Anglicans at the UN

Posted on by
5

Although it is reluctant to admit it, the Anglican Church no longer believes in hell. If there is no hell, no one needs to be saved from it so Anglican clergy have nothing to do: no mandate, no mission and, most worrying, no stipend! What is to be done?

Save the United Nations, that’s what:

A match made in heaven since the only organisation that is as lost as the United Nations is the Anglican Church – although since Anglicans don’t believe in hell, they can’t believe in its opposite, heaven, either.

The rejoicing of the bishops’ wives

Posted on by
2

The sound of rejoicing from bishops’ wives whose husbands are no longer compelling them to be bored into oblivion at Lambeth 2020 is resounding from Timbuktu to Tobermory.

This is because the wives/husbands (we need a new word: “wifebands”?) of homosexual bishops have not been invited to attend.

The Bishop of Liverpool, martyr to the cause, will sacrifice himself and attend while leaving his wife at home. In a safe space.

All this is assuming Lambeth 2020 actually happens.

From here:

The Bishop of Liverpool has said he will attend an international summit of Anglican leaders without his wife next year, in protest at a bar on the partners of gay clergy.

Rt Rev Paul Bayes described the decision to prevent same-sex partners of clergy from attending the 2020 Lambeth Conference as an “act of exclusion”.

In a message posted on Twitter, he said: “I deeply regret that, in the fractious complexities of our life as a worldwide people, this act of exclusion has taken its place.

“It is a grief to me and to my wife, and to many others. Despite this, I aim to attend the Conference, alone, in the hope of a common future.”

The Anglican Communion – which includes national churches from 165 countries – was forced to clarify its stance on the matter last week, following “misunderstanding”.

General Secretary Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon said: “The invitation process has…needed to take account of the Anglican Communion’s position on marriage which is that it is the lifelong union of a man and a woman.

In more news, Bishop Bayes has informed Jesus that he should also voluntarily absent himself from Lambeth 2020 for claiming his Father is guilty of an even more heinous “act of exclusion”:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Diocese of Montreal has a Queer Bible Study

Posted on by
6

We are, after all, a peculiar people.

From here (page 8):

Queer Bible Study(ish) is a monthly Bible study for the LGBTQIA+ community. Its purpose is to create a Christian-ish space for queers to have fellowship, study the Bible, and support one another in community in a non-judgemental, non-denominational, trans-positive, inclusive, anti-oppressive space.

If that mouthful of hackneyed gobbledegook is not enough for you, here is some more:

The overwhelmingly positive response we’ve received after the first Bible study is proof of how important affirming spaces like these are for the queer community and for the church. The church, in its historical as well as modern iterations, has perpetuated and still continues to perpetuate trauma against queer and trans folks by remaining non-affirming, upholding harmful standards of sexuality and gender, and participating in practices like conversion therapy. As a result of this trauma, many queer and trans folks who leave the church may never be able to return. But spaces like this Bible study, where queer and trans folks can explore the intersections of their queer and Christian identities in a safe and neutral space, hopefully help to right some of those wrongs.

The irony is, the time has come in the Anglican Church of Canada when those most in need of that most loathsome abstraction “a safe space” are the few remaining orthodox Christians who, despite enormous pressure to do otherwise, still cling tenaciously to the traditional Christian understanding of human sexuality.

Justin Welby wants us to give up cynicism for Lent

Posted on by
7

I expect what he means by that is that he would like us to stop thinking that nothing he says or does can be taken at face value because, like any good closet liberal, he will cheerfully dissemble until he gets his way.

I have an idea: I will continue to believe that nothing Welby says or does can be taken at face value but, during Lent, I will call it Good Cynicism. That way, everyone is happy.

From here:

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s urged fellow leaders in the Church of England to give up cynicism for Lent and to show more love towards those they disagree with.

Speaking at the start of a meeting by General Synod, Most Rev Justin Welby admitted members disagree on issues such as “inclusion”.

He said: “As we journey towards Lent some of you may be considering what you might give up during the penitential season.

“I urge you to consider especially as members of General Synod giving up cynicism and renewing love for those with whom you and I differ.”

The Cheshire Cat and the Bishop

Posted on by
1

Last night I dreamt about this photo. In my dream, these three were Cheshire Cats. They were all mad; I must have been mad for being an Anglican like them; it didn’t matter which way we went we still ended up in the same place with gay married bishops everywhere.

As Anglicanism faded gently away in the West all that was left were the grins looming ghoulishly on the horizon. Until suddenly, our new primate, due to replace Fred Hiltz later in 2019, leapt into the scene, a Red Queen yelling “Off with their heads” at the few remaining conservatives still lurking in the Anglican Church of Canada.

Then I woke up in a sweat.

`Cheshire Puss,’ Alice began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. `Come, it’s pleased so far,’ thought Alice, and she went on. `Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’
`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat.
`I don’t much care where–‘ said Alice.
`Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.
`–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,’ Alice added as an explanation.
`Oh, you’re sure to do that,’ said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.’”

“`But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked.
`Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: `we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’
`How do you know I’m mad?’ said Alice.
`You must be,’ said the Cat, `or you wouldn’t have come here.’
Alice didn’t think that proved it at all; however, she went on `And how do you know that you’re mad?’
`To begin with,’ said the Cat, `a dog’s not mad. You grant that?’
`I suppose so,’ said Alice.
`Well, then,’ the Cat went on, `you see, a dog growls when it’s angry, and wags its tail when it’s pleased. Now I growl when I’m pleased, and wag my tail when I’m angry. Therefore I’m mad.’”

Reaction from Bishop Kevin Robertson

Posted on by
4

Bishop Kevin Robertson is married to another man; Justin Welby invited Robertson to Lambeth 2020 but not his spouse.

There’s an old story about a vicar who wanted to move a piano from one side of the church to the other. He knew that his congregation didn’t like change so, rather than move the piano all at once, he moved it two inches per week. No one noticed until it was too late and the piano had arrived at its final destination a year later.

What is clear from the article below is that Justin Welby is using the old piano tactic.

Welby told Robertson he was “willing to move beyond what happened in 2008 when Gene Robinson was not invited. He was willing to invite me and Mary, but that it was too much of a step to invite our spouses as well.” Rest assured, if there is a Lambeth 2030, same-sex spouses will be invited.

Bishop Robertson finds the disinvitation offensive but not so offensive that he will stay away. Robertson is certainly right about one thing: this whole fiasco is riddled with hypocrisy. Justin Welby, reconciler extraordinaire, by striving mightily to outdo the best self-parodying efforts of Rowan Williams the Druid has made Western Anglicanism a laughing stock – for those who can still be bothered to notice its ever-diminishing existence.

From here:

Diocese of Toronto Bishop Suffragan Kevin Robertson married Mohan Sharma on Dec. 28, 2018. The diocese congratulated him on his marriage, which was attended by Toronto Archbishop Colin Johnson and Toronto Bishop Diocesan Andrew Asbil.

Robertson said in a telephone interview with ENS Feb. 18 that Welby told him in person that Sharma would not be invited. Robertson was at Lambeth Palace, Welby’s official London residence, on Feb. 7 as part of an annual 10-day new-bishop orientation run by Canterbury Cathedral when he was summoned to Welby’s office. The conversation occurred two days before Brown’s election in Maine.

“He said to me there are only two of you in the communion in this situation, you and Mary, and he said if I invite your spouses to the Lambeth Conference, there won’t be a Lambeth Conference,” Robertson said.

Welby, Robertson said, seemed to be “willing to move beyond what happened in 2008 when Gene Robinson was not invited. He was willing to invite me and Mary, but that it was too much of a step to invite our spouses as well.”

Their conversation came on the same day that Nigerian Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, the primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria and the chairman of the Global Anglican Future Conference, or GAFCON, issued a “warning” saying that he expected that Robertson “and his partner will be attending [Lambeth] and received in good standing.”

Okoh said, “With great sadness we therefore have to conclude that the Lambeth Conference of 2020 will itself be an obstacle to the gospel by embracing teaching and a pattern of life which are profoundly at odds with the biblical witness and the apostolic Christianity through the ages.”

Robertson said the refusal to invite his and Glasspool’s spouses is “hurtful.” He said he and Sharma, who have two children, have been together for 10 years.

“I actually find it quite offensive. I know that’s a strong word, but I’m aware the Anglican Communion is not of one mind around marriage,” he said. “However, the decision to invite all the other spouses without inviting ours, I think, sends a very clear message about the way that same-sex relationships are regarded in the communion. I think that’s a troubling sign.”

Robertson said his first instinct was not to go with Lambeth without his spouse. While he has not made a final decision, he said that, at the moment, he thinks it’s important for all of the bishops who will find themselves in this position to go so that their voices are at the table.

During his time with the 29 bishops who were part the orientation in Canterbury, Robertson said some of them discussed Okoh’s letter. While they all did not agree, those conversations “reminded me that it’s so important to be in conversation; it’s so important to being in the process of building relationships, that that is only way we are going to get through this,” Robertson said.

“Frankly, it’s why I am so disappointed about the spouses not being invited. If we’re going to get through this, it will be because people come to know bishops in same-sex relationships and realize that we’re people too. It’s not by keeping people away. I think that’s the worst thing to do.”

The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada is scheduled to vote in July 2019 on changing its marriage canon to allow same-sex marriage.

Aborting Canadians

Posted on by
3

Canada has had no law limiting abortion since 1988, when the existing abortion law was ruled unconstitutional by the supreme court of Canada. Babies are killed up to and during birth and the Anglican Church of Canada, for all its posturing on social justice, is oddly silent on the issue. ACNA and ANiC, on the other hand, are explicitly pro-life.

This is why you should care:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiysLKrfpic

I believe in God and God ain’t me

Posted on by
1

Joan Baez was never a great guitar player. She still isn’t; competent but not very good. But she had a beautiful voice that soared effortlessly above the hubbub of raucous pop cacophony that passed for music in the ‘60’s. In those days I was beguiled by her voice and her politics: the politics no more and the voice isn’t quite what it used to be but still  a nostalgia indulgence for me.

Here she is in a farewell concert playing what appears to be a rather delicious Martin 0-45 guitar:

Bishop Kevin Robertson’s spouse will not be invited to Lambeth 2020

Posted on by
6

The spouses of homosexual bishops will not be invited to attend Lambeth 2020 which means Toronto Bishop Kevin Robertson’s wife/husband, Mohan Sharma, will not receive an invitation.

I wonder whether Justin Welby has really thought this through. It’s only a matter of time before a male Anglican bishop marries another male Anglican bishop. I suspect the Anglican Church of Canada already has a matchmaking Task Force working strenuously to produce such a paradigm of proud diverse inclusion. What will Welby do when they succeed?

From here:

I need to clarify a misunderstanding that has arisen. Invitations have been sent to every active bishop. That is how it should be – we are recognising that all those consecrated into the office of bishop should be able to attend. But the invitation process has also needed to take account of the Anglican Communion’s position on marriage which is that it is the lifelong union of a man and a woman. That is the position as set out in Resolution I.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference. Given this, it would be inappropriate for same-sex spouses to be invited to the conference. The Archbishop of Canterbury has had a series of private conversations by phone or by exchanges of letter with the few individuals to whom this applies.

Bishop Susan Bell invited to Lambeth

Posted on by
6

Justin Welby invited Bishop Kevin Roberston to Lambeth for a conference for new bishops this month, in spite of the fact that Robertson has married another man, flouting  the rules of the church that Welby purports to be in charge of.
In order to reinforce his studied indifference to the Lambeth 1998 Resolution 1.10 on human sexuality, Welby also invited the Diocese of Niagara’s Bishop Susan Bell, who officiated at the marriage of Robertson to Mohan Sharma.

There is a rumour circulating – yet to be confirmed – that not all of the remaining attendees are ecclesiastically entangled, directly or indirectly, in same-sex relationships, despite many claiming to be in the hope of enhancing the probability of promotion.