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1) http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/cr0412.html Doing Christmas on Purpose -an article for the December 2004 Deep Cove Crier
I love Christmas Carols. Even when I feel dead to everything else about Christmas, Christmas Carols seem to wake me up from within. Music has an amazing way to slip past even the most hardened heart.
Christmas is one of those traditions that won't go away, and yet so often seems off kilter. It so often seems to lack purpose and focus. The recent John Grisham movie "Christmas with the Kranks" symbolizes the angst of people swallowed by Christmas-related paraphernalia. Christmas Carols are ideal for helping us regain focus at Christmas.
Randy Stonehill poignantly sang: "I wonder if this Christmas they'll begin to understand that the Jesus that they celebrate is much more than a man..." The first purpose of Christmas is to bring pleasure to God, otherwise called Worship. That is why at Christmas so many of us love to sing: "O Come let us adore him, Christ the Lord". For many years, Christmas to me was just about eating turkey and getting presents. Being dragged to church on Christmas Eve or even worse Christmas morning seemed like a serious intrusion into an otherwise good festival. As I have refocused on the real meaning of Christmas, I hear afresh the Christmas Carol singing: "O Come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, o come ye to Bethehem".
Year after year, Christmas miraculously brings friends and families back together. When I was younger, I enjoyed spending Christmas with my grandparents and family, but didn't fully realize what a wonderful gift this was. The second purpose of Christmas, I have discovered, is fellowship. At the heart of lasting fellowship is great food, lots of fun, and deep listening. God put us here on earth to learn how to love each other. Christmas is a great time to do that. Christmas is a time when like shepherds summoned to his cradle, we leave our flocks and then flock together.
I never realized when I was young that Christmas was meant to transform me. Years later I discovered that all that joy at Christmas had a third purpose: to make me more like Christ, which is Discipleship. As that great Christmas Carol puts it, "Good Christian men, rejoice, with heart and soul and voice! Now you need not fear the grave: Peace! Peace! Jesus Christ was born to save!" There is a joy released at Christmas that can radically transform anyone's life if we will let it. That is why the Good Book says that the Joy of the Lord is our strength.
Christmas for me as a young person was about getting bigger and better presents. Years later I have discovered that Christmas is really about giving. Giving is not just about presents, but mostly about our hearts. The fourth purpose of Christmas is about serving others, especially the poor. Good old Scrooge learnt this lesson the hard way at Christmas. As Good King Wenceslas put it, "Therefore Christian men be sure, wealth and rank possessing, ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing." We may not like the three wise men have gold, frankincense, and myrrh to give, but when we give from our heart, Christmas becomes real to another hurting person.
When I was younger, I thought that Christmas was about me. In fact, I have discovered that Christmas is about others. That is why the fifth purpose of Christmas is "Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born". Christmas is too good to keep it to ourselves. Christmas is the kind of fun and laughter and joy that everyone needs more of. Do you know anyone who needs cheering up? Do you know anyone who has lost direction? If you do, I encourage you to reach out and bring others this Christmas to a joyful Christmas Eve service near you.
The Reverend Ed Hird Rector, St. Simon's Church, North Vancouver (ACiC)
2) http://www.samesexblessing.info/Default.aspx?tabid=160 (Dio of New West) Dissenting parishes invited to "come back to the table" Bishop Michael Ingham has invited dissenting parishes in the Diocese of New Westminster to "come back to the table" to find out whether reconciliation is possible(...) He wrote to the rectors of St. John's Shaughnessy, Good Shepherd, St. Matthias and St. Luke, and Holy Cross, all in Vancouver, and St. Matthew's, Abbotsford(...) Receiving the proposal from Bishop Ingham were the Revs. David Short of St. John's, Stephen Leung of Good Shepherd, Simon Chin of St. Matthews and St. Luke, Dawn McDonald of Holy Cross, and Trevor Walters of St. Matthew's. The rectors of three other congregations that also walked out in June of 2002 decided last spring to leave the Anglican Church of Canada and the diocese. On November 30, Bishop Ingham gave formal notice that he accepted their decision, but said the parishes (and properties associated with them) remain in the dioceses. The text of the bishop's letter follows: Memorandum T0: The Reverends David Short, Trevor Walters, Simon Chin, Stephen Leung, Dawn McDonald From: Bishop Michael Ingham(...)
3a) http://gs2004.classicalanglican.com/modules/news/ http://allafrica.com/stories/200412060139.html Anglicans Meet in January Amid Uproar On Gay Bishops The Nation (Nairobi) December 4, 2004 Posted to the web December 6, 2004 Derek Otieno in London The Anglicans will meet in London in early January, ahead of the general synod in February, at the height of a homosexual crisis threatening to tear apart the 77-million communion.
It will try to quell tensions with the African Anglicans after it emerged that these are preparing a separate report.
Mr Andrew Clark, the Anglican Church's Ecumenical Press officer, said the synod would discuss an African walkout threat.
This week, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, chaired a meeting behind closed doors, after a letter from his office last week threatened to widen the rift.
The conservative African Anglicans have threatened to leave the communion if action is not taken against the US and Canadian dioceses(...)
3b) http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/012/24.28.html Canterbury Crackup Eschewing church discipline has come back to haunt Anglicans. A Christianity Today editorial | posted 12/03/2004
Anglicans have been waiting for the arrival of the Windsor Report like Tolkien fans panted after the movie premiere of The Lord of the Rings. The difference is that the Windsor Report, read instantly by Anglicans worldwide on the internet, has flopped. At least according to conservative Anglicans-and in their profound disappointment, there lies a lesson about weak accountability, a lesson all churches are wise to ponder(...)
3c) http://www.irishangle.net/news/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=223 From the Church of Ireland Evangelical Fellowship (CIEF).
We believe that the Windsor Report has emerged as a substantial theological document which merits serious reflection. The following is our initial response. (...)We do however have concerns
o that although the Report was established to consider the issue of broken relationships in the Communion and not the issue of morality, there is an apparent weakness in the invitation to the parties involved to express regret, rather than repentance, for their actions taken in New Hampshire and New Westminster, paras. 134 &144 o that the issue of intervention by bishops beyond their jurisdictions has been treated on a par with the same sex issues in ECUSA and Canada, para. 155(...)
4a) http://www.fotf.ca/familyfacts/news/120904.html DECEMBER 9, 2004 SUPREME COURT INDICATES GOVERNMENT IS NOT OBLIGATED TO REDEFINE MARRIAGE OTTAWA, ON- "The Court has clearly indicated that any changes to marriage must be made by Parliament and not through the courts," commented Focus on the Family Canada President Terence Rolston in response to the opinion on marriage given today by the Supreme Court of Canada. The Court found that while Parliament has the power to redefine marriage, it is not compelled to do so(...)
Rolston concludes, "Canadians should have the right to make their opinions on marriage heard before redefining marriage and we call on the government of Canada to respect the clear majority of Canadians who want a referendum on marriage."
Canadian Court Approves Same-Sex Marriage By BETH DUFF-BROWN, Associated Press Writer TORONTO - In a landmark opinion, Canada's Supreme Court said Thursday the government can redefine marriage to include same-sex couples.
However, the court added that religious officials cannot be forced to perform unions against their beliefs, and the legislation to allow gay marriage must still pass with a majority of the House of Commons.
Prime Minister Paul Martin said after the court's ruling that since judges in six Canadian provinces and one of its territories are already allowing gay marriages, it should be approved throughout the country. He said his government would introduce a bill shortly after the Christmas holidays.
He noted that members of Parliament would be free to vote their conscience, but his Cabinet ministers would have to support the government's bill.
"For many Canadians and many Parliamentarians, this is a difficult issue involving personal and religious convictions and it represents a very significant change to a long-standing institution," Martin said(...)
To pass in the House of Commons, the legislation needs the approval of about 44 of the 95 Liberal backbench members of Parliament to obtain a 155-vote majority in the 308-seat House.
One top Liberal predicted the legislation should pass easily after its introduction, likely early next year. It already has the support of the 38-member Liberal cabinet and virtually all the 54 Bloc Quebecois and 19 New Democrat MPs(...)
Gordon Young, pastor of the First Assembly of God Church in St. John's, Newfoundland, was highly disappointed by the ruling.
"It's a sad day for our country," Young told CBC television news. "God is in the DNA of this nation. We believe that changing the definition of marriage is changing the divine institution that God put in place for the order of our society."(...)
The federal Conservatives and several Liberal MPs are expected to fight to preserve marriage for heterosexuals.
4c) http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=news_home&articleID=1789053 Thursday, Dec 09, 2004 Supreme Court rubber-stamps same-sex marriage (...)Martin said MPs will be free to vote their conscience, but cabinet ministers must support the government's bill(...)
Many MPs and almost half of Canadians polled in recent surveys are against same-sex marriage, and Alberta's Conservative government has vowed to fight to the end(...)
Conservative Senator Anne Cools vehemently disagreed. A fundamental social issue should be decided by voters through a referendum - not by unelected judges, she said.
"There's a moral imperative and a moral obligation to go to the people of Canada."(...)
4d) http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=6a24b594-2697-4a66-b621-20f4e91afc26 http://canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041209/CPN/10484013 Liberals to move soon on gay marriage legislation after court endorsement SUE BAILEY (...)In Alberta, where Conservative Premier Ralph Klein has vigorously defended heterosexual-only marriage, Justice Minister Ron Stevens said the fight has become tougher.
The high court clearly says it's up to Ottawa - not the provinces - to define same-sex marriage, Stevens conceded.
"The reality is that our ability to defend the (Alberta) Marriage Act has been restricted by this ruling."
The act defines marriage as between one man and one woman and will remain Alberta law unless federal same-sex legislation passes, Stevens said(...)
4e) http://www.canada.com/national/story.html?id=5300083a-79e9-4438-8a8a-a6938e26ca43 Supreme Court gives blessing to gay message Janice Tibbetts, CanWest News Service Thursday, December 09, 2004 OTTAWA - The federal Liberals expect to pass a law by the end of next year allowing gays and lesbians to wed across the country following a Supreme Court of Canada opinion Thursday that powerfully endorsed same-sex marriage(...)
Prime Minister Paul Martin declared the government "will not permit the balkanization of marriage across the country" and Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said he will introduce a bill in January he predicted will clear a vote in the House of Commons by the end of 2005.
"The constitutional wind is with us as we table this legislation," Cotler told a news conference. "They said: 'Guys, go ahead, we're giving you the green light.' "(...)
The court's refusal to specifically kill the traditional marriage definition gave hope to some opponents of gay marriage, who say they will launch a final fight for politicians to vote down the proposed bill(...)
Others accused the Liberals of stacking the Supreme Court with liberal judges and warned MPs who support the federal bill will be voted out of office.
"Marriage has been hijacked today," lamented Charles McVety, president of Canada Christian College in Toronto(...)
4f) http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/news/story.html?id=a251c992-ba9e-4c92-a220-a44fba4f775b http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=a251c992-ba9e-4c92-a220-a44fba4f775b Canada smack dab in the middle of U.S. cultural divide over same-sex marriage Beth Gorham, Canadian Press December 9, 2004 WASHINGTON (CP) - Canada's getting squeezed by the U.S. cultural divide over same-sex marriage, with applause and condemnation Thursday from groups on either side.
Both are citing Canada as a major influence on how the issue is viewed in the United States after word Canada's Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for a federal vote on legalizing the practice.
With its liberal leanings already a flashpoint in the fallout from the recent U.S. election that returned George W. Bush to the White House, Canada was again getting a lot of play in American media organizations.
"Americans are nervously looking north, hoping their Canadian cousins will get a grip on their sanity," said Robert Knight, who heads the conservative Culture and Family Institute at Concerned Women for America.
"The average Canadian cannot be anywhere near as liberal as the political hierarchy. It's just a matter of organizing them to become a powerful force."
Knight says he's worried about a "spillover effect," but believes there's a "silent majority" in Canada "that doesn't say a whole lot but reads the papers and given a chance would pull a lever to support" traditional marriage.
"The elites are talking to themselves and often leave the people out of it. Homosexual activists in both countries are trying to create the impression of inevitability."(...)
4g) http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=news_home&articleID=1788161 Wednesday, Dec 08, 2004 Court likely to uphold proposed same-sex law: Cotler OTTAWA (CP) - Justice Minister Irwin Cotler says he expects the Supreme Court of Canada will pave the way for a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage as early as next year.
He made the comment one day before the high court offers its opinion on draft legislation that would make Canada among the first countries in the world to legalize gay weddings.(...)
But Cotler seemed confident of the final outcome in a poignant moment in the Commons on Wednesday. He was asked about the legislation by B.C. MP Bill Siksay.
"As a citizen, as a gay man, and as a loving partner, a clear answer to my question would be very significant," said Siksay, a New Democrat.
"Does the prime minister support my right to marry the man I love?"
Cotler's reply was blunt and he wasn't waiting for a cue from the Supreme Court: "The answer, in one word, is 'yes.' "
© The Canadian Press, 2004
4h) http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/dec/04120801.html Wednesday December 8, 2004 Canadian Justice Minister Asked to Resign Over Alleged Foul Play with Supreme Court Marriage Ruling
5) http://www.acl.asn.au/ http://www.churchnewspaper.com/news.php?read=on&number_key=5747&title=American%20Church%20'never%20likely%20to%20face%20discipline' American Church 'never likely to face discipline' Number: 5747 Date: Dec 10, 2004 Church of England Newspaper One of Anglicanism's most senior leaders has signalled that the American Church is never likely to face discipline for its decision to consecrate the Anglican Communion's first practising gay bishop.
The Irish Primate, Archbishop Robin Eames, warned that the Communion's conservative provinces should not expect calls to be answered for the American Church and diocese of New Westminster, which authorised same-sex blessing rites, to be punished.
In an interview with The Church of England Newspaper, Archbishop Eames, the Chair of the Lambeth Commission, urged the warring factions to avoid recriminations and look to the future.
Dr Eames, the Archbishop of Armagh, said: "I would welcome decisions [at February's Primates' meeting] more if they're directed to how we deal with the nature of Communion rather than reiterating 'they did something wrong' or 'they didn't express regret'.
"I think we need to move on in terms of what have we learned from this - I'm a great believer in trying to learn the lessons of these things. I think we must move on."
Primates from the Global South had demanded the expulsion of the American Church and New Westminster diocese if they refused to repent for their actions, but the Windsor Report took no action against them.
"Expulsion was one of the things that confronted us," Archbishop Eames said. "We didn't fudge the issues, but I have to be a realist and recognise that maybe there won't be expressions of regret."
The African Church is preparing to become self-sufficient in a bid to separate itself from Western liberalising influences and has planned to build more of its own theological colleges. Its Primates have vowed to continue crossing provincial boundaries to provide pastoral oversight to orthodox parishes ostracised by their liberal Church.
Archbishop Eames said that the meeting of Primates in February would mark the start of attempts to implement the Windsor Report, but conceded that the homosexuality crisis had changed the Anglican Church.
"We're going to have to take some decisions on some of the proposals on the Windsor Report. The Council of Advice, [for example], needs to be looked at. We'll need to see if people have moved on in their thinking from the positions that they took up before the Windsor Report was published.
"I'd have hoped that what the report has drawn attention to will provide a clearer roadmap as to how to deal with other differences that arise in the future. Those differences are going to come as the world develops and the Church develops and the Communion develops. There are going to be issues that will divide.
"I don't think the Anglican Communion will ever be quite the same again, but I can't foresee what it's going to be. I think there will be a sense in which people will still want to be Anglicans, the question of how they relate to one another remains to be seen. If people feel that they can't be part of this process of reconciliation then we have to see what situation that creates for the rest. But I don't know if there'll ever be a time drawn for this."
6) http://www.churchnewspaper.com/news.php?read=on&number_key=5747&title=Brazilian%20row%20erupts Brazilian row erupts Number: 5747 Date: Dec 10, 2004 Church of England Newspaper The diocese of Recife has placed itself under the protection of the Archbishop of Canterbury, asking to be given alternative metropolitan oversight after the Primate of Brazil cancelled its annual synod, amidst fears it might pull out of the Iglesia Anglicana Episcopal do Brasil.
On Dec 1, two days before the start of the diocese's 24th annual convention, the Most Rev Orlando Oliveira wrote to Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti stating a "decree" had been issued "suspending" the diocese, prorogating convention.
In March Archbishop Oliveira proffered charges against Bishop Cavalcanti for confirming 110 American Episcopalians at a March 14 service without asking the permission of the Bishop of Ohio.
The charges were dismissed, however, on the grounds that while the canons forbade a bishop from exercising jurisdiction outside of his own diocese within Brazil, they were silent as to whether it was permissible to exercise jurisdiction in another Province of the Anglican Communion.
Two Brazilian bishops later filed charges in October against Bishop Cavalcanti, accusing him of "intolerance", "in-submission", and "breaking his ordination vows" for performing the confirmations.
In a Sep 21 letter to Archbishop Williams, the Brazilian Church's General Secretary, Mrs. Christina Winnischofer, wrote that the tension between the evangelical Bishop Cavalcanti and the liberal majority in Brazil's House of Bishop was not over theology, but manners.
"The cause of these difficulties were mostly related to the style of leadership and way of acting that was developed by Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti," Mrs. Winnischofer explained, "in which he constantly applies kind of language that is both offensive and disrespectful, including futile and frivolous accusations towards the Province, bishops, and clergy from others dioceses."
The Rev. Estevao Menezes, the Recife diocesan secretary, disagreed, saying the "relationship between the Province and Diocese has been tense for 29 years and deteriorating in the last years".
Archbishop Oliveira told the US House of Bishops at their Sep 23-28 meeting in Spokane, Bishop Cavalcanti was a "devil", one "who is trying to start a holy war in our Province".
The attempted prorogation of convention follows the Nov 21-23 meeting of the Brazilian House of Bishops: held without Bishop Cavalcanti. Fears that Recife might adopt a resolution moving the diocese out of Brazil and into the Province of the Southern Cone prompted the move.
Recife defied their Primate's ban, meeting from Dec 3-5.
Convention released a letter addressed to Dr Williams, seeking redress from Archbishop Oliveira's actions and asking Canterbury find alternative metropolitan oversight from another Primate of the Anglican Communion for the diocese.
The Primate's Office has not responded to our queries as of our going to press.
7) http://www.anglican.tk/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=697 Anglican Essentials Toronto The Rev. Dr. Murray Henderson, Chair
Wednesday, December 8, 2004
The Rt. Rev. Colin Johnson
The Diocesan Council of the Anglican Diocese of Toronto
135 Adelaide Street East
Toronto, ON, M5C 1L8
Dear Bishop Colin and Diocesan Council Members:
We would like to bring before you for your consideration, some of our reflections on the recently held "Special Synod" in the Diocese of Toronto on same-sex blessings.
We are grateful to God for Synod's decision to defer to the reception of the report of the Primate's Theological Commission on the issue of same-sex blessings.
We appreciate Bishop Colin Johnson's efforts to present both sides of the debate in his opening admonitions and the frequent times of prayer to which we were brought back. We have no doubt that this contributed greatly to the irenic spirit in which the debate was conducted. Bishop Johnson's timely sense of humour helped to release tension that built up from time to time.
Our main concern is over the Resolution which accords "integrity and sanctity" to adult same-sex relationships.
1. We were dismayed at the last minute addition of this motion. Delegates were not afforded an opportunity to prepare themselves to give it due consideration. 2. We are puzzled at what seems to us to be the contradictory nature of this motion. Minutes before its passage, we agreed as a Synod to defer a decision on whether or not to bless same-sex unions. In our view, by granting "integrity and sanctity" to same-sex unions, we in effect made the very decision which we had just deferred to the receiving of the report of the Primate's Theological Commission. "Sanctity" can only mean "holiness"; to accord "sanctity" to relationships in effect grants God's blessing to them. We are disturbed that this apparent contradiction between the two motions was not ruled out of order. 3. We agree with the statement of the nine Canadian Bishops at General Synod 2007 who dissented from a similar motion in these words: "We must point out that General Synod's opinion is in error and contrary to the teaching of Scripture and the tradition of the undivided Church, the clearly expressed conviction of the Anglican Communion at the Lambeth Conference of 1998, the overwhelming ecumenical consensus of the Church inside Canada and abroad, and the 1997 Guidelines of our own House of Bishops ... . Many of us will take comfort in the Article of Religion XXI which reminds us that councils of the Church often fall short in their seeking God's will..." 4. We would add that in the light of the Windsor Report, the passing of the "integrity and sanctity" motion, further strains the "bonds of affection."
We assure you of our prayers and our continued efforts to work together with you for a generous and faithful resolution of this issue.
Yours in Christ,
The Rev. Dr. Murray Henderson Chair, Anglican Essentials Toronto. Cc. Members of Anglican Essentials Canada
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