I know we talked about this “open” communion issue below, but since then it’s hit a lot more of the MSM.
The Beeb takes note:
Canadian priest sorry for giving dog Holy Communion
A priest in Canada has apologised after giving Holy Communion to a dog.
Reverend Marguerite Rea of St Peter’s Anglican Church, in Toronto, received complaints from Christians all over Canada after she fed communion bread to a German Shepherd cross named Trapper.
Area Bishop Patrick Yu said the priest had contravened church policy with her “strange and shocking” actions.
Ms Rea said it had been a “simple church act of reaching out” to a new congregation member and his pet.
“If I have hurt, upset or embarrassed anyone, I apologise,” she told her congregation on Sunday morning, the Toronto Star reports.
Bone of contention
The canine controversy began last month when four-year-old Trapper and his owner, Donald Keith, 56, attended the church in Toronto’s downtown area for the first time.
“The minister welcomed me and said come up and take communion, and Trapper came up with me and the minister gave him communion as well,” Mr Keith told the Toronto Star.
“I thought it was a nice way to welcome me into the church. I thought it was acceptable. There was an old lady in the front just beaming when she saw this.”
But not all parishioners at the service were quite so charmed by the sight of the priest leaning down and placing a wafer on the wagging tongue of Trapper, a German Shepherd-Rhodesian ridgeback cross.
Communion bread is considered by Anglicans to represent the body of Jesus Christ.
One onlooker filed a complaint with the Anglican Diocese of Toronto about the incident and has since left the church.
When news spread of the canine communion, St Peter’s Church began receiving e-mails from angry Christians all over the country.
“Communion is a symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus’ body; he died for all of us. But I don’t recall anything from the scripture about Jesus dying for the salvation of our pets,” said Cheryl Chang, director of the Anglican Network in Canada, the National Post newspaper reports.
“I can see why people would be offended,” said Bishop Yu.
“I have never heard of it happening before. I think the reverend was overcome by what I consider a misguided gesture of welcoming.”
‘Innocent’
Mr Keith has since been told that he and his dog are most welcome at the church, but Trapper can no longer receive communion.
“This has blown me away. The church is even getting e-mails from Catholics,” said the truck driver.
“Ninety-nine-point-nine per cent of the people in the church love Trapper and the kids play with him. It was just one person who got his nose out of joint.
“Holy smokes. We are living in the downtown core. This is small stuff. I thought it was innocent and it made me think of the Blessing of the Animals.”
At the end of the article in the Star, we hear:
But Rea says she’s received a lot of support through phone calls, visits and emails. The incident, which thrust the 137-year-old downtown church into the spotlight, has even brought new people in, she says, pointing out that “Jesus is a positive person and Christianity is a positive religion.”
Congregant Suzette Mafuna doesn’t understand why giving a dog communion would raise anyone’s hackles.
“We’re all God’s creatures. If a dog goes into a church, he’s entitled to every service that’s offered, including spiritual nourishment.”
It seems that the same theological fuzziness that Rea exhibits is mirrored in her congregation….
The people who are not offended by Communion being given to a dog simply do not comprehend what Communion is!
That “just one person got his nose out of joint” is very telling of just how bad a job Miss Rea is doing as the Celibrant at this Parish. She obviously has not covererd even the basics of the Christian Faith with the Congregation.
To be fair, the fellow who said “just one person got his nose out of joint” was the dog owner, who wasn’t a regular attender at the church. This is more telling:
She, one would assume, was a regular attender.
Actually not too surprised to see this. Ms Rae has a long history of inappropriate behaviour.
“One onlooker filed a complaint with the Anglican Diocese of Toronto about the incident and has since left the church.”
One person “got it” — just one, out of an entire parish. That’s the real issue here. First, the person who defiled the Sacrament was an ordained minister who presumably went through seminary training and was screened before being accepted for ordination. There is absolutely no excuse for her. Then there’s that warden who for the life of her just can’t understand what the fuss is all about. And everyone else in the congregation, since only one individual is recorded as objecting. Their clueless reaction is what I would expect of atheists on hearing of such an incident, not supposed practising Christians.
If I were the bishop I’d order everyone at that church to attend an educational seminar on Anglican sacraments and worship. And another one on the basics of Christian teaching wouldn’t hurt, either. But this is the Anglican Church of Canada, so of course nothing at all will happen.
I would have given the dog a pat and its owner the wafer.
On one occasion last year I was accosted by a large rectory dog while giving a reflection, and decided it would probably go away faster if I petted it than if I did not. It duly wandered away.
> “Rea says she’s received a lot of support through… emails.
I can’t resist the obligatory link to Jo Walton’s The Lurkers Support Me in Email
If it was an isolated incident, that would be one thing; but there really does seem to be a pattern of odd theology and odder priorities.
WELL…if the dog is entitled to communion and all other benefits, I assume he could be baptized, confirmed, married, or even receive a same sex blessing if he’s that way inclined, maybe even a funeral sometime in the next 6 to 8 years…
Not a bad idea really. Lots of money to be made from donations for doing funerals… not to mention making sure he’s remembered the church in his will.
It would really blow open the whole debate on euthanasia in the ACoC.
And what would pastoral care look like? Poop and scoop service? Perambulations? Would the priest be required to eat the proffered bone or dog biscuit should Trapper show any hospitality during the pastoral visit?
And what counts as sin in this dog’s life that would require him to receive propitiation for his sins?
Does, 1Corinthians 11:27-29 have any part in our
receiving the Holy Communion any more.
Blessings,
Maya
In no way has Rea “apologized”, nor is she sorry. She made a mealy-mouthed comment about how she’s sorry gthat other people took offense, followed by tons of self-justification. Sh’s ahd calls of “support”, more people have come to church as a result, etc, etc.
That isn’t genuine remorse. This woman is intransigent, and a major symptom of what’s wrong with Anglicansim. To her Holy Communion is meaningless, the wafer is a cookie that she can hand out and treat as she pleases, and the church is nothing but a social club. She is that outlandish self-contradicting monstrosity that only modern-day Anglicanism could produce: a priest that believes in nothing.