Category Archives: Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador

Bishop Cyrus Pitman joins ANiC

Posted on by
3

On January 10 2008, Pitman wrote to his clergy demanding their allegiance:

In what could be the start of real schism in the Anglican Church, a Newfoundland bishop is demanding clergy come to the provincial capital to declare whether their loyalties lie with him or his predecessor, the leader of a breakaway conservative movement.

“Attendance at these gatherings is mandatory,” Cyrus Pitman, bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador warns in a Dec. 18 letter to clergy obtained by the Star.

Clergy from Eastern Newfoundland’s 33 parishes are to be in St. John’s on Jan. 21 to restate their ordination vows and to get new licences, with a date for those from the six Labrador parishes yet to be set.

On April 10 2008, Pitman fired one of his priests for upholding Biblical standards:

The Rev. Darrel Critch, Rector at St. Mary the Virgin on Craigmillar Avenue, St John’s, Newfoundland has been removed from his position by Bp. Pitman and Archdeacon Peddle.

This happened on the evening of Thursday the 10th of April at an emergency Vestry Meeting called by Bishop Pitman. Archdeacon Peddle showed up at the meeting and shortly thereafter Rev. Critch was relieved from his duties. Archdeacon Peddle has now been appointed administrator of St. Mary’s.

Why? Well what I have heard is that Rev. Critch made a stand on the Scriptures and removed a couple from choir who were living together in an immoral relationship.

In July 2008, Pitman  made an attempt to compile a register of lay people who had left the Anglican Church of Canada to make sure that none of them exercise any ministry in an ACoC diocese:

LAY RELINQUISHMENTS
Lay people who have also left the Anglican Church of Canada are asked to indicate their intentions to the Bishop who will maintain a register for future information.
It seems clear to us that lay people who leave also relinquish their privilege to be part of any Ministry that they have been allowed to perform.

Not an obvious career path to ANiC, but I presume he has changed his mind. I wonder if he has apologised to those adversely affected by his past actions.

From here:

A retired Newfoundland bishop known for advocating for same-sex marriage has joined the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC), a breakaway group of Anglican churches known for its opposition to same-sex marriage. 

Bishop Cyrus Pitman, who was bishop of the diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador from 2004 to 2013, has come out of retirement to work for an ANiC member church in Newfoundland, the Anglican Journal has learned. ANiC is in turn part of the Anglican Church in North America, which formed a parallel and independent network of parishes in the late 2000s due to disagreement on issues of sexuality, among other doctrinal divisions. 

In an email to the Anglican Journal, Pitman said he had surrendered his license as a bishop in the Anglican Church of Canada so that he could be licensed in ANiC. 

“I have been worshipping for some time at the Church of the Good Samaritan where I am working with young men in our homeless shelter. This ministry to the homeless is what the gospel is all about. I am happy to continue to serve the Lord in this way,” he wrote. 

In January 2008, Pitman asked clergy in the diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador to declare their loyalty to the Anglican Church of Canada at the same time that they renewed their ordination vows and licenses. At the time, the CBC reported he said that while there was room for legitimate disagreement within the church, leaving to join the incipient breakaway organization was going too far. Also at that time, his predecessor as bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, Bishop Donald Harvey, was moderator bishop of ANiC, which was then in its infancy. 

Susan Green is a parishioner in the diocese of Eastern Newfoundland. The daughter of a pastor, she says she can’t remember a life without the church in it. Pitman, whom Green knew through her family’s connection to the church, worked closely with her to advocate for same-sex marriage in the church. She says he was the first person to encourage her, along with her partner, Brenda Halley, to speak out about wanting their family to be affirmed in the church. 

So when she heard he had left the Anglican Church of Canada to join ANiC, she says, she was surprised by the reversal.

A climate change Advent

Posted on by
2

The two most important events in human history are God’s arrival on earth in human form as a baby at Christmas and his bodily resurrection at Easter.

During Advent, we await an event whose transcendent significance changes every life it truly touches, not just for a lifetime, but for eternity.

How can one possibly reduce this to the mundane, the humdrum, the here-and now? Impossible for most, I should think. But not for an Anglican bishop. Here we have the bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, Sam Rose (he/him) tagging Advent with Climate Change.

He is quoting bishop Nicholas Holtam (sadly lacking pronouns) who, we can only assume, also spends his time diligently reducing Christianity to temporal trifles. He warns anyone willing to listen (almost no one): “We can run headlong into disaster”. And who better to know than Anglican bishops who have had so much experience running their own churches headlong into disaster?

Vaccine passports required to worship in Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador churches

Posted on by
4

The diocese has restarted in-person worship with rigorous restrictions, including demanding vaccination certificates from worshippers without an “approved medical exemption”. Good luck finding a doctor willing to risk his career by writing a medical exemption.

Next step: vaccine passports needed to enter the Pearly Gates.

From here:

 

Those 12 years old and over must be fully vaccinated (or have an approved medical exemption) and provide proof of the same, in order to attend the gathering.

Bishops do strange things sometimes

Posted on by
5

Sam Rose, Bishop of the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador is sleeping on the floor of his art studio to end furniture poverty. I didn’t know furniture poverty was a thing.

I have no objection to this if it makes the bishop feel better. Once he has furniture poverty under control, I hope he addresses art studio poverty; I wouldn’t mind having one.

The curious case of Rev. Robin Barrett

Posted on by
6

Ex-reverend now.

In 2003 Rev. Robin Barret was rector of Good Shepherd church in St. John’s. He had been married to a woman for 21 years and had three children. Yes, I know that’s unusual for an Anglican priest today – most male priests seem to want to marry men, but these were early days in the homoerotic devolution of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Finally, after 25 years in the closet Rev. Robin decided that he could no longer hide who he “really was”, so he announced to his congregation that he was gay. To put it bluntly, he liked having sex with other men. To pacify his congregation, he invited them to attend a “six-week educational workshop at the church on homosexuality”. Rev. Robin declared he hoped “it helps people to understand how I can be gay and a priest at the same time … there’s no going back.” Apparently, that left some in the congregation unconvinced.  Read more about it here.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the end of who Rev. Robin “really was”. In 2009 he was arrested for possessing child pornography; some of the images were of babies being molested. Rev. Robin must have decided that it was not yet the right time to come out as a clerical paedophile so there was no course on helping people understand how he could continue to be a priest while enjoying watching babies being raped. In fact, this led to a period of going in: to jail, not a closet.

Elizabeth Barnes, executive officer of the Diocese of Eastern Newfound and Labrador, was disappointed by Rev. Robin’s tastes. “I’ve worked with him directly. I always found him a genuine, caring individual and his call to social causes is exemplary of the kind of man he is” she declared. And Hitler made the trains run on time.

Robin Barret is in the news again. This time because he wants evidence presented at his trial to be excluded; so much for the Anglican mania for inclusion. He believes the evidence should be excluded because the police battered his door down unannounced, not leaving him any time at all to hide the photos of the raped babies.

Barret was jailed for two and a half years and placed on the national sex offender registry for life. You can read about Barret’s appeal to have the evidence thrown out here.

God, through Christ will forgive anyone no matter how heinous the sin. But where is Barret’s repentance? Of course, he may have repented – in the closet, as it were – we have no way of knowing. I do hope so, I would not want to meet my maker with that on my conscience.

Still, at least “his call to social causes is exemplary.”

Church mourns Bishop Geoffrey Peddle

Posted on by
Reply

From here:

The church is mourning the loss of Geoffrey Peddle, bishop of the diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, who died Oct. 8. “It is with a very heavy heart that I share with you the sad news that our beloved Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Dr. Geoffrey Curtis Ralph Peddle, passed away suddenly today,” diocesan administrator Archdeacon Sam Rose said in an Oct. 8 note posted to the Cathedral Messenger Online, an electronic newsletter from the diocese’s Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. “While this is very painful for us to process at this moment, we are comforted by the grace of God which truly passes all understanding.

[……]

Peddle was provost and vice-chancellor of Queen’s College when he was elected. As bishop, he became known for voicing support for a number of social causes, including same-sex marriage and the rights of prison inmates.

What is not mentioned in the article is that Bishop Geoffrey Peddle committed suicide. Surely it would be better for the church to be honest and open about such things rather than pretend they haven’t happened.

Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador is running out of cash and selling assets to stay afloat

Posted on by
4

This isn’t particularly surprising.

Although at the September 2019 synod, the diocese voted to marry same-sex couples in defiance of the General Synod vote that failed to approve same-sex marriage. I’m sure the diocese is shocked that this bold move has not brought in floods of same-sex couples, opening their wallets to stuff $50 bills into the bishop’s mitre.

From here:

Anglican diocese running out of cash, selling assets in ‘hemorrhage situation’

The Anglican Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador has announced it’s running out of money and may need to stem its losses with layoffs, closures and sale of assets.

In an Oct. 5 letter obtained by CBC News, the diocesan finance committee said COVID-19 lockdown measures — which prevented gathering for worship for months — had a “devastating impact” on the church’s finances.

“While a number of our parishes continued to receive offerings and donations via drop-off collections and electronic means, it is clear that COVID-19 has negatively impacted our stewardship,” the letter says.

Archdeacon Sam Rose told CBC the pandemic has exacerbated previous financial struggles resulting from a reduction in church attendance.

“Like most organizations the onset of COVID accelerated this rapid decline,” he said Thursday.

Parishes largely operate on vitally important income from collections and fundraising dinners, Rose said.

“That essentially all came to a stop. We’re seeing now … the side effects of being shut down and locked down for the last six months.”

The letter outlines immediate emergency responses by the church last spring, including the receipt of $663,000 from the federal wage subsidy program, the bulk of which the diocese used to pay staff and clergy from April until Aug. 31.

Despite federal support, the church is operating at a $65,000 monthly deficit and expects to run out of money by mid-2021, the letter stated. Some parishes have been unable to pay their clergy.

“Don’t get me wrong, we have very healthy parishes,” Rose said. “It’s the central office that is experiencing this setback right now.”

The diocese will end 2020 some $670,000 in the red, according to the finance committee’s estimate.

The report suggested selling diocesan assets as a short-term fix. Its vacant office property at 19 King’s Bridge Rd. is listed for sale with an asking price of $1.5 million.

“We must stress that the sale of property to provide operating revenue is an emergency response and must not be considered lightly,” the letter says, “as it only provides a Band-Aid solution to a hemorrhage situation.”

Officials within the diocese are hammering out a plan for the coming months, which may include building closures and layoffs. “Our way of being the church may look very different in the months to come,” the letter said.

Anglican diocese appoints a climate-care animator

Posted on by
8

Rev. Mark Nichols is the new climate-care animator in the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador. I’ve no idea what that means, but it conjures up an image of a puppeteer pulling the strings of a Greta doll to entertain those who have lost their faith in everything except contemporary superstitions.  Maybe that’s just me, though.

It’s heartening to know that someone finally has the solution to global warming: animate climate care. Why did no one think of that before?
From here:

Anglican Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador creates new position for climate-care animator

“If there’s one thing that really angers me, it’s social injustice,” Nichols said.

“I really see the environmental side of it, the creation-care side of it, as part of that. The people that bear the burden for (climate change) are the world’s poor, the elderly, people in developing nations and our children.”

Recently, Bishop Geoff Peddle of the Anglican Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador announced Nichols would undertake a new part-time role with the diocese — a position they call creation-care animator.

The Rev. tips his hand later in the article: Mankind is not the pinnacle of God’s creation, the Earth is, inanimate, though it may be. Unapologetic Gaia worship.

He says that for too long humans have been anthropocentric, thinking of themselves as the most important thing on the planet.

“The church is being called to … look at a creation-centric way of being,” he says.

“I often say to people, we need the Earth, but the Earth really doesn’t need us. … We need to improve that relationship we have with the rest of creation.”

Oldest Anglican parish in Canada conducts its first same-sex marriage

Posted on by
25

The Anglican Cathedral of St. John The Baptist in St. John’s Newfoundland was founded in 1699 and claims to be the oldest Anglican church in Canada.

The church just married two ladies to each other, which goes to show that wisdom does not necessarily accompany age.

The church’s mission statement needs to be rewritten because it currently contains this gross misstatement: “The Cathedral Parish will, by the Grace of God….. Preserve Anglican heritage and tradition of Newfoundland and Labrador”

From here:

Susan Green and Brenda Halley chose the Anglican Cathedral of St. John The Baptist as their church 12 years ago, little realizing that they would be part of history.

But earlier this month the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist—the oldest Anglican parish in Canada, founded in 1699—has performed its first same-sex marriage ceremony, their marriage ceremony.

The couple has been together for 18 years and knew the church was friendly, because one of the church leaders, a deacon who is openly gay, was accepted by the church community.

Green says the Cathedral is what she calls “an interesting blend of history and tradition, modernity and progression.”

Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador to ignore marriage canon vote

Posted on by
9

At its latest synod, the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador has voted to marry same-sex couples or, as the article below would have it “has voted in favor of marriage equality.”

The Anglican Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador has voted in favor of marriage equality.

Last July, the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada voted against marriage equality within the Anglican marriage canon. However, the motion can be voted on at the provincial level as well.

The vote happened during NL Synod 2019 at the Sheraton Hotel in St. John’s earlier today.

In total 88 per cent of Anglican delegates in attendance voted in favor of affirming marriage equality.

127 votes were cast, with 112 people in favor and 15 against.

Reverend Dr. Geoffrey Peddle, Bishop of the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland & Labrador, says that in voting for marriage equality they have made the church bigger and inclusive for everyone.

He says the Diocese has made it very clear that this is who they are now and how they want to move forward.

At least Peddle is clear that “this is who they now are”. They are not the Bride of Christ, not the Body of Christ, not the ecclesia – a called out assembly, not members of the church universal. They are a group of people who marry same-sex couples: this is who they are now.

Here is an updated list of dioceses that will marry same-sex couples:
Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador
Diocese of Western Newfoundland
Diocese of New Westminster
Diocese of Toronto
Diocese of Niagara
Diocese of Montreal
Diocese of Ottawa
Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
Diocese of Rupert’s Land
Diocese of Kootenay
Diocese of Edmonton
Diocese of B.C.
Diocese of Huron