Obviously no one has told the diocese that capitalism doesn’t work any more and, even if it did, that it is fundamentally unChristian.
From the diocesan paper (page 4):
The fund that handles the investments of the Diocese of Montreal has not escaped the impact of conditions in Canadian and world financial markets.
According to a report to the diocesan synod in late October, the net asset value of the Anglican Balanced Fund, a private mutual fund in which the units are owned by the Diocese, certain parishes and related institutions, stood at $27.69 a unit (the equivalent of a share) on August 31, down from $29.33 at the end of 2010 and $28.40 year earlier.
Coincidentally, in the same issue we find a favourable review of Terry Eagleton’s “Why Marx was right”. I am unsure as to how a revue of a book about Marx found its way into an ostensibly Christian paper other than to note that not only did Marx predict the end of capitalism but that, as could be said of many of Canada’s Anglican clergy: “He was, of course, an atheist; but one does not need to be religious to be spiritual”.
It does go to show that those in charge of diocesan investments should read their own paper, not to mention consult their lefty clergy, Rev. Canon Paul Jennings, Very Rev. Michael Pitts and Rev. James McDermott all of whom visited Occupy Montreal upon which they bestowed their anti-capitalist blessing.
This is brutal (from p.5):
The 106 congregations in 64 parishes, down from 111 in 66, held 4,875 Sunday services, down 8.3 percent. There were 263 baptisms, down 9.9 per cent, but the number of confirmations rose to 54 from 38. The rise for just those under 16 was even sharper: to 49 from 33. The number of church school pupils reported dropped sharply to 378, down 21.7 per cent, and youth group members slipped by 9.2 per cent to 138. However, adults in prayer or study groups rose by 6 per cent to 1,189 as the number of such groups rose by over one-quarter to 129.
Donations by individuals to parishes slipped by 9.2 per cent to $4.48 million. Donations by those of them considered committed givers slipped by 5 percent to $3.82 million.
Plus, a drop of 1,400 Average Sunday attendance, in 2009/10 (from the official statistics), including 2 congregations to ANiC.
Yes it is brutal.
Although, as you might guess, I have some major disagreements with the direction the ACoC is taking, I think the decline also has a lot to do with the general secularisation of society.
And how much of the “general secularisation of society” is our fault for not speaking up and speaking out, and not spreading the Faith?
As long as we think that Jesus Christ is “a way” and not “the way” (as in “the only way”) we will be a self destructive church.
I agree that we Christians don’t stand up for the Gospel as we should; at the same time, there does seem to be an anti-Christian Zeitgeist at work making people even more impervious to the message than in prior times.