Church needs to know its purpose, Abp Hiltz tells Anglican Church of Canada
“Hiltz made the comment in an address that began and ended by wondering what St. Paul might think of the church, what advice he might give it and how he might pray for it.
On the church’s deliberation over changing its marriage canon to allow same-sex marriage, for example, Paul might remind it of his counsel to the Ephesians to be ‘humble and gentle and patient with one another, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:2-3),’ he said. …”
– Report from Anglican Journal. (Paul might also remind them of his counsel to the Ephesians in Ephesians 5:1-21.)
via Anglican Samizdat.
Bishop of New Westminster joins in petition to prevent Franklin Graham speaking in Canada
“Bishop Melissa Skelton [of New Westminster] has added her voice to those attempting to stop Franklin Graham’s Vancouver crusade. …
I’m writing to let you know that I have signed on to a letter from a group of concerned civic leaders and clergy about the upcoming visit of Franklin Graham to Vancouver as a part of The Festival of Hope. …”
– from Anglican Samizdat. The statement can be read in full here.
Anglican Church of Canada: General Synod vote count in error – the vote for same-sex marriage was actually passed
“A stunning reversal of a divisive vote has paved the way for the Anglican Church to perform same-sex marriages in Canada, but that won’t happen before 2019 at the earliest.
The canon change must be approved by two successive General Synods before it is official…” – Report from CTV News.
Photo: Screenshot from this Anglican Church of Canada video.
(Even if the error had not been realised, several Canadian bishops had said they would go ahead and marry same-sex couples anyway.)
Move to see ‘Anti-Transgender speech’ criminalised in Canada
“Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced a bill that would criminalize anti-transgender speech, with violators receiving up to two years in prison.
The new bill, introduced May 17 on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, aims to amend the Canadian Criminal Code to expand the country’s ‘hate speech’ prohibitions to include any public speech or communication that ‘promotes hatred’ on the basis of ‘gender identity’ or ‘gender expression.’ It would also change the Canadian Human Rights Act to cover transgender people…“
– Story from The Blaze.
Related: Questions and Answers from the Canadian Department of Justice.
“Q. Will “gender identity” and “gender expression” be defined in the Bill?
A. In order to ensure that the law would be as inclusive as possible, the terms “gender identity” and “gender expression” are not defined in the Bill. With very few exceptions, grounds of discrimination are not defined in legislation but are left to courts, tribunals, and commissions to interpret and explain, based on their detailed experience with particular cases.”
Photo: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Anglican Network in Canada’s Bishop Charlie Masters statement from Canterbury
Anglican Network in Canada’s Bishop Charlie Masters reports from Canterbury
“Once Primates had finally addressed the issue of discipline, it was time for Archbishop Beach to quietly step away from the remainder of the meeting as ACNA had committed itself to only continue at the meeting if TEC and the ACoC had stepped away and until repentance and godly order were restored. The ACoC remained and, although mild sanctions were applied to TEC, its Primate also remained in the meeting.”
Full text below: Read more
Review of the Report from the Marriage Commission of the Anglican Church of Canada
The Church of England Evangelical Council has commissioned a Review of the Report (“This Holy Estate”) of The Commission on the Marriage Canon of the Anglican Church of Canada.
The Commission was established in 2013 by the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada, with consideration of the report (including a motion ‘to allow the marriage of same-sex couples’) to come at their 2016 General Synod.
The Review of the Canadian report, made for the CEEC by Dr Martin Davie, complements earlier reviews of similar reports by The Episcopal Church of the USA and The Scottish Episcopal Church.
– Read his full review here. (PDF file)
Related: The American Anglican Council’s Canon Phil Ashey writes:
“[The Canadian report] follows exactly the pattern we saw in the United States in TEC: create facts on the ground in violation of the Bible, and then call for ‘theological reflection’ upon those facts-that-you-have-just-established. In this case, the theological reflection in ‘This Holy Estate’ presents only three possibilities for the General Synod, none of which affirms a Biblically faithful understanding of marriage and human sexuality…”
Photo of Archbishop Fred Hiltz: Anglican Church of Canada.
‘Supreme Court of Canada deals final blow to Anglican parishioners’
“A breakaway group of Anglican parishioners has been dealt a deathblow in their legal battle over ownership of a Riverside church.
The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to grant St. Aidan’s parishioners leave to appeal, dismissing their case with costs.”
– report from The Windsor Star, Ontario. (h/t Anglican Essentials Canada blog.)
Anglican Network in Canada Easter Message
“Imagine someone announcing that:
- The problem of death has been dealt with completely.
- The power of sin has also been broken so that complete forgiveness is available to all and so that guilt is gone and the power to live a new and worthy life is now possible.
- Satan and all his demonic realm – who have long ruled this dark world wreaking evil havoc, cruelty, violence, all sorts of injustice and abuse, filling the world with lies – has received a death blow that guarantees his and their condemnation.
This, of course, is exactly the message we bring and would remind you of …”
– Bishop Charlie Masters’ Easter Letter.
Canada: Anglican Church faces falling membership, deeper divisions
“More than 15,000 packed Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens. Crowds thronged the lobby of the Royal York Hotel. Two hundred reporters scrambled for news and The Globe and Mail splashed the story on its front page.
Not for the Beatles or Muhammad Ali, but a congress of the Anglican Church. It was late summer, 1963, and the Anglican Church, bastion of the old order, was at its demographic peak in Canada. …”
– The Globe and Mail in Toronto reports on the Back to the Anglican Future conference held last week.
‘Anglican Church of Canada worship returns to St. John’s Shaughnessy’
“The Venerable John Stephens, Archdeacon of Vancouver has arranged a rota of clergy to conduct Sunday services and musicians to lead the music in worship beginning Sunday, September 25th at 11am with a Celebration of Holy Communion. …”
– from the Diocese of New Westminister website.
Related: Largest Anglican Church congregation in Canada leaves historic church home.
And from the St. John’s Vancouver website:
“We will pray that He will continue to use this space for His glory, and that many may come to know Him in it in the future.”
“On September 18, we will have regular services at 8am, 10am, and 6:30pm. The 10am service will finish differently. Near the end of the 10am service we will thank God for his grace at giving us our home at St. John’s Shaughnessy for the better part of the last century. We will pray that He will continue to use this space for His glory, and that many may come to know Him in it in the future. We will then depart the building together and drive to our new location at 5350 Baillie, arriving together. We will thank God for his grace and provision and sing . After this, at approximately noon, a light lunch will be served at our new location and there will be an opportunity to explore where ministries will be happening and enjoy our new home.”
Largest Anglican Church congregation in Canada leaves historic church home
Sunday 18th September will be the last Sunday for St. John’s Vancouver (formerly St. John’s Shaughnessy) at the place where they have been meeting for 100 years.
This would be an especially good time to continue in prayer for the congregation, the ministry team led by David Short, and for their expanded, gracious, proclamation of the Lord Jesus in the city of Vancouver.
They’ve just published this news release: Read more
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada approves statement on human sexuality
“Following more than two hours of debate, delegates of the 2011 ELCIC National Convention approved a Social Statement on Human Sexuality. The results came late in a day and were done by written ballot, with 213 votes in favour of the motion and 134 against. …
Delegates voted on whether to call the question and the results were announced as 166 in favour and 162 against. As convention moved on to consider the adoption of the social statement, a steward announced that there had been an error with the previous count and the majority of delegates had voted not to call the question.
After a brief time of reflection, Bishop Johnson … ruled the decision to call the question stood, since delegates had proceeded in good faith according to information from the stewards. …
The original vote to approve the proposed Social Statement on Human Sexuality resumed, and after voting, delegates heard a presentation and several announcements. … At around 7:30 p.m., Bishop Johnson announced the statement had been adopted by a vote of 213 to 134…”
– from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. (h/t Anglican Essentials Canada blog.)
Related: Bishop Johnson and Archbishop Hiltz’s Christmas greetings 2010.
Supreme Court of Canada dismisses appeal, congregations to be evicted
David Short, Rector of St. John’s Shaughnessy:
“the way we respond is a God-given opportunity to bear witness to Christ. As those who are disciples of Jesus Christ, this is not just about ‘what’ we do but also ‘how’ we do it. In some ways nothing will change with the decision on Thursday. We are still God’s family, and he has placed us in Vancouver to spread his glory.”
News release from the Anglican Network in Canada:
“The trustees of four Vancouver-area Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) parishes are preparing to vacate their church buildings after the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed their case and awarded legal costs to the Anglican Church of Canada Diocese of New Westminster. The four churches are: St John’s (Shaughnessy), St Matthews (Abbotsford), Good Shepherd (Vancouver), and St Matthias & St Luke’s (Vancouver).
The parishes had appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada requesting the court to overturn the decision of the BC courts in awarding their church properties to the Diocese.
‘Obviously, this decision is extremely disappointing and should be of great concern to all Christian denominations. While these congregations have remained steadfast in their faith, and have not changed the traditional teaching of the Christian church, they have now been called to sacrifice all their assets, including their church properties, for the sake of their faith’, said Cheryl Chang, a former Trustee of St. John’s (Shaughnessy) and Special Counsel to the Anglican Network in Canada.‘Clearly, we were hoping for a better result when we sought help from the courts. However, we always said that given a choice, we would choose our faith over our properties, and we have been willing to make that sacrifice if called upon by the courts to do so.’
The Supreme Court of Canada gave no reasons for their decision.”
————-
Before the decision was announced, David Short, Rector of St. John’s Shaughnessy (and Canon of St. Andrew’s Cathedral Sydney), released a pastoral letter to the congregation at St. John’s. The congregation at St. John’s is being called to prayer this afternoon, Sydney time.
“Friends,
I am writing to let you know that this Thursday we will receive the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision on our Leave to Appeal Application. We have been in this unprecedented process for nearly 10 years, and this is the next step toward clarity about our future. I thank God for you and for our unity together in the gospel, and ask you to pray that God would bring glory to his own name through the unfolding events.
If the Supreme Court of Canada does not grant us Leave to Appeal, we will meet at the Church at 7:30 PM Thursday evening to pray together. This will mark the end of the Legal process for us.
From a practical point of view, a number of parallel processes will then be initiated.
- We will have further discussions with the Diocese of New Westminster to secure an orderly transition.
- We will continue to develop our ‘Plan B’ options. Currently we are exploring and pursuing two different opportunities.
- We will begin preparing to move our ministries and with all the practical and physical tasks that requires. We have been working on this for a number of months and are prepared, but it will require some ‘extra hands’ to make the work light.
- We will continue to glorify God with all our hearts, to preach his gospel, to love one another and to pray, because nothing has changed concerning the mission or Lordship of Christ.
If we are granted Leave to Appeal, our Lawyers will begin working on the documents for the Trial. Currently the Supreme Court of Canada is scheduling hearings in the first quarter of 2012. It will then be another 6-8 months before we have a decision, likely late 2012 or early 2013.
Regardless of the decision on Thursday, the way we respond is a God-given opportunity to bear witness to Christ. As those who are disciples of Jesus Christ, this is not just about ‘what’ we do but also ‘how’ we do it. In some ways nothing will change with the decision on Thursday. We are still God’s family, and he has placed us in Vancouver to spread his glory. We are in an uncomfortable place and the words of Romans 12 encourage us to “rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
I thank God for sustaining and guiding us this far as a family, in partnership with our extended family of St. Matthews Abbotsford, the Church of the Good Shepherd, and St. Mathias & St. Luke. I do not know of many churches that have had the privilege of being so purposefully shaped and transformed by the Holy Spirit in such unusual circumstances; and I am constantly grateful to be a member of St. John’s, praying and expecting to see how God will use this for his own glory.
Warmly,
David Short
Rector St. John’s Vancouver
(from the St. John’s website – PDF.)
Related news note from The Globe and Mail. (Photo: Joy Gwaltney, GAFCON.)
United Church of Canada: ‘celebrating post-theism’
“The United Church of Canada, which was formed 86 years ago with the grand vision to bring Protestants together “in one glorious national church,” is undergoing one of the most precipitous slides in modern religious history.
In the midst of a breathtaking erosion in its membership, the church is undertaking what some call a great experiment to redefine itself through an intense engagement with the surrounding secular world; whether it be through advocating for the environment, fighting for the rights of homosexuals to marry or taking on the cause of the Palestinians, the church has attempted to blur the boundaries between religion and the broader society.…”
– Opinion-piece by Charles Lewis in the National Post of Canada.
(As the Anglican Essentials Canada blog points out, it makes the Anglican Church of Canada “look like a bastion of orthodoxy”. Example. Photo: UCC Moderator Mardi Tindal from her Easter message.)
ANiC Parishes file application for Leave to Appeal to Supreme Court of Canada
Parishes File Application for Leave to Appeal to Supreme Court of Canada
News Release from the Anglican Network in Canada
14 January 2011
“Today, the Trustees of four Vancouver-area Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) churches filed an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, the BC Court of Appeal decision (November 15, 2010) which removed their right to use their church buildings and awarded the church properties to the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) Diocese of New Westminster. The four churches are St John’s (Shaughnessy), St Matthews (Abbotsford), Good Shepherd (Vancouver), and St Matthias & St Luke’s (Vancouver). Read more
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…