Niagara This Week reports, in what appears to be an accidental confluence of stories, that Violet the cat, found frozen and comatose is on the road to recovery and the Diocese of Niagara’s St. George’s Church has also been found frozen and comatose but, unlike Violet, is beyond hope and has been put out of its misery. Or words to that effect.
St. George’s, which has 225 years of history behind it, has been deemed unsustainable by diocesan viability enforcers and has been deconsecrated. Bishop Michael Bird was on hand to point out to the “aging membership” that the occasion, although “sombre”, was also a cause for “celebration” because the church, although now as dead as a doornail, had had a long innings. I expect that was a great comfort.
From here:
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE — With heavy hearts but cherished memories, the congregation that worshipped at a church in former village of Homer came together for the final time on Sunday.
St. George’s Anglican Church, which has a history dating back more than 225 years, held its final service. As with so many other small congregations, a dwindling and aging membership forced what for many was a painful decision to disestablish and return the deconsecrated church building to common usage.
The service was presided over by Diocese of Niagara Bishop Michael Bird, who acknowledged the sombre mood in the room but said this was also a time to celebrate a congregation with a long life. He implored everyone to think of how long it has been a home, a sanctuary and a place to come to know God, a place that has served as a backdrop to countless baptisms and weddings.
“Just imagine all the prayers that have been offered here, both spoken and silent,” he said.
Rev. Dorothy Hewlett, who also serves at Christ Church at Lakeshore and McNab roads, said the decision to close was a long time coming and was the right one to make.
“The more we know about the nature of the same-sex ‘act of love’ (which, when all’s said and done, in the male case involves entering an exit) the more careful we have to be about simple disgust. At the same time, isn’t it reasonable that people who are not disembodied spirits, but who only ever know one another in this life in bodies which are of one sex or the other, should experience a reaction which is tinged with emotion? Some people have an entirely principled objection to a situation in which their growing children may be encouraged to think of this kind of relating as being on all fours with heterosexual relations, or to come to their local parish church and be ‘turned’ by their friendly neighbourhood Anglican priest.” [from my book Holy Homosex?]
How to empty out your churches, in one easy lesson. Was that, and getting money for the properties thus emptied out, the object all along?
To Mr. Michael Bird I would say this:
““Just imagine all the prayers that will NOT been offered here, both spoken and silent, all because you have failed to be a Faithful follower of Jesus Christ!”
And if he actually believes that “this was also a time to celebrate a congregation with a long life” than he is a brainless fool. If he thinks others believe this lie than he is taking us for brainless fools.
Fact is this is a time for morning the loss of something that was once alive and filled with God’s Love. But Mr. Bird led this congregation away from the Way of God, replaced God’s love with the lust of the Secular Sin Seeking Same Sex Sodomy (6S), and in so doing effectively murdered this Congregation.
Michael Bird and his apostate colleagues including Fred Hiltz have virtually destroyed any semblance of Christianity within the ACoC and have replaced the worship of our Lord and Saviour with the worship of the detestable Baals of “political expediency” and/or “political correctness (a detestable term in itself)”. The ACoC will continue its rapid fall into the pit of apostasy unless there is a serious weeding out of the apostates
Humans go through different stages in life; congregations can do the same. No Christians should fail to proclaim the true Gospel of the life, teaching, miracles, works, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.