Read it all here:
The legal squabble between Niagara Bishop Michael Bird and an Oakville blogger who criticized him is over.
The Diocese of Niagara issued a press release Monday saying the pair has reached a settlement.
The church said blogger David Jenkins offered an apology to Bird for “any suffering he has experienced as a result of blog postings” on Jenkins’ Anglican Samizdat blog.
A press release from the Diocese of Niagara’s website.
Update: This item has been removed from the diocesan website.
Anyone interested in the details of my adventure can go here.
Apparently, Earth Day is getting back to its roots: fertility management. Humanity is a blight on the face of the earth, so environmentalists are coming to the rescue with 44,000 free condoms. Naturally, they are environmentally friendly, Fair Trade condoms: you will be pleased to learn that eco condoms are made entirely from fair trade and FSC certified rubber.
From here:
In honor of Earth Day this year, groups are giving out 44,000 “Endangered Species Condoms.”
The environmentally friendly condoms will be distributed in an effort to refocus the green holiday back to why it was started: to campaign against “runaway human population growth and overconsumption.”
“April 22 is the 44th Earth Day, and this year we want to bring the holiday’s focus back to its origins: runaway human population growth and overconsumption, the root causes of our most pressing environmental crises,” the Center for Biological Diversity wrote in a pitch to its supporters.
None of this deters the Anglican Church of Canada from celebrating Earth Day, of course. Perhaps a packet of Fair Trade Condoms will be served along with a cup of the Primate’s Blend Fair Trade Coffee.
St. Hilda’s building when it had a flourishing congregation; we have a lot of artists:
St. Hilda’s once the Diocese of Niagara acquired it:
St. Hilda’s once the Diocese of Niagara had sold it for a handsome profit:
St. Hilda’s flattened:
The demolition company did leave just one thing behind in addition to the welcoming, inclusive concrete barrier: the church sign!
It seems that someone has attached a poster advertising where St. Hilda’s went. Fancy that:
From here:
Bishop John Charles Bothwell, whose long career had major impact in the Anglican Church of Canada, has died at the age of 87.
Bothwell – who was the eighth bishop of Niagara – ordained the first female priests in the Anglican diocese of Niagara in 1976 and also co-consecrated at the ordination of Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.
“It is hard to encapsulate [Bothwell’s] impact upon the life of the parishes he served, the diocese of Niagara, the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Anglican Communion,” Michael Bird, the diocesan bishop of Niagara, said in a statement. “He was one of the great leaders of our time,”
As Michael Bird perceptively notes, John Bothwell was “one of the great leaders of our time”: after all, he set the course for the Diocese of Niagara to become one of the most theologically liberal dioceses in Canada. The apotheosis of his influence probably occurred in February 2012 when the diocese’s lady priests (Bothwell ordained the first in 1976) performed the Vagina Monologues in Christ Church Cathedral.
John Bothwell made a number of appearances at St. Hilda’s but, I admit, not much of what he said sticks in my mind. The only thing I remember, probably because of my occupation, was his railing against the frivolity of fibre optic cables; their only use, he declared, was as decoration in ornamental lamps. Vanity of vanities. He did subsequently soften his view of the fibre optic industry a little when someone pointed out he would not have a telephone without it.
In God’s house there are many mansions, perhaps even a Luddite liberal one for John Bothwell.
Pete Seeger died recently, too. I didn’t care for his music, even in the 60’s and his politics have always seemed repugnant.
I rather like this tribute I came across a few days ago:
So farewell, then, Pete
Seeger
Too eager
To believe the best
Of the worst.
Where have all the
Flowers gone? You should know
You’re pushing them
Up.
© E. J. Throbb, aged 17¾
As part of a negotiated settlement between St. Hilda’s congregation and the Diocese of Niagara, the diocese took possession of St. Hilda’s rectory in 2012 and sold it in December for $650,000.
As is common in this area of Oakville, the new owner of the house tore down the rectory to build a new, much larger house.
The new resident of what used to be St. Hilda’s rectory is Daniel Freedman, owner of PinkCherry Sex Toys, Canada’s largest vendor of…. well, all sorts of interesting items.
Not that the diocese is interested in such things.
It seems that there is a “click farm” industry which, for a modest sum, can make almost anyone or anything popular.
From here:
Celebrities, businesses and even the U.S. State Department have bought bogus Facebook likes, Twitter followers or YouTube viewers from offshore “click farms,” where workers tap, tap, tap the thumbs up button, view videos or retweet comments to inflate social media numbers.
Hope at last for those whose Likes are lacking.
From here:
Each year, churches in a different country are invited to prepare materials for worship, reflection and prayer during the week, including information about their country’s context. This is the third time in the 100-year history of the Week of Prayer that Canada has been selected as the country in focus. An ecumenical Canadian team prepared the 2014 materials that were reviewed by the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity; the materials have now been distributed to national church councils around the world. The theme they chose was “Has Christ Been Divided?” from 1 Corinthians.
A touching article. The only problem with it is the photo that should have been used to illustrate the real state of Christian unity in Canada is this one: The Demolishing of St. Hilda’s. Before anyone rashly jumps to the wrong conclusion, I should point out that the Diocese of Niagara does have a heart: it thoughtfully ejected the congregation before knocking down their building.
St. Hilda’s building, acquired by the Diocese of Niagara for $0 and sold by the diocese for $1.9M is now an empty space.
Curiously, the only part left standing is the sign that used to display the rector’s name and the worship times – now expunged:
In what I am convinced must a divinely appointed metaphor for this tawdry episode in the continuing moral decomposition of the Anglican Church of Canada, a Diocese of Niagara Oakville church has attached to the remnant an advertisement for that most vacuous of Anglican rituals: The Christmas Bazaar:
There will be an AIDS vigil at Christ Church Cathedral tomorrow. The reason appears to be not so much to encourage the prevention of AIDS but to “honour those living with HIV and those we have lost to AIDS – Honour. Celebrate. Be with us.” All that remains is the instituting of the Order of Niagara, HIV edition.
Actually helping to prevent AIDS rather than treating it once it has taken hold seems to me to be a better strategy. Regrettably, since AIDS is spreading predominantly through men having sex with one another and the concept of restraint is one that will be entirely foreign to those participating, this will probably be the only taboo topic at the vigil.
In 2010, MSM [men having sex with men] accounted for 63% of estimated new HIV infections in the United States and 78% of infections among all newly infected men. From 2008 to 2010, new HIV infections increased 22% among young (aged 13-24) MSM and 12% among MSM overall.
To lighten the mood, the Hamilton Gay Men’s Chorus will be on hand for musical entertainment. 
