St. Hilda’s Anglican Church in Vancouver (not Oakville) is doing its bit for Gay Pride week:
Sechelt – St. Hilda’s Anglican Church in Sechelt is sponsoring a weekend of activities focusing on spirituality and homosexuality, which will coincide with the start of Gay Pride Week in Vancouver.
On Saturday, July 25 at 7 p.m., St. Hilda’s will host a public forum called Sharing Queer Spirit: Can the Church Be Saved?
Featuring speakers Anita Fast and Jeffrey Preiss of the Vancouver School of Theology, and Rev. Neil Fernyhough, priest-in-charge of St. Hilda’s, the forum will touch on issues of inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in the Christian faith. The following evening, Sunday, July 26 at 7 p.m., there will be a screening of the award-winning documentary For the Bible Tells Me So, an award-winning documentary discussing how people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child or family member.
“To my knowledge, this is the first time a church on the Sunshine Coast has done anything of this kind,” said Fernyhough, who has been at the church for a year and a half. “There is a large gay and lesbian population on the Sunshine Coast, but many feel alienated from church. My hope is that these events will help achieve reconciliation and send the message that the church can be a safe place for sexual minorities to explore their spirituality.”
Fernyhough noted that St. Hilda’s is one of only eight parishes in the Anglican Church of Canada that has received official authorization to bless same-sex unions.
It probably comes as no surprise that the “For the Bible Tells Me So” documentary is every so slightly one sided:
At the risk of sounding naive, there won’t be any speakers from the orthodox side, will there? This is just going to be yet another gay affirmation love fest?
Looks like the latter. From Here
Speakers:
Anita Fast: Called To Be Queer: (Dis)Locating The Church On The Edge
Neil Fernyhough: Spiritual Intimacy: What The Church Can Learn From The Radical Faerie Movement
Jeffery Priess: The Church, The Queer(ed): Finding Solidarity In The Gender Identity Disorder.
Interesting. I did a wiki search on the “Radical Faerie Movement”, and it is strongly pagan/Wicca influneced:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_Faeries
Is it just my twisted sense of humour, or is St. Hilda’s address in Barnacle Street particularly appropriate?
Finally. Some gay spirituality, whatever that might mean. God help them.
Kate [#3], the information on Wikipedia is interesting, not to say bizarre, but for some reason I have difficulty in discerning the spiritual value of running through the woods naked. Do I need to start a listening exercise?
This proves apostasy reigns in the Diocese of New Westminster. When you have a so-called bishop who clearly is NOT a Christian and who openly denies the uniqueness of Christ and is ready to claim a blessing on activity that is against Scripture, you can see how apostate clergy are quickly posted within the Diocese. We need to pray for repentance on the part of all involved.
“that the church can be a safe place for sexual minorities to explore their spirituality.”
OR; spiritual minorities to explore their sexuality, Oh goodness I hope they don’t read this blog. I believe the term sexual minorities opens the Pandora’s Box to a plethora of envelope stretching, out of the box and onto the florr, weird and even illegal (so far), so called sexuality.
#6 I confess I didn’t read the whole page, just enough to get the Wicca reference. ewwwww… I think I need some brain bleach.
Much (defenders would say “not all”) of the radical faerie movement is at once a combination of the extension of the sexual liberation ethic, and a dabbling into neo-paganism.
I would be very interested to hear the answer to the question as to what the Church stands to learn from this movement. Do you know if there will be proceedings published?
ps. don’t ask me how I know this… :^)
Their website says they are looking for a new priest , fernyhough is leaving, there is a acna church nearby in Pender Harbour not far away, (safe harbour in pender harbour)
This comment is a little belated, perhaps, but I notice St. Hilda’s is being re-advertised on New Westminster’s website. Evidently it’s not proving an easy parish to fill.
Yes, the proceedings will be published – I’m just working on them now! It will be available on the St. Hilda’s blog. For the record, this was NOT a diocesan event, but sprung from interest within a parish and a community that has a strong GLBT presence. I would not necessarily organize such an event at a different parish, where the interests and concerns would be different. Always interested in dialogue with brother and sister Christians of good will! Blessings!
Cheers
Neil+
For #14
Your reasoning for holding this despicable event might hold for secular reasons. Those reasons would also support an event for adulterers, pedophiles or any other group of sinners if there were a large number of them. As an ordained person who made specific vows before our Lord, you should be supporting and encouraging any and all programs to redeem those involved in activity that is clearly denounced in Scripture. Failure to do so should be sufficient for you to renounce your ordination and find another job in the secular world. Your having an apostate as a so-called bishop certainly does not provide you with any leadership.
Well, obviously, Frank, we disagree on theological issues and Biblical interpretation. I’ve studied New Testament ethics at the doctoral level, so I’m not a complete naif on the matter – and I’m aware that Christians happily engage in activities denounced by scripture all the time. I don’t expect you to conform to my particular understanding of Jesus Christ and the word of God; and I really don’t expect anything less from you. One of the blessings of Anglicanism is that we are able to engage in discussions toward a greater understanding of doctrinal development (per the writings of Newman, etc.), while remaining in Communion. I think here of the remarriage of divorced persons, the ordination of women, and the admission of un-Catechized persons to Communion, etc. – which are either condemnded in scripture or have no Biblical warrant.
Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. There is nothing new under the sun.
P.S. The use of the word “communion” in Anglican circles must often come close to breaking records for irony.
#16
One of the blessings of Anglicanism as you state is probably its greatest curse. When you think you can have real communion with apostates you are seriously deceived regardless of how much study you may have. The truth is that to be a real Anglican one must first be a dedicated follower of our Lord and fall under the direction of His word. I can only pray for your deliverance from the deception you have inherited from either your studies or more likely from your apostate bishop.