That august organ of Bishop Michael Bird’s crumbling empire, the Niagara Anglican has this to say about the diocese’s bright future:

Many Anglicans have had heavy hearts during the past year or two, as we watch a number of parishes close and a number of parishes depart from our diocesan family over ideological disagreements. In many ways, it feels like we can put all that in the past. The future is ahead and the future is bright.

The hearts of the diocesan administrators may indeed be heavy, but only because of the loss of the revenue that the departed orthodox churches contributed to diocesan coffers; at St. Hilda’s the only time we saw a bishop was when he wanted money – our perspective on the Christian faith was about as welcome as a ruptured haemorrhoid.

For many years now the diocese of Niagara has been in the forefront of the battle for justice in our society. In 1976 in one of the most important moments in the life of our church, John Bothwell, then Bishop of Niagara, ordained the first women to the priesthood. Generations before could never have imagined this happening. It was a great moment in our history and a great moment for the cause of justice in our society and in our church.

Women’s ordination has little to do with justice. It has more to do with a culture that is preoccupied with entitlement. It may have been a theological mistake to disallow women’s ordination – or it may not; there are good arguments on both sides of this issue. It may have seemed unfair – just like the rest of life – to women who felt called to ordained ministry, but unjust it was not.

Bishop Michael Bird, not unlike Bishop Bothwell in 1976 has taken another huge step in justice. Effective September 1st 2009 he will give permission for the blessing of civilly married persons, regardless of gender. This rite is a means for the church to extend affirmation, support and commitment to those who present themselves seeking a sign of God’s love in response to the love and commitment they express for each other and have already affirmed in a civil ceremony.

Similarly, it is no more just to bless same-sex civilly married persons than not to. Such a blessing is either in harmony with Christian theology or it isn’t; the position of 2000 years of Christian understanding is that it is not; there are no good arguments in its favour. The Anglican Church’s impulse to pander to a culturally induced fixation with imagined rights has caused it to stray from the truth, created havoc and will probably be one of the vehicles of its demise.

We are all being called to an ever-deepening faith that will enable us to move forward in justice, in love and in excellence in ministry. Our Church, in the Diocese of Niagara is alive and well!

Whistling in the dark.

Michael Bird, hot in pursuit of excellence and eager to keep up with the very latest in iMania technology, is now listed in Zoominfo.

When he used to work for a living, he was a wedding photographer; it must be a comfort for him to know he will have something to fall back on after his church implodes. He could specialise in gay weddings.

No educational information is available for Bird, a fact that confirms a number of my suspicions.

The glib answer might be “not if you are the bishop”, but the diocese does give us its answer here. It starts off promisingly enough:

The Creeds are statements that contain a summary of our basic beliefs. The word “Creed” comes from the Latin word creo which means “I believe.”

In the Anglican Church, we say both the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed in our worship. Because we are a community of faith, we openly declare our beliefs and in this way unite ourselves to Christians in the past, present and future.

When we get down to the thorny question, Do I have to Believe Everything in the Creeds, we find this answer:

Relationship with God is a personal journey and also one we share with others in this community of faith. The Creeds clearly state the beliefs of the Church, and we recite them as we join with those around us in the process of discovering our own relationship with God. So it is not easy to answer this question “yes” or “no,” It is important that we take part with fellow seekers in this lifelong journey.

So the requirement for a Christian in the diocese of Niagara is not actual agreement with the “beliefs of the Church”, rather a willingness to state them along with others – who presumably don’t believe them either – as we “discover[ing] our own relationship with God”, whatever that means. In saner times, this would be called “hypocrisy”; now it is a “personal journey”.

This stellar advice to the budding Christian was written by The Rev. Canon Michael Patterson when he was Director of Evangelism. Much of his tenure in that position was spent in engaging in focus groups to try and come to some understanding of what the word “Evangelism”  means; as far as I know there was never a final consensus. Having flunked evangelism, Canon Michael is employing his formidable talents in attempting to wrestle parish properties away from congregations that need them for worship; a task more suited to his abilities, perhaps.

The Bishop of Caledonia doesn’t approve:

“As a bishop, I cannot recognize the legitimacy of what Niagara is doing,” said Bishop Bill Anderson of the diocese of Caledonia. “I sadly conclude that Niagara has chosen to walk apart, and is therefore in a state of impaired communion.”

Bishop Bird from the Niagara Diocese claims, however, that the blessing of same-sex-couples is prophetic, not contrary to the core doctrine of the ACoC – many people have searched for years and still have found nothing that is contrary to the core doctrine of the ACoC – and is fully in line with the typical Anglican heterosexual wedding:

From Here:

The Niagara Rite is intended for the voluntary use of priests who wish to offer a sacrament of blessing regardless of the gender of the civilly married persons who wish to receive the blessing of the church and wish to affirm their life commitment to each other before God in the community of the church

Effective September 1, 2009, permission will be granted by Bishop Michael Bird for the use of the Niagara Rite as outlined in the protocols that are included.

In spite of protestations that this is a blessing not a marriage, the rite itself looks a lot like a “marriage” to me:

N, I take you to be my spouse (or partner, or some equivalent term).
All that I have I offer you;
what you have to give I gladly receive;
wherever you go I will go.
You are my love.
God keep me true to you always
and you to me.

And:

N., this ring I give to you,
with my body I honor you.
God make me your true spouse (or partner, or some equivalent term)
in the spirit of Jesus Christ.

As for being truly inclusive:

Will you each love one another with integrity and gentleness?
I will

Clearly, the S&M brethren have been forgotten. The question is, will they enjoy the hurt of being excluded?

There is nothing like having a low expectation of something to set the tone; thus the Diocese of Niagara has a new program called the Wall of Innovation (who came up with that name?). In anticipation of a barrage of negativity, much like this moribund forum,  the diocese admonishes potential critics:

Please note – although we really want to give every member of the Diocese of Niagara the privilege of commenting and entering into a productive dialogue, we will not accept comments that are vitriolic or hurtful in any way. These will be removed.

Free speech is cherished in Niagara – so long as you don’t upset the delicate sensibilities of Michael Bird as he journeys in the pursuit of excellence.

Update: The presentation is here and technically is quite well done – an Adobe Flash page that looks like a curved (I almost said “bent”) version of iTunes Coverflow.

The Diocese of Niagara and its contingent of itinerant squatters – all 3 of them – assembled and organised by Rev. Cheryl Fricker (pew saleswoman extraordinaire) have come to the sensible conclusion that St. Hilda’s sanctuary is too hot, smelly, mouldy and orange to be worthy of their occupation during the dog days of summer.

Therefore, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Niagara Potemkin St. Hilda’s, “during the summer, services will be held at St. Aidan’s church, people from St. Hilda’s are welcome to join.”

The people from which St. Hilda’s? There is no congregation in the diocese of Niagara version of St. Hilda’s. Perhaps this is a oblique invitation for me to visit St. Aidan’s with a camera; perhaps not.

All Saints in downtown Hamilton is to be sold to make way for condominiums:

Ten years ago, workers spent months carefully dismantling the bell tower at All Saints Church in downtown Hamilton.

Now the stage is set for all the stones at All Saints to come tumbling down.

The church has commanded the southeast corner of Hamilton’s royal intersection since the 1870s.

But at King and Queen, as at churches everywhere, times have changed. Since the ’60s, pews have emptied out. Too many churches, not enough people.

Back in 1974, somebody made a firm offer to buy the All Saints property for $350,000. The congregation turned it down. Bishop John Bothwell was not amused:

“For a couple of hundred people to maintain this enormous building, when there are three or four other Anglican parishes within a few blocks with similar depleted congregations and enormous buildings, seems to me to be questionable,” the bishop said then.

That last paragraph is an interesting statement and one that will undoubtedly be applied to the 4 Niagara ANiC buildings if the diocese ends up winning them; after all, there are considerably fewer than a couple of hundred people in all 4 diocesan parishes put together.

The Spectator article goes on to say that the condominiums will be affordable housing that will be sold at cost. What the article does not say is how much the diocese is making from the sale; I wonder if it’s enough to cover the $220,000 in legal fees incurred while suing the 3 Niagara ANiC parishes?