“The Covenant also speaks about procedures for addressing controversial issues and actions by provinces that could be deemed ‘incompatible’ with the spirit of the Covenant, and of ‘relational consequences’ for that province and its place in the Communion. For some, the language of relational consequences is deeply disturbing, given that our relationships within the Anglican Communion are and should never be dependent or fixed on one issue only.

"I maintain that in the midst of our differences over issues of sexuality we are called to model a capacity to live with difference and to do so with grace. It is precisely a lack of graciousness that has fired tempers and sparked words of condemnation and dismissal that have been so destructive to relationships within the Communion. I pray that our attitudes and conversations with one another be more and more centered in Him in whom, beyond our understanding, we are forever one.”

Here is where the fiction begins. There has been no “gracious restraint” on behalf of any diocese to date with one Anglican diocese after another announcing they will allow and promote Rites for the blessing of same-sex unions, despite the call of the Windsor Report not to do so.In fact the diocese of Montreal has just announced that it will allow priests to bless same-gender couples who have been civilly married. Montreal becomes the fourth diocese in the Anglican Church of Canada to offer a sacrament for same-sex blessing. Diocesan bishop of Montreal, Barry Clarke, said that the rite can also be used to bless married heterosexual couples.

“Relational consequences”, if a reference to sexual adultery, would indeed have serious consequences, but the spiritual adultery which the Anglican Church of Canada is engaged in will not go seriously addressed by Dr. Rowan Williams who is on record saying that Covenant "is not going to solve all our problems, it's not going to be a constitution, and it's certainly not a penal code for punishing people who don't comply." The question then is what will it solve if anything? Who will punish the Canadian branch of Anglicanism if it continues on its present course of brokering in all things pansexual?

Furthermore, there has been no attempt to rein in the litigious actions of the Bishop of New Westminster, Michael Ingham, whose scorched earth policies towards fleeing orthodox parishes is about to move to the BC Supreme Court!

Hiltz said he welcomed Pastoral Visitors representing the Archbishop of Canterbury who had come to “provide guidance for provinces experiencing tension over controversial issues. The phrase ‘we are committed to walking together' was used on a number of occasions both in relations to dioceses within the Anglican Church of Canada and in relation to the wider Communion. Canadians really do want to play their full part in the Communion and play it well."

Really. Why does he not call for an end to litigation in dioceses like New Westminster and Niagara? And why were Pastoral Visitors not successful in ending these legal disputes? Why did someone not invite Bishop Donald Harvey leader of the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) and his three bishops, 33 parishes and 8 forming congregations in Canada with more than 3500 people in church on an average Sunday, to the table? Members of the Anglican Network in Canada are committed to remaining faithful to Holy Scripture and established Anglican doctrine and to ensuring that orthodox Anglicans are able to remain in full communion with their Anglican brothers and sisters around the world!

Another group of orthodox Anglicans under the umbrella of The Anglican Coalition in Canada founded in January 2004 as the Canadian wing of the Anglican Mission in the Americas has its own new Canadian bishop, the Rt. Rev. Silas Ng, who was consecrated this past September in Los Angeles along with Bishops Todd Hunter and Doc Loomis. The Rev Peter Klenner is the National Co-ordinator for the ACiC/AI. This body of Anglicans is licensed by the Anglican Province of Rwanda, the ACiC and the Asian Initiative, represents 17 congregations and are one diocese in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). While the ACiC/AI has congregations in Eastern/Middle Canada, it is stronger in Western Canada, being birthed in BC six years ago.

Now these are Anglicans who feel ostracized for their orthodoxy in Canada, an orthodoxy Hiltz does not share. ANiC is under the Episcopal jurisdiction of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone and its Archbishop Gregory Venables precisely because his faith and that of Fred Hiltz’s are not the same.

And why did Hiltz in his speech not share the growing decline in Anglican Church attendance which, if it continues, will see the demise of the Diocese of Quebec which is "teetering on the verge of extinction" as parish finances continue to collapse and the number of parishioners dwindles. This doom-and-gloom message was delivered to the recent Canadian House of Bishops meeting by Bishop Dennis Drainville, who declared that he could possibly be "the last bishop of Quebec."

And what about the figures for the Diocese of British Columbia which is in free fall with closing parishes.The 90 churches in the diocese reported that 9,200 members were on the parish rolls in 2007; the average attendance at weekly services was 4,955. But last year, the numbers were worse. Average Sunday attendance fell to 3,856. Most of the other dioceses are restructuring just to stay alive. There is not a single Canadian diocese that can show a definite upswing in church membership.

A report on the health of the Diocese of British Columbia revealed that of the 54 congregations in the diocese only twelve are healthy with 28 at a crossroads. Thirteen are on life support and nine should merge or relocate. One should be disestablished. Of the thirteen healthy parishes in 2006, six moved out of the healthy category between 2006 and 2008 due to conflict or controversies.

In the Diocese of New Westminster the figures are even more alarming. In 1994 the ASA was 10,833. By 2007 it had dropped to 6,835. ASA per parish had dropped from 139 to 94!

The more Ingham crucifies orthodox Anglicans in the Diocese of New Westminster the more churches close. The more Ingham cites diversity another parish bites the dust. The more he panders to other religions, the more people walk away from their churches. The more he begs for money, the less he gets. The more he displays vitriol towards evangelical Anglicans in his diocese the more he unintentionally creates.

In 2010 the church will hold its General Synod. They will gather under the theme, "Feeling the Winds of God: Charting a New Course." Many believe this will be little more than a lot of hot air instead of the "wind of God" and the “new course” will simply be to endorse the prevailing culture on sexuality issues, religious diversity and ozone-layer depletion. Charting a “new course” has been the province of the ANiC which Hiltz will not recognize and hates because they stand in opposition to his understanding of the historic gospel.

He says his Synod will welcome a number of International partners including the Rt. Rev. Suheil Dawani, the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, and his wife Shafeeqa. He comes with a deep desire to strengthen ties between his Diocese and our Church, said Hiltz. Now you should know that no diocese is in more turmoil or has faced more charges of corruption than this Middle East diocese. It is also heavily funded by The American Episcopal Church.

Its former bishop, Rt. Rev. Riah Abu al-Assal has been accused of fraud and theft brought by his successor Suheil Dawani. The charges and counter charges resulted in Bishop Riah transferring the assets of the diocesan school to a charitable trust, collecting tuition from students and pocketing the money for himself. When he refused to vacate the diocese’s Nazareth office claiming they were his own property, a court injunction was brought against him ordering him to give an accounting and banning him from the property. The case is still pending in the courts with hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent on lawyers.

Suheil Dawani himself gave mixed signals to GAFCON when it appeared on his turf. At first he praised it then backed down under pressure from TEC who sent the Bishop of Colorado, Rob O’Neill to monitor the bishop for political correctness. Dawani did not fail him and his paymaster.

Hiltz says his upcoming Synod will have these Marks of Mission.

* To proclaim the Good news of the Kingdom. (Never happen. The ANiC is doing that not the ACoC.)
* To teach, baptise and nurture new believers. (This is not and will not happen. All the dioceses are declining and new converts are not being made from any generation.)
* To respond to human need by loving service. (Most aid agencies have more money and do a better job than the church. The church needs to be doing evangelism but won’t because it doesn’t believe in it.)
* To seek to transform unjust structures of society. (Yadda, yadda, yadda. Change the world but we can’t or won’t change ourselves. Quote Jefferts Schori but not Jesus Christ.)
* To work for reconciliation and peace with justice for all people. (But no justice or peace for the ANiC – their own brothers in the faith and the seemingly endless litigation going on in a number of dioceses.)
* To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth. (When all else fails blame General Motors or some polluting mineral company for wrecking the ozone layer. Easy targets.)

Hiltz did admit this, however: "General Synod will, indeed, be a watershed, both for the Anglican Church in Canada, and for its wider relations within the Anglican Communion. At its worst it could lead to internal anarchy. At its best it could help us all to appreciate and practise a properly Christian style of inclusiveness. ... Our distinct impression was that if the Anglican Church of Canada could find a way through this current impasse, it could well become a vibrant model of the kind of renewed Christian community that has much to teach the wider Church."

The anarchy has already started. There is no stopping it. ANiC is part of the ecclesiastical and gospel “anarchy”. How much more evidence does one need? The ANiC is growing, the ACofC is dying. Is anybody home? Furthermore there is no way through the impasse. The impasse has been breached by the ANiC and the fresh spiritual waters of faith and renewal are already tumbling over the Anglican falls.

The Anglican Church of Canada’s ship is rapidly filling with water; the lifeboats of ANiC have left and they are circling the old ship in farewell and pulling away to start a new journey. They will not be stopped. They will not waste their time engaging the old order. It is passing away before their very eyes.

END