Anglican Church of Canada statement on Peshawar and Nairobi

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Whatever you do, don’t mention Islam; or Muslims; or jihad; or al-Qaeda. Best to concentrate on the futility of violence, love, justice, compassion, sprinkled with a few references to the myths we no longer believe in like the Resurrection – you know the routine. Oh, and don’t forget to bring in at least one Mark of Mission.

Actually, the statement isn’t that bad, although I can’t help noticing that the only time the Anglican Church of Canada manages to keep politics out of its pronouncements is when doing otherwise would necessarily drag in Islam, Muslims, jihad and al-Qaeda – oops, sorry, I wasn’t supposed to mention them.

Violent attacks on civilians in Pakistan and Kenya over the weekend remind us that peace is a fragile reality, always vulnerable to those who trust in the power of death to define and shape the world. Whether such attacks target Christians, as the bombing outside a Peshawar church did, or shoppers, as in Nairobi, it is the business of the disciples of Jesus to bear witness to the ultimate futility of violence, even as we express compassion and practical concern for its victims.

We follow the One whose death and resurrection unmask that futility and embody that compassion. Canadian Anglicans can hardly imagine what it is to live under the sort of fear imposed by the attack in Peshawar. We can only watch and witness to the courage and faithfulness of sisters and brothers in that place and give thanks for their continuing witness to the power of love, especially where it is bitterly opposed by those wielding death.

[….]

The fourth Mark of Mission calls us “to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation.”

Bishop Patrick Yu’s remarks in the Toronto Back to the Anglican Future Conference

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Bishop Patrick Yu is a bishop in the Diocese of Toronto. He is a self-proclaimed conservative bishop who has decided to stay put in the Anglican Church of Canada.

He spoke towards the end of the Toronto Back to the Anglican Future Conference and Sue Careless, Senior Editor at the Anglican Planet, recorded and transcribed what he said. She kindly gave permission to post his remarks here.

You can draw your own conclusions about Bishop Yu’s remarks, so I will confine myself to just one thing that struck me:

In the second paragraph Bishop Yu laments the limited theological diversity of those attending the conference and in paragraph six, perhaps forgetting what he said in paragraph two, laments the presence of “people ordained by other communions sitting in this room [who] still tend to plant churches in Toronto”. Evidently a diversity too far.

Bishop Patrick Yu. Photo: Sue Careless

Bishop Patrick Yu. Photo: Sue Careless

On Sept. 18th when Dr George Sumner, Principal of Wycliffe College, opened the last ten minutes of the Back to the Anglican Future Conference to a question-and-answer period, Patrick Yu, the area bishop for York Scarborough in the Diocese of Toronto, stepped up to the podium at St. Paul’s Anglican Church on Bloor Street and used the full ten minutes to deliver the following comments:

I would like to speak on a point of privilege.

This conference is not as geographically and theologically as diverse as the Toronto Congress [of 1963] was. I wish it was more theologically diverse.

In this Diocese [of Toronto] people are not judged or driven out by their theological convictions. We have canons and even bishops who self-identify as conservatives. I was a founding member of Fidelity, a group set up to have a conservative discussion about homosexuality. Paul Feheley was the vice-president and we still have our jobs. [Feheley is currently Principal Secretary, Primate’s Office of the Anglican Church of Canada.] I do not want any students or clergy or international guests to think that here in the Diocese of Toronto we persecute conservatives.

The question was asked: “How can we support conservatives? I have two comments. I would like to question the definition of the word ‘orthodox’. Are there only 1,000 orthodox priests in the United States? I known they are in a bad way but surely there are more than that? We can define orthodoxy in terms of one’s belief in the Trinitarian formularies of the Church, in one’s commitment to Christ, in adherence to the Scriptures, and the historical creeds. But I have been guilty in the past of putting those who disagree with me theologically as unorthodox.  As someone has said, “Orthodoxy is my doxy and heterodoxy is your doxy.” I have met unfortunately unorthodox conservatives as well as orthodox liberals and the converse is also true.

I have personally suffered as a conservative who did not leave the church and there was guilt by association internationally. I think that when we castigate people in the United States and Canada or both if you are there [staying in the church] you must be in the ranks of sinners. It makes conservatives who decide to stay in this church very fearful.

I am the first Chinese bishop and the only one in Canada and I must say that all of the four Chinese churches in Toronto have adopted a conservative stance towards the issue of homosexuality. And it is to their great surprise, disdain and anger when someone ordained a bishop from the Province of Rwanda comes without their knowledge and begins to lure their parishioners away. And I understand that other people ordained by other communions sitting in this room still tend to plant churches in Toronto. That does not help conservatives who stay in the church. And as speaker once said: “If we are not at the table, we cannot contribute to development in the future.”

Lastly, a lot has been spoken about being victims. I caution you – particularly our international friends – to be very cautious in listening to victim narratives. In Canada victim narrative is one of the most powerful political forces around. Our gay and lesbian friends have used this narrative very powerfully and very successfully. For those who attempted to claim victim it is a very tempting short-term tool but in the long term it is very damaging. It helps you to think of yourself as always the outsider. My counsel is to go into the church and act as if you own it, because it is your church. This church is for conservatives and liberals. My mentor Professor Oliver O’Donovan who was one of the authors of the St Andrews Day statement said: “We invite everyone who confesses the Trinitarian formularies of the Church into this discussion.” So when we protest about being excluded, let us be aware not to exclude others from the conversation.

I also speak as the convener of the Evangelism and Church Growth Initiative of the Anglican Communion. Now it is called Anglican Witness. I have to say that people’s experience of Lambeth [2008] was very different. I agree with Archbishop Ian Ernest that evangelism is a difficult topic here as well as in your diocese. When people think about Lambeth they think about sex. Actually the other issue that was very prominent in the report of the indaba discussions was the strong commitment to evangelism. My organization was a follow-up of that.

Let me share with you my own five years of involvement in that organization. When you talk of evangelism with people from Nigeria and Canada and Solomon Islands and South Africa and Burundi there is very little disagreement even though our perspectives on certain theological issues must be very different. So it seems to me we can talk about the Anglican Communion in terms of its organization, and indeed in terms of its issues and problems but when we do that we would commit our resources in a certain way. But if we commit our resources in terms of evangelism and mission, it seems to me that the things that divide us, the problems that seem intractable, may not be so intractable after all.

I’m very glad that Justin Welby spoke to us. We met in London… He said: “I have only two priorities for my archepiscopate. One is reconciliation and the other is evangelism.” My prayer for the Communion is not overcoming [differences] as that seems more difficult but with our differences and with our imperfect instruments we will take into account and deeply embrace the mission and evangelism that is God’s call to us. Then we may discover that we have a Communion after all. God bless you and that’s my response of my privilege.

***

Dr. Sumner then concluded with: “Part of our hope is free exchange, hearing and being heard, candor, parrhesia, free expression. That is certainly our goal at Wycliffe College: theological reflection with a free expression of views. That is a good thing. Our promise was 9pm. Our time is done.”

More on St. Aidan’s Windsor appeal

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A legal magazine has an article on the recent court case between the Diocese of Huron and St. Aidan’s, Windsor. The whole article is worth reading but a few points stand out to me:

The costs judge in Delicata adopted the minority view from the litigation in Bentley and made a no-costs to promote harmony and because the litigants were moved by their conscience. The congregation of St. Aidan’s appealed the trial judge’s decision, and the Synod cross-appealed the decision over costs.

The Diocese of Huron had originally demanded over $400,000 in legal costs from St. Aidan’s. Not only did St. Aidan’s lose their appeal, but the judge overturned the original ruling that each side pay their own costs and ruled that St. Aidan’s pay $100,000 of the diocese’s legal costs – in addition to their own costs, of course. So it was a double loss for St. Aidan’s.

I’m sure those ruling in courts of appeal are largely devoid of a sense of humour, so the reasoning behind awarding $100k in costs to the diocese because there is “no evidentiary basis for the need to preserve harmony within the church” could not have been stated in jest. In the eyes of the courts, the Anglican Church of Canada has clearly sunk to such a state of irrelevance to the rest of society, that there is little reason to discourage its self-destruction through internal strife:

The Court of Appeal did reverse the decision on costs in finding that the justice system should not provide a safe harbour for spiritual or religious convictions, and there was no evidentiary basis for the need to preserve harmony within the church.

Also, the idea that “the justice system should not provide a safe harbour for spiritual or religious convictions” has an ominous ring for those with religious beliefs that are out of step with secular mores.

Global South primates and bishops meet in Toronto

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From here:

Archbishop Ian Ernest, primate of the province of the Indian Ocean, said decisions by the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada on issues involving homosexuality have torn the fabric of communion.

“These are sad events,” he said. “Things will never be the same again.”

Another primate, Archbishop Mouneer Anis of Egypt, launched a harsh critique of the communion leadership’s unwillingness to deal with issues. Successive archbishops of Canterbury have tried to hold the communion together, but failed to use their influence to bring cohesion to autonomous provinces, he said.

Anis said the recommendations of primates meetings have not been carried out. The Lambeth Conference in 2008 was characterized by what he called “divide and rule” tactics, with no decisions being made.

Justin Welby appears to be determined to turn a blind eye to the disintegrating Anglican Communion and places his hope in “mission and in reconciliation”. Oddly, he seems to entirely miss the point that those who are “focusing on one or two sins” are not conservatives but liberals: when a faction in a church – North American Anglicanism in this case – decides to bless something that is sinful – and Welby is acknowledging it is sinful – it is the faction that is doing the focussing.

In a brief address, Welby said that in every generation, church members have thought their problems were “terminal.”

“Churches are sinful,” said Welby. “None of us are right. The trouble with the Anglican Communion will not be solved by focusing on one or two sins. All of us need to come to the cross.”

He said in different contexts the problems may be different — sexuality, persecution, corruption, abuse of power, complacency, poverty.

Welby said Anglicans are called to be bridge builders, who will “find ourselves struggling with unity.” He sees the future growth of the communion in mission and in reconciliation.

Bishop Patrick Yu, a tame faux-conservative Toronto bishop, in what can only be a case of genetic predisposition to obstinate optimism in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence, thinks: “Our problems are not so intractable”.  He also can’t understand why the ACoC is “lumped” with TEC; I can’t understand why someone political enough to be a bishop can’t understand the implication of inviting Katharine Jefferts Schori to the last few ACoC general synods.

“We are always lumped with the Americans,” he said. In the Diocese of Toronto people are not “judged or driven out” on the basis of being traditional in their theology. “We do not persecute conservatives.”

Yu said in spite of differences in the communion, there is hope for reconciliation and a new commitment of resources to mission and evangelism. “Our problems are not so intractable,” he said.

Incidentally, Rev Bob Bettson, the author of the article, thinks AS purveys an “endless stream of ridicule and sophmoric [sic] humour more suited to a fraternity newsletter than anywhere else.” That must be why he reads it.

O Google, where is thy sting

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From here:

First they dominated the desktop. Now they’re after the afterlife.

Google on Wednesday announced Calico, an ambitious new company that aims to solve some of the biggest problems facing humanity today: illness, aging [sic], diseases and ultimately death.

If it were anyone but Google, the sheer audacity of the goal would be laughable. But coming from the company that redefined the Internet, funds projects to land on and mine the moon, and invented a self-driving car, it’s at least worth listening to.

‘[We invest in] things that are a little more long-term and a little more ambitious than people normally would. More like moon shots.’

[…..]

“Last week Apple announced a gold iPhone; what did you do this week, Google? Oh, we founded a company that might one day defeat death itself,” they wrote.

Someone should alert Larry Page to the fact that it’s all been done before.

Jesus conquered death over 2000 years ago.

A New Zealand Anglican bishop does social justice

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The problem with most Anglican clergy who harp interminably about social justice is: first, they tend to use it to replace the Gospel of man’s eternal redemption through Christ’s sacrifice and second, they want everyone else to give their money to the less well off – usually in the form of higher taxes – while living in the lap of luxury themselves. Particularly bishops.

Bishop Justin Duckworth may still fall foul of my first point but at least he gives his own money away, takes the poor into his own house and exhorts his fellow clergy to do likewise: “I would ask that everyone else should be engaged in the moral conversation of when is too much too much.”

So, Anglican Church of Canada bishops whose raison d’etre is prophetic social justice making: how about giving away a sizeable portion of your over $100,000 salaries and taking  homeless waifs into your own homes. Convince us that you are serious.

From here:5d28120131ff01ca8302290dff666541_460x230

Wellington’s Anglican bishop says he may cut his own salary to help fund a “living wage” for cleaners, caregivers and other low-paid workers in Anglican churches and social agencies.

Bishop Justin Duckworth, a dreadlocked, Jandal-wearing priest who was an upset choice as bishop last year, is also challenging other high-income earners to take less to fund higher wages for the 39 per cent of Kiwi workers who now earn less than the living wage, defined by union and church groups as $18.40 an hour.

His current salary is about $63,000, or $30 an hour, plus a house.

“My personal response is in the future I have to look at what I am earning and say, what is appropriate for me to earn given that many people in our society don’t even have enough to participate meaningfully in our society,” he said.

“I would ask that everyone else should be engaged in the moral conversation of when is too much too much.”

The bishop, who has lived his entire married life sharing his family home with people in need such as lost teenagers and ex-prisoners, said he and his wife, Jenny, were also considering how to make best use of the bishop’s official home across the road from Parliament when they move there later this year from the community for recovering addicts and others where they have lived for the past 10 years.

“We have always lived with people. We will do that again,” he said.

Heavens Above! was a 1963 film about an English vicar who also took social justice seriously; it didn’t work out too well for him, but the film, based on an idea by Malcolm Muggeridge – who also had a bit part – was very good.

Here is a clip. Notice an astute child observing that the visiting bishop’s representative has “got a tail like a great big snake; it’s black.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAYCYngNVdM

British police are fully engaged with the public

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Peter Hitchens thinks that British police are completely useless:

What use are the police these days? We know they have a pretty ambiguous attitude towards us, the public, avoiding us where possible by staying indoors or racing about in cars, and seldom going out alone in case one of  us actually approaches them.

It turns out he is quite wrong about the police being reluctant to approach the public. PC Shaun Jenkins (no relation – at least, I hope not) is a living refutation of the assertion that the police spend their time avoiding British citizenry. He was in Caerphilly – close to a little town called Machen where I lived for a few years – in South Wales in 2010 where, in his enthusiasm to engage with the public, he decided to indulge in sexual intercourse with one of them – a married woman.

Ever prepared to fight crime no matter what the circumstance, the redoubtable PC Jenkins kept his weapon – as it were – at hand at all times: his gun was around his ankles during what the tribunal who investigated the incident described as the equivalent of a “tea break”.

He could, said the tribunal rather optimistically, ‘have been back on duty “within a minute or two”‘ – presumably with his trousers still at ankle level; in every way ready for action.

Tea breaks are not what they used to be.

From the BBC:

An armed police officer who had sex on duty was not sacked because an appeals panel said it was similar to “a tea break”, it has emerged.

PC Shaun Jenkins, 36, was carrying a gun when he met the married woman in a house in Caerphilly in 2010.

They had consensual sex, with his gun still around his ankles.

An appeals tribunal report concluded “it was the sort of delay that will occur if an officer goes to the toilet or into a cafe to buy a cup of tea”.

Gwent Police had initially dismissed PC Jenkins for gross misconduct but he was later reinstated.

The tribunal ruled PC Jenkins could still reach his gun because it was in its holder attached to the belt of his trousers, which were around his ankles.

A report into his conduct found the act did not pose a risk to public safety because he could have been back on duty “within a minute or two”.

Niagara Anglican circulation numbers

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In one year the Niagara Anglican’s (the Diocese of Niagara’s paper) circulation has declined by 6.4%. This is due to the “[i]ncapacity or death” of former recipients.

It’s not unreasonable to infer that the decline in circulation is at least matched if not exceeded by an equivalent 6.4% decline in membership.

Interestingly, the circulation numbers include parishes that have left the diocese – there are 4; I and others in the departed congregations continue to receive the paper – so basing membership on the circulation numbers probably yields an inflated figure.

You will be please to know that $426,573 of your tax dollars have contributed to distributing Anglican Church of Canada newspapers.

From here (Page 4):

In her 2013 report to the recent Anglican Editors Association conference, Senior Manager Beverley Murphy provided the following information:

• Total circulation [of the Anglican Journal] was down 4.49% since last year;

• Incapacity or death is the reason given in most instances for cancellation;

• Electronic updates average 72 per week;

• Majority of updates are sent by parishes via regular mail;

• Half of all circulation emails come from individuals, then parishes (36.7%) and dioceses (13.3%);

• The Canada Periodical Fund provided a grant ($426,573 from April 2012 to April

2013) which basically covers half of all mailing costs for the Anglican Journal and the 23 diocesan newspapers;

• The Canada Post’s Address Accuracy Program compares subscribers’ addresses with valid addresses on Canada Post’s database. All diocesan papers have sustained the required rate of 95% accuracy.

In 2012, the Niagara Anglican had an accuracy rate of 98.5%.

In June 2012, the Niagara Anglican had a circulation of 10,406, which stood at 9,740 in September this year. It is the fifth largest among the diocesan papers.

Toronto Anglican is the largest, followed by Anglican Life (Newfoundland and Labrador), Huron Church News and the Diocesan Times (Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island). The total Anglican Journal circulation for June 2012 was 155,383 subscribers compared with 143,510 in September 2013.

Partnered homosexual Anglican priest is head chaplain in Canada’s military

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From here:

In his new job as head chaplain in the military, Brig.-Gen. John Fletcher will be overseeing the religious needs of Canada’s troops, shoring up what the Defence Department calls its chaplaincy’s “inclusive, welcoming culture.”

As an openly gay member of the military and Anglican priest for more than two decades, it’s an environment Fletcher has benefitted from firsthand.

His recent appointment is in sharp contrast to past military policy, which allowed discrimination against gays and lesbians. Fletcher said he came out not long after a landmark court decision struck down the rule in 1992, alleviating his fears about what could happen to his career if he did come out.

Fletcher acknowledges that some may find it odd, or even scandalous, that he is a career military man, a priest and homosexual.

“I equally understand that some people will be excited and encouraged by the openness of my own church, to allow me to exercise this ministry and certainly encouraged that I’m free to work within a Canadian military that simply doesn’t discriminate on (the basis of) these things,” he said.

What strikes me as odd about this article is not the presence of a homosexual Anglican priest – something whose shock value is now rather less than the increasingly rare instance of encountering a heterosexual Anglican priest – but that the Defence Department is busy cultivating a chaplaincy that emphasises an “inclusive, welcoming culture.”

I was labouring under the misapprehension that the job of the military was to train men to kill other men in defence of their country; the chaplain’s job, I thought, was to try and  prepare soldiers for a premature introduction to their Maker by encouraging them to get to know him beforehand.

This brief description of chaplains in action strikes me as more convincing than today’s  warm, mushy, welcoming culture of inclusion version:

I frequently noted in the field, how chaplains – to a man – sought out front line action. And I assume that was because, as one put it, at the time: ‘There is where the fighting man needs God most – and that’s where some of them know him for the first time. – U.S.M.C. Commandant A.A. Vandegrift, 1945

St. Aidan’s Windsor loses appeal

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I just received this via email:

Canon Tom Carman, rector of St Aidan’s, reports:

“In its decision, the Court of Appeal, upheld the conclusions of the trial court judge, Justice Little, on both the matter of St Aidan’s property and the St Aidan’s bequeathment and finance fund.  In addition, the Diocese of Huron was awarded partial costs in the amount of $100,000.

“St Aidan’s had a strong case, based on trust law.  The Diocese of Huron’s Canon 14 states in reference to church property that the diocese “holds it in trust for the benefit of the Parish or congregation.”  This was strengthened by a letter obtained by the people of St Aidan’s from the Chancellor of the Diocese, Lindsey Ellwood, on November 21, 2001 in which he wrote:

“I further reaffirm our discussion wherein I advise that pursuant to Canon 14 the Incorporated Synod of the Diocese of Huron…  has no beneficial or legal entitlement to parish property…”

“Based on these assurances, St Aidan’s proceeded with the appeal and our lawyer, Peter Jervis, was able to build a strong case.  Sadly, the courts accepted the argument of the Diocese that the parish only exists as an entity within the structures of the diocese and that it is impossible for a “parish” to leave the diocese.

“The people of St Aidan’s are understandably disappointed in this decision, however, we believe that the Lord has a plan for us and are trusting in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  

“We are still considering whether to apply for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.  Please keep us in your prayers.”

Sadly, almost every encounter in the courts between the Anglican Church of Canada and the Anglican Network in Canada has gone badly for ANiC – the notable exception being St. Hilda’s first court appearance when the judge ruled that our sharing the building with the diocese of Niagara wouldn’t work. And that ruling was later reversed.

Our prayers should be with St. Aidan’s and Tom Carman. Barring a surprise turnaround from the Supreme Court of Canada, this battle appears to be lost; nevertheless, St. Aidan’s has fought the good fight, one whose true outcome we may not see this side of eternity.

As an aside, I am still flabbergasted that Canadian judges deem it impossible for a parish to leave a diocese in the face of the empirical evidence of around 70 parishes who have done just that – particularly in the light of recent a US ruling where a judge decided that an entire diocese can leave TEC.

In Canada, from a judicial perspective, a “parish” is an abstract entity which doesn’t have to include any people: it is a diocesan owned container into which people may throw their money, talents and energy. When full, the container and the contents belong to the diocese: a health and wealth gospel without the health and you forfeit your wealth. Why would anyone choose to belong to such a church?

Something that makes this ruling even more preposterous is that the Diocese of Huron, when sued over residential school abuse, sought to protect what it regarded as its assets by writing a letter that stated the individual parishes owned their own property, not the diocese.

But Knight said the issue here has other subtleties. Knight said the diocese penned a letter while the Anglican Church was being sued for abuse suffered by Aboriginal children in its residential schools.

Presumably to protect church assets, the letter says the church buildings belong to their individual parishes and the diocese has no claim to them, Knight said.

The diocese might just as well say that it has no claim on the buildings when to have a claim might cause it to lose them and every claim on the buildings when not to have a claim might cause it to lose them.

And now, after this brief sojourn down the rabbit hole with the Mad Hatter, in the spirit of the lucidity of thought that has gone into this judgement,  I’ll let the Dormouse have the last word:

`You might just as well say,’ added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, `that “I breathe when I sleep” is the same thing as “I sleep when I breathe”!’