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1a) http://gs2004.classicalanglican.com/modules/news/ "We will certainly defend our assets as tools for the gospel ministry, but that's not our ultimate focus," says Ed Hird, rector of St. Simon's Deep Cove in North Vancouver. "Our focus is on preaching the gospel, sharing the gospel, standing for it. We don't let the issues distract us." Hird and Barclay Mayo, rector of Christ the Redeemer Pender Harbour on the Sunshine Coast, were put on notice in late June that the diocesan council had asked Bishop Michael Ingham to assume direct control of their parishes. In a letter to Hird, Ingham said he would act on the council's recommendation when he returned from a summer vacation. "Meanwhile," he wrote, "I would invite you to seek out alternate worship space for those whom you lead." Three months earlier, St. Simon's and Christ the Redeemer (then called St. Andrew's) had formally severed their ties with InghamΠand at the same time quit the Anglican Church of Canada over his endorsement of a marriage-like rite of blessing for same-sex couples. Both parishes are now aligned with five theologically conservative Primates or leaders of the international Anglican Communion in Africa and Southeast Asia. Officially, Hird and Mayo are missionary priests of the Anglican Church of Rwanda and part of a new entity called the Anglican Communion in Canada. According to Ingham, the canons (or laws of the church) do not allow them to disavow his episcopal authority. "Parishioners may choose to leave the Anglican Church of Canada and worship elsewhere," he wrote in his letter, "but a Parish may not 'leave' a Diocese nor declare that it is no longer part of the Anglican Church of Canada." Despite Ingham's offer "to meet with you on my return in the event that you wish to reconsider the actions which you have taken," it appears inevitable that this dispute will end up in court. "We're not going to roll over and play dead," says Hird. Even so, says Mayo, having to go to court over this issue is unconscionable. "That is the thing that rankles me the most about this: the diocese would force us to spend money that should be spent on ministry, fighting a battle with them that is totally unjust and totally immoral." "What the diocese is likely to argue," says Abbotsford lawyer Bob Kuhn, who represents both parishes, "is that it indirectly or by other means does or can control the parish. It's a bit like the diocese saying, 'We can own the owner.'" But they (Christ the Redeemer Church) will claim "beneficial ownership", a fairly well-established argument in Canadian contract and real estate law that declares the people who pay the cost of constructing or maintaining a property are its rightful owners. For St. Simon's, Kuhn says, the case "is fairly straight-forward on its face," since the parish "is a separately incorporated entity and owns title to its land and buildings." Earlier this year, Christ the Redeemer also incorporated, but its property is still held in trust by the diocese. However, Mayo believes Ingham forfeited that trust when he approved the same-sex blessing in violation of canon law. "Because that trust relationship was broken," he says, "we are saying [to him], 'The trust no longer exists and therefore you can no longer hold the property in trust for us. We'll allow you to do that until such time as we can make arrangements for the deeds to be transferred.'" Yet both priests insist that even if they lose in court, their churches will continue. St. Simon's, which averages about 165 on Sundays and has 360 members, has long outgrown its building space. Two years ago, they voted to construct a new facility, but those plans were put on hold when all the turmoil erupted over the same-sex blessing. So even if they ultimately lose their building, Hird says, "we'd just carry on exactly what we're doing with our ministry. We'd certainly need more space either way." Mayo says he warned his congregation, which numbers 120 members and averages close to 60 on Sunday, when they broke with Ingham that they could lose their building. If that happens, the entire community of Pender Harbour will suffer, he warns. "The Roman Catholic church worships in our sanctuary on Saturdays. There's a lot of people who will get married and buried in this building, because this church belongs to the community." But if they win, Mayo believes the impact would be felt across the country. "There are hundreds and hundreds of parishes," he says, "whose paper is being held by their bishops and dioceses in trust, many of whom would like at this point just to leave the Anglican Church of Canada. And the only thing that is holding a lot of them to the Church at the moment is the fact that they would lose their property. So we're probably in for a fairly substantial fight here." Meanwhile, another dissident New Westminster parish has pulled out of a separate court action against the diocese. St. Martin's in North Vancouver had filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court to challenge Ingham's invocation of Canon 15 last September. This had allowed him to exercise direct control of the parish. But while Ingham had fired all of its elected representatives and named three trustees of his choosing, most members still recognized the two trustees they had elected prior to the takeover. Yet on their lawyer's advice, they withdrew the petition. They realized that if the two trustees were reinstated while Canon 15 remained in effect, they would be outnumbered by the three trustees appointed by Ingham.
1b) http://www.acl.asn.au/ "The Anglican parish congregations of Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church, Pender Harbour (formerly St. Andrew's) and St. Simon's, Deep Cove received notices threatening eviction from the Rt. Rev. Michael Ingham, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster..." Details from the Anglican Communion in Canada: http://www.acicanada.ca/
2a) http://gs2004.classicalanglican.com/modules/news/ Theological wrangling over whether churches should bless same-sex unions has pitted conservatives Anglicans against liberal parishioners in the Diocese of New Westminster in British Columbia. "Our experience here has been brutal," says Lesley Bentley, spokeswoman for the Anglican Communion in New Westminster, a coalition of churches in the diocese that are opposed to same-sex blessings. The church does not allow gay marriages. The battle is about allowing Anglican priests to perform blessing ceremonies for committed same-sex couples( ) In the years leading up to the same-sex blessings, congregations in New Westminster toiled through the process of discussing sexuality - the same process that parishes across Canada are now being encouraged to conduct. Study and discussion "in itself is a very political and divisive process," says Lesley Bentley of the Anglican Communion in New Westminster, which opposes same-sex blessings. Bentley said she prays that discussions don't divide congregations across the country, "but our experience with that process was not particularly good." In New Westminster diocese, congregations were twinned and together they listened to speakers talk about same-sex issues. They heard the personal testimonies of gays and lesbians as well as scriptural discussions by liberal and conservative theologians, Bentley said. Bentley said her group wanted to hear a presentation from a former lesbian who had rejected the homosexual lifestyle. "She was completely cut out of the dialogue. She was not allowed to come and speak," Bentley said. Tensions flashed at the June 2002 synod after delegates approved same-sex blessings. Representatives of eight conservative congregations walked out in protest. Dissenting congregations then withheld financial contributions to the diocese. A bishop from another diocese was threatened with church discipline after he offered to oversee the eight congregations of dissenting parishioners. Meanwhile, dissenting parishes can't get pastoral care for their priests from the bishop, Bentley said. In March this year, four priests split from the Anglican Church of Canada, formed the Anglican Communion in Canada and accepted temporary oversight from the Primate of Rwanda in Africa. Now a potentially nasty legal battle is brewing over church assets. Two congregations in the Anglican Communion in Canada have said they intend to take their church properties with them. But the bishop of New Westminster diocese, Rt. Rev. Michael Ingham, is pushing back. "People are free, in this country, to worship where they wish. They're not free to take the assets of other people with them," Ingham said in an interview at last month's General Synod in St. Catharines. Despite the troubles, Ingham denied there is a bitter dispute within his diocese( )
2b) http://www.livingchurch.org/publishertlc/viewarticle.asp?ID=553
3) www.canadianchristianity.com (click for photo)
4a) http://www.acl.asn.au/ Guidelines on how to protest against controversial appointments, such as the promotion tomorrow of Canon Jeffrey John, a homosexual, to be Dean of St Albans, have been drawn up by Anglican Mainstream, an influential network of orthodox churches. They argue that parishes concerned at heretical teaching would be "biblically justified" in withholding their quota contributions to central Church funds and want the money directed to poorer parishes. But liberals are outraged at the move, which they claim uses "money as a weapon". Philip Giddings, a senior lay member of the Church and the convenor of Anglican Mainstream UK, said: "We are taking requests for advice seriously because they have come from mainstream churches with a track record of high involvement with church structures who are feeling alienated. "This is not blackmail. If parishes are sufficiently concerned about what a diocese is doing or not doing to contemplate this form of action, we would expect there to be serious and meaningful conversation about the way forward." The Rev David Banting, the chairman of Reform, which represents more than 2,000 evangelical parishes, said conservative churches were being provoked into taking financial action by bishops who failed to listen to their grievances. "We are considering playing the money card with a heavy heart," he said. "We don't wish to do this, but there comes a stage where enough is enough." At the heart of evangelicals' grievances is the support given to Canon John by the Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Rev Christopher Herbert. They argue that endorsing the canon, who is now in a celibate relationship, defies traditional Church teaching because he has made public his desire to change the policy on homosexuality. Some parishes in the diocese have already suspended payments and up to 20 others are expected to follow. The action could spread across the country and the effect could be disastrous. Some dioceses have had to cut the number of their clergy and the Church is discussing reducing the number of bishops. The average income in evangelical churches in 2003 was £84,000 compared with £40,000 in the non-evangelical churches, according to Christian Research. The Church received £650 million from parishes in 2001, of which £250 million, about 40 per cent, came from evangelical worshippers( )
4b) http://churchnewspaper.com/?go=news&read=on&number_key=5724&title=Parishes Anglican Mainstream has issued guidelines for parishes considering withholding their quota contributions, asserting that such a protest against "unorthodoxy and poor stewardship" is biblically justifiable( ) Philip Giddings, convenor of Anglican Mainstream, said that they had been approached by a significant number of parishes asking for guidance in taking financial action. "I have no doubt that a growing number of evangelical churches are considering their position. It is not the maverick churches, but the larger, more mainstream ones that have a track record of high involvement with church structures who are now feeling alienated." The advice given by Anglican Mainstream says that there are a number of situations that would justify financial action. "The first would be if it became clear that all or part of the money involved was being used to support unbiblical teaching or practice." It said that other reasons could be unbiblical action by "the wider Church" or loss of confidence in the financial management of the diocese( ) A church such as Christ Church, Clifton, pays around £350,000 to central funds each year, only £90,000 of which is returned to pay for the three clergy members. Losing contributions from such large churches would be a serious blow to the Church, which is struggling to overcome the current financial crisis. The Rev David Banting, Chair of Reform, which represents over 2,000 parishes, stressed the reality of the threat. "I have never known it as clear in some people's minds as an active option as it is now," he said. "People are not prepared to fund a Church that doesn't seem to have any sense of discipline or restraint. We are considering playing the money card with a heavy heart. We don't want to do this, but there comes a stage where enough is enough."( )
4c) http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/news167.asp
Q Is there any theological justification for financial action?
Q Is the parish quota system compulsory?
Q Can parishes simply decide for themselves what level of quota/share to pay?
Q What are the most serious actions we could take?
4d) http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=537285
4e) http://www.virtuosityonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=998 All the evidence is that the liberalisation of the Church is destroying it. A liberal church, having abandoned the standards and message given by God in Scripture, has nothing to say to the world and no power to transform lives. Decline has been and will be the inevitable result. Church Society and others have consistently argued that it is unacceptable for someone who teaches the acceptability of same sex sexual practice to be a minister in the Church of England. The teaching of Holy Scripture is plain on this issue that sexual intercourse belongs solely within heterosexual marriage. This teaching has been consistently upheld by the Christian Church throughout history, it was reiterated by the General Synod in 1987 and by the Lambeth Bishops in 1998. The failure of many leaders to uphold this position today is undermining the credibility and mission of the Church of England. This appointment flies in the face of the teaching of the Church. The teaching of the Church of England is that homosexual practice falls short of God's standards and should be met with a call to repentance (General Synod resolution of 1987). To appoint to a prominent position someone who, whilst claiming to be celibate, is apparently unrepentant for past behaviour and actually teaches the acceptability of such behaviour, destroys the Christian teaching on repentance. The Bishop of St. Albans and the Archbishop of Canterbury by agreeing to this appointment are themselves contravening the specific decisions of the Church in their desire to pursue their own agenda. Church Society exists to uphold biblical teaching and to promote and defend the character of the Church of England as a reformed and national Church. END 4f) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3858915.stm Last Updated: Friday, 2 July, 2004, 01:16 GMT 02:16 UK Gay cleric installed at St Albans ( )In June, St Peter and St Paul's Church in Cranfield withheld funds from the diocese in protest. And in April evangelical commentator David Virtue described it as an "outrageous appointment". Mr Virtue, who runs the website Virtuosity, added: "It is a backdoor attempt to make homosexuality mainstream in the Church of England."( )
5a) Bishop
left with a congregation of three 5b) http://www.virtuosityonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=997 Posted by dvirtue on 2004/7/1 8:52:26 (368 reads) IMPOSSIBLE TO OVERRATE ILL HEALTH OF ECUSA, SAYS GLOBAL STRATEGIST By David W. Virtue BEDFORD, TX- (6/28/2004)--It is impossible to overrate the ill health of The Episcopal Church( ) (Canon Bill) Atwood said that in the Province of Canada, the promise was made for adequate episcopal oversight, and they said they would provide that oversight, but they haven't. It comes with so many strings, that it is not worth the paper it is printed on. The evidence is that Michael Ingham in Vancouver now wants the properties of the faithful and wants them gone. That is tyranny of the worst sort, he told Virtuosity. "We tend to focus on the temporal when we should be focusing on the eternal."( ) "We can't make our decision on what the outcome of the property will be, but on what the gospels teach and how precious people are."( ) "What happens if the communion or Rowan Williams are insufficient in their solutions, or they speak sufficiently and ECUSA refuses to repent, there will be a formal separation with many provinces going their own way and forming a new communion."( )
6a) http://gs2004.classicalanglican.com/modules/news/ 6b) http://www.virtuosityonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1002 Posted by dvirtue on 2004/7/1 14:32:17 OTTAWA: Anglican Bishop allows pedophile to keep church duties CBC Ottawa, June 30, 2004 Ottawa's Anglican bishop says a convicted sex offender may continue his choir conducting duties at St. John's Anglican Church. John Gallienne plays organ and conducts the adult choir there( ) 6c) http://www.chezcsn.com/pages/Disgraced%20choirmaster.html Reprinted from www.thewhig.com web site Thursday, May 20, 2004 - © 2004 The Kingston Whig-Standard Disgraced choirmaster resurfaces at Ottawa church By Sarah Crosbie Saturday, May 15, 2004 - 07:00 ( )John Gallienne, acclaimed as a brilliant musician, teacher and organist, was exposed in 1990 as a predatory pedophile who exploited his position of trust and authority as choirmaster and organist at St. George's Anglican Cathedral in Kingston for at least 15 years. In that time he sexually abused more than a dozen young boys, some as young as eight. In the fall of 1990, he pleaded guilty to 20 sex crimes against 13 young boys. Two boys who committed suicide were allegedly molested by Gallienne. Their stories weren't disclosed until after their deaths. Gallienne wasn't charged with crimes related to them. Two years later, Gallienne pleaded guilty to three more sex charges involving another young boy. He was sentenced to six years in prison after cutting a devastating physical and emotional swath through the St. George's community and the city. In 1994, Gallienne was convicted of two counts of indecent assault - receiving one year on each count to run concurrent to the sentence being served - for assaulting a choirboy in Victoria 20 years earlier. He was choirmaster at St. John's Anglican church in Victoria from 1970 to '74. Gallienne has never been accused of assaults stemming from his tenure at St. Mark's Cathedral in Ottawa where he was choirmaster in the late 1960s( ) Former Kingston bishop Rt. Rev. Peter Mason, the senior cleric who presided over the Anglican parishes of the Kingston region starting in the spring of 1992, the midpoint of the Gallienne affair, was shocked to learn that Gallienne is playing the organ, rehearsing and leading the St. John's choir and working with other music groups at the Ottawa church. "I am saddened and offended to hear that," he said in an interview. "I believe that what Mr. Gallienne did was so destructive that he'd forfeited the privilege of leadership." Mason personally visited Gallienne in prison shortly before he was released in 1994 and handed him a document that forbade him to be involved in a music program or holding a leadership position again in any Anglican Church in the Kingston region. The rules were also adopted by the Ottawa diocese. Mason said that in 1994 he received a letter from then-Bishop John Baycroft approving the restrictions on Gallienne. "I consider that Mr. Gallienne has forfeited all privileges of leadership within the Church, particularly those relating to music and choirs," states the document delivered to Gallienne. The document outlines three restrictions: "He is not permitted to play a church organ, piano, etc., during worship or for concert entertainment. o "He is not permitted to organize or lead a choir or singing group for worship or concert entertainment. o "He is not permitted to lead or participate actively in any church-related organization which exists for the benefit of children or young people, or includes substantial numbers of them in its membership."( ) And the Reverend (Garth Bulmer) at St. John the Evangelist said the rules imposed in 1994 shouldn't exist because they're an abuse of Gallienne's human rights( ) Mason, who is now working at Wycliffe College in Toronto, questioned why the local diocese has kept its word and kept Gallienne away from Kingston's Anglican churches but Ottawa has chosen to snub the rules that it once endorsed. "Given his record, he always constitutes a risk to the church and to its youngest members," he said. Bulmer said he knows of the restrictions placed on Gallienne and called them "very sad things." "Terrible infringement of human rights," Bulmer said( )"This is not Kingston. This is not in the diocese of Kingston and he has the permission of the bishop of Ottawa to be involved in the way he is and that's the long and the short of the story."( ) By the time the sexual abuse allegations surfaced, Gallienne had gone into hiding at an Anglican seminary in Toronto. Joan and Henrik Helmers said their 14-year-old son, Henrik Helmers II, hanged himself with an electrical extension cord in 1977 after he was molested by Gallienne after a sailing outing and a trip to Dairy Queen during the summer of 1976. Ned and Daphne Franks also pointed the finger at Gallienne after their son, Timothy, a 25-year-old doctoral student at Harvard University, killed himself. Timothy Franks told his fiance that Gallienne had abused him in 1978 when he was 14 years old. With both Henrik Helmers and Timothy Franks dead, Kingston Police had no witnesses and couldn't lay charges. The public revelations sparked other victims to come forward. At first, Kingston Police laid four charges. Another seven charges followed days later. After a couple of weeks, police laid nine more charges( ) Bishop Coffin said St. John's is a caring church and it strives to be inclusive, including welcoming gays, lesbians and transgendered people into the congregation( )Many newspaper stories have been written on Bulmer's push for gays and lesbians to be accepted in the church and what he sees as their right to have their unions blessed by clergy in the church( )
6d) http://www.touchstonemag.com/blogarchive/2003_03_30_editors.html#200077960
7) http://www.christianity.ca/entertainment/books/2004/06.000.html
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