Thank you for your kind words about my book “Battle for the Soul of Canada”. The foreword is by the Rev. Dr. JI Packer. I hope that the book can be an inspiration to many who are looking for a way forward. For more info, people can check out http://battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com/

blessings, Ed Hird+
Rector, St. Simon’s North Vancouver
http://www3.telus.net/st_simons

I’ll be staying tuned!

Your joyous brother in Christ
David

From Charles “Chuck” Colson’s Website June 26, 2007

On Friday nights, Ann Holmes Redding of Seattle puts on a black head scarf, heads to the Al-Islam Center, and prays with her fellow Muslims.
Nothing I just told you is remarkable. What’s remarkable is what I didn’t tell you: Redding is an Episcopal priest. Not an ex-Episcopal priest, mind you, but a priest, as far as she and her superiors are concerned, in good standing.
Her story is a vivid reminder of what’s really at stake in the various culture wars within Christian churches: orthodoxy.
Redding has been a priest for over 20 years. Until recently she was the director of “faith formation” at Seattle’s Episcopal cathedral, St. Mark’s. I am, as Dave Barry likes to say, not making this up.
Apparently, at the same time she was in charge of forming other people’s faith, her own was undergoing a transformation. Fifteen months ago, she became a Muslim, the result of an “introduction to Islamic prayers [that] left her profoundly moved.”
Actually, according to Redding, I should say that she also became a Muslim. As she told the Seattle Times, “I am both Muslim and Christian, just like I’m both an American of African descent and a woman. I’m 100 percent both.” So while on Friday nights she puts on a black head scarf, on Sunday mornings she wears a clerical collar.
Redding doesn’t deny that there are differences between the two faiths—she simply doesn’t think that they ultimately matter. As she put it, “at the most basic level, I understand the two religions to be compatible. That’s all I need.”
There’s so much wrong here that I scarcely know where to begin, so I’ll limit myself to the obvious: There’s no inherent contradiction between being an African-American and a woman, just as there’s none in being an American of Swedish descent and a man, as I am.
However, the same cannot be said of being a Christian and a Muslim. As Kurt Fredrickson of Fuller Seminary told the paper, “there are tenets of the faiths that are very, very different,” especially regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Mahmoud Ayoub, a professor of Islamic studies at Temple, agrees. He says that “the [respective] theological beliefs [about Jesus] are irreconcilable.”
Of course, for Redding (as for too many people today), it isn’t about logic or theology: It’s about feelings. She can call herself anything she wants, but she’s only truly a Muslim if she denies Christian doctrines such as original sin, the Trinity, or the divinity of Christ. And to deny those truths is to deny the Christian faith.
Which raises an interesting question: Why is she an Episcopal priest, never mind a director of “faith formation?”
Writing at the website Get Religion, Mollie Hemmingway says that Redding’s story illustrates that the split in the Episcopal Church isn’t about homosexuality, as the media says. The former Episcopal parishes aligning themselves with African bishops aren’t leaving a denomination with gay clergy; they are leaving a denomination with non-Christian clergy.
Redding is simply an extreme example in the Episcopal Church. But sadly she represents the widespread, politically correct belief that all religions lead to the same place—a message which is not only dead wrong as a matter of logic, but one which denies Christ. In short, it is the ultimate heresy

…Yet, as these wise leaders know, no institution can remain impervious to social change if it also remains committed to being a key piece of the social fabric. Homosexual unions are an accepted, and legal, fact of life in Canada. Parish priests ought to be able to recognize that fact and confer God’s blessing on them with the support of their congregations.

So who is committed to being a part of the social fabric? I thought scripture and tradition determined our doctrine, not the culture. We should be affecting the culture, and not allowing the culture to affect us. Allowing our faith and behaviour to be shaped by the culture eliminates the need for a transformative relationship with our Creator, and once that’s gone we may as well commit ourselves mind and body to the local Kiwanis Club where we can just be nice people doing nice things. (No offence to Kiwanis – a great organization doing valuable work, but not able to offer the spiritual transformation or salvation available to us through Christ).

It upsets me that believing in the authority of scripture is seen as being judgemental, having no concern for justice and even homophobic. If Jesus was just another prophet, why be a Christian? A person should become a Christian because they believe, not because we’re so inclusive that there are no standards. Nor can we pick and choose the stuff we want and don’t want. One wouldn’t become a Toastmaster if they weren’t into public speaking. It seems to me that the different sides in the SSB issue just do not agree about what scripture says. We can spend many more years debating this, or move on and agree to disagree. I don’t ever see one side convinciong the other to change their mind as all sides claim they are listening to God.

Blessings,

Peter

PS #12 – thank you kindly, I guess of all folks you know what it’s like! (For any who don’t know, Matt Kennedy+ was the equally crazy blogger who liveblogged the TEC GS 2006. )

PPS #8 – you are also most welcome, glad that you found it useful. I have it on good authority that we attracted many folk from the ‘other side’, which is just great. You know where Essentials and the majority of the posters are coming from here, however I always saw this as providing wider coverage than just for Essentials-friendly folk.

PPS Lots of others I would answer individually; perhaps I may be able to do so tomorrow, but for now it’ll have to do. Thanks again for all your kind comments!