Contrasting Justin Welby’s reaction to two presidents

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Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but when Trump was elected in 2016, Justin Welby couldn’t resist mentioning the bitter campaign and I can’t help suspecting that his prayers for the American people were for protection from the policies of their new president.

A year later, Welby confessed that he could not understand why so many Christians supported Trump.

From here:

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, my continuing prayers are that the United States of America may find reconciliation after a bitter campaign, and that Mr Trump may be given wisdom, insight and grace as he faces the tasks before him. Together we pray for all the people of the United States.

In contrast, now Biden seems likely to become president, Welby has somehow failed to notice that the 2020 campaign was even more bitter and reconciliation in even shorter supply. Instead, we have a probable future of hope and a fresh vision of the common good.

Not that Welby is biased in any way but when Biden pronounced himself president-elect, I could here Welby’s sigh of relief all the way from Canada.

From here:

As @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris prepare to take office, may God grant them wisdom and courage to face the great challenges of leadership ahead. For all the American people, I pray for hope and a fresh vision of the common good.

Who is celebrating Biden’s victory?

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During a recent church zoom meeting someone started rejoicing at the impending end of the reign of the current tenant of the White House. Just as I started to open my mouth, my wife whispered in my ear, “don’t”. That’s code for “shut up, don’t start on politics”.

It was a narrow escape, but I managed it. It did make me ponder one of life’s little mysteries, though: why do political liberals always take it for granted that every right-thinking, sane person simply must agree with them? If someone has the effrontery to disagree, it doesn’t merely take the liberal aback, it rattles the foundations of his entire universe. That’s one of the reasons I find disagreeing almost irresistible.

I wanted Trump to win. Among those who didn’t are these industrial baby killers:

Abortion giants around the world have celebrated Joe Biden’s reported Presidential victory by releasing a series of statements praising his pro-abortion position and policies.

Joe Biden was announced as the winner of the 2020 Presidential election by media outlets during the weekend. Some remaining US states continue to count their votes.

Following the announcement, global abortion giants took to social media to congratulate Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for their

Planned Parenthood and NARAL have both publicly celebrated Biden’s reported win.

The Florida Planned Parenthood Alliance said: “The work is just getting started. Today, we celebrate; tomorrow, we get to work.”

Planned Parenthood kills an average of 345,672 unborn children every year by abortion.

Alexis McGill Johnson, President of Planned Parenthood Action said: “Voters’ voices were loud and clear, and they elected a new President, who is fully committed to protecting access to sexual and reproductive health care — including access to abortion…

“Throughout her career, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has been a steadfast champion for reproductive rights and health care. With the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, America will be in the hands of leaders who are deeply committed to advancing and expanding reproductive rights.”

Marie Stopes International (MSI) and Marie Stopes UK, which is one of Britain’s largest abortion providers, also weighed in on the election results.

In an online statement Marie Stopes, which kills an average of 4 million unborn children globally each year, congratulated Biden and Harris for their dedication to “choice” and urged for the repeal of Donald Trump’s pro-life policies.

The abortion giant said: “We look forward to the United States restoring their position as a world leader in championing choice and reproductive rights.

“The new administration will have a lot on its plate, but a quick win would be the repeal of Trump’s Global Gag Rule… Without Trump’s Global Gag Rule.”

The Anglican Church of Canada has some new priorities

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Well, they’re not really new, and the ACoC isn’t really a church, it’s a left-wing political agitation organization – an ecclesiastical ANTIFA – but here they are anyway, straight from the latest deliberations of the she/hers, he/hims and they/hes that occupy the Council of General Synod:

Finally, the five areas CoGS thought it was most important for the SPWG (Strategic Planning Working Group) to consider in-depth were:

  1. Self-determining Indigenous church;

  2. Dismantling racism and colonialism;

  3. Public advocacy for social, economic and environmental causes;

  4. Governance and decision-making (General Synod, CoGS); and

  5. Communication with and among Canadian Anglicans.

They all seem to be palefaces, so they have a lot of racist dismantling to do.

Saving souls was number 439 on the list. I’m joking, it didn’t make the list.

Zombies in the Diocese of Huron

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No, I’m not referring to members of the diocesan clergy, but to the fact that St. Andrew’s Memorial Anglican Church has found a new way to lure zombies – sorry, people – into its unsacred spaces.

The parish is hosting a discussion group on George A. Romero’s 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead. Apparently, the film has something to say about racism, so, having given up on Christianity, it’s an obvious choice for an Anglican All Saints study.

Besides, the word “zombie” is derived from “Nzambi”, a West African voodoo snake-deity so it fits nicely into diocesan theology.

Book now before it fills up:

Saturday from 15:00 EDT-16:15 EDT

Public · Hosted by St. Andrew’s Memorial Anglican Church

Online event

A pandemic. Fear of neighbours. Lockdown in homes. Panic. Mobs and militias. Racism. George A. Romero’s 1968 zombie film is surprisingly smart and terrifyingly relevant to our own day. Simply watch the movie on your own (it’s widely available through libraries and streaming services) and come prepared for an engaging discussion via the Zoom videoconferencing app.

Contact matthewkieswetter[at]diohuron.org (or whichever email account you have in your address book) for the Zoom coordinates and to receive some optional preparatory reading material.

While this event is connected with St. Andrew’s Memorial Anglican Church in Kitchener, it’s open to anyone of goodwill! [Viewer/parental discretion is advised.]

An insurance company haunted by Kafka’s ghost

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This has nothing to do with the Anglican Church but I thought it might be of some interest to anyone valiantly wrestling with an obdurate insurance company.

We have had house insurance with Northbridge insurance using the broker Hub International for around 25 years. Upon a recent renewal, I discovered my rates had increased by 25%. The following is an account of the Kafkaesque experience of trying to find out why – it is a note to my contact at Hub asking her to cancel my policy (I have to sign a piece of paper, it seems):

Thanks, I presume this means you want a physical piece of paper returned via the post office? Welcome back to the 20th Century.

When we spoke I was walking the dog. Here is a more complete version of why I am cancelling:

1. My premiums have increased by 25%. Last Monday I phoned to ask why. By some fluke I did eventually connect with a real person who transferred me to someone else (not sure who). That person didn’t have any convincing explanation but she said she would look into getting a better rate and call me back on Friday.

2. She didn’t. Today (Monday) I called your office again a number of times – the 905 582 5500 #. The first couple of times I was placed in a queue. Eventually your end disconnected me.

3. Naively, I thought I’d try again and leave a message. After pressing the necessary number I was – you guessed it – disconnected.

4. I called the claims number just to see if I could reach a real person. I did. She explained she could not deal with anything but claims. She gave me another number – 877 495 8777. I tried it twice. Each time there was a ring no answer followed by a disconnect.

5. I then phoned Northbridge. They told me I had to speak you. I explained your phone system is broken. She transferred me to a Hub manager. I spoke to her voice mail.

6. With dogged determination, I called the 905 number again in order to try a directory search for someone called Silvy Wright who claims to be the “President and CEO”. Naturally, that got me nowhere and after a few minutes of generating some seemingly random DTMF codes, I was magically connected to an operator. She wasn’t too happy that someone had penetrated your company’s impressive defenses but she did grudgingly connect me to the voicemail of the “person who looks after me”: you.

7. You called me back while I was walking the dog; in hindsight, I should have put you on hold for 30 minutes.

8. Later this evening someone from Hub (Justine) in BC called me. Since I was sitting down at home I regaled her with the whole bizarre experience. She told me someone would call back tomorrow (Tuesday).

All this and I still don’t know why my premium has increased by 25%. I trust this will help you understand why, after 25 years of giving you my money, I am rather disenchanted with Hub.

Please pass this on to your management and phone technicians.
For the edification of others, I will be posting this on your Facebook site, Twitter feed, any review sites I have access to and a blog I run.

Have a nice day.

And the award for the most idiotic Christian argument for abortion goes to…..

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Rodney Dunklee who tells us that the “soul is mated to the body” at the “first breath after birth” so before then the baby is not a person.

This, apparently, is Scriptural because “Genesis teaches of God’s breath of life being breathed into clay bringing Adam alive thus reinforcing the union of breathing and life.”

This means it is fine to kill a baby, not just in the womb, but after she has been born, so long as she hasn’t taken her first breath. If you are quick off the mark and don’t take an immediate liking to your new daughter, just stick the knife in before she starts inhaling. A beating heart doesn’t matter; brain activity doesn’t matter; movement doesn’t matter; only the breath matters.

And we wonder why the world thinks Christians are gullible halfwits given to crass, obscene superstitions.

From here:

In response to the letter to the editor by Louis Cascarelli (“Please support candidates opposed to abortion Nov. 3,” The Daily News, Sept. 30), who was wondering why more clergy don’t preach against abortion: It may be those who’ve studied the Bible realize the pro-life position that all abortion is sin is more conservative than some Scriptures.

I believe Psalm 139:13-15 — “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb; 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well; 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth” — is referring to one’s soul being created out of a body in the depths of the Earth.

Being knit together is a process that concludes with the soul being mated to the body and it happens with a slap on the bottom and first breath after birth. Similarly, I and many others, believe your soul leaves after your lungs settle in the last exhale of death.

Genesis teaches of God’s breath of life being breathed into clay bringing Adam alive thus reinforcing the union of breathing and life.

Just as Christians believe one moment you’re a sinner but can be instantly born again as a child of God, the Bible is filled with miraculous transformations similar to a soul binding with the flesh with one’s first breath.

Yes, a woman’s egg is alive when it begins to grow. It’s internal tissue as one’s appendix is and what happens to it should be her choice.

Once the baby starts breathing and is mated with its eternal soul, the important part to God that was created in a secret place outside the woman’s body, our current laws protect it.

Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador is running out of cash and selling assets to stay afloat

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This isn’t particularly surprising.

Although at the September 2019 synod, the diocese voted to marry same-sex couples in defiance of the General Synod vote that failed to approve same-sex marriage. I’m sure the diocese is shocked that this bold move has not brought in floods of same-sex couples, opening their wallets to stuff $50 bills into the bishop’s mitre.

From here:

Anglican diocese running out of cash, selling assets in ‘hemorrhage situation’

The Anglican Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador has announced it’s running out of money and may need to stem its losses with layoffs, closures and sale of assets.

In an Oct. 5 letter obtained by CBC News, the diocesan finance committee said COVID-19 lockdown measures — which prevented gathering for worship for months — had a “devastating impact” on the church’s finances.

“While a number of our parishes continued to receive offerings and donations via drop-off collections and electronic means, it is clear that COVID-19 has negatively impacted our stewardship,” the letter says.

Archdeacon Sam Rose told CBC the pandemic has exacerbated previous financial struggles resulting from a reduction in church attendance.

“Like most organizations the onset of COVID accelerated this rapid decline,” he said Thursday.

Parishes largely operate on vitally important income from collections and fundraising dinners, Rose said.

“That essentially all came to a stop. We’re seeing now … the side effects of being shut down and locked down for the last six months.”

The letter outlines immediate emergency responses by the church last spring, including the receipt of $663,000 from the federal wage subsidy program, the bulk of which the diocese used to pay staff and clergy from April until Aug. 31.

Despite federal support, the church is operating at a $65,000 monthly deficit and expects to run out of money by mid-2021, the letter stated. Some parishes have been unable to pay their clergy.

“Don’t get me wrong, we have very healthy parishes,” Rose said. “It’s the central office that is experiencing this setback right now.”

The diocese will end 2020 some $670,000 in the red, according to the finance committee’s estimate.

The report suggested selling diocesan assets as a short-term fix. Its vacant office property at 19 King’s Bridge Rd. is listed for sale with an asking price of $1.5 million.

“We must stress that the sale of property to provide operating revenue is an emergency response and must not be considered lightly,” the letter says, “as it only provides a Band-Aid solution to a hemorrhage situation.”

Officials within the diocese are hammering out a plan for the coming months, which may include building closures and layoffs. “Our way of being the church may look very different in the months to come,” the letter said.

Diocese of Huron in rapid decline

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From the diocesan paper:

Between the years of 2007-2017 Huron witnessed the disappearance of more than fifty congregations. Each of these was a mission light that has gone out in our Diocese.

[….]

Statistics that show that between the years 2007-2017 Huron’s membership declined by 15,771 baptized members, with 5,037 fewer worshippers on Sunday, seeing 10,846 fewer participants for Easter celebrations and witnessing the disappearance of 2,346 children who had previously been learning God’s story through Sunday ministries. Trends that document that 85% of congregations in Huron were marked by membership decline in that decade, while roughly 10% were holding steady.

The article goes on to note that some may find it consoling that the rest of the ACoC is also evaporating at a similar rate. There are few things as comforting as all gurgling down the toilet together.

Some in our Church find consolation in these changing times knowing that most Anglican dioceses in Canada are in the same boat together – that widespread membership trends of decline are being experienced across the country. Researchers Brian Clarke and Stuart MacDonald have calculated that the annual decline of national Anglican membership to be roughly 22,700 members per year!

The same edition of the paper invites us all, on October the 11th, to celebrate:

National Coming Out Day. Celebrate with your queer and trans* friends and parishioners. Honour their journeys; hear their stories; lift up the voices of queer and trans* people within your community.

The author goes on to explain that ney (that’s nem’s pronoun – or perhaps it’s the other way around. It gets confusing), over the years has:

… gone by many different terms for my sexuality – lesbian, pansexual, demisexual, gay, and now the all-encompassing “queer”.

That’s a lot to celebrate.

If that hasn’t convinced you to come back to church, this workshop, described in the same newspaper, will:

A total of four workshops on allyship and the  place  of  queer  and trans* identities within the church  were  offered  online    on  August 22 and August 29 by the newly-formed Proud Anglicans of Huron.

I still don’t know what the asterisk affixed to “trans” means. Perhaps it’s another pronoun for those yet to come out with more arcane, hitherto undeclared, sexual inclinations.

If, for some inexplicable reason that doesn’t halt the diocesan slide into oblivion, this video is sure to do the trick.

After watching that, I am experiencing an irrepressible urge to move to Huron myself. Just so I can attend an Anglican church there.