The Diocese of British Columbia’s predictable spin – wherein the “swearing of oaths” has more import than following Jesus – on St. Mary, Nanoose Bay. For reality go here.
From VOL

Dear Colleagues in Ministry:

Yesterday, February 11, 2009, as Commissary to the Bishop, I received the resignation of the Rev. Guy Bellerby as Rector of the Parish of St. Mary, Nanoose Bay. He has surrendered his license in order to take up a new one from Donald Harvey of the Anglican Network in Canada. He has stated his opinion that the Diocese of British Columbia and the Anglican Church of Canada have departed from “historic, orthodox Anglican teaching and practice”; this, despite having sworn the usual oaths and accepted the jurisdiction of the Bishop of British Columbia and doctrine of the Anglican Church of Canada in October 2007 and reaffirmed it as recently as December 2008.

On the previous Sunday parishioners of St. Mary, Nanoose met in a library in Parksville in a Special Meeting of Parishioners and, after addresses from the Chancellor of the Network and other advocates for the Network, passed a motion that the “congregation” should affiliate with the Network and come under the jurisdiction of Harvey and the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. Despite the written requirement of the Bishop to Mr. Bellerby that he ensure that no parish organizational structure be used for “the convening, advertisement, and holding of any such meeting for the promotion or discussion of establishing an ANiC congregation in your area” Mr. Bellerby approved of and called just such a meeting, and did not think it important to notify the Bishop’s office or any other diocesan official that the meeting was taking place.

The motion is, of course, ultra vires, contrary to canon law, and thus has no juridical force. Individuals may leave parishes, but as is explicitly stated in our canons, “no parish has the competence to separate itself from the Diocese of British Columbia.” The Parish of St. Mary, Nanoose Bay, with its parishioners who wish to remain faithful to the Bishop and Diocese and doctrine and discipline of the Anglican Church of Canada, still exists as part of the Diocese. The property and assets of the parish are all in the name of the Synod of the Diocese of British Columbia. The ordained and lay leadership of the parish who allowed and encouraged this to happen are in gross violation of the solemn oaths and declarations made when they assumed their respective offices. While differences of opinion in the Diocese are respected, and even celebrated, this does not extend to acceptance of uncanonical and unlawful activities that are now coming to light in the Parish of St. Mary, Nanoose Bay.

I will be meeting later today with the Officers of Synod to determine the next steps for the ensuring that the witness to the Anglican faith is restored and continued in the parish. I have allowed the Network congregants at least one further Sunday in the buildings, and expect that in due course and in an orderly fashion they will vacate the buildings and hand over all property and records of the parish. Mr. Bellerby has indicated to me that the Network has already found a number of alternative locations to which the former parishioners can move for worship. While I am open to discussions about any matter that members of the Network might wish to bring to our attention, I am not prepared to agree to any proposal which would “strike a blow to the authority of the Bishop . . . and pose a serious threat to the hierarchical structure of the Anglican Church of Canada.”

I find all of this very sad. This kind of thing only results in the diminishment of the proclamation of the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Most groups that have split off from the Diocese in the past either disappear in a matter of one or two years, succumb to further division, or carry on with a handful of people. I count at least five small separate groups now on Vancouver Island besides the Diocese of British Columbia who each claim to be carrying out the “true” Anglican tradition.

Yours sincerely in Christ,

Bruce +

Where is the much trumpeted mediation in this? The mediation that Abp Hiltz has already agreed to?

‘as is explicitly stated in our canons, “no parish has the competence to separate itself from the Diocese of British Columbia.”‘ An oft repeated mantra that demonstrates a denial of reality so perverse that it deserves a special mention in the pathology of abnormal psychology.

The paranoia continues: the ACoC has been infiltrated:  “after addresses from the Chancellor of the Network and other advocates for the Network”

“The property and assets of the parish are all in the name of the Synod of the Diocese of British Columbia”  At least the diocese makes its priorities clear

The last paragraph is particularly misleading:
ANiC is steady growing, whereas the ACoC is steadily diminishing. Which one is doing the disappearing act?
How could a parish that is willing to sacrifice for the Gospel possibly diminish it?