Diocese of Niagara fills church for all the wrong reasons

As I mentioned here, St. Matthias in Guelph was sold to property developers for about $2M.

From here:

It is somewhat rare today that the church can gather an overflow crowd but the Anglican Diocese of Niagara has succeeded in doing that — unfortunately for all the wrong reasons.

The crowd that gathered were neighbours of Saint Matthias Anglican Church (at the corner of Edinburgh and Kortright roads) concerned that the Anglican Diocese is planning to sell the church and land to a developer who will build 81 units of rental housing geared to students.

[…..]

We have heard that there were other serious offers to purchase the property by other churches. But these too have been rebuffed. And so the conclusion that many would draw is that the diocese wants top dollar. And worse, that the denomination cares little for the neighbours that the church community has lived beside for the past 30 years. It would seem to be another example of a self-serving church.

The diocese is attempting to revitalise what’s left of the homeless St. Matthias by having some seminars on the Seven Grandfathers of the Anishinaabe people. That should work.

For those who remain unconvinced of the relevance of St. Matthias to today’s world, there is the St. Matthias blog where we discover that “living our questions is where the answers lie” and “There is Truth and it is deep within and around us all the time.” I am so moved, I think I am going to cry; so much so that I can almost overlook the fact that the writer seems to be oblivious to the difference between “lie” and “lye” – a generous application of which could, admittedly, greatly improve the diocese:

Does the truth lye in the living each moment of each day without fear of failure, fear of the other, fear of rejection, fear of all sorts of things that consume our thoughts, emotions, spirits and hearts.

Primate Fred Hiltz goes on carbon fast for Lent

From here:

Notable leaders who agreed to fast one day during this period include the Rev. Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada (March 6); Rev. Susan Johnson, National Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (February 14); Rev. Mark MacDonald, the National Indigenous Bishop, Anglican Church of Canada (March 16); Mardi Tindal, Immediate Past Moderator, The United Church of Canada (March 19); Joe Gunn, Executive Director, Citizens for Public Justice (February 1); Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada (March 12); and Bill McKibben, author and co-founder of 350.org (March 30). Connie Sorio, KAIROS’ Ecological Justice Partnership Coordinator, will join the fast on February 28.

We don’t know what, exactly, these paradigms of piety have chosen to give up to reduce their carbon footprint.

Even the rarefied atmosphere that is home to this illustrious company is routinely contaminated by the demon Co2, since even they breathe in oxygen only to convert it to carbon dioxide, exhaling the filthy pollutant 28800 times per day. Here’s my suggestion for their carbon fast: hold your breath for an entire day.

One can only hope.

Diocese of New Westminster does Ashes to go

From here:

Ash Wednesday, blessedly not raining, was bright with early spring sunshine which was welcomed because we went out on the road that afternoon. Signed with ashes, reminded that we are of earth and to earth we shall return, we gathered after the Eucharist, robed in albs and blessed by the community, to take ashes and the invitation to repentance and reconciliation to the neighbourhood.

Notice that rather than the usual “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”, we have the Gaia cult incantation: “reminded that we are of earth and to earth we shall return”.

Here is a poster for the event.

Capture

Jihadi John attended an Anglican school

From here:

Arriving in Britain when he was six years old, the Kuwaiti-born extremist appeared to embrace British life, playing football in the affluent streets of West London while supporting Manchester United.

Neighbours recalled a polite, quietly spoken boy who was studious at his Church of England school, where he was the only Muslim pupil in his class.

The real surprise here is that he is a Muslim; I bet no-one saw that coming.

It is reassuring to see that the Church of England school had such a profound influence on his future striving to achieve social justice through missional spirituality in Iraq.

I don’t know about you, but I am sick of seeing photos of Mohammed Emwazi pointing a knife at everyone. So here he is pointing a pork sausage instead:
Jihadi John

Diocese of New Westminster wants to know more about Islam

And why not? Islam could fill the gap in the diocese left by the departure of Christianity.

CaptureFrom here:

This event will seek to open up avenues of conversation.  What do we know about Islam and Muslims?  What do we appreciate?  What do we fear?  How do we understand current geo-political struggles, including terrorism?  What is the capacity of Islam for pluralism, democracy, human rights and the secular?

It’s interesting that there don’t seem to be any events organised by Muslims to understand Christianity better; Muslims may not feel the need because they are more secure in their beliefs.

The organisers of this event suggest: If possible, bring something that can be shared. A severed head, perhaps.

Jesus’ true nature finally revealed

He was mostly water.

From here (page 9):

In her reflection, Jennifer Henry, executive director of KAIROS, reminded those present that, through his incarnation, Jesus was “a child who, like other babies, was mostly water – 75 per cent water, so they say.” Like the rest of humanity, Jesus depended on water for his daily needs, she said.

These ladies, despite all appearances to the contrary, are not suffering from a bout of severe constipation, but are thumping vigorously on their drums to convince us that we all have a role in protecting the waters of the Earth. Just looking at them convinces me, I don’t know about you.

Constipation

The Diocese of New Westminster: Lost in Space

The Diocese of New Westminster is organising a tour of “sacred spaces”; for reasons that elude me, the diocesan cathedral is included.

In the spirit of mutual understanding, respect, and peace, I’d just like to point out that if I wasn’t reasonably certain that Christianity is correct and all other religions are not, I wouldn’t bother to get up early every Sunday to attend a service of Christian worship; the sacred space of my feather pillow would be more than adequate. That means I don’t go to a Diocese of Niagara or, indeed, any Anglican Church of Canada parish, in case anyone is wondering.

Updated Sacred Spaces tourFrom here:

If interreligious dialogue is to bear fruit–the fruit of mutual understanding, respect, and peace–it needs to be rooted in the specific spiritual space or milieu of each religious tradition. If we are willing to enter into and even dwell for a time in another spiritual space, we will be able to return to the space we call home, enriched by the gifts we have received and prepared to live in peace with those who dwell in a spiritual space that is very different from our own.

Wesleyan students arrested for drug use

From here:

Police have arrested four students from Wesleyan University in connection with a drug overdose over the weekend. They are to appear in court next week.

Ten students and two visitors were hospitalized Sunday from complications arising from the use of the drug Molly or from alcohol.

Is anyone surprised? You’d start taking drugs, too, if you had to bunk in with all the  LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM “communities” that Wesleyan goes out of its way to attract.

Parishioner wants handshaking abolished at the passing of the peace

But, as an Anglican bishop noted:

Bishop Geoff Peddle of the Anglican Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador said the practice has been discussed many times before in his church.

“We have dealt with it over and over again,” he said. “During SARS, the H1N1, we stopped all physical contact and refrained from drinking from the cup,” he said.

In contrast, the Anglican Church of Canada is quite content to encourage men to have anal sex with one another by blessing the activity; that, after all, is so much more hygienic than shaking hands.