Christmas Greetings from Bishop Charlie Masters
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The Diocese of New Westminster is running out of cash
The Dioceses of New Westminster, having alienated and driven out its conservative congregations, is hard pressed financially:
One major reason was that in 2002, when some congregations and clergy walked out of our Synod, our Diocesan budget was reduced by 28%.
Consequently, it has hired fund-raising consultants to help replenish its coffers.
Not all the parishes received the news with unmitigated rejoicing:
• A majority saw the case as a diocesan wish list without a solid business plan and for that and a variety of other reasons they did not support it.
• The proposed revenue split between parishes, diocese and national church was not supported.
• The interviewees had a variety of opinions about why they and others did not support a financial campaign at this time.
• A common view was that the church is no longer the place where churchgoers give first. There is constant competition for donor dollars.
• The church must become more efficient in using donor dollars. Regular reporting on how revenue is used and evaluation of programs and initiatives supported by those dollars must be improved. The church can no longer rest on its laurels and just expect to receive gifts.
• 18 of those interviewed believe there are still wounds from the split that happened ten years ago and it is too soon to start a campaign of this magnitude.
It tears at the hearstrings for me to report that:
It was Compton’s finding that there was not sufficient support to launch a 19 million dollar campaign over 4 or 5 years.
Still, I’m sure the consultants were paid handsomely.
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The blasphemy game
The National Endowment for the Arts, an agency of the US Federal Government, helped to pay for Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ, one of his creations that will be on display at the Body and Spirit exhibition at the Edward Tyler Nahem Gallery on September 27th. I’ve included the link for those who would like to arrive early and beat the rush.
Andres Serrano is obsessed with putting photographs of his bodily fluids on display, along with the occasional corpse garnished with human excrement. In saner times, Serrano, would be recognised for what he is: someone who is mentally ill. In the twenty first century, however, he is an artist.
The same government that paid for Serrano to pee into a jam jar containing a crucifix, has piously intoned: “The U.S. deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.” I suppose the key to understanding this is in the word “others”: denigrating the religious beliefs one’s own citizens is a federally funded obligation.
From here:
Religious groups are blasting President Obama for not condemning am anti-Christian art display set to appear in New York City and one Republican lawmaker said he is “fed up with the administration’s double standard and religious hypocrisy.
“Piss Christ,” once branded as a “deplorable, despicable display of vulgarity,” will be displayed at the Edward Tyler Nahem Gallery in Manhattan on Thursday. The artwork features a “photograph of the crucifix submerged in the artist’s urine.”
The artwork debuted in 1989 and was funded through prize money provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. The art gallery hosting the retrospective salute to Andres Serrano is privately owned.
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Atheism and the body/mind problem
A recent article about Christopher Hitchens quotes him saying: “I don’t have a body, I am a body.” This is a proposition that all atheists would affirm, but how rational is it?
Alvin Plantigna argues for dualism – that the mind and body are separate entities. The argument goes along these lines:
I can imagine a possible scenario where my mind exists separate from my body. I can even imagine that it is possible that my mind continues to exist if my body is destroyed.
I cannot imagine the possibility of my body existing separately from itself; if my body is destroyed, it is gone and I cannot imagine the possibility of it continuing to exist.
Therefore, my mind cannot identical to my body because I can imagine something is possible for it that I cannot imagine is possible for my body.
You can see Alvin Plantigna discussing the argument below and for a formal presentation of it go here.
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Dancing with the bishops
Anglican Primate Fred Hiltz and Lutheran Bishop Susan Johnson attest that the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada are simpatico by giving a demonstration of ballroom dancing during the Eucharist.
I don’t know about you, but I find this Anglican-Lutheran mating ritual very moving – although, if Fred must clap, I do wish he’d learn to clap off the beat..
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The Diocese of New Westminster does Godspell
And, surprise, surprise, when the production opens in Christ Church Cathedral in May, the diocese will “dare the audience to consider Christ anew” by having a female Jesus and portraying the crucifixion as a regrettable episode of school bullying taken a step too far. This article goes on to speculate that the “production of Godspell will instigate fresh thinking in those who come to see it.” Not really, it’s entirely predictable.
Was the crucifixion of Christ a supreme act of bullying? Godspell Director, Rev. Andrew Halladay and Director of Music, Rev. David Taylor believe that Jesus was bullied. Bullying is a hot topic — not just in Canada — but also around the world. In March, both the Liberals and the Conservatives introduced bills meant to influence the way that Canadian educators deal with bullies in our schools.
What does it mean to have the role of Jesus played by a woman? By casting theological student Clare Morgan as Jesus, Halladay and Taylor break from the typical Godspell formula. The role of the typical Godspell Jesus is difficult to fill. The role requires a male soprano. When Halladay and Taylor began casting their Godspell, they already considered inviting a woman to play Jesus — to honor the talent that confronted them and to dare the audience to consider Christ anew.
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How to choose the next Archbishop of Canterbury
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Amnesty International wants Canada to arrest George W Bush
From here:
Amnesty International wants the federal government to arrest former U.S. president George W. Bush when he visits British Columbia next week.
Alex Neve, Amnesty Canada’s secretary general then went on to make the understatement of 2011:
Neve conceded that arresting a former president would likely cause tension with the United States
In contrast, when the murdering madman, Muammar Gaddafi wanted to drop in to Canada, Amnesty was completely silent, leaving it to Stephen Harper to officially protest.
Any smattering of integrity that Amnesty International might have once possessed has long since dissipated and, in this latest foolishness, Amnesty has confirmed its compulsive asininity and irrelevance.
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Summer hiatus
Normal service will resume as soon as possible.
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Church of Scotland votes to allow homosexual ministers
And the church will blossom as the hordes of Scots who were shunning the church for the sole reason that there were no homosexual clergy will now flock to fill the place to overflowing. Rainbows of God’s blessing and abundance will pour out on the Kirk as he smiles benignly down on the hitherto shy clerical sodomites.
Or everything will fall apart, just as it has done in North America.
From here:
Scotland’s largest protestant church has swept away centuries of tradition and voted to allow gay men and lesbians to become ministers, opening up the prospect of the church allowing civil partnerships for same-sex couples.
The Church of Scotland imposed a temporary moratorium in 2009 on admitting gay and lesbian ministers after Scott Rennie became the first openly gay clergyman in a homosexual partnership to be officially appointed as a minister in the church.