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1a) http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/ You are encouraged to join us at our 18th Annual Renewal Mission 2005 on March 11th-13th with our bishop, the Right Reverend TJ Johnston. Theme: 'Transformed for Mission' Location: LGCA Maplewood School 420 Seymour River Place North Vancouver Registrar: Adelle Easto (604-929-0542) delea@shaw.ca. Cost: $25 (early registration); $30 after February 27th 2005
Bio: The Rt. Rev. Thomas William (TJ) Johnston Jr. is rector of St. Andrew's Church in Little Rock, Arkansas and has served this congregation since 1998. St. Andrew's is the first lay initiated church plant in the Anglican Mission in America. This church has grown from a living room of fifteen people to over three hundred in attendance each Sunday. St. Andrew's Church currently serves the Anglican Mission as a resource center for over 20 other churches in the United States.
Bishop Johnston graduated from The University of the South with a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry. After working as a forester with Union Camp Corporation in Virginia, he entered law school in the fall of 1980. After graduating from law school, he moved to Charleston, South Carolina to practice law as a trial attorney until 1991.While practicing law, Bishop Johnston worked as a Volunteer for Mission with the Episcopal Bishop in Haiti, the Right Rev. Luc Garnier. His role was to coordinate partnership relationships between churches and schools in Haiti and churches and schools in the United States, with a focus on rural education and health issues. Bishop Johnston continues to be involved with this work today.
In 1991 he followed God's leading to seminary and along a path to ordained ministry. Bishop Johnston attended seminary at the University of the South, The School of Theology, and graduated in May 1994 with a Masters in Divinity degree. He then served Grace Episcopal Church, Charleston, SC, as an assistant for eighteen months. In 1996 he became the assistant to the Rev. Chuck Murphy at All Saints Parish, Pawley's Island, SC. Bishop Johnston presently serves as a missionary bishop for the Anglican Mission in America and as the bishop for the Anglican Communion in Canada(ACiC), on behalf of our five International Primates of the Congo, Rwanda, Central Africa, Kenya, and South East Asia. Bishop Johnston and his wife, Rees, have two children. (Rees will also be present for the 18th St. Simon's Renewal Mission)
1b) http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/alpha.htm Celebration Dinner with our 23rd Alpha Course starting up on Feb 10th 2005 Thursday 6:30pm (full dinner at 6:30pm for all 11 evenings) Location: St. Simon's Church, 1384 Deep Cove Road, North Vancouver To sign up, phone John and Evelyn Leeburn (604-929-7045) or jleeburn@shaw.ca To find an Alpha Course closer to you, just click on http://www.alphacanada.org/ Or http://alphacourse.org/world/default.asp
2) http://north.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=anglican-same-sex-02032005 Arctic diocese may denounce gay marriage WebPosted Feb 3 2005 08:07 AM MST CBC News
IQALUIT - The Anglican Diocese of the Arctic may ask its clergy to endorse a statement that, in part, denounces same-sex unions.
This spring's regional synod will decide whether to adopt a document called the Montreal Declaration as a statement of belief.
Part of that document says heterosexual relationships are the only ones deemed "good and holy." It also says same-sex unions are "contrary to God's design."
Bishop of the Arctic Andrew Atagotaaluk says he hopes the declaration is something his diocese and his staff can base their faith upon.
"If it comes into force and is adopted at our synod then this would be a declaration which we would base our theological understanding, and therefore people ... will have to take this as where we are going to stand as a diocese."(...)
3a) http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=a94ea127-df25-47ac-a86f-511244dbfe4c No referendum on same-sex Liberals: Caucus splits as Martin refuses to budge on free vote Anne Dawson; with files from Joe Paraskevas and James Gordon CanWest News Service
February 3, 2005 Prime Minister Paul Martin insists there will not be a referendum on same-sex marriage and he expects his cabinet to vote with him(...)
A dust-up erupted behind closed doors at caucus yesterday when Toronto Liberal MP Tom Wappel accused Mr. Martin of misleading Liberals in his approach to free votes on moral issues.
"It was very tense," said one MP.
"It was quite personal against the Prime Minister," said another.
Sources say Mr. Wappel, a staunch opponent of gay marriage, reminded the Prime Minister that he campaigned during the leadership contest on giving all MPs free votes on moral issues.
Mr. Wappel also reminded Mr. Martin that he said the same thing during his many speeches on reforming the democratic deficit and questioned why he is now reneging on that commitment.
Jacques Saada, Economic Development Minister for Quebec, jumped in to defend Mr. Martin, insisting he never made such a promise on same-sex marriage. Eventually, caucus chairman Andy Savoy had to tell the two men to "take it outside."(...)
London Liberal MP Pat O'Brien, one of the few MPs in the Commons to support a referendum on same-sex marriage, said two of his colleagues have been pressed by staff in the whip's office not to show up on the day of the vote.
"Unfortunately, those pressure tactics are being used and I find that outrageous," said Mr. O'Brien, who will vote against the bill(...)
Mr. Duceppe said his party would not support a referendum on same-sex marriage because that would be submitting "the right of a minority to the decision of the majority."
Mr. Layton agreed.
"We've had times in our history ... when there was strong sentiments against Japanese, who were here in Canada, so we put them in internment camps," he said, referring to the Second World War practice. "I'm sure if referenda were held at those times, they would have backed up those kinds of decisions." © National Post 2005
3b) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050202.wsame202/BNStory/National/ BREAKING NEWS NATIONAL UPDATED AT 5:28 PM EST Wednesday, Feb 2, 2005 Skip gay marriage vote, Liberal MPs told By ALLISON DUNFIELD, Globe and Mail Update A Liberal MP says some anti-gay marriage backbenchers are being pressured to stay away when it comes time to vote on the government's same-sex legislation.
Pat O'Brien, who is a vocal opponent of legalizing gay marriage, told globeandmail.com that two other backbench MPs told him Liberal whip staff made "the suggestion slash request" to the MPs that they "at least take a walk at the time of the vote.'"(...)
Conservative MP Stephen Harper told reporters Wednesday that if pressuring of Liberal MPs is going on, it shows that the government is becoming fearful of losing the vote.
"His [Mr. Martin's] approach is an extremely intolerant one. He hasn't sought any middle ground. He has obviously denied a free vote to his front bench and increasingly tried to intimidate his back bench including using the threat of an election.
"I think we know there is growing evidence that the Prime Minister is not on the on the right side of the issue and is not on the right side of even Liberal voters and I think that is why he is doing this."(...)
Religion and marriage Thursday, February 3, 2005, Page A20, Globe and Mail Newspaper
The Conservative Party attacked the historic same-sex marriage bill tabled Tuesday in Parliament with a disingenuous defence of religious freedom. "This bill absolutely fails to provide any meaningful protection to religious freedom," Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said. Isn't Manitoba insisting its marriage commissioners perform same-sex marriages, the party asked. Isn't there a human-rights complaint in Port Coquitlam, B.C., against the lay Catholic group Knights of Columbus for refusing to rent their hall to a lesbian couple?(...)
3d) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050203/SAMESEXCAUC03/TPNational Liberal MPs clash over gay marriage Sparks fly at caucus: 'It's now personal'
By JANE TABER SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER Thursday, February 3, 2005 - Page A1, Globe and Mail Newspaper OTTAWA -- The sparks flew yesterday inside and outside the Liberal caucus over same-sex marriage as the Prime Minister was told by one of his MPs that it had now become "personal" between them.
In the closed-door session, Toronto MP Tom Wappel, who is strongly opposed to legislation that will redefine marriage to include same-sex couples, accused Paul Martin of reneging on his promise to address the so-called democratic deficit by not allowing cabinet ministers to vote freely on this issue.
"I'm profoundly disappointed with you," Mr. Wappel told Mr. Martin, according to an insider. "I've known you since . . . 1988 and I just don't understand how this can be, and it's now personal between you and me."(...)
3e) http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=d577fa0a-ff4f-4326-a833-efe13a7e7e0b Feb 3rd Friday 2005, Vancouver Sun Newspaper (Subscription Required) 'Legal chaos will follow' if same-sex bill fails OTTAWA -- Canadians face a new round of expensive litigation as the issue ricochets from Parliament back to the courts if the Liberal bill to permit same-sex marriage is torpedoed, warns a proponent of same-sex marriage(...)
3f) http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=489b5faf-382a-45bc-b406-4616babe096f Vancouver Sun Newspaper, Friday, February 4, 2005 (Subscription Required) Same-sex backers worry bill will die OTTAWA -- As Conservatives vowed to use "whatever device we can" to ensure a full opposition hearing during the upcoming Commons debate on same-sex marriage, supporters worried the bill could die if a final vote is delayed until fall(...)
3g) http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=00698894-7a71-44ae-965f-980a6781c5eb (National Post, Feb 3rd 2005, Thursday) (Subscription Required) Federal anti-polygamy law could be struck down, B.C. Attorney-General warns Canada's law prohibiting polygamy is vulnerable to a legal challenge and could be struck down because of a conflict with religious freedom, B.C. Attorney-General Geoff Plant says. Mr. Plant whose view is based on confidential legal opinions provided to the B.C. government, said he has failed to convince the federal government to amend Canada's anti-polygamy law. The legal opinions have played a major role in the refusal by police over many years to lay charges against polygamists in Bountiful, B.C.,where girls as young as 13 have allegedly been forced to become "celestial wives." "There might well be a case where the court would have to deal with religious freedoms arguments, and I think there is at least some risk that those arguments might succeed."(...)
3h) http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/feb/05020303.html] Thursday February 3, 2005 Seven Newfoundland Commissioners Resign Rather than "Marry" Same-Sex Couples
ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. February 3, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Seven marriage commissioners in the province have resigned after an activist judge ordered commissioners to perform same-sex "weddings" or face dismissal.
Seven of 67 commissioners chose to resign their posts prior to a January 31 deadline set by the Newfoundland Supreme Court.
Gander mayor Claude Elliot told the Canadian Press that forcing commissioners to resign is an assault on religious freedoms. "It was pretty straight forward from the (provincial) Department of Justice that you either had to perform them or resign," he said Wednesday.
The Federal Justice Minister said last year that there would be provisions in the new bill ensuring marriage commissioners would not be compelled to perform the ceremonies. But the licensing and enforcement of commissioners is a provincial matter.
At least eight Saskatchewan commissioners have resigned after being denied the choice to refuse same-sex couples. In Manitoba, after a similar order, at least 12 have resigned. Several resignations followed a British Columbia ultimatum, since the legalization of same-sex "marriage" there in 2003.
"A democracy that gives those people the right to be married should also give me the right to say no to marrying them," Elliot said, as reported by The Globe and Mail. "But that right has been taken away from me."(...)
3i) http://www.fotf.ca/familyfacts/tfn/2005/020405.html February 4, 2005 MARRIAGE BILL FACES MAJOR HURDLES
The latest tally of where members of Parliament stand on redefining marriage shows a majority are either opposed to it or unwilling to say how they plan to vote.
A survey published Monday in the Globe and Mail found that only 139 MPs are prepared to support Bill C-38, The Civil Marriage Act, which is now before Parliament. A further 118 MPs - including about 25 Liberals - said they will vote to keep marriage defined as one man and one woman, while 49 were either undecided or refused to disclose their position. In order to pass, the bill would need 154 MPs to vote in favour.
Among the Liberal backbenchers who will vote against C-38 is Bryon Wilfert. "I'm voting no to represent the vast majority of my constituents," he told the Globe and Mail. So will Roy Cullen. "I don't see it as a rights issue," he told the Toronto Star. "I know the courts see it that way, but I see it more as a matter of public policy, social policy, because in Canada we do limit rights."
One of those in the undecided column is Liberal MP Don Bell. "It's not an easy issue for me," he told the Vancouver Sun. "It's one that divides the community as well, and I need to be sensitive to that." And some may be wavering in their support of letting same-sex couples marry. The Hamilton Spectator noted that Beth Phinney had said in December that she would vote in favour - and yet the Globe and Mail now lists her as undecided.
But it also appears that MPs like Bell and Phinney may not have much time to make up their minds. Justice Minister Irwin Cotler - who hailed the bill as part of Canada's "rights revolution" - says he sees little need for a long debate on C-38. "I think at this moment there are few parliamentarians who are not briefed on this issue," he told the Star.
And instead of following the normal process of sending the bill, if it passes second reading, to the Commons justice committee - which already faces a packed agenda - the government is creating an ad hoc "legislative committee" to study it.
Yet the government may not be entirely confident that it has the votes needed to pass the bill. Liberal MP Pat O'Brien, an outspoken marriage advocate, says dissident Liberals are under "great pressure" from party leaders to find a reason to be absent whenever C-38 is debated. "I've had a couple today tell me they've been encouraged to, as the phrase goes, 'take a walk' at the time of the vote," he told Canadian Press. "What it tells me is that this vote's closer than people would like to think, and that the government's a little nervous."
A major concern that people of faith have with allowing homosexuals to marry is that it will trample on religious freedoms - a worry that the government feels C-38 addresses more than adequately. "Two things [in this bill] are very clear," said Prime Minister Paul Martin, according to the Star. "Freedom of religion is guaranteed and no church, synagogue or mosque will be forced to perform marriage against their beliefs."
But the defenders of marriage are not buying any of it. Conservative justice critic Vic Toews calls C-38 "so misleading and so dangerous." Cotler "makes broad statements about religious protections but in fact grants none," he said. "Cotler has offered religious leaders and free thinkers nothing more than another empty promise," wrote Vancouver Province columnist Susan Martinuk. "And we would be fools to believe in it."
"It ain't worth the paper it's written on," added Janet Epp-Buckingham, director of law and public policy with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. "The Supreme Court of Canada said very clearly that the federal government had no authori ty or jurisdiction to protect religious freedoms, so it may be written in the bill, but it's [outside] the federal [jurisdiction]."
Terence Rolston, president of Focus on the Family Canada, also denounces C-38 as a threat not only to religious freedom but to the family as well. "You're throwing into society a context for a union of individuals for the raising of children that has no history within society," he told Sun Media. "What will the outcome be? We don't know, but it's an experiment that we're putting on the backs of our children, and that's not fair."
3j) http://www.unitedmothers.ca/donate.php Click on the following weblink to send a clear message to the Canadian government and your MP, affirming the traditional definition of marriage: http://www.1clicklobbyist.ca/index.php?affid=216
Friday, 4th February, 2005 Church of England Newspaper No: 5754 Plan for united front at Primates' Meeting
Archbishops from the global south will present a united front at this month's Primates' meeting, at which they will repeat demands for the American Church to repent for consecrating the Anglican Communion's first gay bishop.
A group of 15 Primates from Africa, Asia and South America met in Nairobi last week to finalise plans for the summit, which they have marked as a critical point for the future of the Anglican Church.
"History will judge the Primates asking whether we preach a social gospel or a saving gospel," said Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini, the Rwandan Primate.
"My responsibility is to bring Jesus to the world. The only question is this: to make the whole world turn to him. In Northern Ireland that is the big concern."
The Primates said that they were not satisfied with the American Church's expression of regret. "They are apologising for hurting our feelings, but that's not [the problem]" said Archbishop Peter Akinola, the Nigerian Primate. "By their actions the Episcopal Church has "repudiated the provisions of the Scriptures."
Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya demanded a forthright declaration of repentance.
Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, the Primate of South Africa, who has stood alone as a liberal voice in the African Church, was excluded from the Nairobi meeting.
4b) http://www.challengeonline.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=66 ANGLICAN PRIMATES' PATIENCE WITH ECUSA'S "DELAYING TACTICS" LIMITED, GOMEZ WARNS Plans For Primates' Meeting Include "Adjustment" On Boundary-Crossing, And New Oversight Plan For U.S. By Auburn Faber Traycik The Christian Challenge (Washington, DC) February 3, 2005
AT THE CRITICAL FEBRUARY 21-26 PRIMATES' MEETING, conservatives will not only press for "compliance" with the Windsor Report's call for a moratorium on gay bishops and blessings, they will seek to modify the Report's stand on boundary-crossing, as well as America's weak alternate oversight plan, says West Indies Archbishop Drexel Gomez.
Asked if the conservative provincial leaders are united as they prepare for their meeting in Northern Ireland, Archbishop Gomez said, "I think we are united in the sense that we maintain our position. We will be calling for the adoption of the Windsor Report and asking for compliance."
And he warned that U.S. Episcopal Church's non-compliance and "delaying tactics" on the homosexual matter "cannot go on indefinitely."(...)
4c) http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/news225.asp Briefing Paper - Church of England General Synod 28th January 2004, Anglican Mainstream
Why are innovations in sexuality dividing the Anglican Communion?
At their meeting in February the Primates will be asked to take major decisions affecting the future of the Anglican Communion. The central questions are whether and how our churches can maintain the highest degree of communion and continue to 'walk together' following the disruption caused by the events in New Hampshire and New Westminster in 2003(...)
Summary and Conclusion
*
The cumulative effect of all these factors means that although the church must continue to wrestle with issues of sexuality and live with legitimate differences of opinion among its members and leaders, recent official actions in North America must be seen as beyond the limits of acceptable diversity within the life of the Anglican Communion. Rather, in terms of both process and content, they are corrosive of that life in communion. They destroy the calling to interdependence and mutual discernment which lies at the heart of life together in communion, undermine the truth which is the source of that communion life and the mission which is its goal. *
These concerns are held not only by the vast majority of the members of the Anglican Communion worldwide (in that twenty-two provinces have declared themselves to be in "impaired Communion" with ECUSA and New Westminster); they are also held by a very significant number of parishes and clergy within the Church of England itself. That is why it is vital that ECUSA and New Westminster embrace the path of repentance and reconciliation by laid out in the Windsor Report by implementing its recommendations.
4d) http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=2020 ACC INVITES INTEGRITY TO LONDON PRIOR TO PRIMATES MEETING News Analysis By David W. Virtue Posted by dvirtue on 2005/2/3 0:26:00
If one had any doubts about the alleged neutrality of the Anglican Consultative Council the Anglican Communion's fourth "Instrument of Unity" it was dispelled this week when Canon Gregory K. Cameron, Deputy Secretary General of the Anglican Communion Office, invited two leading Episcopal lesbigays to London for what is euphemistically called "conversation" - that much bally-hoed word designed to obfuscate and prolong the agony of the communion.
Cameron, no lover of orthodoxy and a close personal friend of Dr. Rowan Williams, who got him his job at the Paddington-based office, invited the Rev. Susan Russell and immediate past president Michael W. Hopkins of the homoerotic organization Integrity to London to find "practical ways in which a Communion-wide dialog on human sexuality might be moved forward."
This meeting will take place just days before the Primates meet in Ireland. Several other Anglican LGBT groups have also been invited to participate as well(...)
It also shows a remarkable lack of respect for the Church of England's evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics who also want nothing to do with sodomy and who view such behavior as communion-breaking.
This week three organizations; The Council of Church Society, the Fellowship of Word and Spirit, and Reform issued a statement affirming their commitment to the supreme authority of the Word of God and noted that this is the express position of the Church of England. The ACC dutifully ignored that by its in-your-face act inviting two notorious American Episcopal homosexuals to London.
The three conservative groups also called on the Primates to declare ECUSA and the Diocese of New Westminster, and Bishops supportive of them, out of Communion unless and until they repent for the actions they have taken, and further that those seeking to provide oversight to those opposed to such actions are the ones acting as faithful Anglicans and should not regret or apologize for providing such oversight(...)
And of course the Windsor Report will be made the centerpiece of attention by the Primates in February and be the focus of yet another "reception" by the Anglican Consultative Council in June. But the orthodox Primates see this as largely a game of stalling of the inevitable. It has about as much chance of being "received" (accepted) and its suggestions implemented as V. Gene Robinson's belief that it left "wiggle room" for same sex blessings. It doesn't.
As we now know the Windsor Report has the hand of American revisionists all over the text, both in the way it is expressed and its content. The whole thing is designed to pre-empt any action that chastises the Episcopal Church, and the calls for "regret" are so pathetic as to not even warrant a mention(...)
5) http://www.nsnews.com/issues05/w013005/021205/opinion/021205op2.html Friday Feb 4th 2005, North Shore News, by Trevor Lautens 'Friends' of Dan Jarvis are not so liberal
THE untold story behind the story: A pox on Dan Jarvis for the grubby campaign he and his "friends" mounted against Cindy Silver, the challenger for the Liberal nomination in the North Vancouver-Seymour provincial riding that Jarvis represents.
In spite of the fright wig they put on - or in part because of it? - Jarvis, equipped with all the power and name recognition of a sitting MLA, won renomination by an astonishingly narrow 168-138. An MLA facing a nomination contest is rare enough. To win by only 30 votes out of 306 cast is a rebuke. The "Friends of Dan Jarvis" wrote a reprehensible letter dated Jan. 7 and mailed it to riding association members - timed to arrive scant days before the nomination meeting. Excerpts from this piece of insidious, pompous cant:
"Our party's constitution champions a belief in the equality, freedom and dignity of each British Columbian, and a belief that it is the responsibility of government to promote the general well-being of the people by enacting legislation which reflects the will of the people.
"This simple creed means that we fight for an inclusive, fair minded and tolerant British Columbia. Dan has always fought for these values on our behalf. . . ." (Note: All italics here were in the original text.)
"We are not social conservatives, and this party is not the party of social conservatives. No one should vote in this nomination without knowing that:
"- Cindy Silver has advanced socially conservative positions in Canadian courts as a staff lawyer with Focus on the Family and as Executive Director of the Christian Legal Fellowship of Canada and acted in a number of court cases for pro-family interveners, including REAL Women(...)
We may not be far from the day when a neo-lib version of Sen. Joseph McCarthy intones: "I have here in my hand a list of 205 Christians. . . ."(...) lautens@axionet.com
6) -------- Original Message -------- Subject: "Suicide: The Decline and Fall of the Anglican Church of Canada?" Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 17:01:04 -0500 From: Bob and Sue Grisdale <cgrisdale0431@rogers.com> To: <ed_hird@telus.net> CC: Marney Patterson <mpattersonitlm@rogers.com>
Dear Ed:
Marney and I have just finished reading your encouraging e-mail of January 6, 2005. I am now writing to you on Marney's behalf, to offer his book,"Suicide: The Decline and Fall of the Anglican Church of Canada", to anyone who is interested, a special price of $11.95 per paperback copy(a savings of 40%) plus $2.50 shipping and handling.
We would also be happy to make available to any churches/groups, who are interested in ordering large quantities (15 or more) a further savings of 50% off which would be $9.95 per copy shipping included. Orders for this book can also be made by e-mail. Our e-mail address for book orders is as follows: cgrisdale0431@rogers.com marked to the attention of Sue Grisdale.
Please note: When ordering by e-mail we need complete name and mailing address. If purchasing by Visa please include Visa number, expiry date and telephone number so that we can confirm the order. For mail orders please make cheque payable to Cambridge Publishing House.
Thanking you, on Marney's behalf, for your continuing support and encouragement.
Sincerely in Christ,
Sue Grisdale Office Administrator
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