As people across Canada are hearing stories of abuse at a  private (Anglican) school in Brockville, from former students, now adults; Bishop George Bruce and Canadian Anglican officials are refusing to intervene.
There are police reports from the time periods, records from Massachusetts Children’s Services, the local newspaper, and perhaps Ontario government child welfare reports.
The Globe and Mail :

“The incorporated synod [governing body] of the Diocese of Ontario has at no time had any contractual or de facto responsibility or control over the operations of Grenville Christian College.”Grenville Christian College is operated by its own board of directors as a non-profit charitable benevolent religious corporation.

“The diocese has occasionally, at the invitation of the college leadership, provided clergy (including bishops) to officiate at regular services of worship.”

A second former bishop sat on the school’s board of directors and a third, Bishop Peter Mason, says he was asked to advise some staff in 2001 on issues of psychological trauma in the religious community that ran the school and its “spiritually misguided experiences of the last 20 years” - as one former staff member wrote to him in an e-mail.

But he said in an interview that at no time was he aware students were abused.

The buck-passing continues, and comes as no surprise to Grenville Christian College students.

While Grenville Christian College victims find their voices and speak up: something so verbally violent has occurred on the other side of the world, I’m not capable of telling the story, and would like to direct you to people that can.

As most people know from ongoing news stories some Episcopalian (US) churches have broken away from the Anglican communion and willfully chosen to submit and permit their authority and headship to come from Archbishops in Africa. (Global South)

The Anglican Bishop of Uyo, Nigeria Rt. Rev. Isaac Orama (who does not speak independently of his archbishop Peter Akinola) has openly shown the hatred of the Nigerian Anglican Anglican agenda.

United Press International:

“Homosexuality and lesbianism are inhuman. Those who practice them are insane, satanic and are not fit to live because they are rebels to God’s purpose for man…”

Father Jake Stops the World:

Our call is not to “defend” our commitment to the core values of the Christian Gospel and the basic tenets of Human Rights to the rest of the Anglican Communion. We’ve been there and we’ve done that.

Our call is to challenge the Archbishop of Canterbury to censure those whose denial of the very humanity of gay and lesbian people denies the imageo Deo that actually IS a core doctrine of the faith received from the apostles.

And that’s the conversation we should be calling our bishops to have with His Grace in New Orleans. And at Lambeth. And until the cows come home if necessary. Because this isn’t about “the church” anymore. It’s about lives on the line. “Inasmuch as you’ve preserved the unity of the Anglican Communion” doesn’t seem to be on Jesus’ list — but “inasmuch as you’ve done it unto the least of these” certainly is.

We’ve had our wake up call so let’s get on it with it — get on with this Gospel we’ve been given to proclaim. And let’s “just say no” to those insisting that “these issues” are distracting us from our mission and ministry because including all the baptized in the Body of Christ IS the mission and ministry of the church.

Yes. Lives are on the line. Inhuman, insane, not fit to live…

Do US, UK, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian Anglicans stand?
Please read the comments at Father Jakes, and others, they are profoundly reflective of the need for consensus, the confusion, the fear people are going to die, and the struggle to know how best to stop this evil.  Episcopalians are attempting to organize quickly. Please educate yourself about your conservative friends in the west that are allowing African leaders to say and carry out what is really in their own hearts, with their own hatred toward US gays. I believe many in breakaway churches are not aware of how  how evil the agenda is.
Laws have been drafted in Africa with the full support, knowledge and pressure from  some African Anglican leaders.
People are going to be imprisoned and die if these laws pass.
Western guilt, apathy, self-absorbed indifference in your churches flourish, because of a culture of entitlement and an ongoing adolescent conservative sense of victimization.

A terrible line has been openly declared and will be crossed.
If you are a western Episcopalian or Anglican, what are you going to do?

Update: The UPI story has been retracted according The Living Church Foundation.
Charles Farnsworth full media statement can be found here in the comment section.


8 Responses to “The Anglican Church - again”

  1. 1 saint 

    Bene - the conservative side of the Anglican blogosphere has also condemned these comments by Bishop Orama.

    As to the laws in Nigeria - we are not talking Australia and Canada here. With several states under sharia, men and women (not just gays) are still lashed or sentenced to execution by stoning for what are non-capital crimes, or for simply being victims - e.g. victims of rape. I think Archbishop Akinola would rather see the rule of secular law, rather than sharia, to at least protect lives and barbaric punishment as a first step.

  2. 2 Bene Diction 

    Thanks for the link. I doubt people are shocked, I think they are angry, and I hope it translates into action. This goes way beyond ’sides.’ I can see UPI (a Moonie organization) screwing up - but as yet I’ve seen no retraction.

    I know several states in Nigeria are under sharia law, if you are asking me to believe Akinola is politically compromising to protect lives - I’m not buying it.

  3. 3 saint 

    “I know several states in Nigeria are under sharia law, if you are asking me to believe Akinola is politically compromising to protect lives - I’m not buying it.”

    Fair enough Bene. But Akinola is not a politician in the Nigerian government, he is an Archbishop. He does not make the laws, but can only speak to them as a public figure. Me, if it was a choice between one or another I know which I would support. Sentamu, the current Archbishop of York is Ugandan and definitely a liberal compared to Akinala. But as a judge in Uganda, while Amin was in power, he admitted sentencing people to jail to protect them from lynch mob execution. Same principle.

    In any case Orama’s statements were way off base (and I’m assuming UPI reported them correctly, I have read them at allafrica as well). The comments should be withdrawn, he should apologize and he should be disciplined.

  4. 4 joseph 

    The story about Grenville Christian College is now on the national Anglican Church of Canada website (anglican.ca). However, “Bishop Bruce had no comment on the allegations of abuse when contacted by the Anglican Journal.”

    The quote attributed to Bp Orama is now reported to be false, according to the site referenced by saint. “Stand Firm” has a lead post in which they say an email sent from Nigeria’s communication officer states that Orama claims the quote is false, and that the reporter has promised to issue a written retraction/apology.

  5. 5 Bene Diction 

    Saint and Joseph:

    The statement (react) of AkinTunde Popoola, the Director of Communications for the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has been linked through Stand Firm from The Living Church Foundation and I have linked up UPI to see if the retraction is forthcoming from UPI.

    Thank you for the correction.

    Joseph: Re: Grenville Christian College.
    The Globe and Mail published the Anglican Church of Canada response (I saw the Anglican Journal btw, thank you) Thursday - one of the former students had been invited to meet with Bishop George Bruce, Saturday in Kingston.

    Some of the formal correspondence…

  1. 1 UPI retracts Anglican story from Nigeria at Bene Diction Blogs On
  2. 2 Grenville Christian College - The Canadian Anglican Church responds at Bene Diction Blogs On
  3. 3 Grenville Christian College - the investigation widens - OPP at Bene Diction Blogs On


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