A merry and blessed Christmas to all.
A few carols played by me:
O come let us adore Him
4
I dreamed a dream and I thought it true
I’m not much given to visions or the dreaming of visions, but I did have this dream some time ago.
In my teens I enjoyed dabbling with electronics. I would take radios and TVs apart either to fix them or see how they worked.
I had fixed a wireless and left it outside its cabinet at the side of my bed. Plugged in. The mains supply in the UK is 240V, much more robust than the anaemic North American 120V. Upon awakening, I reached down to turn on my masterpiece of renovation only to discover I had unwittingly grasped the 240V input terminal to the power transformer.
I don’t recommend you try this for yourself but, if you do, you will discover that your hand will seem to stick to the point of electrical contact while every muscle in your body spasms and shrieks at you in the utmost agony. Needless to say I survived, in spite of my attempt to invent the ultimate alarm clock. My first activity of the morning was to put the cabinet back on the wireless.
This brings me to the dream. Even though my conscious mind had long forgotten the incident, much as my hand had stuck to the electrical terminal, my unconscious was still grasping, or in the grasp of my adolescent electrocution. 60 years later I dreamt about it. There was one thing different in the dream version, though: I heard a voice say “you have one more second of conscious life left to you, then your self-awareness will be obliterated for ever.” I awoke in a panic.
Even though it was a dream, the idea of annihilation filled me with the utmost terror, more so than any of the other options – even judgement and condemnation. Perhaps I feel this way because I am an unrepentant egotist unwilling to let go of my inner dross. Or perhaps annihilationism isn’t as kind an option as some might like to think.
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The Diocese of Niagara is keeping Gaia in Christmas
The Diocese of Niagara is promoting The Order of the Sacred Earth this Christmas. The idea is to take a vow to become “the best lover and defender of Mother Earth that I can be”.
We are assured that this is not a new religion and, since whole exercise exudes the aroma of pagan fertility rites, it’s hard to disagree: it’s an old one that has been regurgitated, then puréed and seasoned by sprinkling it with enough 21st century banalities to make it appealing to the modern palate. Another thing we can agree on is that it has nothing to do with Christianity. Just like the Diocese of Niagara.
From the diocesan web site:
ORDER OF THE SACRED EARTH
Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, Jennifer Berit Listug (Monkfish Book Publishing Company 2018)
Fox writes that the world does not need another religion or even a reshuffling of our old religions. He says, “What it needs is a new Order.” He describes this Order as a community and movement of people [no matter what their background] to share a sacred vow to preserve Mother Earth and become the best lovers and defenders they can be on behalf of Mother Earth. A post-denominational Order and a post-religious Order – therefore a Spiritual order!
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Diocese of Niagara interfaith service attracts more Muslims than Christians
A short update on the interfaith service held at All Saints Anglican Church in Erin.
Here is a photo of the service which attracted 30 Muslims and two imams. As far as I can tell, they outnumber the regular parishioners. Finally an answer to the disastrous numerical decline in the Anglican Church of Canada.
Here is the Chrislam version of the Lord’s Prayer which was used:
Priest: And lead us not into temptation
Imam: Show us the straight path. The path of those whom Thou has favoured
Not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger. Nor of those who go astray.Priest: For Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
There was one potentially embarrassing moment when someone brought up the awkward topic of “jihad”. The impertinent question was deftly diverted away from the imputation that it might involve lopping off the heads of infidels:
When All Saints parishioner Lynne Dole asked about the word “jihad”, the Imam said that for many in the West this word means war or aggression against “infidels” (those not of the Muslim faith). He explained that the word itself means effort, striving, struggling to become a good Muslim and informing others about their faith.
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Anglican priest wants to keep Christ out of Christmas
Brian Pearson, a retired Anglican priest from the Diocese of Niagara – where else – has chosen this Christmas to expose the fundamental tenets of Christianity for the myths they really are.
Forget the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, angels from the realms of glory, Magi and a miraculous star. All much too literal: Jungian mythical thinking is what we need.
Keep Jung in Christmas!
From here:
Consider this. The Christmas story is not just about Jesus. Yes, it’s a theological construct designed to bolster the Christian claim that Jesus is the Son of God. But it’s also a mythic tale that has something to say about all of us. Or why would we still be telling it, lo, these many years later? It’s not supposed to be just about him!
The hardest sermons I had to preach in my 38 years of ministry as a parish priest were at Christmas and Easter. People wanted to hear the old, old stories, and they didn’t want you messing around with them. It was hard because, as literal stories, they not only beggar our ability to believe, they have almost nothing to say to us. Jesus was born of a virgin. Okay, interesting! Jesus rose from the grave. Well, how nice for him!
These stories only speak to us if we see them as the myths that they truly are, that is, as stories that may not be literally true, but that tell a certain kind of universal truth. Or, as a First Nations saying goes, “It may not have happened just like that, but every word of it is true.”
As to Christmas, what could a virgin birth, an angelic visitation, and a guiding star possibly have to do with us? Unless, that birth is viewed mythically — as hope in a dark world, as each new birth is; as attended to by the angels, as all births are; as changing the world, as every birth does.
Then the story shifts to become a lens through which we see our own miraculous arrival, both literally, as babies, and spiritually, as we become the people God made us to be. I was a sign of hope, when I was born; the angels watched over me, and celebrated; my presence has changed the world, forever. Now that’s something to chew on over Christmas dinner.
The Jungian writer James Hillman says literal thinking is the enemy of mythical thinking. You make a story literal — like, insisting that the virgin birth was historical fact — and you squeeze all the life out of it. But mythical thinking — well, there we are, right in the middle of that story, right down to our soul.
Brian Pearson is a retired Anglican priest (formerly from Niagara).
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Diocese of Niagara parish holds Islamic interfaith service
Rev. Joan Dunn of All Saints Anglican Church in Erin invited two imams and 30 Muslim worshippers to a Eucharist for joint Christian/Muslim prayers and a question time with the imams.
I’m at a loss to understand why a question time was necessary. Is Dunn unaware of that most marvellous invention, the Internet? With little effort she could have discovered that Islam teaches that Jesus did not die on the cross, did not atone for our sins, was not resurrected, and was not God incarnate. Must be a perfect fit with diocesan theology.
From here:
A behind the scenes look into the Erin Islamic Cultural Centre
On Sept. 29 the mosque held an interfaith service with Rev. Joan Dunn at the All Saints Anglican Church just up the street.“We all have the same faith, the same prophets,” said Celik, explaining that the community is curious about the new mosque and had questions about the Islamic faith.
The Erin Islamic Cultural Centre is inside a former Christian church. The group purchased the historical building and converted it into a mosque, trading wooden pews for soft carpet.
Celik said the shift was quite simple, as the site was already zoned as a place of worship. The building has a separate prayer area for women, as well.
To make the imams feel comfortable, did Rev. Joan Dunn sit in a separate prayer area for women?
Note that the Erin Islamic Cultural Centre is inside a former Christian church. So is All Saints Anglican Church.
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It’s hotter than Hades down here
A few years ago, I was chatting about Hell with a friend of one of our children. At the time he was at Oxford studying for a doctorate in theology. We were talking about Hell because he had come to the conclusion that it is empty – of humanity, at least. His reasoning was that once a dead person is confronted by God, the experience would so overwhelm him that he would be unable to do anything other than accept the salvation through Jesus that would still be on offer.
I countered with the objection that by doing this, God would be taking from us his most precious and mysterious gift: our free will. If, after death, we are not permitted to reject God, what meaning is there for those who, in life, accepted him? What of a Christopher Hitchens who saw God as a celestial dictator and wanted no part of him or his heaven? Since the friend is much cleverer than I, I also threw in a few tidbits about free-will from Dostoevsky in the hope that an appeal to authority might deliver at least a wounding blow.
He didn’t appear too wounded when he left, and I have no idea who won the argument or whether it merely ended up as an example of good disagreement. Perhaps not the latter since I privately concluded that he had succumbed to an overdose of liberal wish-fulfillment that would not serve him well outside of the foggy heights of academia.
Our encounter did illuminate one curious thing about today’s church, particularly the Anglican church. I used to think that Anglicans had altogether abandoned the transcendent, preferring to dwell in the temporal, the here and now. That isn’t quite accurate. The church has been replacing the numinous with shabby worldly substitutes for years. Sex instead of the mystical, utopia instead of heaven, socialism instead of charity.
And, of course, global warming instead of Hell.
The Diocese of Bristol and Swindon is right into the swing of things: the diocese has declared a Climate Emergency. Clergy and laity are doing their bit to save us from the fires of earthly Gehenna by brandishing signs with intense liturgical piety. You can see the fervour in their expressions.
From here:
The Diocese of Bristol and Swindon has declared a climate emergency after a unanimous vote at its last meeting.
In response to the emergency, the Diocese aims to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2030 and has an ambitious policy to help achieve this goal.
It is the first diocese in the Church of England to announce this aim, with others expected to do so over the coming months.
Bishop of Bristol Viv Faull said: “Care for God’s creation is key to our Christian faith. Climate change hits our poorest global neighbours first and worst, exacerbating migration, conflict over resources and the spread of disease.
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Oldest Anglican parish in Canada conducts its first same-sex marriage
The Anglican Cathedral of St. John The Baptist in St. John’s Newfoundland was founded in 1699 and claims to be the oldest Anglican church in Canada.
The church just married two ladies to each other, which goes to show that wisdom does not necessarily accompany age.
The church’s mission statement needs to be rewritten because it currently contains this gross misstatement: “The Cathedral Parish will, by the Grace of God….. Preserve Anglican heritage and tradition of Newfoundland and Labrador”
From here:
Susan Green and Brenda Halley chose the Anglican Cathedral of St. John The Baptist as their church 12 years ago, little realizing that they would be part of history.
But earlier this month the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist—the oldest Anglican parish in Canada, founded in 1699—has performed its first same-sex marriage ceremony, their marriage ceremony.
The couple has been together for 18 years and knew the church was friendly, because one of the church leaders, a deacon who is openly gay, was accepted by the church community.
Green says the Cathedral is what she calls “an interesting blend of history and tradition, modernity and progression.”
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Five Diocese of Toronto clergy want a divorce from the diocese. Except they don’t
The recently published attendance statistics of the Anglican Church of Canada paint a gloomy picture of a dying denomination. The proposed solution is to do more of what is killing the church but do it with more enthusiasm.
Five conservative clergy in the Diocese of Toronto have noticed the flaw in this strategy and are proposing, not a divorce exactly, but at least a separation. They optimistically reckon that a third of the clergy in the diocese would go along with this.
This is nonsense for two reasons:
First, clergy willing to risk their reputation, friendships, buildings and pension for the sake of the Gospel have already done so: they have joined ANiC.
Second, it assumes that liberals in the church are willing to live alongside those who disagree with them. They aren’t. If you want evidence of this, look back at the recent General Synod after the failure of the marriage canon vote. Those who lost the vote were literally rolling on the floor wailing in anguish because their views were not affirmed. Uniformity of thought is the only balm that will ease their suffering.
Some may see this letter from the Anglican Communion Alliance as encouraging. I don’t. Conservative clergy who remain in the ACoC have been in desperate retreat for decades, occasionally throwing up a rearguard action as a squid squirts ink to aid in its getaway. If they really meant what they said, they would no longer be ACoC clergy.
From here:
An Open Letter to the House of Bishops November 14, 2019
A simple question:
If the clergy of Toronto were asked, “How many of you wish to be part of a region where your ministry will be conducted within the boundaries of the doctrine, discipline, liturgy and canons of the church?,” how many would say “yes’? Likely a third. Probably more.
The question is asked because a clear choice now exists. If Toronto’s 2019 Diocesan Synod is the example, the ruling ethos of the diocese, led by a very talented and likable bishop, is demonstrably outside those boundaries.
Using experimental liturgies and hymns that abandon the “common prayer” of the church,
. . . living by the open sexual ethic of the local option,
. . . in public defiance of the church’s canons
. . . according to a faith that is unrecognizable by the received standards of the Christian faith and indistinguishable from the secular mores of Canada’s cultural elite.
And, not insignificantly, having failed completely regarding one of its most cherished dreams – diversity! In the time that membership in the ACC fell from 1.3 million to 350,000, down to less than 100,000 in average Sunday attendance, Canada’s population doubled. Where the ACC once represented 7% of the population, that number has now dropped to 1%. There are two ways forward. The first is the status quo. If you choose 1960 as the starting point, it has 60 years of decline behind it. It was a time when that which was held in common – doctrine, discipline, canons and liturgy – shrank dramatically, and the outer boundaries grew apart, to the extent that they are no longer recognizable to each other.
The second is to recognize that the outer limits cannot, at present, be contained in the same body because the resulting tension is both destructive and fatal. It is to declare a 20-year ceasefire and to give what has become two distinct realms the freedom to conduct their ministries according to their truest lights and to show the fruit of their ministry. Call it the Gamaliel experiment. Keep it simple. For the sake of the unity of the church, limit the division to bishops and clergy. Parishes would retain a certain independence and remain able, as they now are, to seek and request a change in direction when a successor is appointed.
Let the experimental party be guided by their self-declared bishops.
And let that party seeking to live within the boundaries of the received doctrine, discipline, liturgy and canons of the church fall under the oversight of bishops publicly committed to upholding the received teaching of the Church. Communion Partners and Communion Partner bishops is one example ready to hand. They are a body already active in Canada, recognized communion wide and capable of maintaining order and oversight according to the received faith of the church.
Why 20 years? Because the best prediction says 2040 is when we close up shop, anyway. If this is the last leg of the journey, would it not be better to have the two realms in a state of peaceful co-existence, serving at full strength, to be judged by the fruit of their ministry for the sake of Christ and his Church?
We place this proposal — our own — before the whole House of Bishops to consider.
Ajit John+, Murray Henderson+, Dean Mercer+, Ephraim Radner+, Catherine Sider-Hamilton+
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Diocese of Ontario to ignore marriage canon vote
The Diocese of Ontario is the latest diocese to approve same-sex marriages.
From here:
Dear Friends,
I am writing to you further to my letter of October 27th to the diocese following the session of the Special Synod convened last Saturday, October 26th. I have given prayerful consideration to the content of the debate, the results of the votes taken by the clergy and laity and sought the counsel of the Bishop’s Advisory Committee which met this past Friday.
I am prepared to authorize same sex marriages in the diocese by those clergy and congregations who make a request to me for such authorization. Attached to this letter is the policy I have drafted which is framed to strike a balance between the pastoral generosity which some wish to extend and the gracious restraint to which others wish to adhere. I commend it to you and will continue to welcome your comment, advice and counsel as we move forward.I am deeply grateful for the prayers offered and the diligence shown by members of synod who spoke from their hearts and the courage of their convictions. I am also grateful for the communications I have received from throughout the diocese, not only in light of the current special synod, but throughout the last several years we have addressed this issue. Thank you so very much.
May the Peace of Christ attend us, the Love of God bind us together and the Breath of the Spirit sustain us into a future that is filled with hope and promise.Pastoral guidelines for same sex marriage (PDF)
Yours Faithfully, Bishop Michael
Here is an updated list of dioceses that will marry same-sex couples:
Diocese of Ontario
Diocese of Central Newfoundland
Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador
Diocese of Western Newfoundland
Diocese of New Westminster
Diocese of Toronto
Diocese of Niagara
Diocese of Montreal
Diocese of Ottawa
Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
Diocese of Rupert’s Land
Diocese of Kootenay
Diocese of Edmonton
Diocese of B.C.
Diocese of Huron
That hits the 45% mark. Soon it will be more economical to list the dioceses that have not authorised same-sex marriage. Again, this raises the question: why did they bother to hold a vote on this at General Synod and why all the subsequent fuss when it failed to pass?
