'No religion' outnumbers Christians, the more so in Wales

The Ass Bishop of Llandaff, the Rt Revd David Wilbourne, the Very Revd Janet Henderson
the first female Dean of Llandaff and the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan
Picture credit: CHURCH IN WALES

"Anglicans lose 12 followers for every person they recruit, the majority of whom are converts from other Christian denominations, rather than non-Christians or people with no religion."

The above photo in a 2013 Church Times article records happier times for the Archbishop of Wales before it hit the fan.

From the choice of photo it appears that Wales was regarded by modernisers as the place to be with Archbishop Morgan making a habit of appointing like minded acolytes to help him steer the Church in Wales towards his dream of a church moulded in his own image. He came badly unstuck when the briefly Dean Janet Henderson saw the light and resigned after just a few weeks.

Supporting figures in the article show that from a total of 4437 people polled, 1261 [28%] identified themselves as Anglican and 201 [5%] identified themselves as Muslims. The remainder identified themselves as Roman Catholic (354) [8%], Jewish (162) [4%], Baptist (58) [1%] and of no faith (1649) [37%] leaving 752 [17%] unaccounted for. New figures illustrate a greater decline of Christianity.

According to an analysis in the Guardian, the proportion of the population who identify as having no religion – referred to as “nones” – reached 48.5% in 2014, almost double the figure of 25% in the 2011 census. Those who define themselves as Christian – Anglicans, Catholics and other denominations – made up 43.8% of the population.

Wales showed the highest proportion of people saying they have no religion (nones) at 59.5%. The figures also show that around 13% identify as Anglicans in marked contrast to the 1% of the population of Wales who are recorded on their own figures as regular weekly worshippers.

To the "nones" should be added much of the Church in Wales hierarchy who claim to be Anglicans but show little if any of the traditional Anglicanism that would be recognised by the 80 million Anglicans worldwide now that the CinW along with the C of E have fallen in step with the US Episcopal Church's liberation theology.

A previous analysis showed that Norwich was the most godless city in England and Wales with 42.5% claiming to have no religion, well short of Wales' current 59.5%. The then Communications Director for the Diocese of Norwich the Venerable Jan McFarlane had a knack of turning disaster into triumph describing people who stayed at home as "doing their church going differently"! A successful ruse which has since seen McFarlane's appointment as the Suffragan Bishop of Repton.

One wonders what sort of a job she would have made of Dean of Llandaff. Clearly a catch not hooked by Dr Morgan but perhaps she is more savvy than the Ven Peggy Pilot who is still waiting in the wings and likely to remain there despite her vigorous opposition to anything smacking of scripture and tradition if current rumours regarding St Davids and Llandaff prove to be true.

After the same sex marriage debacle the appointment of the first woman bishop in Wales will result in further haemorrhaging of worshippers. It will be the last straw for many who have struggled to keep the faith in what now resembles a failing company run by incompetent directors who have long since lost sight of their aims and objectives.

The Spectator has this blunt warning: "Britain really is ceasing to be a Christian country. A landmark in national life has just been passed. For the first time in recorded history, those declaring themselves to have no religion have exceeded the number of Christians in Britain. Remarkably, the overall decline of religion in Britain has coincided with the arrival of three million migrants who tend to have more religious belief than British Christians. In particular, the visual impact of Islam, most obviously expressed in the proposal for a 9,000-capacity ‘super-mosque’ in east London that was rejected by planners last year, might give the impression that migration has brought a religious revival to Britain.

"Yet neither the growth of British Islam nor the huge influx of Christian immigrants from Africa and Eastern Europe has spurred a revival in public Christianity. It is possible that the rise of Islamism has made casual believers less inclined to ally themselves with any kind of organised faith. Say ‘religious’ to many Britons and the next word that pops into their heads is ‘extremist’, or perhaps ‘bigot’ or ‘homophobe’. To the growing population of secularists, religion has become something to be treated with suspicion."

While Christianity is on the wane, Islam is made to appear more commonplace and acceptable through the wearing of Islamic dress, ever increasing Mosques and misguided promotion by those who should know better. Ignoring the Great Commission the Archbishop of Canterbury has said that Christians should not share their faith with Muslims and other non-Christians unless they are asked while Muslims attempt to convert as a matter of religious duty. Perhaps His Grace is unaware that in Islamic countries the question most likely to be asked is whether non-Muslims would prefer to convert to Islam or die.

Pope Francis has been preaching from the same sheet while the Archbishop of Wales is well known for being better disposed towards Muslims than towards those in his own flock who dare to disagree with his disastrous liberal policies which have resulted in Wales having more "nones" than any English region.

Two recent accounts of the reality of Islam:

Doctor who worked in Welsh hospital has left his family behind and joined Isis in Syria, and

Elderly Christian woman stripped naked and paraded through streets by mob

It is understandable that the uneducated are easily led by rabble-rousers but when the highly educated are taken in by false prophets it is time to proclaim the gospel.

One has to ask oneself if our spiritual leaders live in the real world. On current trends, how long before they have anyone to lead?