Blessing of Same-sex marriage in Anglican church of Aotearoa/New Zealand

As my comments are disappearing on Thinking Anglicans, I am publishing them here.

10 May 2018

While grateful for those like Edward Prebble, I feel surrounded in my parish including my vicar by those in the middle group who seem to have no understanding of what a lifetime of victimisation by the church has achieved. I made a decision for Christ at about age 9. At age 74 I think it was the most ridiculous thing I ever did and that my life would have been a lot happier without it. I literally cried when the decision was postponed 3 years ago, now that there has been some development I could not care less. I have realised that we are now in a post Christian age and the world would be better off without any religion. I certainly receive much more sympathy and support from people who for most of their life have not entered a church except for funerals and weddings and now these are rarely in a church. My unchurched friends are in their 60's and above and, although they do not realise it, I see the Love portrayed by Jesus in their daily lives, while the great majority I see in Church, especially in leadership roles, do not display much of it at all. As I no longer believe in an after life or any of the other claptrap that has been imposed on the teachings of Christ, I could not care less what they decide in their stupid meetings. The world has moved on and the Church is shown to be regressive and slow to catch up as in most social developments of the last few centuries.
From what I read, after a vote on the voices, the ultra conservatives called for a show of hands and, still not satisfied, then demanded people stand. They say about 90% was in favour. So these bullies, trained in Sydney where sadly I grew up amongst their evil bile, finally defeated, have now resigned. Good riddance to bad rubbish. But if I said that in my church the good people who sit in the middle would condemn me as unChristian. So be it.

Ironically the following day the General Synod has apologised for taking part in the sale of Maori lands in the 1860's. No surprise CMS was involved. Perhaps in 150 years the church, if it still exists, will be apologising for the victimisation of LGBT people. I, of course, will not see that although I have lived long enough to see the NSW parliament and police apologise for arrests and brutaiity of many of my friends at a gay rights rally in the 70's. Fortunately I escaped as it would have been the early end of what became a long career of teaching. I am sure the Sydney Anglican leaders of the time were cheering the police on but I never expect to hear an apology from them.

Then discussing

Craig D’Alton humane catholic An alternate statement on marriage equality, which could have been made by the Anglican bishops of Australia, but wasn’t …

17 May 2018

I am a refugee from Sydney Diocese who regrets my long years growing up there. The Sydney mob (I went to university with the Jensens) are homophobes and they spread their bile overseas. The local archdeacon of Dunedin who is vicar of the most evangelical church here has resigned, with immediate effect, from the role of archdeacon. Our bishop did not give the reasons but I can guess, knowing his outspoken views and within a week of the decision by the Aotearoa New Zealand Synod to allow blessings of same-sex marriages. I once joked on my blog that I saw him in the coffee shop and felt like throwing the cup over him but that would be a waste of good coffee. The curate in my parish at the time took me to task for such unchristian views. My comment and feelings would be the same if he opposed interracial marriage. These people, Mr Bunyan, are homophobes and it should be shouted from the rooftops. The time has come to end pussyfooting around. The church as always shows itself to be a hindrance to social development despite the wonderful work of many of its members to bring about change.

18 May 2018

You are not alone, Mr Bunyan in caring for the aged. Although not a priest mainly because I saw my rector in a suburb of Sydney in the 1960's suffer several nervous breakdowns despite the wonderful youth work he carried out in the parish. In those days I only had a vague understanding that he had the same conflicts due to sexual feelings as I did,. Eventually he left parish work, became an administrator for CMS but finally committed suicide.
Each Sunday I take 2 ladies over 90 years old to church. Some mornings I have to finish dressing them because their carer has not arrived in time. They have children who express their gratitude to me but either live too far away or openly tell me they cannot bear going to a church service. It is the only reason I go to church regularly. As they are deaf and have some early dementia, they tell me they do not understand the sermons. I think most of it is rubbish. I also co-ordinate a group (more than 30) of mostly women over 60 as we hike each week. While they are obviously much fitter, most are widows and it can involve some caring when they become il. It is to them I will turn if I become ill. In fact most never go near a church yet care for each other more than a lot in church who are only interested in praying for one's soul. I have been surprised, as I have become more open in my views to find older people who go to church quite often, agree when I tell them I know longer believe in an after life nor a God who answers prayer. Like me they go to church because that is the way they grew up, they like the ceremony and the music and meet their friends. Whatever they personally believe they do not want to impose their views on others or, as for some in NZ, walk out in a huff when they discover their views are in the minority.
As a young person I struggled between the things I was taught and my obvious self feelings. Today I would say to a young person "Forget the church, it is an irrelevant dying organisation."
I have just noticed the comment "yes, there are those who suffer because of their sexual orientation"
The only reason I have suffered is because of the Church and its teachings. Young GLBTI people today have a chance to marry, have families and generally lead a happy life as long as they ignore most of the churches. I use to say the only time I feel I am a 2nd class citizen is when I enter a church or go back to my birth country. Now thankfully I am not ashamed to use my Australian passport although I am much prouder to use my NZ one. 

19 May 2018

David, my initial degree was in economics and education so not strong on grammar, however my post graduate degree was in information science so I have done some research. Yes, a phobia does imply an emotional fear and may not be what we want to describe although I wonder about those who immediately give up their positions in the church just because the church now allows some to have their same sex marriages blessed in that church. Apparently the better terms are heterosexist which is better applied to institutions or sexually prejudiced. I feel that if I told a person they were racist I would get my point across, telling them they were sexist not quite so much and telling them they were sexually prejudiced would not convey my feelings of loathing for them when they state that I do not have the same rights as other human beings to enter into a committed sexual partnership due to my sexual orientation

Remaining an Anglican in Aotearoa/New Zealand?

I am travelling in Europe. Today I am in Prague. I find it difficult to find time to blog about my travel experiences. Perhaps I will post a compilation of my messages and photos sent to friends after I have returned home.

I have found it difficult to blog on church matters ever since the despicable meeting of Primates in January when the Episcopal church was so badly treated. Ever since then, and even before,  I have looked more deeply into my beliefs and generally decided that I have been mistaken for over 60 years.
At about age 7, I made a decision for Christ at a CMS Beach Mission on the South Coast of NSW.
Of course ,having a deeply devout Mother, it was not my first experience of Christianity, it is just my earliest memory of definitely deciding such things for myself.
I now think my life would have been a lot happier if I had not made that choice.
I now consider that the modern church and religion to be one of the greatest hindrances to the development of humanity. I only attend church because I love the ceremony and music of Anglicanism especially Anglo-Catholicism and a few elderly ladies depend on me for transport.

I had some hope things might improve at the NZ General Synod held a few weeks ago but again the conservatives have had their way and any possibility of merely blessing same-sex marriage will not occur for at least 4 years. They bless dogs.
As I regularly state: "The only time I feel a 2nd class citizen in New Zealand is when I enter a Church."

I left Australia and became a New Zealand Citizen and one driving force was the much more enlightened attitudes of New Zealand Society and Government.  I also  considered the church to be more enlightened. However even there, the conservatives manage to keep control. In a post a few years ago I said I felt like throwing coffee over the vicar of St Matthews, Dunedin and was criticised by my then curate because. "He was a brother in Christ" If such people are brothers in Christ, I no longer want to be called a Christian. They can go to Hell (except I no longer believe in an after life)

The only person who gives me some hope at the moment is the current Bishop of Dunedin and I want to draw attention to two recent posts he has made since the Synod ended.

Two More Years  and Pulling Together

I will write more when I have more time. Now I must experience Prague.

Thank God I live in a Post-Christian Country

Church people, including my own vicar, wring their hands that the church no longer has the influence it had in the past.  I am very thankful.

The Church has always opposed any move to make life easier for LGBT people. The Liberalisation of consenting sex between males in the 80’s and same-sex marriage last year were passed in parliament despite the opposition of the churches.
I know that not all church members were involved but very few had the guts to stand up and say so.

Back in 2006 the then Bishop of Dunedin, George Connor, was willing to ordain a gay partnered man, Juan Kinnear, despite opposition from both within and without the diocese.  I never met him but congratulate him.  He did not wait for the Province to be of one mind and despite a few protestors, the world did not fall in.  He was not even taken to church courts.  The present bishop, at that time archdeacon,  believed it was right in principle but also believed it should not go ahead until the Province allowed it.  That is still his view today.  He continues to license Juan, and others in similar circumstances but no names no pack drill, but will not ordain such a person.

He says he shed tears of joy at the bill passed by the General Synod of Aotearoa/New Zealand this week, I do not know why.  Any tears I had were of frustration.

The discussion of the Me Whea report was put down for Monday.  It was extended to Tuesday and then a small (9, 3 from each house) committee was chosen to fine tune the bill to which all agreed on Wednesday.  The discussions were all in private but I had some hope that there might be something worthwhile, better than Option J which is what I expected all along.

I was mistaken. They have apologised for the past but changed nothing. They might as well have said: "Sorry you have had to sit down the back of the bus in the past but just stay there 2 or 4 or more years and we might possibly find a seat a bit nearer the front".

A committee will be formed to develop a liturgy for blessing of same-sex partnerships which will be discussed in 2016 and sent to diocesan synods to come back in 2018 and then something MIGHT be achieved.

I do not expect marriages to be performed. I do not actually believe churches should be in the marriage business. As in France, marriages should be done by the state then those who wish can have a church blessing. I think the last wedding I attended was in the late 1970’s. I have never really appreciated flaunting of heterosexuality.

We all know some churches, not in Dunedin to my knowledge, have carried out same-sex blessings. There is already a liturgy, of course not official.

This bill says same sex marriages cannot be blessed but can be acknowledged if the local vicar wants as long as it is authorised by the bishop and the vestry.

I like what Bro David wrote in a comment on Liturgy.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today among the announcements to recognize that so-and-so and this other so-and-so were united in state sanctioned civil matrimony the other day in the presence of family, friends and just about everyone here, at the local rental hall around the corner and down the street. A good time was had by all!”

We have to find some humour in the whole tragic situation.

As I expected, and despite the measly concessions, the main comments have come from the conservatives, those Apostles of Hate.  They will never be happy unless the State reimposes jail sentences, perhaps even a flogging or 2.  I know from experience they preferred I went somewhere else or, even if I stayed, removed me from the reader list.

Rev Zane Elliott commented on Bishop Kelvin’s blog.  He has long been a major apostle of Hate.  He astounded many in the diocese with his vitriol a year or so ago,  At the time he was an assistant priest at St Matthew’s Dunedin. I have discovered he is now an army chaplain in the Diocese of Christchurch. Poor army. I wonder how he lives with the fact that the NZ Army has topped a new global index ranking armed forces for inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexuals and transgender soldiers.
That vile creature probably wants to change this.

By chance I saw the vicar of St Matthews, Archdeacon Stu Crosson, in the same coffee shop as me on Thursday. I felt like pouring my cappuchino over him but that would have been a waste of good coffee.

I knew about St Matthews  before I moved here, they staged a protest at the ordination of Juan Kinnear.  I have since learnt about St Mark’s Balclutha and St Luke’s Mosgiel.  I have heard them called the unholy trinity.

Unlike in Sydney where I had to travel 80 km to find a welcoming Anglican church, the good people of St Matthews can go an extra km or so. Our parish register lists 9 families from Mosgiel although it is 16 km away. I use to wonder why.  Even the poor people of Balclutha can go 25 km to Milton.

Bishop Kelvin let slip "our church was headed for a split, no question about it. I am told that some in our province have already been eyeing up new real estate."

I would be pretty sure it would be one or more of the unholy trinity. At least they do not want to take the silver like those in the USA.
Of course his view has to be different to mine which is “Go and Good riddance”.
The Episcopal Church seems to have weathered the storm and now attracts many from Roman Catholic and other illiberal churches.

In reply to my comment Kelvin wrote:

You are a child of God with an absolutely equal right to your place in the church. If that place involves marriage or ordination, sadly, it will be some time before we can shift the church to where we believe the Holy Spirit will eventually move it. Yes, that time may be too late for you. It will be probably too late for me, also, but it is coming, and it is coming as fast as we can possibly make it.

After much struggle, I came to the belief in the early 80’s that God loved me as he created me.  I do not even need to go to church to know that.  For some unexplainable reasoning I feel the need for regular attendance at communion so will not follow my gut feeling to steer clear of church altogether. My concern is for unchurched LGBT people today. I would never encourage a young person to go to church today. If they are gay that way lies misery.  I do not support church evangelisation but do support social welfare.

I find much more support amongst the other social groups with whom I mix.  They are straight, mostly over 60, but completely accepting.  Of course, most of them never go near church so are not tainted.

I am going to leave my local parish but attend Eucharist at another church which is far more open in acceptance of LGBT people. It is 3 km further but that is hardly here nor there.

I am also looking forward to worshipping in the USA over the next 2 months.  I will have Sundays in Denver, Salt Lake City, Washington (the National Cathedral). On the other 3 Sundays I will be in national parks or travelling.

I wish we had a gutsy Episcopal church in New Zealand.

Comments (something happened and the post was deleted)
Leonardo Ricardo commented
"After much struggle, I came to the belief in the early 80’s that God loved me as he created me. I do not even need to go to church to know that. For some unexplainable reasoning I feel the need for regular attendance at communion so will not follow my gut feeling to steer clear of church altogether. My concern is for unchurched LGBT people today. I would never encourage a young person to go to church today. If they are gay that way lies misery. I do not support church evangelisation but do support social welfare." = Noble Wolf
Powerful, yes, it's true. Imagine ANYONE deciding anything about OUR morals (after all we have been through to sort our character and conduct out over the years and SURVIVE). The haters have just begun the path that leads to soul-self-searching then forgiveness (themselves and from others)...at 70 years old I no longer have patience for the yammerings and the silly press interviews of Justin Welby, ABC, or the cowardly posturing of the ARchbishop of York...both are caught in the confusion/time-warp of the continued exclusion of LGBTI at Church (no matter how rescrambled to look *welcoming* to ¨Gays¨). Tiresome lot...where have they been for lifetimes? (and what is with +Victoria Matthews?) 

Anonymous commented
I read your comments about St, Matthew's, St Mark's and St. Lukes with some interest, being that I'm a member of St. Mark's. If you really want to find out what we think, come down and meet us. It's really easy to demonise those who don't agree with you when you base your view on assumptions formed from a distance. The ball's in your court.

Cheers - Chris

My reply
I am hardly likely to drive an hour to Balclutha to worship. Friends who know more about the diocese have given me an idea of waht it is like. I moved 3000 km from Sydney to escape evangelical Anglicans. All Saints will suit me much better thank you.

General Synod & Ma Whea Report

The Bi-annual General Synod of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa/New Zealand is commencing this weekend. Although I know 2 people in attendance my local Bishop and my local Vicar (as Vicar-general of the diocese), I will probably learn less than I could about the synods every 6 months in England.
Kelvin Wright is blogging but his blogs are more about his feelings than any specific details. My own Vicar has cut down on use of the internet so not much will be revealed there.
I can learn more from Liturgy although Rev Bosco Peters is not attending.

The Ma Whea report disappointed me as it just gave 10 options for synod to choose without any recommendations.
The options are:
Option A: Affirming Traditional Understanding
Option B: Preserving Present Circumstances
Option C: Bishops to Determine What Equals Right Relationships
Option D: Delegate to Diocesan Synods/Te Runanganui Power to Determine Right Relationships
Option E: Adopt a New Understanding
Option F: The Anglican Church Having Two Views
Option G: Dual Episcopacy
Option H: Planned Dismembering
Option I: Anglican Church to Add a New Rite of Blessing by Priests of Those in a Same Sex Relationship.
Option J: Adopt a Two Year Period of Focussed Discussion within Church Communities with a View to Making a Decision in (say) 2016

 If I was a betting man (which I am not) I would place bets on Option J. As some have said the matter has been discussed for nearly 60 years. No wonder that the main response I hear in my church is laughter. These are people who are not directly affected. I however have reached the end of my tether.

I moved from homophobic Sydney to a diocese where an openly gay partnered man had been ordained.  He is Priest-in-charge of one of our small parishes. he was ordained by the previous bishop but the present bishop would not agree, not for personal beliefs,  but because a moratorium has been declared within the province.  However I have met personally with another partnered LGBT priest and hear of yet a third. I cannot give details but their relationship is known to the bishop and they continue to be licensed.

The wink-wink, nudge-nudge situation is intolerable. I have openly stated that the only official area where I face discrimination in New Zealand is in my church.
I am suppose to be a full member yet if I was to be married it would not be recognised and if I was to ask for ordination it would not be possible (openly).
I am unlikely to want either but I would not recommend any young LGBT person become a member of the church today.
If Option J ( or A or B) is the winner, I plan to withdraw my membership of the church. I believe in the Grace bestowed in the Eucharist so will continue to attend in various churches but I do not want to be officially linked with an officially homophobic institution whatever might be occurring unofficially in  Don't Ask Don't Tell.
I have signed the petition at
http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/members-of-general-synod-te-hinota-whanui-2014-become-a-church-that-welcomes-all-in-christ?recruiter=9397499&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petitionhttp://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/members-of-general-synod-te-hinota-whanui-2014-become-a-church-that-welcomes-all-in-christ?recruiter=9397499&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition

There are many moving comments on the petition but one I want to post by Warwick

I was Christened at All Saints Ponsonby and Confirmed at St Lukes Mt Albert.
After 39 years of marriage, the inner struggle was tearing me apart: with a devoted wife, 3 adult children, 9 grandchildren, how could I break out of the societal expectations and test my innermost feelings?
Antidepressants for 20 years went someway to calming me and yet I knew there was a conflict I could no longer deny.
I am now in a same sex relationship of 5 years; we have shown our commitment to each other and our family by Civil Union, but we are denyed open acceptance by our Church governing body.
Surely, God knows who we are, how we feel, accepts us for our difference from a societal dictated majority norm.
We are best friends to each other, we share emotions, family, love of each other and of others.
We plead with the Anglican Church to fight the good fight for multicultural and sexual differences to be recognised as part of God's plan.
Recently I asked the hard question of a clergy in my local area, what should or could be my home church:
"are you an accepting church?"
Response: If you mean accepting of the word of God, then we follow the word of God absolutely: if you mean are we accepting of homosexuals, then again, we follow the word of God."
The result is that my partner and I will not return to St Stephens at Whangaparaoa!
This type of openly practiced judgement and discrimination is out of step with the knowing world; it is a continuation of the old testament dark age fable thinking.
Please Anglican Synod open your eyes, your eras and your hearts and spread the word of a modern loving and forgiving God whom we all want to believ in.
I am sorry that I do no know how to sign this below not being one who has that degree of computer literacy. This is a genuine and sincere, heartfelt response which I would still want to stand up and have recorded.

I have looked up  St Stephen's at Whangaparaoa on the web and there is plenty of evidence that it is an Evangelical church of the Sydney type although in the much more inclusive diocese of Auckland.
 The assistant bishop of Auckland, Jim White is particularly open (for a bishop) on his blog.

I can live with the existence of these type of parishes such as St Matthew's here in Dunedin as long as I never go into them but  I can no longer live with them imposing their narrow hateful beliefs on the rest of the Anglican church.  The attempts of many to accommodate them means LGBT people have no place in the church as it exists.
Added
My comment on the petition
I am sad that the only official area in Aotearoa/New Zeland today where I face discrimination is in the church. In my youth, friends committed suicide as the church taught them they were sinful for what they could not control. Today young people just leave the church. I want to see the church openly welcoming LGBT people both into ministry and blessing their relationships

The comments are well worth reading, some are sad. At last view there were 713 signatures and (from reading the comments) most are in New Zealand.

At last the NZ Archbishops speak

Finally there is a response to the disgusting laws recently passed in Uganda and Nigeria

Dear Friends and Colleagues in Christ,
Anglicans throughout Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia continue to wrestle with divergent views on many aspects of human sexuality, and on a Christian response to the marriage or blessing of same gender couples in particular. However, we believe that all Anglicans are united in condemning homophobic attitudes or the persecution of people on the basis of their sexual orientation.
Many of us will have seen reports this week (eg: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26320102 ) that Uganda’s President has signed into law a bill that toughens penalties for gay people.
This new law includes the provision of life sentences for certain of these new ‘crimes’, and the legislation appears to have been passed with the encouragement of Uganda’s Joint Christian Council – which includes the country’s Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican bishops.
We recall Resolution 1:10 from the 1998 Lambeth Conference, which encouraged Anglicans throughout our Communion “to minister pastorally and sensitively to all, irrespective of sexual orientation and to condemn irrational fear of homosexuals...”
We note with dismay these developments in Uganda, and encourage you to remember that country, those placed further at risk by these laws, and those who lead the Church and the state in Uganda, in your prayers.
Archbishop Brown Turei
Archbishop Philip Richardson
Archbishop Winston Halapua

Disappointing News

On my first visit to Dunedin in November 2006 I worshipped at the Cathedral and was taken in more ways than one by the Dean, David Rice.

He was in the local news defending the recent ordination as deacon of Rev Juan Kinnear, a man living openly in a gay relationship. Juan later became a priest and was associate priest at the cathedral. He is now Priest enabler at St John's Waikouaiti.

I was disappointed when I finally moved to Dunedin in 2010 to find David Rice was now Bishop of Waiapu with the cathedral in Napier where I worshipped last month.

However he was still able to support the cause of GLBT people in the Anglican church of Aotearoa New Zealand and Waiapu has been a leading diocese in this development.

Last year the Diocese of Waiapu put forward the following motion to General Synod.

The diocese of Waiapu, which covers Bay of Plenty and Hawkes Bay, has put forward a proposal for dioceses which wish to be able to bless same-sex unions to be able to do so, and for gay priests to be ordained.

The Diocese of Waiapu strongly believes that sexual orientation should present no barrier to ordination, the Motion says.

As a diocese, like others, we have experienced first-hand the ministry of gay and lesbian clergy, some of whom have been in faithful, loving, committed same-gender relationships, and believe them to have enriched the life of our Church.

We are therefore grateful that successive bishops have discerned within the lives of these people a call to ordination, and acknowledge this work of discernment is a serious and significant aspect of episcopal ministry.

We have become concerned in recent years that bishops of this and other dioceses appear to have come under pressure to withhold discernment for ordination because of a person's sexual orientation and their living out of that orientation with a loving, faithful relationship, the Motion continues.

As a diocese we believe such pressure runs contrary to the traditional understanding that the responsibility for discerning and acting upon the call of the Holy Spirit on an individual to a life within the holy order of priests or deacons rests firmly in the hands of the bishop of the diocese /hui amorangi.

We therefore ask that:

This General Synod / Te Hinota Whanui affirms the long tradition and practice of episcopal autonomy in the discernment of a person's call to ordination.

The Diocese of Waiapu has also put forward a Motion for the General Synod to:

Move forward with the provision of an authorised liturgy for the blessing of same-gender relationships to be adopted for use by those dioceses which wish so to do.

So I am sad to learn that Bishop David is to return to the USA as provisional bishop of San Juan. I know San Juan needs all the help it can at this time but pray that a similarly brave bishop is appointed to continue the good work in Waiaipu

New Zealand continues to show the way

Great news today as New Zealand elects the third woman Diocesan bishop.

The Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley has been elected the next Anglican Bishop of Waikato.
Helen-Ann, who is 40, succeeds Archbishop David Moxon, who is now the Anglican Communion’s ambassador to Rome.
Bishop-elect Helen-Ann is at present Dean of Tikanga Pakeha students at St John's College in Auckland.
She was born in Edinburgh and grew up in north-east England. She is the fourth generation of her family to be ordained, and was priested in 2005 in the Diocese of Oxford.

So apparently she is the first woman ordained in the Church of England to become a bishop.

In New Zealand she follows Penny Jamieson, who was the Bishop of Dunedin from 1990 till 2004, and Victoria Matthews, who was elected the Bishop of Edmonton, in Canada, in 1997, and who was chosen as the Bishop of Christchurch in 2008.

Of course England is yet to vote to allow women to be bishops and while Australia now has 4 assistant bishops they are still not allowed to be in charge of a diocese.

Mixed News from New Zealand

First the good news.
The Diocese of Dunedin has rejected the Covenant. I learned this from Bishop Kelvin's blog but it is now on Taonga as well. Bishop Kelvin writes "We discussed the Anglican Covenant and agreed with the suspicion of clause 4 which seems to be current in most of the New Zealand Anglican Church. By a reasonably large majority we do not want our church to subscribe to it."

I do not understand the implications of another vote.
There was "a motion asking us to accept that people in such relationships (same sex)  should not be denied ordination because of those relationships"..."In the end, an amendment was proposed which affirmed that sexual orientation was not a barrier to ordination, but which removed any reference to relationships." Bishop Kelvin thinks this is "the situation which has been the case in the Anglican Church for many years." I am not so sure, it depends in which part of the Anglican Church one resides and I do not believe it solves anything.

However the bad news is that the Diocese of Wellington has supported all four sections of the proposed Anglican Covenant. The bishop spoke in favour and the vote (only taken on section 4) was
Clergy : 63 for; 41 against.
Laity : 52 for; 44 against.

This is disappointing.  They state "We must preserve unity, and the Covenant will help us do that. And we don't want to find ourselves no longer in full communion because we have not signed the Covenant".
I think they are namby pamby and lily-livered. They want to remain in communion even if it is wrong.  New Zealand might end up in full communion with the homophobic dioceses but out of communion with TEC and Canada.

I  am definite on this:

If the Province signs up to the covenant, I will be disappointed. But if the covenant members then eject TEC and/or Canada, I will remove myself from the parish and not enter and Anglican Church in New Zealand again.

We wait on the other dioceses Three Maori and three Pakeha plus the diocese of Polynesia.
I know the Diocese of Christchurch has postponed a vote until next year. They had more important matters to consider.  The Diocese of Nelson had their synod in August but there is nothing reportd however it is the evangelical diocese and already has  statement condemning same sex marriage. The Diocese of Waikato/Taranaki had their synod last week but there is no news yet.

Why New Zealand is so much better than Sydney

 From Newstalk ZB in Auckland via Madpriest although I do not understand his humour at times.

Anglicans debating gay issue

30/10/2009 7:04:01

A Maori Anglican Church report will be recommending the ordination of gay leaders at the church's two-yearly conference being held Auckland over the weekend.

Bishop Te Kitohi Pikaahu says the Commission on Human Sexuality believes sexual orientation is no barrier to ordination.

He admits there is opposition to gay ordination in the Anglican Church worldwide, but says what is important is that the issue is being talked about.

"The Anglican Maori Church is beginning to wrestle with this issue in an open way, in an open forum."

Bishop Pikaahu says there is opposition to gays being ordained worldwide and there is a long way to go before the church reaches a view it can act on, but what is important is that the conversation is even happening.

I may be wrong but I always thought the opposition to gay ordination in NZ came from the Maori Tikanga. If so, that seems to be changing, Praise God.

Meanwhile thanks to Lapinbizarre commenting at Caliban's Dream I learn that

On the final night of the 2009 Synod, the Anglican Diocese of Sydney has passed a resolution embracing the new Anglican province, the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).

In the words of the resolution “Synod welcomes the creation of the Province of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) under the leadership of Archbishop Bob Duncan and notes the GAFCON Primates’ Council recognition of the ACNA as genuinely Anglican and its recommendation that Anglican Provinces affirm full communion with the ACNA. Synod therefore expresses its desire to be in full communion with the ACNA.’

My house is on the market, I have had one offer which I rejected as too low and I really do not want to move out before Christmas but other than that the sooner the better to be out of the Sydney Diocese.

Lambeth and NZ

Reading the blogs on the right, especially about Lambeth has been very time consuming lately and also depressing. I will leave most of it to them as anything I could say would be just second hand.
On Saturday, as mentioned earlier, I attended a meeting at the St James Institute on "Do Australian Anglicans have a future?" It was led by Bishop Tom Frame who was Bishop to the Australian Defence Force but is now Director of St Mark's Theological Centre. He seemed to be glad to have relinquished the role of a Bishop.

He had some interesting things to say about where he thinks the church will be in 2028. He thinks there will be 3 types of Anglican churches.
1. Mega churches (already one in Castle Hill, Sydney and another somewhere in Melbourne) with over 10 on staff and more than 750 parishioners. Exclusive in outlook so I won't be there.
2. Urban/regional churches with 2 on staff and 100 to 750 , inclusive and welcoming, I guess like St James, King Street today so obviously my choice except I will probably be in a nursing home by then :-)
3. Small house churches with honorary staff and less than 50. I do not think I would like these. I gain much benefit from liturgy, processions and choirs.

I did not like Bishop Frame's comment that we should consider the plight of African churches having to live with Islam. It seemed to be this common idea of supporting them at the expense of the many GLBT people in the west (and also in Africa?)

I am afraid Lambeth will leave us in much the same position as at the end of the previous one in '98. TEC and Canada may not accept that and go its own way but most dioceses in Australia (obviously not Sydney) will claim they are inclusive of all people including GLBT but we will remain 2nd class members who cannot be ordained while in an open relationship and whose relationships cannot be blessed. That, to me, is unacceptable.

New Zealand, on the other hand, is much more welcoming. I know for certain that some parishes in the Diocese of Auckland bless same-sex relationships and the Diocese of Dunedin has ordained a man living in a same-sex relationship.

Just a week before I last visited Dunedin in 2006, Bishop George Connor had ordained as a deacon Rev Juan Kinnear, a man who was living in a same sex relationship. There was a great amount of press about this and it was opposed by some evangelicals within the diocese and a group of evangelicals from the neighbouring Diocese of Christchurch. Although some of the NZ bishops had reservations, they did not oppose it but I had understood there was a moratorium on his further ordination to the priesthood. I am glad to now find (in the NZ gay press, not the Anglican) that his ordination as a priest occurred late last year without any publicity. He is an honorary associate priest in the cathedral. More research has found the following statement from Juan about his first ordination as a deacon.

The Revd Juan Kinnear shares some thoughts on his recent ordination

Part of his statement follows:
The Diocese of Dunedin has a long established practice of welcoming suitable, committed Christian homosexual men and women into ordained ministry. What occurred on 4 November 2006 is no recent innovation, but a continuation of the diocese’s refusal to exclude gay men and women from full participation in the life of our Church. The locus of authority within Anglicanism is the diocese and its bishop. Overarching questions about how theological divergence can be reconciled with the notion of a Church Catholic are unlikely to be resolved by the creation of an Anglican magesterium or the implementation of a Covenant with which to beat up those with whom we disagree.

I often wonder what life would be like in an ideal world. Perhaps we would all be happily married, with two girls and a boy, a Labrador and a Volvo station wagon in the driveway. Who knows? What I do know is that we do not live in an ideal world and that, for better or worse, we are required to do our best, be as faithful and committed as we possibly can and live as joyfully as our circumstances allow. I also know that my sexual orientation is not subject to change by prayer or self discipline. I believe that I am not alone in this. So, I contend myself with the belief that I am saved by grace and called to continually seek sanctification. I thank God that I share my life with someone who cares for me with all his heart. I am committed to work for the Gospel and to be Good News to those around me. Where I fail, and I fail continuously, I ask for strength to continue on and to do better. A sinner yes, but never, ever do I buy into the idea that I am “dirty” or that my life has to be confined by a cage of words, authored by those who choose to stand in judgment over me. Joy and life in abundance!

When(If?) I move to Dunedin, I think I will worship at the Cathedral but I have found the blog of the Vicar of the parish, St John's Roslyn, in which I hope to reside (Available Light). He has just had an operation for cancer and is returning to work on Monday. His post on Gafcon is interesting but a bit of the middle way I discern in Australia (outside Sydney).

"As our church divides, as it surely must despite the Gafcon hand waving, which side do I go with? The liberal rump, now unfettered by conservative reticence? You've got to be kidding! The Gafcon conservatives, with their stifling self perceived certainties? No thank you! I have about ten years to go before retirement. Perhaps if I hunker down in St. John's Roslyn and pay all that stuff no mind, I might just make it through before I have to make that sort of choice."

I feel happier reading the comments of Bishop Gene and am thankful for the wonderful, thought provoking blessing from him (below) for which I thank Boocat. My first attempt at placing a video in my blog.

Altar Cloth at Christchurch cathedral

I seem to have stirred up a hornet's nest by describing my visit to Christchurch cathedral on Anglicans Together. I wanted to illustrate the attempts by Sydney evangelicals to extend their pernicious influence abroad.
At least I have learnt more about the controversial altar cloth. it can be viewed at:
http://www.christchurchcathedral.co.nz/news/media_releases.html

Apparently the offending section is in Sanskrit and comes from Hindu writings (Surely Christians can learn from others) and reads:

"From the unreal, lead me to the real. From darkness lead me to the light. From death lead me to immortality."

This is a similar concept to what is found in A New Zealand Prayer Book/He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa (p.164).

World Peace Prayer

Lead me from death to life,
from falsehood to truth;
lead me from despair to hope,
from fear to trust;
lead me from hate to love,
from war to peace.
Let peace fill our heart,
our world, our universe.


A beautiful prayer in my opinion whatever its origins.