Vicar who disagrees with same-sex marriage sacked for having affair with a parishioner

Posted on May 21, 2014 by David

From here:

Rev Howard, who is his 40s, publicly defended the sanctity of marriage last year after he displayed a poster at his church condemning gay marriage.

The fluorescent green sign, posted outside the St Mary’s Church in Ferndown, Dorset, stated: ‘Marriage = 1 Man + 1 Woman’.

At the time, he said: ‘The Government has no mandate to change the definition of marriage, and civil partnerships already give equal rights to same-sex couples.

‘Changing the law would leave clergy like me open to charges of discrimination if I refused on principle to take a same sex wedding. Is that really the tolerant society we want to create?

‘In displaying our poster, we hope marriage as we have received it will be maintained.’

And in the face of criticism from equal rights groups, he preached that ‘society is much stronger when marriage is promoted, honoured and protected’.

But he was exposed as a hypocrite after the church found out about his affair with a married woman.

He was handed a five-year ban by the Diocese of Salisbury, the seventh largest Church of England area covering Dorset and most of Wiltshire.

It’s interesting to note that, while Rev Howard is not allowed to minister for five years because of his affair, other vicars who are in active same-sex civil partnerships – some of whom will soon marry – are allowed to continue their ministry unimpeded even though they, too, are breaking the rules of the Church of England.

I’m not arguing that Rev Howard should not be suspended but it would be at least consistent if we saw the same enthusiasm for disciplining same-sex transgressors as has been demonstrated in the Howard case.

As most will be delighted to point out, Rev Howard is a hypocrite. The difference between his succumbing to the call of his lower nature and the Anglican gay lobby who do likewise is that he doesn’t seem to be trying to justify his fallenness by asking the church to bless it.

Church of England House of Bishops makes a statement on human sexuality

Posted on May 21, 2014 by David

From here:

The House also discussed the next steps in the process for conversations around Human Sexuality. In its discussion the House noted that the process of shared conversations needed to demonstrate primarily how the Church of England could model living together with issues of tension, where members took opposing views whilst remaining committed to one another as disciples of Jesus Christ – members of one church in both unity and diversity. The House agreed to a proposed process and timescale for the conversations with regional discussions taking place over the next two years. The House also authorised its Standing Committee to sign off the final arrangements and materials.

Canadian Anglicans should have a feeling of déjà vu reading this; the mindless repeating of empty clichés while “living together with issues of tension” doesn’t work. Conversations about same-sex blessings will lead to many dioceses performing them as a generous pastoral response. Then, after the initial strenuous assertions that this is all about blessings and not marriage have been largely forgotten, further conversations will begin about altering the marriage canon to include same-sex couples.

The liberal juggernaut is in motion and conversations are not going to stop it.

Anglican bishop pleads with gays not to leave the church

Posted on May 15, 2014 by David

From here:

Church of Ireland bishop Paul Colton has apologized for the hurt Christian churches have caused LGBT people but noted that many Christians “who believe that God’s justice, God’s love and the inclusiveness of God must bear fruit in unqualified equality for gay and lesbian people too.”

Speaking Monday in the city of Cork to launch Cork LGBT Awareness Week, the 64-year-old Colton encouraged LGBT people to stick with their faith and enter into dialogue with those who are opposed to gay rights.

“I want, therefore, to encourage especially those gay and lesbian people who are involved in church life, or who once were, to engage with the debates many churches are having at the current time,” he said. “I ask you not to give up on religion and religious institutions.”

He encouraged gay and lesbian people not to leave the church.

Bishop Colton’s plea is not particularly surprising: if all gay and lesbian people left the Anglican Church there would be hardly any clergy left.

Anglican Province divests from fossil fuels

Posted on May 15, 2014 by David

From here:

This province has become the first in the Anglican Communion to pledge to divest from fossil fuels.

This afternoon synod passed a resolution that requires the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia “to take all reasonable steps” to divest its shares in fossil fuel companies by its next Synod, in mid 2016.

That must mean that all the delegates will be walking to the 2016 Synod. Otherwise they would be a bunch of hypocrites – and that couldn’t be, surely.

Justin Welby declares that gay marriage is great

Posted on May 14, 2014 by David

Justin Welby, for reasons known only to himself, decided to be interviewed by PinkNews, a “gay news service”. What he said was revealing:

When asked if he had a ‘message’ for Britain’s LGBT community, Archbishop Welby told PinkNews.co.uk: “As you know I have said, and got a fair amount of flak for it within parts of the Church, we have to accept, and quite rightly, that the same-sex marriage act is law, and that it’s right and proper, it’s the law of the land, and that’s great.

This has prompted Lambeth Palace to call on its ready supply of advanced hermeneutics to obnubilate what Welby said in order rob it of its obvious meaning and render it harmless:

Lambeth Palace insisted that despite the initiative, the Archbishop remained opposed in principle to same-sex marriage and that he had been speaking about the right of Parliament to change the law when he used the word “great”.

No-one still in possession of his faculties could possibly believe Lambeth’s reinterpretation of what Webly plainly said, in spite of the fact that Lambeth’s theologians have been honing their obfuscatory skills on the Biblical texts for decades; so I’m quite certain Welby will be sent for clerical woolly-speak re-education when he returns home. And he won’t be let out again without his handlers.

Spring

Posted on May 14, 2014 by David

Has arrived in Oakville.

The Goldfinches are yellow:

And, although the tulips had not bloomed in Ottawa due, we were told, to the extremely cold winter (the insidious result of global warming, of course), they are now blooming here:

Anglican Church in New Zealand starts down the road to authorising same-sex blessings

Posted on May 14, 2014 by David

The Anglican Church in New Zealand is proposing to develop liturgies for the blessing of same sex couples. The familiar caveat that priests who disagree will not be compelled to perform such blessings is present, although I wonder if the church will defend them if they are sued over the issue.

The Synod document is entitled “A Way Forward”, a strange epithet considering this has cause strife, division and disintegration everywhere it has been tried before, a fairly sure indicator that it is A Way Backward.

The document employs the usual condescending tone to those who think “the blessing of same-gender relationships is contrary to scripture”. Apparently, they “will continue to have integrity within the Church”, as if theirs was the view that needed such reassurance or as if Scripture and 2000 years of Church teaching were not perfectly clear on the issue.

The mincingly patronising synod statement can be found here:

1. This General Synod/Te Hīnota Whānui resolves to appoint a working group to bring and recommend to the 62nd General Synod/Te Hīnota Whānui:

(a) A process and structure by which those who believe the blessing of same-gender relationships is contrary to scripture, doctrine, tikanga or civil law, will not be required to perform any liturgy for the blessing of same-gender relationships, will continue to have integrity within the Church, and will remain compliant with the parliamentary legislation within any relevant jurisdiction;

(b) A process and structure by which those who believe the blessing of same-gender relationships is consonant with scripture, doctrine, tikanga and civil law may perform a yet to be developed liturgy for blessing same-gender relationships in a manner which maintains their integrity within the Church, is compliant with the parliamentary legislation within any relevant jurisdiction, and can remain in communion under scripture, doctrine and law; including

(i) A proposal for a new liturgy to bless right ordered same-gender relationships;

(ii) A process and legislation (whether church or parliamentary) by which a new liturgy to bless right ordered same-gender relationships may be adopted;

Church of England Newspaper: Bishop drops lawsuit against blogger

Posted on May 10, 2014 by David

Read it all here:

The Bishop of the Ontario-based Diocese of Niagara, the Rt. Rev. Michael Bird, has dropped his $400,000 defamation of character lawsuit against David Jenkins, after the conservative blogger agreed to partial payment of the bishop’s legal fees and an apology. A first of its kind lawsuit that was closely watched by free speech activists….