Another farcical Church in Wales 'consultation'?

Abp Morgan hectoring Governing Body         Source: Church in Wales Highlights

A Church in Wales Press Release has details of another so-called consultation:

"The Church in Wales is taking a fresh look at the role and responsibilities of its most senior leader [archbishop] and people across Wales are being invited to make a contribution". 

Contributions have previously been requested from people across Wales in 'consultations' which have allowed the bench of bishops to cherry pick comments they found favourable before binning others which did not accord with their predetermined agenda.

Diocesan meetings were organised at considerable expense to discuss a Code of Practice designed to cater for faithful Anglicans who, on theological grounds, were unable to accept the ministry of women bishops. The wishes of the majority were ignored, see True to his word: "Over my dead body!". Then there was the farcical taking of opinions about allowing same sex marriages and/or blessings in church, see Marriage: Dodgy discipleship?. Barry and his bench sitters simply did what they wanted when the result did not fit their secular agenda, see Bishops' rank hypocrisy. So why should anyone expect other than a predetermined outcome this time?

Looking at some figures puts the latest consultation into perspective. From Wales Online in 2014 - "If church-going is the best measure of the health of a faith community, Wales’ Christian communities should see a warning light flashing":

"Research by Tear Fund in 2007 showed Wales had the lowest level of regular church attendance in the UK at 12%, behind England (14%), Scotland (18%), London (22%) and Northern Ireland (45%). The 2001 census showed 71.9% of the Welsh population were self-described Christians but this fell to just 57.6% by the time of the 2011 survey.

Between 2011 and 2012, the number of adults attending Church in Wales Sunday services fell by 5%, from 33,783 to 32,171. Easter attendance dropped by 8% from 60,924 to 56,063."

According to the 2011 census the population of Wales was just over 3 million of which 58% claim to be Christians. Only 1% of the population worship regularly in the Church in Wales. At 1.5% there are more regularly worshipping  Muslims in Wales with numbers increasing while the number of worshippers in the Church in Wales continues to decrease.

In this context the Church in Wales Press Notice suggests an unwarranted sense of self importance designed to bolster the influence of the archbishop:

"The Church has commissioned a team to conduct the review but it is hoped that as many people as possible will participate. The team will seek views from across the Church and wider society at various key stages and is beginning by inviting initial views on the Archbishop’s role and how he or she might best be supported in the future. The Archbishop has duties both within the Church and nationally and these roles need to be properly understood so that they can be robustly supported."

It is not the Archbishop who needs support but the worshippers. They have been led astray by bishops who have grasped every secular fad to make the church 'more relevant' to society.  The Archbishop should be a shepherd leading his people to God not to a dictatorship of relativism.

The Press Release  draws the attention of readers to Dr Morgan's Presidential Address published in Highlights (p.3). The Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) has a more succinct summary.

Jobs for the girls and for the boys, if there are any left: 

"Archbishop Barry said it is worth noting that what that report [the 1980 Commission on Boundaries and Structures of the Church in Wales] was recommending was the same kind of things for bishops and dioceses that the later Harries report was recommending for parishes – a collegiate method of working. 'In other words, in every diocese, there should be more than one bishop, each with a distinct area of jurisdiction but forming a single unit for administration – just as in ministry areas each individual cleric would have a specific area for pastoral care but be part with others of a ministry area. This meant moving away from the concept of one bishop one diocese, to two or three bishops in every diocese, working closely together in partnership as far as the administration of the diocese as a whole was concerned, but each having pastoral jurisdiction over a particular area'. Other working groups and reports have suggested Llandaff as the permanent Metropolitical see, with the archbishop as diocesan, and an elected assistant bishop; or an archbishop without any diocesan responsibilities. Neither model has found favour. "

Dr Morgan's preferred option is for the archbishop to be based in Llandaff, an option previously rejected. This may come as a welcome release by the next archbishop given the mess created by Barry and his minions in Llandaff Cathedral.

Had Dr Morgan's mission been spiritual rather than political in making the church 'more relevant to society' the consultation would have had some relevance. Under his leadership the Church in Wales has been turned into a secular institution with prayers, giving wholehearted support to the sexual revolution which has demeaned the sanctity of marriage and twisted the meaning of love leading to sexual licence and promiscuity while masquerading as part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

The best way to support the Archbishop is to encourage him to abandon the secular agenda and lead his, or her, people back to God.