Diocese of the Arctic: in the Anglican Church of Canada but not of it

“The Diocese of the Arctic is unusual.

First, its bishop, David Parsons, is a member of a species all but extinct in the Anglican Church of Canada: he is a Christian bishop.

Second, the diocese is in communion with ANiC and is open to licensing its priests.

Third, the diocese does not support the recently adopted liturgies for Gender Transition and Affirmation or any of the other LGBT+ claptrap that obsesses other ACoC clergy.

Fourth, the diocese sees itself as the Anglican Church of Canada and the rest of the organisation as – something else. By implication, not a church.

Lastly, Parsons thinks, ‘that the great and terrible day of the Lord is coming, and many bishops are going to have a stark wake up as they stand before God and are asked why they have not stood against the doctrines of demons and devils. My fear is, that day will not be a day of repentance but just justice and judgment because the day of grace will be over.’…”

– David Jenkins writes at Anglican Samizdat, referring to an interview with Bishop David Parsons published this week at VirtueOnline.

Do pray for Bishop Parsons and others who steadfastly hold to the truth of God’s word.

Canadian Anglicans Approve Liturgies for Gender Transition

“Those delegates in favor said such liturgies would evangelize and bring people into the church for the first time, or bring them back. Bishop Stephen London of Edmonton said the liturgies were ‘well-written,’ ‘scriptural,’ and ‘theological.’ He added: ‘We can’t evangelize if people don’t trust us.’…”

– Report from The Living Church on the Canadian General Synod.

Photo: Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, Archbishop Linda Nicholls, opens the General Synod in Calgary, 28 June 2023.

Anglican Diocese of the Arctic Defies National Church over Same-Sex Marriage

Here’s a story from Canada we missed from a couple of weeks back –

“The largest of the 30 dioceses in the province of 1.5 million square miles, the Diocese of the Arctic claims evangelical solidarity with bishops and clergy not recognized by the Lambeth Conference but with GAFCON and the Anglican Network in Canada.

Two bishops, David Parsons and Joey Royal (Suffragan) from the far north will attend GAFCON IV next month in Rwanda, standing with the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). …”

– Full story here.

Photo: The Diocese of the Arctic.

The Good Fight of Faith

In the July–August 2022 issue of Southern Cross magazine Simon Manchester has an insightful interview with David and Bronwyn Short in Vancouver.

They share something of the battles for the truth of God’s Word, and the cost of doing so.

Do take the time to read it all (pages 24-26), and continue to uphold in prayer the Shorts, St. John’s Vancouver, and all of the Anglican Network in Canada.

Simon mentions the recent book The Anglican Church in Canada. Read more about it here.

Long-time readers will be well aware of events in Canada the last twenty years. David’s 2004 article “Are we stronger than He?” is a good place to start.

See also:

St. John’s Vancouver leaves the building, praying for God’s blessing on New Westminster, September 2011.

Posts relating to Vancouver, and Canada.

In the interview David Short says, “Jim Packer wrote a wonderful essay called ‘Why I Walked’ that is well worth reading.”. It certainly is, and is available here as a PDF file on the GAFCON website.

Photo: Bronwyn and David Short via SydneyAnglicans.net.

Anglican Church of Canada trial liturgy for ‘Journeys of Gender Affirmation and Transition’

“The Anglican Church of Canada has developed a trial liturgy for ‘Journeys of Gender Affirmation and Transition’, to be used to bless the ‘gender transition process’. …”

– The Anglican Samizdat draws attention – and provides a copy of the trial liturgy.

Christ Church Cathedral Vancouver commemorates ‘the life and teachings of Jesus from an Islamic perspective’

“The Muslim community of BC joined with Christ Church Cathedral to commemorate the life and teachings of Jesus from an Islamic perspective, who is considered one of the Mightiest Messengers of God in Islam. …”

– Topic (magazine of the Diocese of New Westminster), March 2020.

The Anglican Samizdat draws attention to an event at the Cathedral church of the Diocese of New Westminster in Canada. See the story on page 13 of Topic  – a 3MB PDF file.

The Topic report says the

“open exhibition on Jesus from an Islamic perspective was set up in the Cathedral’s parish hall, where members of the Muslim community engaged with the congregation and shared their belief and love for Jesus. Imams from Vancouver Mosque were also available for any detailed questions.”

and

“Islamic Call to Prayer was made from the Cathedral pulpit at 12:30pm with an English explanation.”

The Anglican Samizdat notes that this was

“An odd choice considering that Islam teaches that Jesus did not die on the cross, was not resurrected, was not the Son of God and did not make atonement for the sins of the world.”

To say the least.

‘The Anglican Church of Canada extinction event’

“Recent attendance statistics from the Anglican Church of Canada predict that it will cease to exist by 2040. …

The new Primate, Linda Nicholls, sees this as a ‘wake-up call’ and asks, ‘what might need to be tried’ to reverse the decline? I would be tempted to suggest ‘Christianity’ if I thought it would fall on any but deaf ears. …”

– In Canada, The Anglican Samizdat comments on responses to the Anglican Church of Canada’s attendance forecast. It’s no laughing matter.

Anglican Church of Canada ‘gone by 2040’

“In 2018 General Synod was able to collect a complete and mostly reliable set of data for from the dioceses for the first time since 2001. The data is for the year 2017 and it shows that the decline observed in earlier data has continued.

Projections from our data indicate that there will be no members, attenders or givers in the Anglican Church of Canada by approximately 2040.”

– Anglican Samizdat highlights a sobering report just presented to the Anglican Church of Canada’s House of Bishops.

Also from the Anglican Church of Canada:

Get your pet blessed this Sunday in Vancouver – Vancouver Courier.

“Annual Blessing of the Animals ceremony welcomes creatures of all types to Shaughnessy church.” [This is the Anglican Church of Canada congregation now using the building vacated by St. John’s Vancouver.]

Toronto church celebrates

“Christ Church, Deer Park’s Church on Tap community celebrates Pride month on June 14 with a Eucharist, followed by a drag show in the parish hall.”

– From page 9 of The Anglican, September 2019 (PDF file may download to your device), published by the Diocese of Toronto in  the Anglican Church of Canada.

Link via Anglican Samizdat.

The State of Biblical Orthodoxy in the Anglican Church of Canada

“The Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) was in the news last week. Most reports missed the big story. That the forces of biblical orthodoxy narrowly won a battle was correctly reported. What was missed was that those same forces lost the war. How they lost the war is significant for those of us in orthodox denominations. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Canada, George Sinclair, one of the first ministers to join the Anglican Network in Canada, explains how the Anglican Church of Canada has moved further and further away from Christian orthodoxy – and how your denomination can do the same.

From our website, March 2008:

“The Rev George Sinclair, despite relinquishing his licence for ministry in the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC), has been issued a Notice of Presumption of Abandonment of the Exercise of the Ministry according to ACoC Canon XIX by the Bishop of Ottawa.

He joins good company with Dr J I Packer and the rest of the Vancouver-area ANiC clergy who received the same notice earlier from the Diocese of New Westminster. …”

Diocese of the Arctic now in “impaired communion” with other Canadian dioceses

“To all people in the Diocese of the Arctic,

Greetings in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, who is God Almighty.

General Synod 2019 has just finished. After taking time to meet as bishops, to seek the Lord’s will for our Diocese, to pray, listen and talk, we have prepared this statement for our Diocese and for the Anglican Communion at large. …

We understand that many have walked away from our Anglican Church of Canada’s doctrine, but we have not.”

– Bishop of The Arctic, David W Parsons, and his fellow bishops in that diocese, have released a statement in which they take a stand for the truth.

Read it all, with a clarifying statement, at Anglican Samizdat.

Statement from the ANiC House of Bishops – on the Anglican Church of Canada 2019 General Synod

“Our dear friends,

For the last while many of us have been much in prayer, knowing that the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) would be convening July 10-16, 2019 in Vancouver for some very significant decisions.

Among them was the second vote potentially to confirm the decision of the 2016 General Synod to change the Marriage Canon. …

The outcome was the motion was defeated by the narrowest of margins because, although the laity and clergy houses both had votes far exceeding the 66.6 % vote required, the House of Bishops only had just over 62% which meant the motion was defeated.

In reflecting on this outcome, while knowing that many Dioceses have already gone ahead for years and have no intention, it would seem, of changing, the ANiC House of Bishops would humbly like to share the following thoughts…”

– from The House of Bishops of the Anglican Network in Canada.

Anglican Church of Canada resolves to remove prayer for conversion of the Jews

“An effort to remove a prayer for conversion of the Jews from the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and to replace it with one for reconciliation with the Jews has passed its first major hurdle at General Synod.

On July 15, a resolution to amend Canon XIV passed its first reading at the 42nd General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada. The amendment would delete prayer number four in ‘Prayers and Thanksgivings upon Several Occasions’ from use and future printings of the BCP, and replace it with a prayer entitled ‘For Reconciliation with the Jews.”’

The resolution passed by nearly unanimous votes in all three orders. …

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, outgoing primate [pictured], invited Primate-elect Linda Nicholls to sign a copy of the resolution to amend Canon XIV and present it to Rabbi Stein following the passing of the resolution by General Synod.”

– Story from the Anglican Church of Canada’s in-house Anglican Journal.

(One wonders what the Apostle Paul might say to this.)

Anglican Church of Canada Same-sex marriage vote fails

“The Anglican Church of Canada has defeated a motion allowing for same-sex marriages, despite overwhelming support from both the denomination’s laity and clergy. …“

– Report from The Vancouver Sun.

However, according to Anglican Samizdat, several dioceses will continue to marry same-sex couples. Image: Anglican Samizdat.

Strong words from the Bishop of the Diocese of The Arctic

The Rt. Rev. David W Parsons, Bishop of the Arctic, has issued an open letter to all Canadian Anglicans regarding the upcoming vote to change the marriage canon. In part, he writes:

“It would not be wise to think that General Synod and the 68.4% of bishops who voted in favour of changing the church’s Marriage Canon are a majority. The Anglican Church of Canada is marginal in size, representing only 0.65% of the Anglican Communion and only 0.025% of the Christian church worldwide. It is spiritually dangerous to follow this marginal segment of the Christian church, those who think they alone have this prophetic message from God–a message that calls us to turn from Scripture and follow them.

As for me, I choose to remain with the Word of God and represent the gospel in the confines of the traditional Biblical doctrines of the Diocese of The Arctic, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Anglican Communion, and the Holy Catholic Church and to walk with those who choose likewise. As for those who choose to reject the Word of God and the doctrines of the Anglican Church of Canada in our Book of Common Prayer, and the Doctrines and precepts of the Anglican Communion, and choose instead to develop their own worldly doctrines and humanistic theologies, they must do so on their own. I will treat them with love and respect but as those who have walked away from the doctrines of the Christian faith. I will pray for their repentance, but I will not walk in rebellion with them.“

– Via the diocesan Facebook page. Read the full letter (PDF file) here. Text at Anglican Samizdat.

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