Up until 2021 they had been for trial use, but now Synod has decided that they will be added to the Book of Alternative Services as official liturgies. According to news reports, some clergy and lay delegates at Synod spoke against adopting the liturgies, but the majority spoke in favor.

Evangelical Canadian blogger David of Samizdat noted that this action illustrates the delusion that has bedeviled the ACoC for decades. Doing more of what has brought it to the verge of extinction will, for some incomprehensible reason, reverse the decline.

It won't, of course, it is merely another nail in the coffin of the ailing church.

TRANSFORMATIONAL ASPIRATIONS

Members also voted and adopted the five transformational aspirations as "transformational commitments to guide planning, priority-setting, resource allocation and collaboration with provinces and dioceses in the 2023-25 biennium." These aspirations, (and that is all they are) "invite and deepen life in Christ"; "champions the dignity of every human being; works to dismantle racism and colonialism"; "embraces mutual interdependence with the Indigenous church (Sacred Circle)"; nurtures right relationships among people of faith in local, national and global communities and networks"; and "stewards and renews God's creation; protects and sustains the earth; pursues justice for all."

Pushback did come. Among those who spoke in opposition to Resolution A122, many expressed concerns about the church wading into what they described as political issues.

Canon Giuseppe Gagliano of the Diocese of Quebec said he felt compelled to oppose the resolution because "it deals not just with human relations and activities but redefines who people are at their very core." Really.

"These redefinitions are not only new to our society at large, but have not been properly assessed by our church," Gagliano said. "I don't believe it is prudent for the church to develop an entirely new rite, based on baptismal theology, to something at our very core, to align with a modern social movement that is still evolving." Instead, he wished to affirm General Synod's previous resolution C010 stating that pastoral care and love should be provided to all people, including those of diverse gender expressions.

Bishop David Parsons of the Diocese of the Arctic opposed the resolution on the basis that, "it's not correct to be politicizing the church so that we are in opposition. We've been fighting one another for so long because of these types of differences of thoughts and differences of opinion ... The word of God does not give you permission to become political."

Notably absent is a plan to lead the unsaved to salvation through Jesus Christ. I'm quite sure that is missing because the majority of ACoC clergy no longer recognize the categories "saved" and "unsaved", observed David of Samizdat.

"The other notable thing about these aspirations is that there is nothing whatsoever transformational about them. They are the same unimaginative anodyne cliches that have been at work in the church for decades and have brought it to where it is today."

Of course, transformation in the ACoC bears very little relationship to what the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12.1 about the transformational renewing of our minds. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship." Transformational as the Canadian church understands it, is bowing down to the LGBTQ lobby, marrying queers in one or multiple categories. Finally, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel by demanding that trans people be allowed to marry and ascend pulpits in the name of the Holy Trinity who is no longer invoked to forgive sin, but to bless it.

JEW HATRED

Recently, VOL exposed the innate hatred of Jews by Canadian Anglican leaders in their anti-Israel pronouncements. In April, bishops from the ACoC and ELCIC met with Members of Parliament to persuade them to "hold Israeli authorities accountable for human rights abuses under international law."

It is profoundly hypocritical that while these bishops denounced Israel, they are amazingly quiet about the hundreds of rockets Hamas fires into Israel from Gaza, which, without the Iron Dome would destroy dozens of towns near its borders.

What about holding Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Authority accountable for their behavior? No mention is ever made of militant Arab slaughter and mayhem against Israel.

Furthermore, no mention is made of the fact that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East whose courts afford fair trials to those out to destroy it.

You can read my take here: https://virtueonline.org/canadian-anglicans-embrace-jew-hatred-latest-appeal-government

Far worse human rights abuses occur in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, North Korea -- and so on. We never hear a squeak from our bishops about them, noted David of Samizdat.

Are the bishops antisemitic? Damn right they are.

GAY BLESSINGS AND CofE LLF REPORT

In January of this year, the Canadian archbishop Linda Nicholls commended the CofE's adoption of gay blessings and offered their full support to the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) which proffered prayers to those living in same-sex marriage within the church. Never mind that the Archbishop of Canterbury has come in for major pushback and hits from Global South archbishops, several of whom have called for him to resign over the issue.

We strongly affirm the dignity and place of 2SLGBTQI+ members in our church, the Canadian House of Bishops affirmed:

"We believe as Christians that homosexual persons as children of God, have a full and equal claim, with all other persons, upon the love, acceptance, concern and pastoral care of the Church. The gospel of Jesus Christ compels Christians to guard against all forms of human injustice and to affirm that all persons are brothers and sisters for whom Christ died. We affirm that homosexual persons are entitled to equal protection under the law with all other Canadian citizens."

Sexual sin has replaced sexual purity because the Apostle Paul simply would not understand the times in which we live, and new understandings of sodomy have arisen, making his pronouncements null and void.

DENOUNCING UGANDA

Canadian Anglican leaders, not surprisingly, condemn countries like Uganda for their stand on homosexual behavior. They say that stance does not comport with the West's "enlightenment" and post-modern views on sodomy.

As David of Samizdat observed, the bishops denounce Uganda because it hasn't gone full-bore LGBT+. But that is just ugly neocolonialism oozing out from behind a veneer of inclusive, affirming, tolerant diversity.

DECLINE IN ATTENDANCE

Not surprisingly, the ACoC is in demographic free fall. In 2017 (the latest figures available), the demographic decline was just over 93,000. It is almost certainly less now.

The population of Canada in 2017 was 36.55 million. Recently, it was announced that Canada's population had hit 40 million. Most of that increase happened through immigration, with few or none entering the ACoC. Some 31.7% of all Canadians still claim Christianity as their religion; apparently, these people are not flooding ACoC churches.

The average Sunday attendance has dropped to 97,421.
A previous report published in 2006, predicted the last Anglican would leave the church in 2061. That date is now 2040.
The rate of decline is increasing.
New programs adopted by the church have done nothing to reverse the decline.
The Anglican Church of Canada is declining faster than any other Province other than the Episcopal Church, which has an even greater rate of decline.
The slowest decline is in the number of priests.
The entire report can be read here https://www.anglicansamizdat.net/wordpress/latest-anglican-church-of-canada-membership-and-attendance-statistics/ and the raw data is here: https://www.anglicansamizdat.net/wordpress/latest-anglican-church-of-canada-membership-and-attendance-statistics/

Assuming the figure in 2023 is closer to 80,000, which might still be optimistic, saloon owners, restaurants, hair dressers, condo developers will find great bargains in the sale of churches across the country for pennies on the dollar. The Bread of Life fully replaced by Bimbo Canada, the country's largest and oldest bakery.

END