed the decision over costs.

The Diocese of Huron had originally demanded over $400,000 in legal costs from St. Aidan’s. Not only did St. Aidan’s lose their appeal, but the judge overturned the original ruling that each side pay their own costs and ruled that St. Aidan’s pay $100,000 of the diocese’s legal costs – in addition to their own costs, of course. So it was a double loss for St. Aidan’s.

I’m sure those ruling in courts of appeal are largely devoid of a sense of humour, so the reasoning behind awarding $100k in costs to the diocese because there is “no evidentiary basis for the need to preserve harmony within the church” could not have been stated in jest. In the eyes of the courts, the Anglican Church of Canada has clearly sunk to such a state of irrelevance to the rest of society, that there is little reason to discourage its self-destruction through internal strife:

The Court of Appeal did reverse the decision on costs in finding that the justice system should not provide a safe harbour for spiritual or religious convictions, and there was no evidentiary basis for the need to preserve harmony within the church.

Also, the idea that “the justice system should not provide a safe harbour for spiritual or religious convictions” has an ominous ring for those with religious beliefs that are out of step with secular mores.

The Primate of the Southern Cone preaches in Burlington

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I’m just home from the opening service of the ANiC regional assembly where the Primate of the Southern Cone, Archbishop Tito Zavala, delivered an interesting sermon.

He believes that postmodernity has infected the church, specifically, the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada which, he says, are teaching a false gospel.

How tactless. How direct.

How refreshing.

The other ANiC

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All Nations International Church is in Texas and his Grace Bishop George Ofori-Nyadu is the President, founder and presiding bishop. Apparently, Bishop George is a motivational speaker. I’m sure the Anglican Network in Canada could learn a few things from “Lady Juliet and Bishop George”: I certainly felt motivated after watching this: