Marriage Canon: A message from Archbishop Melissa Skelton

Posted on by
2

Bishop Skelton did not attend the synod because of illness. She had this to say about the failure of the motion to change the Marriage Canon:

I was very disappointed not to have been with our delegates on account of my illness as the vote on the marriage canon occurred tonight. All that I can say is that I’m very sorry for all the feelings of hurt that this vote has caused, and that I urge everyone to pray for the Anglican Church of Canada.

Remember that this Synod is not over! And so please pray that together we can find a better solution to the marriage question.

+Melissa

There was a lot of emotion following the vote. Someone screamed. Another person ran out in tears. The final prayer was delivered by a lady who had tears trickling down her face. Fred Hiltz said he was “concious of pain in this place”. Anyone would think the the desire to change the canon was propelled by emotion rather than Scripture and reason.

Like a zombie that just won’t die, the possibility of a new motion to revisit the Marriage Canon resolution was raised from the floor at the end of the evening.

Anglican Church of Canada: motion to change Marriage Canon defeated

Posted on by
9

The two thirds majority needed to allow same-sex marriage was met by the laity and clergy but defeated by the bishops.

Primate Fred Hiltz appeared to be stunned by the vote.

Before the meeting was adjourned, there was talk of making another motion to somehow bypass the decision of this defeated motion, so this may not be over.

Bishop David Parsons is not happy

Posted on by
7

I’m watching the live stream of GS2019. The discussion is about the change to the Marriage Canon. A motion has just been made to close debate. That means that Bishop David Parsons will not be able to express his views; apparently something similar happened in 2016. I wish I had recorded it, but the gist of it was that, in spite of all the talk about respect for all points of view, not much respect was being shown to the bishop – who, of course, disagrees with the motion.

It went further – almost to the point of unCanadian unpleasantness – as the bishop seemed to throw down a gauntlet: there would be serious consequences if he wasn’t heard. If anyone has a better recollection of exactly what was said, please comment below.

Bishop David: I’m sure ANiC would be delighted if you spoke at any of its synods.

Anglicans learning to be polite at synod

Posted on by
3

From here:

In an exercise intended to produce more compassionate discussions than those that sometimes prevailed during marriage canon discussion in 2016, members of the 2019 General Synod spent almost the entire afternoon of the gathering’s first official day of business hearing about and practicing ways of speaking and listening respectfully to one another.

An organisation that spends an entire afternoon discussing how to discuss things doesn’t stand much of a chance of getting to the heart of the matter to be discussed. It is like Kierkegaard’s view of ‘reflection’ as opposed to ‘immediacy’, where you have an idea about something and indulge in endless conversations about the idea, instead of dealing with the thing itself. Will anyone be allowed to express any strong reasons to oppose same-sex marriage or will they be squashed as hurtful or bullying. We’ll see.

From 1:30 p.m. until close to 5 p.m. on July 11, with one break, Lynne McNaughton, bishop of the diocese of Kootenay, and priest and psychologist Canon Martin Brokenleg led a session on “being a synod,” discussing the importance of living out Christian love during debates about potentially contentious issues, and having synod members practice respectful listening and talking skills in table groups.

The Anglican version of “Christian love” has devolved into mushy sentiment centred around not hurting anyone’s feelings.

Dean Peter Wall, chair of the General Synod planning committee, said the idea for the exercise arose out of a great deal of talking and praying committee members had done, in the hope of creating a “listening, learning atmosphere” at the 2019 synod, and to help it be “both a community and a body.”

The alleged “listening, learning atmosphere” is a hoax: no one was willing to listen to ex-homosexuals and ex-lesbians from the Zacchaeus Fellowship in prior synods and no one will be in this synod.

Brokenleg was to have co-led the session with Archbishop Melissa Skelton, metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of British Columbia and Yukon and diocesan bishop of New Westminster, but Skelton was ill and unable to attend General Synod on Thursday. McNaughton, another member of the General Synod planning committee who, Wall said, was closely involved in developing the exercise, took her place Thursday.

McNaughton said she hoped the exercise would allow members of synod to be their “authentic selves” in their discussions while at the same time making room “for others with different authentic selves and perspectives.”

What on earth are “authentic selves”? How did non-authentic selves get nominated as delegates? Have synod delegates been the victim of alien body snatchers and become Pod People, duplicates in every respect except in their ability to maintain a connection with authenticity? It would explain the behaviour of many of the clergy.

Listening and speaking well through difficult discussions, she said, is a way to “be as Christ to one another, to love one another as Christ has loved us,” and by doing this, Christians can be an example to the world.

“We are called to be a witness to a world that is hungry for civility, parched for compassion,” she said. “The world is watching how we treat each other in the midst of difference, and the world is waiting to be inspired.”

The world is hungry for truth not sickly, bogus, anodyne civility.

Theatres showing Unplanned receive death threats

Posted on by
7

Unplanned is a pro-life film which has not yet been shown in Canada because Canadians don’t wish to be reminded that abortion kills babies and Canadian law does nothing to protect them. Nor, in spite of all their crowing about caring about society’s most vulnerable, do most mainline churches.

Those who claim to be “pro-choice” are actually not when it comes to choosing to see Unplanned. Two Canadian film theatres have received death threats because they are going to show the film. That must mean it is worth seeing.

From here:

Police are investigating death threats sent to two Canadian independent theatre owners because they are screening the pro-life movie Unplanned on July 12, LifeSiteNews has learned.

Unplanned dramatizes Abby Johnson’s conversion from Planned Parenthood abortion facility manager to pro-life advocate and was written, produced and directed by Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman.

As a safety measure, the movie’s producers have now removed from their website the comprehensive July 12 listing of 46 Canadian theatres — independents, Cineplex and Landmark locations — that will be showing Unplanned, Konzelman told LifeSiteNews.

They did so at the request of B.J. McKelvie, pastor and president of Fredericton-based Cinedicon, the Canadian distributor of the film.

McKelvie confirmed to LifeSiteNews that two Canadian independent cinema owners contacted police after receiving death threats they perceived as credible, and that they are “fearful for their families.”

Another Canadian independent theatre owner “has been harrassed to the extreme.”

One of the two owners who contacted the police has cancelled the Unplanned screening, but all the rest “are holding their ground,” McKelvie said.

Toronto bishops issue pastoral statement on marriage canon vote

Posted on by
5

Read it all here:

Of all the items of business on the General Synod agenda, a lot of attention has been given to the second reading of the motion to revise Canon XXI – On Marriage in the Church to include same-sex marriage.

We do not know, nor do we wish to anticipate, how that vote will go at General Synod. We hope and pray that the Holy Spirit will infuse the conversation with holiness and will guide the results of the balloting. We are all approaching General Synod in a spirit of openness to ongoing discernment.

The College of Bishops, embodying as we do a breadth of theological views ourselves, is committed to remaining united regardless of the outcome. Whether the motion passes or fails, we will not be divided. We will stand together through the grace of God and by faith in our Saviour Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit. We call upon the Diocese of Toronto to stand together with us, unified in all our glorious diversity under the banner of Christ.

I can’t see much that is pastoral about this letter. It is filled more with an air of denial and desperation than of spiritual guidance and care.

Denial of the reality that the church has already fractured over same-sex marriage and desperation at the probability of the fracture widening and expressing itself as a loss of yet more members and their wallets.

And nobody is “approaching General Synod in a spirit of openness to ongoing discernment”. Anyone who has not already made up his mind about same-sex marriage has no mind to make up.

Retired Bishop Dennis Drainville running for Green Party

Posted on by
2

From here:

Dennis Drainville, retired bishop of the diocese of Quebec, is re-entering politics by running for the Green Party of Canada in this fall’s federal election.

Drainville, who retired as bishop in 2017, announced June 5 he would be running for the Greens in the riding of Gaspésie-Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine, which covers a swathe of the Gaspé Peninsula as well as the Magdalen Islands.

Drainville, who served as a member of Bob Rae’s NDP government in Ontario 1990-93, says he’s been involved in politics in some capacity his entire life, so that returning to it feels second-nature to him. His decision to re-enter now, he says, was spurred by a realization that the coming vote, scheduled for Oct. 21, will be “an election like no other,” because it will require momentous decisions to be made on how to deal with the twin threats of climate change and unethical government.

Drainville was Bishop of the Diocese of Quebec between 2009 and 2016 during which time around two thirds of the parishes were closed, sold or amalgamated. I don’t think this was all the bishop’s fault but it’s hard not to look at this as an example of reverse evangelism.

Following this ecclesiastical success, he is setting his sights on something easier: solving climate change and reforming unethical government.

The Occupy Movement (remember that?) reveals where Drainville’s political sympathies lie: with the 99% (we) and against the 1% (they) even though, on a bishop’s salary, he was almost certainly in the 10% category and consequently had more than a toe in the “they” camp. Perhaps he will find people to Occupy all the empty churches in the Diocese of Quebec.

The Occupy movement has created a focused public debate on economic and political institutions and provided “a new and powerful critique” of them, says Bishop Dennis Drainville of the diocese of Quebec.

Invited to speak at various events Sept. 28-30 sponsored by Occupy Nova Scotia and churches in Halifax, Drainville noted that the anti-capitalist movement that spread around the world in 2011 has brought new awareness to the notion that ‘They are the 1 per cent and we are the 99 per cent,’ ” Drainville told those attending his lecture at the Atlantic School of Theology. “This formula underlines the structural inequalities of our political and economic system and highlights the collusion between the corporate and political elites,” he said.

Diocese of Huron Bishop urges parishioners to throw themselves into local orgy of homoerotic exhibitionism

Posted on by
7

Pastorally sensitive bishops like to sugar-coat things, so she did not put it quite like that. Instead, we have:

Our presence in the [Annual London Pride] Parade, supported by Bishop Linda Nicholls and the Diosesan office will form behind the banner “Proud Anglicans”.

Even parishioners who intend to leave their clothes on should bring sun screen.

Justin Welby comes down from the mountain with 10 digital commandments

Posted on by
5

The Church of England has written 10 commandments for the digital age; that should really be “0000 1010 commandments for the digital age” but we’ll let that slide.

The Church is encouraging people to sign their agreement to this digital charter here.

Violators will have their rudeness summarily expunged:

The Church’s and Archbishops’ Communications teams may take action if they receive complaints or spot inappropriate, unsuitable or offensive material posted to the national social media accounts. This may include deleting comments, blocking users or reporting comments as appropriate.

Justin Welby has conveniently summed up the 10 digital commandments in this way:

“Social media has transformed the way we live our lives. As Christians we are called to engage in a way which is shaped by the example of Jesus.”

I found this very inspiring so I though I would try it out. Here goes:

But woe to you, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

Woe to you, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

Woe to you, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

I’m looking at you, Anglican Church of Canada bishops.

I think I’m getting the hang of it.

Telling stories

Posted on by
1

I have two enduring memories of Junior School. The first is of Day One when Mr. Stucky, our teacher, introduced his students to a display case mounted on the wall behind him. It contained an array of canes, each of which had a name which he gleefully recited as he lovingly flexed them, one by one. I don’t remember their names, but I do remember a fervent desire not to come into physical contact with any of them. Happily, I didn’t, nor do I recall anyone else suffering that misfortune; his class was very orderly.

My second memory is of my last year of Junior School under the gentle ministrations of Miss George, a young lady who, my mother informed me, was soon to marry and become Mrs. Something Else. Miss George had no canes. She did have hands, though, and when she thought a student deserved their application, she would slap him repeatedly on the thigh.

I had at an early age adopted an air of studied insouciance towards matters that others told me were of great import but which I found of little interest; hence, I sat at the back of the class and tended not to listen to her. One thing does stick in my mind: after waxing eloquent on the conquering of Mount Everest by Edmund Hillary,  she looked at me and said: “Look at Jenkins in the back, there – he is in a constant state of Everest.” I couldn’t argue with the observation.

At one point my curiosity overcame my desire to be left alone in peace. Miss George had a special inkwell. We all had inkwells, but hers, so rumour had it, was immune to spills: no matter how far you tipped it, the ink would not come out. I had to test this. One day, when Miss George was out of the room, I boldly went to her desk and tipped the inkwell upside down: red ink spilled everywhere. When she returned, I experienced for the first time the sensation of being a Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God.

“The person who did it Must Own Up”, she said. “But I don’t want anyone Telling Stories.” We all knew that being a snitch was Bad.

I owned up. She made me clean it up. I spilled more ink trying to clean it, but Miss George was merciful, and I was spared The Hand.

Things are different now. We are all encouraged to tell stories and no one particularly cares whether they bear any relation to what is true: all that matters is that is that we experience them as true. Objective reality is irrelevant.

I think I prefer Miss George’s version of Telling Stories, Hand and all.