The Anglican Church of Canada has Transformational Aspirations

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In order to convince itself that it still has a future, the ACoC’s general synod has passed a resolution to adopt five transformational aspirations. They are to be a church that:

  1. invites and deepens life in Christ;
  2. champions the dignity of every human being;
  3. works to dismantle racism and colonialism;
  4. embraces mutual interdependence with the Indigenous church (Sacred Circle);
    nurtures right relationships among people of faith in local, national and global communities and networks;
  5. stewards and renews God’s creation; protects and sustains the earth; pursues justice for all.

Notably absent is a plan to lead the unsaved to salvation through Jesus Christ. I’m quite sure that is missing because the majority of ACoC clergy no longer recognize the categories “saved” and “unsaved”.

The other notable thing about these aspirations is that there is nothing whatsoever transformational about them. They are the same unimaginative anodyne cliches that have been at work in the church for decades and have brought it to where it is today.

The resolution had overwhelming support.

Read it all here:

General Synod has overwhelmingly approved five priorities or “transformational aspirations” prepared by the Strategic Planning Working Group (SPWG) to serve as the basis for the Anglican Church of Canada’s new strategic plan.

Members voted June 29 in favour of an amended version of Resolution A102, by which General Synod received with gratitude the SPWG’s report and adopted the five transformational aspirations as “transformational commitments to guide planning, priority-setting, resource allocation and collaboration with provinces and dioceses in the 2023-25 biennium.” The resolution also directed Council of General Synod to establish a group for implementation.

As adopted by General Synod, the five transformational aspirations call for the Anglican Church of Canada to be a church that “invites and deepens life in Christ”; “champions the dignity of every human being; works to dismantle racism and colonialism”; “embraces mutual interdependence with the Indigenous church (Sacred Circle)”; nurtures right relationships among people of faith in local, national and global communities and networks”; and “stewards and renews God’s creation; protects and sustains the earth; pursues justice for all.”

Anglican Church of Canada adds gender transition liturgies to prayer book

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Up until 2021 they had been for trial use but now Synod has decided that they will be added to the Book of Alternative Services as official liturgies. You can find the complete versions here.

An included free bonus is a liturgy for those with “a newfound awareness of a
particular identity location on the gender spectrum”, but who have no taste for mutilating themselves.

I can’t help noticing that there is no liturgy for people who identify and are transitioning to Furries. Not very inclusive.

The Sparkle Creed

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Every time I think it is impossible to outdo the incoherent fog that has taken up residence in the minds of Anglican Church of Canada clergy, the United Church comes to the rescue. Here is Rev. Rachel Small Stokes from Immanuel United Church of Christ in Louisville inviting the congregation to join her in reciting The Sparkle Creed.

Why does the Anglican Church of Canada loath Israel?

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In April, bishops from the ACoC and ELCIC met with Members of Parliament to persuade them to “hold Israeli authorities accountable for human rights abuses under international law.”

Since no one listens to them or cares what they think, the bishops are just as powerless to influence MPs as the MPs are to punish another country for its alleged abuses. That doesn’t stop them trying, though.

The puzzling thing is, why does the ACoC reserve all its pious outrage for Israel? Just like any other country, Israel does things it shouldn’t, but it is still the most humane and democratic country in the Middle East.

Far worse human rights abuses occur in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, North Korea – and so on. We never hear a squeak from our bishops about them.

Are the bishops antisemitic?

Admittedly, the bishops do denounce Uganda because it hasn’t gone full-bore LGBT+. But that is just ugly neocolonialism oozing out from behind a veneer of inclusive, affirming, tolerant diversity.

From here:

Leaders of Canadian Anglican, Lutheran, United and Presbyterian churches, including Archbishop Linda Nicholls, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, met with MPs from the Liberal and Conservative parties April 27 to “advocate for a just and lasting peace in Palestine and Israel,” according to a news release issued on a shared Anglican-Lutheran website the same day.

Among other policies, the church leaders requested the government create a special envoy to monitor and report on how children are treated in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and to hold Israeli authorities accountable for human rights abuses under international law. They also urged Ottawa to publicly condemn what they called Israel’s attack on Palestinian human rights and civil society organizations.

Nicholls and ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson had previously sent a series of letters to the government expressing concerns about violence on the part of the Israeli government and its citizens. In addition to the nation’s treatment of Palestinians, Nicholls has expressed concern over growing anti-Christian sentiment in the wake of the Jan. 13 desecration of the Christian Mount Zion Cemetery. Many of the Christians living in Israel and Palestine are ethnic Palestinians.

The group included Nicholls, along with Johnson; the Rev. Carmen Lansdowne, moderator of the United Church of Canada; and the Rev. Dorcas Gordon, principal emerita of the University of Toronto’s Knox College.

Toronto Archbishop encourages Anglicans to attend Toronto Pride.

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As I mentioned here, Andrew Asbil, the Anglican bishop of Toronto, extended an invitation to all his parishioners to join him in today’s Pride Parade: “My wife Mary and I hope to be at Toronto’s Pride Parade on June 25 with the other Proud Anglicans, and I invite you to join us.”

Tempting though this might have been, some of us had other engagements and could not attend. Luckily for us, some videos of the event were taken so you can see what you missed and why the bishop was so eager to attend. It was Diverse.

There is more, but you’ll get the general idea.

Polyamory, coming soon to a church near you

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The Anglican Church of Canada is a full communion partner with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. They both believe much the same things, none of which have anything to do with Christianity. They even conceal their disinterest in the orthodox faith with the same befuddling fudge. As the saying goes, “those who smudge together fudge together”.

Both denominations are equally obsessed with all things 2SLGBTQIA+, so much so that a member of the ELCIC clergy is in “a self-defined polyamorous relationship.” In September 2021 she (yes, “she”) was suspended from the roster of ordained ministers of the ELCIC:

“for her willful noncompliance with the standards and practices and the constitution, administrative bylaws and enactments of the ELCIC described in para. 3 of the Manual Re: Discipline of Rostered Ministers, until such time as the ELCIC recognizes and affirms polyamorous relationships for rostered ministers.”

Notice the part in (my) bold.

The clergywoman appealed the suspension, and the appeal was successful because (again, my bold):

Neither the SSHS (Social Statement on Human Sexuality) nor a prohibition against polyamory is found in these provisions, as required by para. 3. For this reason the majority finds it unnecessary to determine whether the SSHS should be interpreted as prohibiting polyamory.

In other words, since the ELCIC does not explicitly forbid polyamory by name, it must be fine. The same argument was used by ACoC dioceses to justify performing same-sex marriages: The canons don’t mention it, let’s do it.

The ELCIC has not yet given blanket approval for polyamory, but it is on the agenda for discussion. As the article below points out, there are “cultural realities surrounding marriage” and where the culture leads, the ELCIC follows. So does the ACoC.

Who said the slope isn’t slippery.

From here:

This article’s original headline has been changed at the direction of General Synod senior management. {Note: the original title included the word “polyamory”. So much for editorial independence – David}

The Anglican Church of Canada’s full communion partner, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada (ELCIC), will discuss at its convention this summer a set of recommendations on gender and sexuality including one asking that it discern a position on polyamory, the Anglican Journal has learned.

The recommendations come from the ELCIC task force on homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, formed after the Lutherans’ national meeting in 2019 commissioned groups to work on diversity, equity and inclusion for issues of gender and sexuality, racism and ableism. The task force presented its first version in a report at ELCIC’s 2022 National Convention, with an updated version on the table for discussion this summer.

Trina Gallop Blank, ELCIC director of communications, shared the list of recommendations with the Journal. It calls on the ELCIC to promote a healthy understanding of sexuality and consent; review church policies for “language and other systemic problems that might cause harm or inequity to 2SLGBTQIA+” people; increase its visibility as an affirming church by participating in local Pride parades; encourage ELCIC members to specify and acknowledge pronouns wherever they identify themselves or others; make a public apology and, possibly, pay reparations to 2SLGBTQIA+ people who have been harmed by the church; and train its staff on sexual orientation and gender identity, among other things. The list concludes with a statement that the church should create resources to “support listening, safe conversations, and discernment at all levels of the church around healthy, consensual relationships, including ethical non-monogamous relationships.”

The newer version contains many of the same recommendations as the draft submitted in 2022. However, where the current version suggests conversations and discernment around non-monogamous relationships, last year’s included three recommended changes to the church’s treatment of marriage. These state that the church should “review and revise the definition and understanding of ‘marriage’ in the Social Statement on Human Sexuality and the church’s disciplinary policy for rostered ministers to include polyamorous and ethically non-monogamous understandings of marriage.”

Your call is important to us

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We’ve all heard it. It is the ubiquitous mantra piped through our telephone earpieces every time we call a corporate entity – after we have spent 10 minutes listening to repulsive muzak carefully chosen to induce the caller hang up to make the torment stop. Those stalwarts persistent enough to battle through the auditory torture are invited to press an interminable sequence of numbers, an arcane code, permitting them to enter into the hallowed presence of the loathed robotic voice.

At this point it has become clear that your call is not important. If it were, a human would be there to answer it. Or, after leaving a message, a human would call us back. But one doesn’t.

The message is a lie. The person reading it knows it is a lie. The corporation that wrote the script for the person to read knows it is a lie. We know it is a lie. They know we know it is a lie but the message drones on. As Alexander Solzhenitsyn put it about a regime that our Western world seems bent on emulating:

We know they are lying.
They know they are lying.
They know that we know they are lying.
We know that they know we know they are lying.
And still they continue to lie.

If you are wondering what prompted this: I called my bank branch today under the naive delusion that I might be able to speak to a person. Thus far, in spite of valiant persistence, my best efforts have been thwarted.

I even wrote a Google review to vent my frustration. I received a response from the Digital Care Team thanking me for bringing this to their attention because my feedback is important to them.

The trouble is, they are lying. They are not grateful, and my feedback isn’t important. They know they are lying, and they know that I know they are lying. And still they continue to lie.

Gaia worship in the Diocese of Huron

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I’ll give this to Trivitt Memorial Anglican Church in the Diocese of Huron: they are completely open about the god they serve: Gaia.

Most ACoC churches use tradition Anglican FudgeTM to conceal their abandoning of Christianity. Not Triviit! They advertise the fact.

From here:

When you walk inside Trivitt Memorial Church in Exeter, Ont., it’s hard not to be taken aback by the sheer size and scale of the Earth, unlike what many people have ever seen.

“You walk in the front door, and you’re just sort of greeted with the biggest interpretation of Earth, I think, I’ve ever seen. It’s bigger than a cinema screen or projection, and I really appreciated it. The kids walked in and had that ‘A-ha!’ moment. They were blown away,” said Darryn de Souza, who brought his homeschool class from Perth County to see GAIA.

Measuring 20 feet wide and six metres in diameter, this version of Earth is suspended from the ceiling of Trivitt Memorial Church, spinning to the sounds the astronauts aboard the spacecraft that took the pictures that made this display possible.

“Generally, people say ‘Look at how much water there is. Look how far north Canada is. Look at the size of Africa, as a continent’,” said the man who helped bring the GAIA exhibit to Exeter, John Miller.

GAIA, named after the Greek Goddess of Earth, mother of all life, is the centrepiece of the Huron Waves Music Festival this summer. Eight concerts, inspired by GAIA, take place between now and July 3rd. That’s when the inflated balloon leaves Exeter.

Toronto bishop is looking forward to Pride Parade

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The bishop of Toronto, Andrew Asbil, will be attending Toronto’s Pride Parade on June 25th.

Not only will it be a celebration of the triune god of the Anglican Church of Confusion (ACoC for short), Diversity Inclusion Acceptance, but it will protest the rise of homophobia and transphobia. After all, our liberal government has only donated a parsimonious $40 million to 2SLGBT+HAVEIGOTTHEMALL causes in the last 4 years; it doesn’t get much more phobic than that.

Asbil goes on to make the required denouncement of the revised Ugandan homosexuality laws while conveniently ignoring the homosexuals routinely thrown off rooftops in Islamic countries. To mention that would be Islamophobic and he can’t risk a battle of the phobias.

The Pride flag will be raised at Queens Park on June 19th. In 2017, I distinctly remember the March for Life flag being taken down from Ottawa’s City Hall. What I don’t remember is any ACoC bishop protesting; not a murmur. Are they all babyphobic?

Asbil ends his missive with an invitation to join him in the June 25th Sunday worship featuring water pistols and homoerotic cavorting. Attendance is mandatory.

Read it all here:

Dear Friends,

This year feels different.

On Sunday, June 25, hundreds of “Proud Anglicans” will come together in downtown Toronto for the annual Pride Parade. This is always a great celebration, complete with sashes, glitter, music and Super Soakers. It’s a party, celebrating the beautiful diversity of the children of God. Pride is also an affirmation of mutual love and respect within the greater human family, for we are all made in God’s loving image. The Toronto Pride Parade began almost 50 years ago as a protest but has become more of a celebration over the years as LGBTQ2s+ people have moved from the margins to the mainstream.

But this year feels different. The rise of homophobia and transphobia both far away and here at home reminds us that the struggle for inclusion, acceptance and dignity is not yet won. It seems the progress we’ve made in the areas of sexuality and gender identity is more tenuous than many of us would care to consider. In Uganda, new laws passed this month continue the criminalization of same-sex relationships but with added harsher penalties, including life in prison for those who identify publicly as LGBTQ+, and the death sentence for “aggravated homosexuality.” South of the border, in the state of Florida, the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” laws prohibit instruction of sexuality and gender identity in all grades, effectively excluding families with two Dads or two Moms from being included in the school curriculum. Here at home, some local school boards have decided they will not fly the Pride flag this year because Pride does not align with their values.