To coincide with Vancouver’s Pride Day, Christ Church Cathedral has a “Pride Day service”. It managed to draw 80 people this year – in a facility that will hold 600. So you can see by the numbers it is attracting how successful the Diocese of New Westminster has been in tapping in to the spiritual pulse of the nation.
And they even used the Book of Common Prayer.
From here:
For the past few years the 8am Celebration of Holy Communion from the Book of Common Prayer at Christ Church Cathedral on the first Sunday of August has been slightly modified and extended in order to mark Pride Day in the City of Vancouver.
On August 5th, 2012, close to 80 worshippers gathered in the sanctuary of the diocesan cathedral to participate in this annual celebration of Holy Eucharist on what was to be the hottest day of the year.
Prior to the singing of the opening hymn and the Collect, the Service of Light was celebrated.
Clergy, servers and lay representatives gathered around the Altar and in a brief yet moving liturgy 8 candles were lit signifying: light in the face of fear, light in the face of violence, light in an age of AIDS, hope, healing, courage, community and resurrection. At the beginning of the interactive Service of Light, the presider says these words, “The Lighting of a candle is a simple act yet becomes a powerful sign. For when we don’t have the words or don’t know how to pray, a small candle burning brightly expresses our prayer that is always with us –and becomes more powerful with each candle lit.”
“For when we don’t have the words or don’t know how to pray, a small candle burning brightly expresses our prayer that is always with us –and becomes more powerful with each candle lit.”
I guess there’s no need for Romans 8:26 when we have small candles burning brightly.
I’m reminded of the late film critic Pauline Kael’s comment on Lucille Ball’s ridiculous performance in ‘Mame’ … ‘What do [they] think they’re doing up there?’
Christ Church customarily extends a special welcome to gblt in its services bulletin. We have in the city people who are facing life-threatening illness, people who are homeless, people who are new immigrants to Canada. But it is gblt to whom Christ Church means most particularly to offer hospitality.
In this “age of Aids”, with more than two thirds the global total or about 22.9 million people, it is Sub-Saharan Africa that is most affected by HIV and AIDS. The political destabilization of the region, to which Western leftist politics have contributed, has only added to the woe. Showing solidarity with their Christian brothers and sisters in Africa by upholding the Bible’s unequivocal injunction against homosexual practices, and supporting people in abandoning their sin, would seem to be of far more use in the matter than some precious ‘interactive Service of Light.’
Its Halloween there all year long, they dress up as real priests and it works until someone says something then the truth is in the open.
Neal Adams was the former editor of the Diocesan Newspaper ‘Topic’ in the Anglican Church of Canada Newspaper; furthermore, mentioned to me Anglican Integrity was started an organization to be a comfort zone for homosexual and lesbian persons.
In the Diocese of New Westminster is St Paul’s Anglican Church of Pendrell & Jervis.
I was told was the most evangelical of the Anglican Churches in the Diocese
There have always been gay persons around
But was told there were some ones with an openly gay in your face attitude in St Paul’s
St Paul’s has changed.
The Diocese of New West has changed
In the mid 1980s was talking to the Diocese of NW as a member of St John’s Shaughnessy Anglican
The person mentioned, ‘St John’s Shaughnessy is closed old fasioned low Anglican is the way St Paul’s on Pender and Jervis -used to be- and we are trying to not encourage this sort of thing’.
I felt a little down after hearing this
I’ve always liked the sermons at St John’s find them to be quite alive, clear and teach me good things.
St John’s attracts a good amount of persons.
In the late 1970s was down to around 60 or so persons
Rev Harry Robinson came from Little Trinity Anglican in Toronto followed by Dr J.I.Packer as well.
More came but left to be replaced by more and the congregation kept growing from one to four services and around 1000 in attendance.
The shepherd trusts in Jesus feeds the sheep
The sheep go where they are fed
At the Archbishop’s retreat at Westminster Abbey with Hambidge around 1984 or so was asked, ‘how come anything Anglican always has such low attendance?’
The Archbishop did not respond to the question but he mentioned, ‘the Anglican Church is in more debt’, had a rather distressed look in his face.
The low attendance and the financial situations seems to have been going on for quite some time.
It should come as no surprise that those who refuse to accept the Holy Word of God have no time for Church. Also, the pseudo logic gymnastics (i.e. “those passages that say people should not commit homosexual acts applies to only the heterosexual people and not the homosexual people”) that a person must perform in order to find some lack of God’s condemnation against homosexual behaviour is stagering, and most sensible people see these shenanigans for exactly what they are. A blatent abomination of what God has said! The hypocracy leaves a very bad taste and cannot be stomached.
@AMP: The new pseudo logic these days is deconstructing what was said in the Bible about homosexual activity and showing that Paul and others didn’t really say anything about gay actions, it was just translated poorly and incorrectly.
I believe you’re right in this. The bad faith and deceit is disheartening.
The more I find out about the new bibles, escpecially the so called “inclusive language” ones, the more I am convinced that the Critical Text from which they have been translated is just simply the wrong source for our Holy Scriptures.
Time and again, the Critical Text reduces the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. For example, in the readings in Church this past week was included this:
“Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.” John 6:47 NRSV
But in the KJV the same verse reads:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
The Critical Text has left out the words “on me”. Consider the theological consequences of that!
Also, the “thought to thought” method of translation that is being used in the newer versions is so very subjective and prone to the bias of the translators that I cannot accept the arguments that the newer bibles are better.
Unfortunately, it’s exactly the same immature and self-referential point-of-view St Paul exhorted people to abandon, for the very reasons he exhorted them to do so, because of its rendering them immature and serving-referential in their point-of-view.
In his essay, ‘Truncated Love,’ Dr Robert Gagnon writes, “Sexual offenses, Paul argued, were particularly pernicious. They affected the body holistically, not superficially, which is problematic for the person whose body is a temple of the Spirit of Christ in them [1 Cor](6:18-19). And they are given to extraordinary amounts of self-justification because of their intensely pleasurable character (6:12-15).” http://www.robgagnon.net/articles/homosexMarinLoveIsOrientation.pdf
First and foremost is the importance of being more grounded in the Scriptures
Reading Scripture
Praying Scripture
Studying Scripture
Christian Fellowship
Church attendance
Christian Service
The Book of Proverbs is the book of wisdom is good to let the Lord Speak to us through the Word.
Also the fruits of the Spirit the highest being Love and others Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Self Control.
Hope the essence of which is Faith.
When Trusting starts with Faith.
Learning how to put on The Full Armour of God.
The Ten Commandments of the Old Testament
The Two Commandments of the New Testament
Praying Scripture
Praying the Book of Psalms.