Bishop James Cowan has some interesting thoughts in the latest diocesan paper (page 3):
The priest stood in the pulpit of a nearly empty church on Easter Day and stated quite clearly and eloquently that the resurrection had never taken place. This, in the Diocese of British Columbia.
Others in the Church question the teachings of the Virgin Birth, the Incarnation, and the Ascension. The doctrine of the Trinity is on the radar of few people, because something so incomprehensible can have no meaning today. The power of the Spirit of God to transform life is of less importance than the jaded opinions of an individual. Liturgy and worship which once spoke of the transcendent power of God or of the abiding presence of God-with-us is in many places reduced to those ditties and poetic platitudes which try to make us feel good. The Catholic Creeds are replaced. And people of seeming good will, entice others into a shared reduction of faith through the questioning of everything once held to be of value, neither interested in, nor accepting of, nor weighing the answers or the experience of saints through the ages.Aspects of all of this is present in the Diocese of British Columbia. Attendance declines, the numbers of adherents fall, income is reduced and all the while we congratulate ourselves about being a remnant. A remnant, however, of what, and for what? We live in a culture which talks about being spiritual but not religious and rather than lifting and presenting the spiritual nature of our religion we have, over the years, eliminated as much of it as we can, hoping that we can keep religion alive with the novel and with an undefined good will.
We can reduce, reduce, reduce. We can restructure, redefine and try to work smarter. These we must do. But unless we couple reduction and restructuring with spiritual renewal and the reclamation of those aspects of faith which are both central and essential to Christianity the downward trends of Anglican ‘religion’ on these islands will continue. To this end I have redirected the work of congregational development within the Diocese.
I quite agree with Bishop Cowan that the ACoC needs to reassert the fundamental beliefs of Christianity. Nevertheless, this article leaves me with the slightly uneasy feeling that Bishop Cowan intends to embark on attempting to reclaim the basics of the faith because it will promote growth, not because he believes them to be true. After all, if he does believe the Resurrection, Virgin Birth, Incarnation and Ascension to be literally true, why does he not fire priests in his diocese that preach they are not?
Perhaps I am too suspicious, but I have witnessed time and again, doomed diocesan attempts to duplicate the growth of parishes that the diocese despises as “fundamentalists” by employing their trappings and using their language – without taking to heart their convictions.
What we need to do is pray that the Holy Sprit bring genuine renewal to his diocese.
I liked what he had to say, and it would seem to me that he is in a position to directly address the revisionist tendencies in his diocese?
My problem with what he says is that reductionism is frequently associated with revisionism.
By trying to reduce Christianity to its minimum core, there is a danger of throwing out the baby with the bath water. We need the whole Gospel, including the uncomfortable bits, not just the edited highlights.
The last paragraph in Bsp. Cowan’s diocesan paper which was not printed above says the following:
“For many, the past several years have been a time of confusion and fear. They have not been so for me. For me they have been a time of renewal and energy as I have seen and heard clergy and people of the Diocese working to enact a common mission in God’s vision for us. We are experiencing a spiritual renewal and a time of reform, and I am finding this to be an exciting time to be both an Anglican Christian and Bishop. I invite you to join me in this exciting enterprise”
It seems appropriate that Cowan’s word “spiritual” is not capitalized as that would be most inappropriate. No doubt he is experiencing “spiritual renewal” but it appears to me that it is NOT of the Holy Spirit! There is also no doubt that his diocese is undergoing a time of reform, however going in the wrong direction.
His use of the words “Anglican Christian” to me are quite confusing. How can a bishop who is practising going against the foundations of the Christian Faith possible call himself a Christian?
No wonder he says that confusion and fear are present within his diocese……
Renewal, reform, restructure, reclamation, redefine, reduce, etc., may have value in a certain context, but I think Bishop Cowan missed the most important R word – repentance.
The June/July 2007edition of the Anglican Journal mentions:
Bishop Jim Cowan of British Columbia, voted against the “local option” and was widely seen as one of the swing votes. He said, “I think there are people who know that I’m in favour of same-sex unions, but that I’ve been asking for the theological rationale. For it to be an issue of justice, justice is a theological issue, let’s name that and get that on the table and bring along as many people as possible in this.”
The new sexual ethic is part of the of the “spiritual renewal” and “reform” in the Diocese of B.C.
Same sex union is a secular issue that has been made Legal by the Government of Canada. Consequently secular justice is seen to have been met. This is not, nor could it ever be a CHRISTIAN theological issue. Any one thinking that the Blessing of this anomoly could be sacred is listening to a different voice than that of the Christ.
I would question Bishop Cowan’s aspect of spiritual renewal since he has in the past few months appointed a civilly married lesbian to be a parish priest in the diocese of BC and a parish council in Parksville has voted in favour of the church marrying same sex couples, without first having a congregational vote.