By: Rev. Julio C. Martin, North Sydney, N.S.

Rev. Julio C. Martin, North Sydney, N.S. — Thu, 04 Jul 2019 02:09:42 +0000

Regarding Father Huston’s proposal, may I dare to doubt that any of the reformers would today feel their mandate for reform has been accomplished given a culture of systemic cover up?

By: The Ven. Dale R. Huston

The Ven. Dale R. Huston — Mon, 10 Jun 2019 21:55:02 +0000

I appreciate that each nominee acknowledges the serious challenges we face. Yet not one of them even mentions an encouraging milestone that we are rapidly approaching. The year 2049 will be the 500th anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer, effectively of Anglicanism as such. It troubles me a bit that this did not rate even a passing comment. I wonder if we are failing to recognize an opportunity, perhaps even a Divine Calling, for this Church to witness to its Faith in a way that would truly be worthy of us.
The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church that we profess in the Creed cannot die, for it is the very Body of him who conquered death. But nowhere is it written that the same assurance of perpetuity extends to institutional branches of the Church … well, like us, for instance.
In a very commendable way, Anglicanism has played the difficult ‘via media’ role assigned to it by history. We have much to celebrate. But as we approach our 500th anniversary, one wonders if prolonging our institutional life has become the only vision we have left. 500 years of Anglicanism! 500 years … fully one quarter of the entire span of Christian history! 500 years of being estranged from other Christians! 500 years of contributing to the cacophony of competing Christian voices, and thereby of hindering our own best efforts to communicate the Faith to an unbelieving world! Dare I pose a difficult question? Is it not possible our reformation mandate has been fulfilled by now?
The Prophets of old were not being negative or faithless when they warned of imminent danger if their generation refused to hear the Word of the Lord. Is it possible there is a ‘Word of the Lord’ for us behind the problems that continue to unravel us?
Is God really calling us to have yet another life-saving Fund Raising Campaign? Given our commitment to ‘Reconciliation’, how long can we countenance the tragically dismembered state of the Body of Christ? What do we mean in our Liturgy when we pray, “Let your Church be the wheat which bears its fruit in dying” (BAS p. 213)? How long can we ignore Jesus’ warning that “those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life, for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, will save it” (Mark 8: 35)?
What could we accomplish ‘for God’s sake’ if we loaded ourselves into a Trojan Horse and placed ourselves within a Christian community that has a better hope of longevity, and that might benefit from some good old Anglican reasonableness? Perhaps 2049 would be an appropriate time for Anglicans to say, “Enough already! We refuse to participate any longer in the scandalous Sin of Separation” … ie: to say with our Lord, “Father, into your hands we commend our spirit” (Luke 23: 46). What if we had the courage to say, “No one takes our life from us, but we lay it down of our own accord” (John 10: 18)?
What if, without negotiations, apologies, concessions or conditions, and without “enmity and prejudice, and whatsoever else may hinder us from godly union and concord” (BCP p. 40), we simply served Rome notice that as of January 1, 2050 we will unilaterally heal 500 years of estrangement by wrapping up our Anglican operation, and then by attending Mass en masse with the genuine expectation of being graciously welcomed and incorporated?
I know this sounds outrageous. But, so does the vision of spending the next thirty years desperately clinging to life by our fingernails and finally succumbing with a whimper of defeat. An old maxim holds true: “If you have nothing more to live for than to go on living, you will not live; and if you have nothing worth dying for, you will die.”
But such a Grand Gesture needs to begin now, with the election of a Primate who can vision beyond the date of his or her own retirement, and who can motivate us to walk fearlessly in the footsteps of our Lord.
The Ven. Dale R. Huston

By: Rev. Julio C. Martin

Rev. Julio C. Martin — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 01:37:25 +0000

Having experience as a bishop is not enough: We need a bishop with experience of being a priest so for whoever is elected to be able to really understand the reality of most of our parishes and local churches. We need someone with more than just 10 or less years experience as a priest.

Comments on: Get to know the primatial candidates

By: Rev. Julio C. Martin, North Sydney, N.S.

By: The Ven. Dale R. Huston

By: Rev. Julio C. Martin