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ABBA MINISTRIES OF CANADA
OPEN LETTER FROM THE NATIONAL PASTOR
JUNE 2008
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SEVEN DEADLY SINNERS: WILLIAMS, HILTZ, INGHAM, ELLIOTT, SCHORI, ROBINSON
AND MAYBE YOU?
Anglicans one and all; however, let me state clearly at the outset, this article is only related to Same Sex Blessings in the sense that that issue precipitated current events. Let me also make clear my personal position on 'The Burning Issue' itself: I care less; it is a non issue for me. I believe all of humanity needs to be treated with love, respect and as equal partners. Au contraire, I also believe that no human being should be forced to compromise their personal religious or spiritual principles; however and equally, nobody should attempt to impose their religious or spiritual principles upon others.
The Anglican Church of Canada [ACC] is in active schism as is the Episcopal Church south of the 49th parallel: J.I. Packer, a Canadian who Time magazine called one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America defines schism thus: "Schism means unwarranted and unjustified separation from the rest of the Church [structure], causing an indefensible breach of unity. Those who are unfaithful to the heritage are the schismatics."
Prof. Packer said the Anglican Church of Canada has been "poisoned" by a liberal theology that, he says, "knows nothing of a God who uses [the Bible] to tell us things and knows nothing of sin in the heart and in the head." Packer represents the view point of the Anglican Network in Canada [ANiC]
I include the definition by Merriam Webster, because the judiciary frequently rely on the 'common definition': [a] formal division in or separation from a church or religious body, or [b] the offence of promoting schism.
Archbishop Michael Ingham, the bishop of the diocese of New Westminster, B.C., which started performing same-sex blessings in 2003, said the ANiC is using "Orwellian double-speak" to get out from under the word schism. To Ingham and his sidekick, the insidious Dean Peter Elliott [who I suspect writes much of Ingham's material], I say this: double-speak, hypocrisy and hidden agendas are your stock-in-trade and you and Elliott are the leading schismatics!
Plainly put, what the ACC is doing here is changing the rules to suit the purposes of left wing pro-gay and lesbian faction. These 'rules' have been in play for 1700 years since the original Constantine Bible and a lot longer with regard to the Old Testament. This accompanied by pathetic statements from Primate Hiltz directed at the naive and gullible suggesting that, "Adequate provision for episcopal oversight has been made for those who disagree..." is exactly that: pathetic and misleading. In reality Hiltz and his gang of ecclesiastical thugs have made no such provision, and their response to dissenting clergy and congregations whose Spiritual position has been severely compromised by the ACC has been court orders, frozen bank accounts, firings and locked church doors.
Since the early nineties, at Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver, BC, Dean Peter Elliott has been diligently set upon a path that ultimately would bring the ACC to schism. Archbishop Ingham has been walking by Elliott's side. The apparent goal, which is seen by many folk as laudable, has been to move the church toward spiritual equality and inclusion within the ACC for gay and lesbian people; there is also, of course, a hidden agenda. The hidden agenda is power and control in the new national church hierarchy: note that Elliot, a homosexual, did not dare venture outside the closet until 2005, by which time the die was cast and his future looked rosy. Ingham and Elliott are not stupid people; both know the politics of the church intimately; both are 'canon lawyers'; both are aware of the make-up of the priesthood by sexual orientation; both have much more than a rudimentary grasp of scripture and both knew, back then and without any doubt, that their personal actions would make schism within the ACC inevitable.
The foregoing having been stated, it becomes a quantum leap for me, or any fair-minded person to endorse the Ingham/Elliott/Hitlz name calling of others.
Those who oppose the gay blessings issue do so based upon the fact that the ACC is forcing them to accept a new scriptural interpretation of the Bible and de facto changes to the ancient cannons of the church. That process of change has been flawed; Ingham and Elliott have acted in a unilateral manner, outside the authority of the General Synod and the Primate, and the Primate himself has offered vacillating, weak leadership as well as active support to the SSB cause.
I am reminded of the gallant colonial response to the Acadian people in Nova Scotia by the British. The Acadians were peaceful farmers who found themselves to be the meat in the political sandwich of colonial French - English power. The Acadians spoke French and were Catholic: sufficient for the British not to trust them and so in 1755 the brave redcoats burned their farms, drove off or slaughtered their cattle and livestock, raped and pillaged their communities, split up families [which were never reunited] and forced the Acadians out of Canada.
Perhaps Governor Charles Lawrence subsequently said something like, "I am jolly surprised that the Acadians just abandoned Canada after we made such adequate provisions for their comfort and wellbeing."
Absolute nonsense obviously, but so are similar statements from the three schismatics: Bishops Ingham and Hiltz and Dean Elliott.
Those Anglicans who cannot in good faith align themselves to the current policies and actions of the ACC are NOT schismatics. Those priests, those individuals and those congregations should be allowed to join the ANiC and their church property and other assets must remain with them and intact! Of course another of the not-so-hidden agendas of the Three Schismatics is the money, investments and property of the ACC, which has been cannibalizing itself to stay alive for some time now in the face of lost adherents and dwindling financial support. Hiltz's misplaced financial focus has been well discussed and it is totally unreasonable to expect disenfranchised congregations to hand over every penny so that Hitltz and the General Synod can squander it. It makes more sense for the ACC to start cutting the fat which would be the House of Bishops and the many hangers on who simply put a burden on the grass roots priests rather than supporting them.
Wow! This is all so christian [sic] in an Anglican sort of way. Why do I keep getting this vision of Jesus shaking his head? Thus inspired below by Gandhi, I bring you the seven deadly sins to accompany those seven deadly sinners:
7 DEADLY ANGLICAN SINS
Living life through Hypocrisy
Worship without Sincerity
Money not Jesus
Starvation without help
Words without truth
Power without Justice
Actions without love
Last word of warning to Archbishop Hiltz: "Beware the Ides of March! Wear a steel back plate under your chasuble Archbishop, because you stand between Ingham and his protege and the coveted primacy: 'Ouch! Et tu Westminster?'"
In Christ,
Malachy
