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Saturday 26 October 2013

A can of worms


Llandaff Deanery with former temporary Dean, the Archbishop of Wales and current 'minder', the Archdeacon of Llandaff.


The Deanery on Llandaff Cathedral Green has been vacant ever since the last appointee did a runner in May after only weeks in the job. The mystery of why she left has not been solved but everything points to her having been sold a pup. Effectively the Deanery has been empty since the Ven John Lewis returned to the hills back in July 2012.

In the June issue of the Llandaff Parish Magazine, The Bell, Archbishop Morgan wrote: [The Cathedral] "..is the Bishop’s church, the place where he has his chair – the place, in other words, where he has his home but the place from which he exercises oversight over the wider diocesan family.  And, it is in my capacity as Bishop, that I have decided to exercise direct oversight over the Cathedral for the time being" while he 'pondered what to do next'. Having pondered for a while as Archbishop, Diocesan Bishop, Temp Dean and Vicar in addition to his political work, he reverted to the position of leaving the Archdeacon of Llandaff, the Venerable Peggy Jackson with the "necessary oversight of the Cathedral on his behalf, until a new Dean is appointed".

One has to ask who in their right mind would want to take on the task given the reported mess that the Cathedral is in, corporately and financially. The vogue of appointing women as Deans in preparation for accepting women bishops was an abject failure. Traditionalist clergy of the calibre of the late Dean of Monmouth, the Very Rev Jeremy Winston, are not wanted in today's church because they do not subscribe to the view that faith must be governed by society. As for the rest of the clergy we must draw our own conclusions from Dr Morgan's preference for looking outside the Province for senior staff. One suggestion I heard doing the rounds was that the Ass Bishop would be persuaded to move to the Deanery to write his books leaving the way open for Dr Morgan to achieve his goal of appointing the first woman bishop as Assistant Bishop of Llandaff before retiring, mission accomplished. 

The Venerable F A Jackson obviously had sufficient time on her hands while doing both jobs to work on the amendment which scuppered the Bishops' motion for a two stage Bill accepting the ordination of women to the episcopacy subject to statutory provision being made for "those faithful worshippers who, in good conscience, hold views of scripture and the tradition of the Church which makes it difficult or impossible for them to accept the role, of ordained women", as the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon succinctly put it. Could 'Bishop' Jackson be part of a deal?

Leaving speculation aside, one thing is clear from all the comments received. It is time that Archbishop Morgan made Llys Esgob vacant giving the Church in Wales a fresh start. That is not just a majority view, it is unanimous. The "Bishop’s church" is in dire straits. Membership is plummeting leaving the remainder with an ever increasing financial burden. There is a weariness of his stewardship but there is no oversight of the overseers. Under the Constitution of the Church in Wales unless the Archbishop becomes incapacitated by infirmity he is able to carry on regardless. That cannot be for the good of the Church.

"Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity". Titus 2:7.

13 comments:

  1. Now look here, I’ve told you about this before! Ass bishop was given lots of pencils by Archbishop John Habgood so he can write his books. Leave him alone!

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    1. The journalist accuracy of this blog is absolutely shocking – come on Ancient Briton get a grip, Archbishop John Habgood actually gave Ass Bishop some lined exercise books so he could continue his creative writing.

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  2. Jackson- you shall have your reward!

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  3. Joseph Golightly27 October 2013 at 08:30

    I do find the use of ANONYMOUS difficult to follow. Surely if you are able to write a reply you can come up with a unique name or maybe even use your real one!

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    1. Oh Joseph Golightly and 'Go' so simply: please read the last paragraph of Ladies First ,which was posted on 17 October ,and you will understand why anonymous contributor(s) cannot risk being identified by such a censorious boss! The risk is incurring the wrath of our leader.

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  4. Oh here we go again - change your tune, guys, or have the courage of your convictions and change your church. The Anglican church is not the Roman Catholic Church and to that end, we have every right as a Church to define catholicity without constant reference to what the Roman's are upto. We left them centuries ago on account of a Head of the Church who had his own revisionist agenda. Revision defines our organic understanding of what catholicity means. Sorry if that comes as a surprise, but it defines our ethos as a church. Has done since the reformation.

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    1. Don't be silly littequeer you cannot equate the tiny Church in Wales or even all the provinces of the Anglican Communion which have erred like lost sheep with the universality of the Holy Catholic Church which embraces the Orthodox Catholic Church as well as the Roman Catholic Church. Redefining catholicity is like redefining marriage, a convenience for minorities which, not satisfied with being accepted by society, demand obedience to their thinking without the tolerance expected from others.

      If cradle Anglicans without impediment wanted to become Roman Catholics they would but they, in addition to many ex-Roman Catholics, are members of the Anglican Church because they believe it to be both Catholic and reformed.

      Henry VIII had his own version of marriage which was for his own convenience. As the former Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher said, "The Church of England has no doctrine of its own save that of the one Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church".

      By the way littlequeer, don't forget the gals. Many feel stronger than the guys.

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    2. Littlequeeryou, why assume every contributor on here is a 'guy'?
      The ethos of the Welsh Anglican church into which I was baptised and confirmed was that of conformist, apostolic and catholic with roots some 2000 years old, not a mere 450.
      "have the courage of your convictions and change your church"? Follow the yellow line on the graph paper. Haven't you noticed that droves of people have and voted with their cheque books as well as their feet?

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    3. Of course we can equate the church in wales in such manner. The Orthodox Church allows for a non-celibate priesthood and yet claims catholicity - as I say "guys"(and gals) switch church if you feel you're with the wrong denomination. The fact that many of you haven't speaks volumes, really does.

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    4. "Denomination" - well, that says it it all, doesn't it? It's one thing to attempt a redefinition of catholicity, it's quite another to have the authority to do so - and that, I'm afraid, is both your dilemma and mine..

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  5. His ++Irrelevance isn't leaving anytime soon as he is far too busy feathering his own nest, building up his pension pot, side-lining other applicants for the recently vacated post of Llandaff Diocesan Registrar to shoe-horn his wife Hilary into the post and back-handing 'consultancy' HR work to his daughter Lucy.
    Around the time of Bonaparte's retirement, Hilary was allegedly overheard putting it about that her dear Bazza, although the same age as Bonaparte, didn't have the luxury of considering the retirement option as he was the only person who could keep the show running with, in Bazza's opinion, no other individual on the Bench capable of taking over from him.
    Darth Suberbia indeed.

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  6. I agree - God save us from + St. Asaph or + Brecon, God please save us. +Asaph styles himself as a Dr when the degree he has is an honorary one (and for some odd odd reason says he can be a christian and still watch Dr Who (for **** sake! what's that about) and + Brecon has long been self-seeking. Stay on +barry and wait for +Richard to position himself over the next few years as a credible, sensible and humane canditate for +Wales. As for my use of "guys" I think you will find that that is non-gender specific in everyday speech - keep up!

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    1. 'Morgan & Jackson Ltd'. Stay on Barry Bonc. The walls of Jericho had to come down, there was no alternative. You're doing a fine job - so is Peggy 'Mount'.

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