Details removed by request…admin
Rev. Ken Harding inhibited by Archbishop John Clarke of Athabasca
May 24th, 2008 by Kate
70 Responses to “Rev. Ken Harding inhibited by Archbishop John Clarke of Athabasca”
Leave a Reply
-
About
There are 1,712 Posts and 16,426 Comments so far. Pages
Recent Comments
- Muriel on Rev Barclay Mayo moves to ANiC
- Brian on Rev Barclay Mayo moves to ANiC
- Kate on Ottawa teacher to ‘marry’ his school in an Anglican church
- Gordon on Ottawa teacher to ‘marry’ his school in an Anglican church
- Cathy on Ottawa teacher to ‘marry’ his school in an Anglican church
- Gordon on Synod of the Diocese of New Westminster passes motion to lift moratorium on same sex blessings.
- Pauline on Synod of the Diocese of New Westminster passes motion to lift moratorium on same sex blessings.
- Kate on Anglican Journal gets letter from Lucifer
- David on Anglican Journal gets letter from Lucifer
- Peter on Anglican Journal gets letter from Lucifer
Categories
- ACoC General Synod 2007
- ACoC General Synod 2010
- Anglican Artistic Moments
- Anglican Church in North America
- Anglican Church of Canada
- Anglican Coalition in Canada
- Anglican Communion
- Anglican Communion Alliance
- Anglican Crisis
- Anglican Essentials
- Anglican Network in Canada
- ANiC Prayer Calendar
- ANiC Synod 2010
- ANiC Synod 2011
- Church Year
- Common Cause
- ELCIC
- Just for Fun
- Prayer
- Uncategorised
-
Blog roll
- A Reasonable Faith
- Anglican Communion Alliance
- Anglican Communion Institute
- Anglican Essentials
- Anglican Essentials Calgary
- Anglican Essentials Federation
- Anglican Mainstream
- Anglican Network in Canada
- Anglican Samizdat
- ANiC Parishes
- Felix Hominum
- GENEralities
- Lent & Beyond
- Nova Scotia Scott
- Stand Firm
- The Age to Come
- The Hairy Eyeball
- The Scriptorium
- TitusOneNine
- Under Ethiopia
- VirtueOnline
Archives
Meta
-
There is a link in the Anglican Mainstream piece to “Real Communion Lost” by Rev Harding. Wow. I bet there were some seriously rouffled feathers in the House of Bishops. This article also appears to be the basis of the charges.
Our prayers are with Rev Harding as his ministry expands in new directions.
I read Rev Hardings article. He’s my kind of Anglican.
I just read Rev. Ken Harding’s article, too. He’s my kind of Anglican, too. Our prayers are with you, Rev. Ken Harding.
I’m suspect that after reading ++Clark’s address and the Athabasca Synod vote that he is in sympathy with ANiC but won’t tolerate his priests not preaching company policy. A bit of a “not in my back yard” syndrome.
And this in from the ACC Council of General Synod
The little Dutch boy is about to pull his finger from the hole in the dike.
The Rev. Ken Harding is….was my parish priest. In the 9 years I have worshiped with and taken instruction from Ken I can honestly say I have never heard him not support our Arch Bishop as much as he scripturally can. I have learned more from Ken in the years that I’ve known him than in my previous 45 years as an Anglican.
Due to our Arch Bishops actions in inhibiting Ken myself and a group of like minded christians (true Anglicans) will be officially handing in our resignations in writing to the church officials left. I know this is not necessary as nobody has to sign anything stating they are Anglican but to me it is one way where my displeasure with the ACoC and the Arch Bishop has to be noted officially in the church council minutes.
We (the above group of like minded) a few years back saw the writing on the wall a formed a registered charities group called “Living Water Anglican Fellowship” to allow us to continue giving our tithes to support local ministry knowing none of the offerings would be going to support a corrupt national church. As of today we are officially “going it alone”. We have applied to ANiC for any help they can give us and until we hear officially back from them we are going to try and keep traditional Anglicanism alive and well in Athabasca, Alberta.
Please keep us in your prayers, we like other before us have never been here before and are taking this major step out in faith knowing in our hearts that this is what god wants us to do.
5 Reg
Praise God for your new ministry and welcome aboard.
If you need to vent, we’re here for you.
All Blessings,
Jim
I am a former parishioner of All Saints Athabasca (moved away). Ken was also my parish priest. My prayers are with you, Ken and your family. Also with Living Waters Anglican Fellowship as you take a stand for orthoxy.
Connie
I can’t speak for all the parishioners in the New Parish of St. Stephen the Martyr (ANiC) in St. John’s Nfld. but I believe most will agree at least with my words but maybe not in the way I write. Here goes.
Seems to me that the Bishops in the Anglican Church of Canada are about as predictable as prairie grassfire…..You don’t know where it is going because the wind can change anytime…..Wow!! Bsp. clarke has just turned a 360………Unbelievable……He is so supportive and then POW !! In this Diocese, Bsp. Pitman was being unbelievably harsh and hamfisted and then turns wonderfully Christian Like on Friday Past………..
I wonder where the HOB and the Primate all fit in this scenario.
Rev. Harding……………….Go to GAFCON………..Join ANiC………asap and then take as many of the Athabaska Parish with you as you can gather
We in Nfld. in St. Stephen the Martyr will be holding you and Your Parish up in Prayer.
A number of years ago when I began to become concerned about what was happening in the ACoC I wrote to a friend in Athabasca to inquire what her take was on all this. She gave me Ken’s email address with his permission and he kindly answered my correspondence encouraging me to seek the truth and find out all I could for myself in my Diocese. He also put me on to Ed Herd’s newsletter. Ken may not remember me but I have never forgotten him.
I will join the rest of you in praying for Ken and his family. I am absolutely stunned at what Archbishop Clarke has done to him and am confused after the motions passed at the Synod in Athabasca calling for communion with the ANiC and the respect noted for Bishops Harvey and Harding. What is happening here?
#8 and #9 — Maybe it isn’t a reversal. Maybe ++Clarke wasn’t happy about the vote. There’s really no way to know for sure.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, may I caution about jumping to conclusions, especially about where Archbishop John does and doesn’t stand in regards to ANiC. I suspect there is much more to this whole story, than what we know so far.
Let our prayers be with Rev Ken as well as Archbishop John and the Diocese of Athabasca. This a most difficult time for all involved.
No doubt.
A move worthy of a Romulan ! In drawing the circle wider (still) there obviously is a pit in the middle…
#11 Phil, I appreciate your urging caution about jumping to conclusions but I am living with seeming deception in the form of the Archbishop. continued prayer is always a good thing. The bishops letter to the parish gave no reason for Kens’ dismissal other than for “harmony” within the parish. They should hopefully achieve the harmony they desire because Ken is gone and all the rabble rousers are gone. How they will upkeep the parish is anyones guess but I guess time will tell.
Ken, we are with you in our prayers . Now you know why I ‘saw the writing on the wall’ and retired from Athabasca Diocese and All Saints, Athabasca early. I Praise God for men like you Ken who stand for the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and not for Bishops who no longer know what they stand for. We shall be holding you and your family in our prayers and know our Lord has great plans for you ahead. Blessings, Ron and Maureen Risley,Nanaimo, B.C
The following are the words written by our Administrator, Peter, as a header for a thread a few days back…..
“It’s not that we are slacking much more than usual, but rather that other than jumble sales etc, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of Canadian Anglican news out there at the moment.
Which probably means that somebody is nefariously plotting
something, somewhere….”
Peter – you sure were “spot on” with that little statement…Seems that this little plot against Rev. Ken Harding was being hatched around the same time….
Yes, well, you won’t catch me complaining about not enough news again, that’s for sure…
Ken, we have been more or less where you are today and can say from experience that God is faithful and will provide. Already He has given you support through the brothers and sisters in your parish – don’t hesitate to accept their help as they have now been given the opportunity to serve you as you have served them. Remember today’s Gospel lesson: Matthew 6:25-34.
I’d have been more than happy to have been wrong, honest!
Two quotes I pulled off Google:
Science uncovers questions that may never be answered. Religion is based on answers that may never be questioned.
Ken Harding
A true idea has no need of any faith.
Ken Harding
Ref #20 Jim Muirhead
Please be advised that there is another “Ken Harding” in Australia who is not a minister, may not even be a believer, but posts many comments on science and religion. The quotes you have pulled off of Google are from that Ken Harding, not the Rev’d. Ken Harding, Anglican Priest in Canada.
Thanks Sharon,
I filtered with the “Rev.” and used “pages from Canada”- usually a pretty accurate way of focusing.
Once again I am struck by the bizarre behaviour of the ACoC evidenced in a) no specifics and b) an injunction to refrain from unspecified behaviours.
Rev. Ken Harding – so sorry you have been inhibited. Same thing happened to our priest and a number of others across Canada.
I think there is a national plan by the bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada to do the same thing everywhere -
1. inhibit the priest
2. sue for ownership of the buildings no matter what the deeds say
2. sue for use of the building along with the ANiC church,
3. start alternate Anglican Church of Canada services at the church building at the very time that the ANiC church needs it
4. force clergy to pay rent for living in the rectory or force them out with one month’s notice
5. ask the court to have the ANiC church share costs of the use of the building, even though several ANiC churches have been forced to meet elsewhere on Sunday morning because they can’t use the church building when they need it
6. our priest and others have been forced to remove their books and files from their office at the church since the Anglican Church of Canada now has a key and can access the whole building
7. hand deliver letters to homes of clergy and wardens and others
8. have demands from diocesan lawyers emailed to ANiC lawyers on Friday evenings so that nothing can be done until Monday
9. have diocesan lawyers demand more than the court required
Has anyone else noticed anything else in the “nationwide policy of the Anglican Church of Canada” ?
And this is the Church? What a witness the bishops are giving to the secular world and then wonder why people aren’t attending. The worst landlord in the world would give 3 months notice and that after adequate reasons for the eviction. As a member of a church in the middle of all this (St Hilda’s) my heart aches for Rev. Ken, yet at the same time I rejoice that there are Godly men and women who are willing to stand for the Gospel – no matter the price, because the cost would be too high to do otherwise. And still the AGoC pretends that there is no problem as they continue to bleed parishioners and close churches.
Mr. Harding,
YOUR FIRED! Pack up, get out, don’t even pretend for a minute you are a priest in God’s Church, here’s a few bucks, …oh, and don’t talk to anyone. Why? Because I said so!
In Christ,
++ Clarke
Now that’s Christian love in action!
This Archbishop is the same person many of you were praising a few weeks ago. Yet, some of you condemn him without the slightest indication that just possibly he may have had reasons for his actions that you are not aware of. You’re acting very much like the revisionist bishops that you acuse him of being in league with. Have we all sunk to the level that all we’re capable of is continual bashing? I’m currently on CoGS (one of the more orthodox members) and I assure you that many of those revisionist bishops deride him as being too d— orthodox for his own good and for standing in the way of “progress.” I certainly get to hear what the liberals say about him but it’s no more hostile than what I have seen here today. I consider myself a friend to both Ken and John. I would not wish the circumstances that Ken is currently in on my worst enemy. However, I would not want to be wearing the shoes that John has had to wear for the last few years. Both these men have character and faith that I know that I could ever measure up to. I ask that we keep both these men and our church(es) in our prayers.
Well Ross, I hear what you’re saying about jumping to conclusions; it tends to be the nature of blogs that people vent a little.
However, although we’ve now removed the details now on request, when they were up there they didn’t paint a pretty picture – a cold, hard letter of dismissal, upset priest and parishioners.
Personally, I’m open to hearing a different side, should that be presented, but what is (was) currently available is hardly edifying.
Please though do share anything you can make publically available, as that might be more helpful. For good reasons, many people don’t trust our Bishops, so saying “he may have had good reasons”, probably isn’t enough for many folk.
I wish I could, but not at this time. However, I pray the truth will prevail in the end.
What about Rev Harding’s assertion in the essay mentioned in comment #1:
Note: the complete article should be read to fully understand the context.
I agree with Rev Harding and find it hard to accept that anyone could rise to a position of senior leadership in today’s ACoC without having compromised their integrity – even though they may still make some good decisions. That said, I admit that I could be wrong, and I know that God can miraculously change hearts. I was not one of the ones praising the archbishop a few weeks ago (comment #27).
Warren. Yes. What about that? I read both letters and the entire article posted on Anglican Mainstream. It is astonishing in its hubris. He concludes that I am not in communion with Almighty God because I am a member of the Anglican Church of Canada. He further clearly counsels anyone who is such a member to leave the Anglican Church of Canada if they consider themselves to be a real Christian. And he is a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. Incredible. And people think there is something odd or not right or malicious in his being inhibited by his Bishop?
Susan (#31), I agree that it sounds offensive, but that doesn’t automatically invalidate the argument. Not long after I began attending an Anglican church (one that is now an ANiC parish), I remember asking the rector why true believers remained in churches where a false gospel was being proclaimed. To be very honest, I still can’t figure it out. You will probably think that I too am astonishing in my hubris, but I think that tradition, family ties, and sentimentality play a bigger role than many are willing to admit.
Warren. By “churches”, I assume you mean local parishes. So. If a false gospel is being proclaimed in some parishes in some Dioceses in a national Church, does it follow that everyone (who does not subscribe to said false gospel) in all the parishes in all the Dioceses in the national Church must leave the national Church? I don’t think so.
Thank you Susan for your take on things. I am a parishioner in a church that does not proclaim a false doctrine, in a diocese that does not proclaim a false doctrine, in a proivince that does not proclaim a false doctrine led by an archbishop who does not proclaim a false doctrine. We happen to be in the Anglican Church of Canada, which we believe is still worth fighting for. Will we save it from the grip of secular humanism? Who knows? If not, I will still be a parishioner in a church, a diocese and perhaps even a province, led by a bishop who does not proclaim a false doctrine. While I respect and support those who have already joined the ANiC, the need in my own diocese to do so is just not there.
Susan (#33), as my background is not Anglican, I often use “church” and “parish” interchangeably. I’m not sure what is right for everyone else, but, even though I loved the parish I was part of (and held a leadership position in), and even though the gospel was being proclaimed with integrity from the pulpit every week, and even though there was a strong hunger after God and His Word on the part of the congregation, I still told the rector that I would be unable to stay beyond a certain date had a decision not been made to leave the ACoC. I was moved for job reasons before that date arrived, so my statement was never tested (although I have left other churches for doctrinal reasons). The parish is now an ANiC parish, and I am proud of my friends, who I love dearly, and their willingness to risk much for the sake of the truth.
I hope that time proves me wrong, but I believe the ACoC is beyond redeeming and that the dominoes will continue to fall with increasing rapidity. Doubtlessly faithful believers will remain within the structure and do some good work, but I can’t help thinking that they would be of much greater help in building the kingdom outside of the structure. I also think that those with responsibility for the spiritual formation of children (or grandchildren) should think long and hard about their choice to stay or leave.
The bottom line for me is that it is not good enough to be in a parish/diocese/province that is not proclaiming a false doctrine. If a false doctrine is being proclaimed within the broader church structure, I would expect my spiritual leaders to fight against it with vigour. I hope this is the case in the parish/diocese/province you are part of and that God will bless and honour those efforts.
Susan and Ross: Part of the reason people on this blog are shocked by all of this is the huge contradiction between the vote to be in communion with ANiC and the manner in which Harding+ was inhibited for, seemingly, merely stating an orthodox opinion. Leaving aside the apparent heard heartedness of the manner in which Rev. Harding has been inhibited, what happens when +Clarke retires? SSB will soon be the official doctrine of the ACoC, after which priests will have no charter protection if they refuse to do a gay marriage (charter freedom of religion protection will only apply to clergy whose denominations don’t do SSB, according to the legal advice our rector was given). What then?
I believe Canadian Anglicanism is worth fighting for, but I think the ACoC is an apostate structure, and it is time to move on.
34 Ross
I am pleased that your diocese has not had to face the apostasy issue. However, I agree with Kate. Start making your plans now. In my view, it’s only a matter of time.
Peace,
Jim
I have noted the comments concerning apostasy in the Church and can only say that as long as we have a House of Bishops that refuse to deal with apostates in their group they will be wolves within the flock and not Chief Shepherds. They have made vows before the Lord and now seem ready to back down for their own personal benefit. It is time that all Anglicans now in parishes affiliated with the Anglican Church of Canada to demand that their priests and bishops take a firm stand for orthodoxy. If you swim with the sharks, you cannot complain if you are bitten. God’s word is not subject to any majority vote be that at Synod or otherwise. This is not liberal versus conservative but apostasy versus orthodoxy. I am glad to say that my parish is an ANiC parish.
Why jump ship before you ensure that all your friends have got their life jackets on? If and when the time comes, I want to take as many as I can with me, God willing. The upper decks may be on fire and lower decks may be taking on water but there are a lot of confused and disoriented people on the reamining decks. I have had a long career in safety, emergency response and similar jobs, I don’t leave my post until I absolutely must.
Warren, much of my work is in building the kingdom outside of the structure. My wife and I are advisors for Alpha Canada. We support local churches who are currently running or plan on running Alpha courses. We’re working on a plan to roil out Alpha to small communities in northern Alberta. I am on the board of directors for On Eagle’s Wings. Their pastor for Northern Alberta and Saskatchewan is a member of our parish and is ordained by ++Clarke. My wife often works with summer bible school with them. I am a member of Gideons and Full Gospel Business Men’s Association. My wife works at the Baptist Church soup kitchen
I lead a men’s group at our church and its debatable as to whether our church or the McMurray Gospel Assembly has more members in the group. I assure you that our bishop can walk circles around me. I only say all this to encourage you to be less judgemental about whether people are doing the Lord’s work outside or inside of the structure or not. As far as your comment about your expectation that “your spiritual leaders to fight against it with vigour”, what do you think our last synod was all about? We made a stand the whole Anglican world heard. Do you somehow think our bishop was not part of that?
Kate, SSB is not yet the official doctrine of the ACoC. ++Clarke has stated firmly that there will not be any SSB’s in our diocese. When ++Clarke retires, I may have a decision to make. But, tell me what liberal would want to take over a diocese which is obviously hostile to his point of view? My rector would refuse to do SSB’s at the risk of being charged but I think it would be his bishop who may be in difficulty as my rector would only be following direct orders.
Jim, who’s not making plans? My wife and I are both members of Essentials. I’ll let you guess whether we’re in the Essentials Network or the Federation.
Frank, your comment, “They have made vows before the Lord and now seem ready to back down for their own personal benefit,” doesn’t deserves a response but I will anyway. I can’t be so arrogant as to even suggest to speak for any of members of the house of bishops but I know that my bishop is not in this for his own personal benefit. If he considered his own personal welfare, he would have baled quite some time ago. Anglicans in parishes in the Diocese of Athabasca have taken a firm stand for orthodoxy, look at the resolutions at our last synod. I’m swimming with the sharks and I’m covered in bites but I’m not complaining. Seems to me that Jesus did a lot of that as well. Can I do anything less? Besides comments left on this blog site indicate that there are sharks in both waters. I agree with you that this is about apostasy versus orthodoxy. That is why I’m in the battle. I could have long ago found a home in the McMurray Gopsel Assembly or the Fellowship Baptist Church or the Local Alliance Church but that would be too easy. I gave my life to the Lord in an Anglican Church, its my home. Where it finally finds itself, I’ll be there because it will still be orthodox.
Anyway, enough of this. We have a group of YWAM folks coming to town and I’d like to be part of the planning process.
Ross – It is wonderful to see so many exciting things going on in your parish. While I do not know the reasons behind ++Clark’s actions toward +Harding, I do find it callous to give someone 1 1/2 months to move out and find a home – especially without a job – no bank is going to grant a mortgage. As I said earlier – even the worst landlord would be required to give more notice than this – and how much more should we expect from a man of God.
Besides comments left on this blog site indicate that there are sharks in both waters.
Really? A specific example would be nice. When ++Clarke retires, where do you think the orthodox priests are going to come from to replace him? They certainly aren’t being ordained in Ottawa, or very many other places that I can see.
Kate, it is beneath me to be specific about the sharks. As far as ++Clarke’s retiring, maybe his replacement will be from within his own diocese. If the new bishop is not orthodox, people within the diocese will have a choice to make, won’t we? Besides, who is retiring? As far as I know, ++Clarke has only indicated that he is retiring as metropolitan, at which point, he becomes just +Clarke until he announces his retirement as diocesan bishop.
#42 – My email is kate dot sanderson2 at gmail dot com. I am a moderator, and I would like to know if you think there are people who are not following the blog rules. My point about retirement is, that I don’t believe that the ACoC is going to survive as a genuinely Christian church. SSB may not yet be official doctrine of the Anglican church, but diocese after diocese is affirming it – I really don’t think we are all that far away from the point when it will be.
The way I look at it is that this is a time of great change and flux. People are called to man their stations in different places; I do not think it is ours to pass judgment.
For myself, I am in ‘AEN’. I’m certainly Network friendly; I’d prefer to be with ANiC but have withheld for now because of my church family. That’s not an easy decision for me, but not everybody is where I am. So, we need to take time, look through the issues and see if we can reach consensus. Perhaps we will, perhaps not, but certainly we need to try. A factor too in many peoples minds is that we do not (in Calgary) at this time have the same pressures that say New West does. I believe it’s coming, but it’s not here locally yet. For many folks what the larger church is doing may not become their focus unless there is a direct local impact. That’s not always a bad thing either.
All of which is to say we find ourselves agreeing on the diagnosis, perhaps not in the prognosis, but in either way every case is different – there are different pressures and different decisions to make. I would ask that we be respectful of this, whether in agreement or disagreement. Thanks!
So, I was a little over the top yesterday, but the “details” were shocking, especially for an orthodox priest under his care as metropolitan. I suppose some wind went out of my sails yesterday.
I agree with Kate in post 36. Here is a scenario I think is not to far away. A civilly married gay couple “joins” a local orthodox Anglican parish and becomes voting members (which usually means they took communion 3 times in a year somewhere in the Anglican Church of Canada, and have worshipped for a mere three months in the local parish). At the beginning of the fourth month they ask to be allowed to have a Christian marriage in the church. The priest says, “we do not marry same sex couples, and blessings are ‘local-option’, and I do not opt to do so.” The gay couple then gets an attorney and sues the church on the basis that they should have access to the same services as any other voting member of the parish. The parish and the priest loses, and the government forces local-option into the stone age, and forces us to revise our marriage canons at risk of losing our legal status. The end.
Ross (#39), thank you for your thoughtful reply, and for giving us a glimpse of the man behind the comment. I find communication in the “blogoshpere” to be much more meaningful when people don’t hide behind a wall of anonymity. I don’t deny that I sometimes tend to be judgmental, but I think if Canadian Anglicans had been more discerning and judgmental in decades past, the ACoC could possibly have been saved.
I am approaching the mid-century mark and have spent all my life in the church. I was raised in the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC), but my parents, who are both PAOC Bible school graduates, were interested in the charismatic movement and I was exposed to a range of churches as a child and teenager. I remember my mother being very impressed by a charismatic Anglican church in the Vancouver area in the early-to-mid 70s. I never felt completely comfortable in Pentecostalism, however, and my wife and I (she is also from a pentecostal background) have spent very little time in PAOC churches over the years.
I have been in the Air Force for more than 30 years and have moved often. Rather than look for a church of a particular denomination, my wife and I sought out churches we felt were doctrinally sound, where the gospel was being proclaimed with integrity, where our children would receive good teaching, and where we felt comfortable with the worship style (not easy to find all in one church). We also became actively involved in every church we attended. To date, we have been part of the following churches: PAOC; Christian & Missionary Alliance; Plymouth Brethren; Elim (pentecostal off shoot); Baptist (two varieties); Evangelical Free; independent evangelical; Anglican; and Christian Reformed (our current church). At this point, some may rightfully wonder if I am schizophrenic, but I don’t think that the many pastors that I know see me that way. I know, however, that I tend to have a much different view of the Christian landscape than my Christians friends.
Unlike most Christians I know, I have no denominational loyalties; which is good and bad. I can worship comfortably in many churches, but don’t feel totally at home in any of them. Although my Anglican exposure was relatively recent, and only lasted for 21 months, I have absolutely no doubt that God led to St. Alban’s in Ottawa. My eyes were opened to many things, and I feel great affinity for the Anglican way of following Jesus (in its orthodox and evangelical forms). This is why I take an interest in this blog, and in the future of the Canadian Anglicanism. If there was an ANiC parish in my area, I would probably worship there (although my wife is less keen about Anglicanism than I). I have no interest in visiting any local ACoC parishes and have been told that they are all liberal leaning.
I admit that there is much about Anglicanism that I do not know, but I have made considerable effort to become educated on the issues. To be very blunt (and judgmental I suppose), I do not see the ACoC as a Christian church and would warn people to stay away from it. I do concede, however, that there are still faithful Christians working within the apostate structure (although I doubt that the number is large). I believe that the ACoC is a dead man walking and that any effort to resuscitate it is wasted. I can respect someone like yourself who is doing faithful work within the structure; provided you have an exit strategy. When I take an impersonal view, however, I can’t help thinking that energies would be better spent building a new form of Canadian Anglicanism, founded on God’s truth, than putting band-aids on a corpse. I understand, however, the desire to ensure people have life jackets on, and I am not in a position to question what God may be calling certain individuals to do.
I am rambling badly, and will conclude by saying that I believe Rev Harding’s essay is worthy of careful consideration, even if it does contain hard words that seem offensive to those with no plans to leave the ACoC structure. The Bible has hard words as well – words that the leadership of the ACoC are not interested in listening to. I hope the YWAM group is a blessing to your church and town.
I have to say that now that our church is a member of ANiC, I feel much more inclined to invite people to church, and indeed have, since we joined ANiC. Two have started to come, and I plan to continue to invite people. It was so difficult to invite people before because I felt I had to apologize for so much and explain so much. Now everything is clear.
Having read the comments with respect to my earlier submission, I should clarify what I meant by “swimming with the sharks”. Archbishop Clark may well be orthodox in his own right but I have yet to see any report that he has or is taking apostate bishops to task at the House of Bishops. The issue is quite clear. Our first commitment must be to our Lord and Saviour and secondly to our church. If our church, locally or nationally, endorses and promotes false doctrine and refuses to repent or change, we are left with only one alternative and that is what the parishes in ANiC has done.
To date I have not seen any real action bv so-called orthodox bishops to challenge apostates including the Primate within their group.
Warren #46, thanks for sharing a bit of your story.
Frank #48. My church, locally, regionally and provincially does not endorse false doctrine either. For that matter, the national church has yet to although it is very close! Until it does, however, there are several faithful servants that have yet to leave the ACoC. Stay tuned, things will get exciting.
wow. The discussion I have been waiting for. As long as we keep talking about the teaching and the doctrine we will all agree. But when we translate that into action we differ greatly. I think its partly because we are called to different positions in the battle. That is good and we need to honour each other and hold up as equally important each position. We need to be very careful not to wound our fellow soldiers. But sometimes our differing opinions stem from what we have seen and heard and what we are currently experiencing. In those cases we should act more like the body. What is happening to another member is happening to us and should shape our response to our life in our enviroment. My opinion on this is going to appear harsh and is is just that. My opinion. I think for anyone to make any local decisions based the fact that “SSB is not yet official doctrine” or ” my (Bishop, priest. parish) is not in error” is essentially a selfish decision. Because it is happening for some of our brothers and sisters in our church.
What is happening to one is happening to all. It should hurt us as much. If it is impossible for one congregation to have confirmations because of the doctrines of their bishop maybe none of us should until their situation is resolved. Maybe it should horrify us the very idea that the ACoC would allow error to be preached from any of its pulpits. Maybe we should care as much as if it was happening in our parish.