Rising to the challenge: supporting targeted Anglicans in Vancouver
by Lisa Severine Nolland in the Church of England Newspaper
It is instructive to track change and analyze people’s behaviour. The recent situation in Vancouver is a case in point. While we keep things ticking over here, Vancouver conservatives are paying dearly for their convictions. And few realise the seriousness and enormity of their plight.
We may have been angered when Dr Jim Packer was deposed by the Bishop Michael Ingham this past spring. Indeed, we may have been appalled, but, given time, we lose the immediacy of outrage, other issues press and it’s a return to ‘normal’, more or less. And Vancouver’s plight? Well, it recedes into an untidy, spread-too-thin tapestry of life. Did Bishop Ingham reckon on this response? Likely enough.
However, if we supported Dr Packer then, we cannot abandon him and his fellow-victims now. His group, which is a cluster of four orthodox churches in Vancouver, have asked for help. Two have had their bank accounts frozen and ordered to vacate their churches. David Short, rector of the largest, St John’s, Shaughnessy, believes it is only a matter of
time for the rest.
Some have signed a petition of support for them. Would you add your name? “We, the undersigned, as active clergy and lay members of the Church of England, stand with those parishes in Vancouver that are part of the Anglican Network in Canada, affirming that they are authentically Anglican.”
In an email which thanks the 900 (now 1100) signatories so far, David Short explained the petition’s importance: ‘It is particularly encouraging in light of the fact that Anglican Church of Canada bishops continue to deny our status as Anglicans and refuse to recognize our bishops’ and clergy’s orders.’ See Anglican Mainstream.net for the petition. For
those who are part of the wider Anglican Communion, there is a petition to sign as well.
Please care. Please sign and keep praying for Vancouver!
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