First is the ACoC’s frequent reliance on American cases, which are utterly irrelevant as their common law on the issue is completely different from ours. Original-purposes trusts do not exist there, being incompatible with the 1st Amendment. It is stranfe especially ro see them bringing up the Dennis Canon, under which American parishes lose after a division, becausae Canada has no counterpart to the Dennis Canon.

Second is their very strange insistence that the properties are not subject to an original purpose trust, in spite of three centuries ogfcommon law to the contrary, including a 1966 Supreme Court of Canada decision explicitly reaffirming the rule of the Free Church case as still applyinh in Canada, as discussed at pages 31 and 32 of our factum.

We might pray simply that the judge have a clear understanding of the law on these issues.

I am one of the “Conservative” Anglicans still counted within the ACoC numbers. If there were an ANiC Parish or Congregation in my area, I would have already joined it. But becuase there are no ANiC Parishes or Congregations in my area, I continue to Worship God in the Anglican way at an ACoC Parish. This in no way indicates any acceptance on my part of the changes that have been inflicted upon the ACoC.

Furthermore, for me the following issues are Communion Breaking, no matter what others have to say:
Priests in a homosexual relationship
A cerimony of any kind which legitimizes in any way a homosexual relationship
Any departure, no matter how small, from the Solemn Declaration, and also the 39 Articles of Religion (as they are written in the Canadian 1962 Book of Common Prayer)

Additionally, although it has been determined that Marriage is not a Holy Sacrement, for me it is. My reasoning is simply this. Jesus gave us specific and direct lessons/teachings pertaining to Marriage in Matthew 19:1-12 and Mark 10:1-12. Any “priest” or “bishop” who teachings anything that is contrary to these Teachings of Jesus is a false prophet.

In its recent case against four ANiC Churches in BC, the Diocese of New Westminster seemed to claim that the ongoing presence of theological conservatives in the diocese somehow validates same sex blessings. As far as I’m concerned, nothing could be further from the truth.

In my judgement, no Church, and a fortiori no diocese or parish, has the authority to authorise or perform such blessings. They are therefore both invalid and illicit. My continuing presence in no way signifies assent to, or acceptance of, such blessings, no matter how much New Westminster might like to kid itself otherwise.

To be honest, I’m not sure if it would have any effect on Michael Ingham. He’s already been caught bearing false witness, as shown elsewhere in this blog.

The other consideration, is that the AJ gives priority to letters of less than 100 words. Mine is 99 words. I’d like to have said more, but I’d rather keep the chances of getting it printed as high as possible.

For Ingham, I agree, it almost certainly would not make any difference - although it would show him that not all conservatives who remain in his diocese mean their presence to imply acquiescence with his actions; a nano-undermining of his confidence, perhaps.

For other dioceses and bishops, letter writing might bear some fruit.

quote
Mr. Macintosh said the parishes claim that this is an insurmountable divide and “we can’t stay” has to be tested and there are only 4 parishes out of the 78 in the diocese which have been so “intransigent”. The parishes would “convert their intransigence” for an unprecedented use of Cy Pres, he said. He compared the numbers of ANiC (29 parishes with an average Sunday attendance of 3500 people) with the ACoC (1800 parishes and approximately 625,000 members), saying “I have distilled from the evidence that other right thinking conservative Anglicans have taken a very different approach with respect to this”. He named Archbishop Terry Buckle as a strong conservative who at one time was on the same side of the dispute but has since “reconciled” with the bishop. He said Archbishop Buckle wrote to the POR thanking them and offering to cooperate with their recommendations. He also signed statements from the House of Bishops and the Metropolitans deploring the actions of Archbishop Venables and ANiC.

He referred to Rev Sarah Tweedale, who in an affidavit said she opposed the blessing of same-sex unions, but felt the conscience clause was sufficient to accommodate conservative clergy. She is currently on leave from St. Clement’s where she was rector from September 1999-May 2008. St. Clement’s, the only parish in the diocese to seek Shared Episcopal Ministry (SEM) received pastoral care from Bishop Hockin for a period of one year.

He said Rev John Oakes, incumbent of Holy Trinity in Vancouver also opposes same-sex unions, but has remained in the diocese. He referred to a letter Rev Oakes wrote claiming he changed his position and regretted recent statements of Essentials.

He referred to other statements of witnesses (by affidavit) and claimed there is diversity within congregations. The parishes’ “allegations of impossibility need to be tested locally and across Canada”, he said.
end quote

“In political jargon, the term ‘useful idiot’ was used to describe Soviet sympathizers in western countries and the attitude of the Soviet government towards them. The implication was that though the person in question naïvely thought themselves an ally of the Soviets or other Communists, they were actually held in contempt by them, and being cynically used.

The term is now used more broadly to describe someone who is perceived to be manipulated by a political movement, terrorist group, hostile government, or business, whether or not the group is Communist in nature.’

I would not call the people cited by ACoC’s lawyer idiots, Noli, but if one can get past the offensiveness of the term and consider the role of such people in history — those who by agreement or even by mere acquiescence support despotic regimes — one might see why Macintosh’s examples could fit that category. Whether they intend it or not, they are definitely being used *by* ACoC, and they are certainly useful *to* ACoC.