fundamentalism by blunt instrument
Several news outlets have picked up on a document published by the liberal National Council of Churches, the 2008 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches.
If you haven’t seen the reports, which church do you think increased the most in 2006 according to self-reported statistics?
While encouraged by the decisions of some Anglicans’ willingness to separate themselves from direct association with their compromised Canadian diocese, still their efforts likely don’t yet take them far enough. In an article in today’s Globe & Mail, more news about other congregations considering a split is offered. But there is this:
Conservative Anglicans want to separate without cutting their ties with the majority of the Anglican Church that share their traditional views, Bishop Donald Harvey, moderator of the recently formed Anglican Network in Canada, said yesterday in an interview from Newfoundland.
The largest Anglican congregation in Canada, St. John’s, in the exclusive Shaughnessy district of Vancouver, BC, voted last Wednesday to break ties with its diocese and to join with a ‘competing’ diocese, that of the Southern Cone, basically a South American parallel to the Canadian branch of the church. [I don’t pretend to understand how dioceses work or how they are organized.] This decision is full of risk for the congregation as it looks like the liberal Canadian diocese will mount a fight for the buildings and property of the congregation.
As a fundamentalist, I certainly applaud any resistance to the anti-orthodox establishment of mainline churches. The issue precipitating the split is the same-sex marriage debate, but it appears that more is at stake.
Here is an interesting post critiquing Christianity Today’s reporting of the recent ‘dis-invitation’ of an emerging church speaker at Cedarville.
The critique comes from a blog called “From the Lighthouse“. From the Lighthouse is the blog of Lighthouse Trails Publishing. The publishing company appears to be the work primarily of a couple named Dave and Deborah Dombroski. I don’t know a lot more about these individuals than appears on their web site, but their articles seem credible and dispassionate.
Does anyone know more about this organization?
In an article today in the National Post, a university professor lays the blame for religious decline squarely at the feet of Christians:
He said most people assume religious ignorance came about from the secularization of U.S. schools, particularly after the U.S. Supreme Court banned devotional Bible readings and prayer in the 1960s.
But he believes the problem can be traced back 100 years ago to changes in Christianity itself.
New Years Eve at our Christmas fellowship, my wife noticed near the end of the evening that her diamond from her engagement/wedding ring was missing. Our 25th anniversary will be this year, so you can imagine her sense of loss. We searched everywhere, that night and then the next day. Nothing.
Today, after church, one of our older men noticed something in the carpet runner in our church hallway. He poked at it with his cane … and thought he saw a glint of light. There it was. Five weeks later, my wife’s diamond was found!
The fellow who found it told my wife, “I’ll sell it to you now!” What a bit of rejoicing! One of our ladies said, “it was a perfect end to a perfect day at church.”
Well, it was a blessing to us. It is just a thing, and we had given it up for lost. But we are rejoicing! Thank you, Lord!
I just thought I would share that with you. I’ll give you the update later.
A post of praise to God for his daily grace: Yesterday, along with many others, we enjoyed Christmas with family. This year we gathered at my brother’s home in Courtenay, BC, a few hours north of us on the Island. Our family made the three hour trek up the Island in the early morning, then headed back down in the evening.
Our journey home was a little longer than expected…
The latest audio from the GBCvic
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