Thursday, 1 December 2016

Barry's legacy


Source: Church in Wales

So it is game, set and match to Morgan. 

Barry's bench sitters dutifully welcome the latest and last bishop to be appointed under his patronage, Wales’ first woman bishop, the 129th Bishop of St Davids. "She was greeted with cheers and applause" after her election was confirmed at the "Sacred Synod". 

No price has been too high but while the Church in Wales dies the Ordinariate continues to grow. Perhaps Dr Morgan has done more for unity than he bargained for.



In Memoriam

14 comments:

  1. AB, that is an historic photograph you have published. The five bishops who will go down in history as having killed off the last remnants of the traditionalist movement in the CW. And yet in the background there is the empty throne of Llandaff which has been occupied by such a long line of truly great bishops. Now the CW is finished: morally, theologically and financially bankrupt. Those around that table at the synod can kid themselves that they have done something wonderful. But each one of them will eventually lie on their death beds and be called to account for the utter destruction they have promoted in their own construct – a post-Christian equality and diversity sect. As bishops and teachers of the faith they will not only have to account for their own arrogant and self-important actions, but more importantly for all those thousands of souls they drove away from the church just to fulfil their own self-seeking agenda. One day each one of that terrible five will be held to account.

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  2. Apologies again. I must have pressed delete instead of publish for these two comments:

    From 1662 @ 9.57am
    I hope I am around to witness the vengeance of the Lord on these false prophets.

    From Fr Miles Maylor @ 10.05am
    I feel really sorry for the people who have effectively been excommunicated from the church they have loved for so many years. The clergy in the diocese of St Davids have no bishop, from whom they derive their apostolic orders for the service of the people. The connection through a bishop to the sacred catholic faith held in common with several billions of faithful people, past and present, has been replaced by proponents of Bishop Gregory's injunction to make the church relevant to Society. NO! NO! NO! Bishops do not exist to hand over the keys to people who come in to refashion the shrine in their own image. We must recall what happened when the Prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 8:1-22) warned the people of the consequences of pandering to worldliness rather than obedience in holiness.
    However, clergy have been brave enough to hand back the keys to the vicarage; even in Wales. Their love for the people who need pastoral care, whom they have taught, loved, and cherished, has been exemplary. Unfortunately, the flock, chewing away on parched grass as a dark cloud slowly blocks out the remaining light, have not had the courage of their under-shepherds. I would say to brothers and sisters in Christ that you must make a choice (Joshua 24:15); you must choose not only whom you serve, but what you serve. Do you serve the stones of a building, or the 'respectability' of belonging to an institution that was once dependable and holy? Do you cling on, shut your eyes and hope for the best? Do you fear leaving friends behind, as if it is dishonourable to set them an example of courage, and invite them to come with you? Do you think it is still good enough to allow the 'leaders' of your church to carry on leading you towards the world (see 2 Cor 6:14)?
    Yes, the Ordinariate, in some places is growing, as are other scriptural and apostolic churches throughout the world. One of our Bishops of the Anglican Catholic Church, in the South Sudan has tens of thousands of 'parishioners', and can't afford much more than a cow-shed to shelter people from the sun. Another, in an Asian country, has to have an armed guard on the door during Masses. Although there are few of us in the ACC in this country, we are HERE in Wales in Pembrokeshire. We are slowly growing in holiness and beautiful worship (incidentally, we do use 'The Green Book', and we welcome you to come and see us at Upton Castle's Chapel at 11 on Sunday if you want to know more. We have a Bishop who loves his Lord, his people, and all those things which provide sustenance as we await the coming of our Lord.
    PLEASE do not wait any longer. God has sent you one or two lifeboats; do not do nothing!

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    1. Is the Ordinariate really growing, in this country I mean? I had the impression it had run out of steam.

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    2. No Little Black Sambo, that would be the Church in Wales, gasping its last.

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    3. How wonderfully refreshing to read. Praise God.

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  3. I understand that the response to the Ordinariate from priests is greater than that from the laity especially in Wales when one considers how many Anglo-Catholic parishes are about, as 'nurseries' .
    The teaching from some traditional Anglican priests has been tame ,probably for fear of offending the Protestant element in the pews. Now ,one commonly hears "I don't know much about it"
    ++Barry has worked hard to de-catholisise the traditional parishes ,so that those who once had a decent liturgy and followed tradition,are now much the same as any other in the C in W.
    The social side of going to church has been promoted,so that it is now much more of a wrench to leave friends and support the Ordinariate, for example.
    I perceive a potential new problem in some Ordinariate groups in their emphasis on being separate and reluctance to fully intergrate into Catholic parish life : but I maybe wrong?

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    1. Search for growth Simple Soul. Where will you find it? In an institution or a cult representing -1% of the population which 'lives in bright lit mansions, with the sand for their foundations'?

      Time to wake up and smell the coffee Simple Soul. So, go and grow,

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  4. On y va ! Enforcer!
    Will I find you there?

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    1. Unfortunately for you Simple Soul I am gone already. lol. However,its reassuring to know you care so much for ones soul.

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  5. Many of us as Evangelical Anglicans have also been left homeless by the CiW too, with more to come. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-38157727
    I have always valued the diversity of the CiW which sadly no longer exists.
    If the liberal agenda worked you could at least understand the logic but it doesn't.
    How sad that upon retirement the archbishop is still obsessed only with gay issues and has no comment on the future of the CiW or mission.

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    1. Danny Jones - what a strange video clip on the BBC website! I don't understand the comments from Changing Attitude contributors which described the "pain experienced" as a result of being made to feel "unwelcome" or "rejected" by the church. Almost all of the CW clergy I know at all levels in the church are gay. If there is a problem with LGBT discrimination in the CW then the question should be asked how has that happened when so many of the clergy are gay themselves? Obviously there is a problem with their leadership abilities. The archbishop has a total fixation with LGBT issues. If after his long tenure of office LGBTers still feel unwelcome then perhaps it is a failure of his leadership?

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    2. Cowbridge- I am astounded and offended by your post which I have read over a number of times. You insinuate that most CinW clergy are gay. Where you get your information from I'm not sure. There are gay clergy in the CinW but they are definitely not in the majority but I would say a small percentage. I understand that the numbers maybe higher in some areas but I know of only 3/4 in the diocese in which I reside. Your statement is without truth.

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  6. The Bishop of Burnley is at least talking some sense...................THE Church’s agenda is being set not by the poor, but by academia, the moneyed elites, and certain sections of the secular media. It is their preoccupations that dictate the terms of the Church’s debate, and that pose the questions that it expends its energy on answering. We then listen to the poor on condition that what they say backs up our own pre-conceived argu­ments. They have become for us an illustration, or a theological idea — anything other than people.


    An example is the debate on human sexuality. This is indeed an important debate, but it has come to dominate the Church’s agenda to an extraordinary extent, pushing almost everything else to the bottom of the list. By prioritising this one issue to such an extent, we risk failing to hear other cries of pain

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