Never, never, never trust a bishop!

Binding together                                                                                                                                            Source: FaceBook

'Never, never, never trust a Tory' was the infamous tweet from the bishop of St Davids. 

The bishop, Joanna Penberthy, issued an apology after a torrent of complaints: "On March 25th, 2021 I put out a private tweet about Conservative Party supporters which has caused offence and for which I sincerely apologise."

She later went on extended sick leave and has again been signed off. Readers will not wish the bishop ill but why did she not do the honourable thing and resign having offended just about everyone in her diocese and beyond who were not of her party political persuasion?

Archbishop Cranmer wrote in his blog, "The apology issued by the Bishop of St Davids (of the Church in Wales) in the wake of her ‘Never never never trust a Tory‘ tweet is disingenuous. It is expediently sly. In short, it is a lie."

The archbishop of Canterbury was 'deeply embarrassed,' but not Andy John, the future archbishop of Wales, who as the senior bishop issued this statement:

  “I think the question whether Bishop Joanna resigns is done and dusted”, Bishop Andy states. “She made clear that she regretted what she had to say… I think if we cannot provide a way in which people can acknowledge wrongdoing, learn from their mistakes, and come back, then it begs questions about whether we believe people can change. Whether or not we think the Christian faith is about second chances. To me, fundamentally, it’s about that. And those who are baying and frothing at the mouth seem to me to be part of what I think is quite pernicious in society: which is that we dress up in virtue – or in the language of virtue – a kind-of campaign to persecute.”

In a previous blog I wrote, "Having found 'Biblical support for church gay marriages' the divorced and re-married bishop of Bangor can no doubt justify anything he fancies."

The whole bench is committed to gay marriage. Some just cannot wait. 

The above photo has a caption from the Revd Sarah Hildreth-Osborn, leader of the chaplaincy service for the LGBTQIA+ community in the diocese of St Asaph where Gregory Cameron is bishop:

 "A huge thank you to Gregory K Cameron for conducting such a beautiful and life giving service for us at St Grwsts at lunchtime today, the blessing of our marriage. A reminder to all that it is only love that sets us free!!! Thank you so much Bishop Gregory 💕"

 As one correspondent put it, "If that isn’t mimicking a wedding, I don’t what does . . . binding with his stole and presumably saying, "Those whom God hath joined . . ."

The Rt Revd Gregory Cameron  received the Religious Leader Award 'for his leadership within the Church in Wales in bringing them to a point of enabling same-sex blessings'.

A news item issued by St Asaph diocese in December 2021 described the award as "Bishop Gregory honoured for his outstanding contribution to the lives of LGBT+ people of faith."

The bench has jumped the gun before. They could not wait to see a woman bishop celebrate the Eucharist so imported a converted Jewish, Episcopalian woman bishop from the United States before women bishops were legal in the Church in Wales.

These actions typify the current bench of bishops. 

What of others 'of faith' in the Church in Wales? They count for nothing. The Church in Wales has become obsessed with promoting just about anything LGBT+ . 

The bishop of Monmouth is the first same sex partnered bishop. The bishop of Llandaff, June Osborne appointed the first transgender priest and has recently appointed a same sex partnered dean of Llandaff, thus perpetuating their main mission as she retires. 

Osborne has long been associated with rumours of bullying tactics with a disciplinary panel finding she had a case to answer. 

The Vicar of Radyr submitted her resignation saying that she could no longer, with integrity, knowing the many things she knew, serve in the diocese where she believed a 'culture of fear' exists. A diocesan survey conducted after her initial exposure 'brought up the same results'.

Today it has been reported that the vicar of Aberporth has "quit his post after revealing a lengthy battle with mental health he says brought him to the brink of a nervous breakdown.

"In announcing his intention to leave the Anglican Church In Wales he also had harsh words for Bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy."

The Rev Christopher Frost said: "Earlier this week I tendered my resignation as vicar which was accepted by the Archbishop of Wales in the absence of Bishop Joanna."

The bench does as it pleases. They have no regard for the Christian message as received and delivered by others. Instead they distort it, a pretence intended to validate their own opinions while deceiving others.

The bench has become a self perpetuating clique leading others to perdition. Honour escapes them.

 

It leads one to believe never, never, never trust an Anglican bishop in Wales.

Postscript [27.09.2022]

Leaving the Church in Wales...but not the church in Wales. A broken vicar's story. God bless him.

  

"Bishops in our Church have too much power and far too little accountability which has the tendency to make a little chaos in our diocese particularly. When the bishop is installed, who is pleasant to be with in person, but who makes very divisive and unwise decisions that bring the whole Church into disrepute while also having a catastrophic effect on clergy morale is a problem being keenly felt in our diocese today. Also over the past five years or so, the teaching of the Church in Wales has been pulled very hard into what I consider to be a wildly liberal theological direction, one that no longer really represents truly the teachings of Jesus Christ on a number of key moral issues that are facing our society today. So the banner of the Church in Wales, the Anglican Church in Wales, is becoming one which is becoming just a bit too difficult for me in good conscience to work under any more." - Rev Christopher Frost in a video posted to YouTube.

History in the making

The King and Queen Consort sign the visitors’ book in Llandaff Cathedral                                                                                                      Source: Anglican Ink

The shock of the Queen's death was quickly followed by a stream of well rehearsed state events culminating in her late Majesty's state funeral yesterday. It has been history in the making. 

Deserving of special praise for their 'flawless' professionalism were the young guardsmen who carried the Queen's coffin.

Nearly everything went as planned. Even the Archbishop of Canterbury did well, concentrating in his funeral service sermon on the Queen's faith and the place of Jesus Christ in her life, an example for our woke Anglican bishops to follow but hardly likely.

It fell to Wales narrowly to avoid disaster. Visiting Llandaff Cathedral on his tour of the four nations of the United Kingdom HM King Charles III with his Queen Consort visited Llandaff Cathedral for a service of prayer and reflection for Queen Elizabeth II. 

As the King and Queen processed up the aisle to sign the visitors book, Camilla made an expert recovery  after her heel became stuck in one of the cracks not covered over. The bishop of Llandaff looked unconcerned as she smiled and nodded to members of the congregation as she processed behind His Majesty. 

Fortunately Camilla grabbed the King's arm to steady herself before freeing her shoe. One can only speculate on the consequences if the Queen Consort had fallen, possibly breaking an ankle or worse. 

June has appointed a new Dean of Llandaff, the Reverend Canon Richard Peers. He will need our prayers. He is currently Sub Dean at Christ Church Oxford and 'lives with his partner Jim, a garden writer, and their dog Teilo'.

Although I have not seen the announcement I hear that June will retire in December following the installation of the new dean. She leaves behind her a string of vanity projects, examples here and here, while her cathedral crumbles.

One would have thought that the bishop would have left the appointment to her successor but there is no honour among a bench who have robbed the Church in Wales of its heritage.

HM Queen Elizabeth II

Pray for the repose of the soul of HM Queen Elizabeth II who died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon

May Angels lead you into paradise;

may the Martyrs receive you at your coming

and lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem.

May a choir of Angels receive you,

and with Lazarus, who once was poor, may you have eternal rest.

Bishop of St Davids to miss GB as she takes more sick leave

The Bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy                                               Source: Western Telegraph

A statement posted on 31 August 2022 sent to all clergy in the diocese of St Davids announced that bishop Joanna is currently on sick leave. The three territorial archdeacons of St Davids, Carmarthen and Cardigan have been appointed by the bishop as her Commissaries. It is not clear whether her sick leave is related to her previous absence.

In June 2021 a call was made by a Conservative MP for her resignation over her 'divisive views'.

The bishop was earlier signed off on sick leave after apologising for a much criticised tweet that she had posted in which she had urged: “Never, never, never trust a Tory.” 

Presumably she will miss the next meeting of the Governing Body of the Church in Wales which is to be held on Wednesday and Thursday 7 and 8 September 2022 at ICC-Wales, Newport. 

The Agenda and papers can be found here but say little.

Drakeford's Pride Cymru

Welsh First Minister at Pride Cymru August 2022  Source: Twitter                                  August bank holiday traffic traffic congestion around Newport  Source: ITV 

  
On the left, no doubt enjoying the crush, First Minister, Mark Drakeford, can be seen in one of the "best photos from Pride Cymru" says Wales Online. 

Mr Drakeford prides himself on cancelling the desperately needed M4 relief road around Newport in South Wales. 'That decision is over', he said, as though the decision mattered only to him. He added, 'There is no point in people hankering back to it'. It may be over for him. For others it is still the obvious solution to a desperate problem.

On the right, the usual bank holiday traffic chaos on the M4 around Newport, the gateway to Wales. 

When Drakeford vetoed the proposed extension he said, instead he would be "concentrating on the alternatives" for solving the major traffic problems in the area. 

A "Network of Alternatives" suggested upgrading the South Wales Main Line and building six new stations between Cardiff and the River Severn, improving train services between Cardiff, Newport and Bristol:

"The rail backbone would be supported by new rapid bus and cycle corridors across the region, especially within Newport. Taken together, over 90% of Cardiff and Newport’s population would live within a mile of a railway station or rapid bus corridor if the proposals are taken forward. Many these recommendations can be delivered through upgrades to the existing rail and road network.

As part of their strategy "Ministers believe “road user charging” schemes are one potential way of encouraging people to use public transport, walk or cycle instead of driving but Newport City Council "does not support the implementation of a local toll on the M4".

Removing local traffic from the heavily congested M4 is not going to help through traffic held up by frequent accidents because there is no diversion apart from the inappropriate Southern distributor road, another accident black spot. 

It is not clear to me what Drakeford's strategy would be if/when these additional public transport facilities are provided if people do not use them. Something for him to consider in his retirement as he prides himself for saving a few toads and newts thought to be in danger if the proposed bypass had gone ahead. Also for those people stuck in queues on the M4 because there is no proper alternative way around the many road accidents.

So far there has just been more chaos affecting the Welsh economy with people missing events, finding themselves on the wrong side of the Prince of Wales bridge instead of listening to a pop concert. 

One can only imagine the congestion if Cardiff had pursued their desire to host the Eurovision Song Contest there. 

Others still see the M4 relief road as the obvious answer to a major problem. Drakeford's pride is the obstacle. 

The chaos continues.

Road to hell

Hat tip to Orthodox Faith @since33                                                                            Source: Twitter

An interesting juxtaposition.

The above from Orthodox Faith and this pointer to a message from the Archbishop of Wales.

Llandaff at Lambeth 2022

Bishop of Llandaff with Archbishop Moses Deng at Lambeth 2022             Source: Church in Wales

In my previous entry I commented on the bishop of Monmouth's reflections on Lambeth 2022 and how she focused on the greatly increased number of women bishops and the well publicised presence of seven LGBT+ bishops.

The bishop of Llandaff is on the same track giving her views here. In her first paragraph she writes: "There has been hurt - plenty of hurt - but one thing has remained clear - the Church in Wales bench of Bishops continue to affirm their love and support for our LGBT+ sisters and brothers.

They made their views clear in their statement Draft Lambeth Call “undermines and subverts” LGBT+ people, say Bishops. In the statement issued ahead of the Lambeth Conference, the bishops pledged to work to amend the passage "to reflect more adequately our understanding of their equal place in the Church".

So I ask again, where is the love and support for those sisters and brothers who have been left with no sacramental or pastoral provision? Where is the love and support for those who follow God's word as received through the Bible and tradition? Instead they are punished for their faith.

Recently an Anglican lifeboat for faithful Christians has been launched in Australia. The Anglican Church in North America is now 10 years old and very successful as this interview with Archbishop Foley Beach indicates.

Alternative provision has existed in England since the Church of England voted to accept the ordination of women.

In Wales there has been nothing after provision was withdrawn by archbishop Barry Morgan at the first opportunity. 

Love and support in Wales is clearly conditional on affirming bishops who share an unnatural obsession with redefining marriage.