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| Photo: South Wales Argus |
After all the speculation about the Dean of St Albans, Dr Jeffrey John, going to Monmouth, the hat has gone to
local boy Richard Pain, Archdeacon of Monmouth, suggesting that the Archbishop of Wales doesn't always get his own way.
Archbishop Morgan can console himself in the knowledge that like the rest of the
bunch bench, the new Bishop of Monmouth has ticked all the right boxes. According to a BBC report [
here], he is "in favour of women bishops and wants to make the church more relevant for society". A similar
report in the local press includes this gem: "
The Venerable Pain will be bishop-elect until the appointment is formally confirmed by the Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan at a Sacred Synod service", written by a member of society to which the bishop-elect wants his flock to be more relevant, ie, completely ignorant of matters religious. The report ends: "
A keen amateur photographer, The Ven Pain,
also plays classical guitar and keeps hens." Eggs for the curates?
The "Venerable Pain" said: "Among the issues which needed to be tackled was declining church membership" and he looks forward "to a day when we're able to have women bishops for a sense of equality in the church"! No problem with being more relevant to society there. So more of the same in the Church in Wales for her dwindling congregations.
Well, Richard Pain certainly had Byzantine Barry Morgan pulling the strings when he emerged form his election, didn't he? Forget any talk of renewing Anglican confidence in the face of congregations becoming decimated (on Bazzer's watch), or inspiring all people of goodwill with a vision of a more just society, or even a determination to make the Church in Wales a more welcoming environment in which to debate life's most pressing questions. Not at all. What is the real litmus test of orthodoxy in Bazzer's Church in Wales? Yes, you've got it, women bishops. Kyrie eleison.
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