Former Queen's chaplain Gavin Ashenden consecrated as 'missionary bishop'

Source: Twitter

Gavin Ashenden, the former chaplain to the Queen who earlier this year resigned from the Church of England over its 'liberalising' trend, has been consecrated a bishop. 

He has been consecrated as a missionary bishop to the UK in the Christian Episcopal Church, one of the continuing Anglican churches that emerged in the United States in the ongoing disputes in The Episcopal Church over the ordination of homosexuals and women. 

Report here.

Congratulations and best wishes to Bishop Ashenden as he begins his mission among us.



Further details from Bishop Ashenden here.

A sad commentary

Source:Source: Daily Post 

This is one of twelve redundant churches for sale referred  to in a May entry Your new home? The former Christ Church is located in the centre of the village of Rhosybol between Llanerchymedd and Amlwch on the Isle of Anglesey. It is still on the market.

The BBC is reporting that 110 Anglican churches have closed in Wales in 10 years or, as Premiere succinctly put it: "Eight per cent shut their doors for good during the decade covered, the Church in Wales statistics show. The decline leaves 1,319 Anglican churches in Wales still open."

Using the latest regular attendance figures that gives an average congregation of just 21 souls.

A Church in Wales spokesman said "there was a move to take a regional look at churches rather than let each one deal with the issue on its own. We're grouping a lot more parishes and congregations together, about 10-15 churches in an area, and thinking which ones can we sustain.

"There's a little bit more strategy - what's a sustainable congregation and where's the best place to do it?" The National Churches Trust said the rate of closures in Wales was relatively higher than England, given relative population size, where about 20 close each year.

Meanwhile in one of the buildings remaining open, at least for the time being, in the Church of England, the Rev Richard Coles, "radio presenter and Strictly Come Dancing 2017 star", has been seen entertaining his congregation with some mincing steps in a preview of his performance on Saturday evening.

The verdict? From the Telegraph: Ruth Langsford and Reverend Richard Coles were also down there at the bottom of the scoreboard but they possess both the entertainment value and fan base to keep them in the contest. We shall see next Sunday. 

After the launch of this year's series which includes a lesbian comedian as well as a gay vicar, there was a debate over whether gay contestants should be coupled with a dancing partner of the same sex prompting a previous gay contestant, Judge Rinder, to protest that the same-sex partner idea was 'absurd'.

If only the Archbishop of Canterbury could have been as forthright when he was asked in a LBC radio interview what his reaction was to a six year old boy being sent into a Church of England school dressed as and identifying as ‘a girl’. The Archbishop's reply was a boy wearing a dress to school was 'not a problem' indicating how far Anglican bishops have strayed like lost sheep.  A more profound response to the theology of cross-dressing amongst 6 year olds can be read here.

Back in Wales they have at least one claim to fame. According to 2011 census figures, Wales had the highest number of people in the UK with no religion. As attendance continues to fall more closures can be expected. Something for the bishops along with the Representative Body to ponder over in their spanking new Provincial office in the heart of Cardiff as the remaining 28,291 worshippers are encouraged to give far more than the average £9.41 per Sunday attender according to the latest (2016) membership and finance figures.

The Church in Wales recommends that its members should "give 5% of their take-home pay to the Church". For a single pensioner with no other source of income that amounts to £7.98 out of a weekly State Pension is £159.55 per week.

The current model is unsustainable with increasingly elderly congregations, that is, where the church still functions. Apart from toddler groups, messy church and the like, the traditional family where children sang in the choir, became servers, joined youth clubs, Scouts, Guides has become as scarce as the traditional parish church.

Traditionally the parish church has been at the heart of local communities. From the Church in Wales' Introduction to The Cure of Souls (1996): 

"The Church is at one and the same time a spiritual, moral and institutional community. Any attempt to isolate one aspect from the others misrepresents its reality.

What distinguishes the Church from other communities, at least in its own self-understanding, is that it is a ‘spiritual’ community – a fellowship/community of the Holy Spirit. That is, it claims to participate in the Spirit of God and to be established as the community it essentially is by the Spirit of God."

That should be the 'strategy' but Anglican bishops have decided to follow the failed TEC model, plodding along while becoming irrelevant to society as the edifice crumbles. What a sad commentary.

Hurricane crisis: Debt Relief

  

DEBT RELIEF FOR HURRICANE-HIT ISLANDS

Please ask lenders to suspend

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ACT NOW

Several countries in the Caribbean have been devastated by hurricanes. Some of those countries are already heavily indebted, partly due to rebuilding efforts following previous disasters.

Please sign the petition asking all creditors, including the IMF and World Bank, to suspend debt repayments.

Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, has said: “We have lost all that money can buy and replace.” But tiny Dominica is due to make over $2 million of debt payments to the IMF and the World Bank in the next year.

With climate change, such devastating disasters are only likely to get worse, including in the Caribbean. And except for Haiti, Caribbean countries have been excluded from past debt relief initiatives.

Take action today.

Thank you for your support,

Sarah-Jayne Clifton

Director

Silencing the lambs

Source: Infowars

The Facing Islam Blog reports that Google is enforcing Sharia Law by blocking ads containing the keyword 'jihadwatch'.

From Infowars in 2015: After I made a video in which I explained that executing gay people and stoning women to death was a bad thing, and that this may indicate Islam is not a very “peaceful” religion, someone on Facebook reported me to the police for committing a hate crime.
“You do realize that spreading hate is illegal in the UK….I’ve reported you stupidity to facebook, the police, and several online hate crime organizations. Best of luck in the future ya tool,” wrote the individual.

On a more trivial level but equally important in terms of free speech Gavin Ashenden recently reported the latest muzzle being used by modern liberals is Twitter blocking:  "I just love it that you can block people on twitter. What a joy.  'Bigotry'- block. 'Hatred' -block. 'Stupidity-block.  'Ad-hominem'-block!!"

With their feet firmly under the table, conditioning minds with their political correctness and twisted views on equality progressive liberals are having a field day. The devoutly Christian tennis legend Margaret Court, who takes a conservative view on gay marriage, has been denied renewal of her local club membership in Australia.

One would think that same sex relationships are the natural order, that there is something really rather quaint in the belief that marriage is the natural union of men and women for the procreation of children. There is nothing natural about a transgender male giving birth to a child from the womb she was born with even if she does believe she is a man. The liberal buzz word is 'love' which 'normalizes' everything

When it comes to 'equality' there can be little more bizarre than when a "senior Anglican academic" calls on the Church of England not to appoint any 'traditionalists' – those opposed to women priests – until a third of all bishops are women. Warning the Church is damaging 'its public witness and Christian credibility' by promoting those who oppose female ordination, Prof Martyn Percy, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, says the CofE 'needs to embrace equality unequivocally'. I wonder how he would feel if his position had been part of a quota system with parity the first consideration.

Percy's church is not the Body of Christ. It is one of many parts, barely a toenail. Even in Anglicanism it is barely a toe yet insidious liberalism has so infected Anglicanism that the progressives would have people believe that they represent Christian thinking. They do not. They are on the margins but they have succeeded in marginalising traditional Christian faith and values while turning the Church of England, and the Church in Wales, into secular institutions to further political causes such feminism and LGBTQ+.

To comment contrary to progressive liberal values is portrayed as hate which must be suppressed. The irony is that hating hate has become more hateful than hate itself so the lambs are silenced while the wolves are left to rampage.

Who can we trust?

The Church of England is being asked to reconsider if it can still accept conservative bishops who oppose women priests (here and here). Should we be surprised? Women's movements such as WATCH aided by their pathetic fellow travellers have it all except parity. They are working on that.

Remember the debates? - It did not mean that women would be made priests if deaconesses were allowed to be deacons. - It was unfair not to allow women deacons to become priests, after all, there was little difference other than being able to say a few extra words! - The 'stained glass' ceiling was unjust; having agreed that women can become priests we cannot deny them the right to become bishops. The rest is history. Faith is passé. It is about so-called equality and being relevant to society, never mind the consequences.

Past dirty tactics are forgotten but filth was sent through the post to opponents who simply wanted to uphold the faith as received. In one of the earliest comments on this blog I was branded a c*** for my conscientious objection to the catholic faith we shared with most Christians throughout the world being amended by synodical procedures for political purposes.

The message is clear. Say anything, do anything to achieve your goal then renege on agreements claiming further persecution and discrimination until all opposition is eliminated.

Many of the faithful have given up the struggle as churches become little more than tea rooms with an opportunity for dressing up to perform parodies of ancient rituals. The younger element may be attracted to messy church and toddler groups especially if access to education is enhanced by church going but where are the in-betweens who should replace the increasingly elderly congregations? Churchgoers have in many congregations been replaced by church users. Consequently buildings which were loved and cared for are falling into decay.

Figures produced by ComRes, and commissioned by the Church, show that many of those who claim to be Christian don't actually take part in many of the activities which are normally associated with the faith. Figures show that 60 per cent of self-declared followers of the Church admit they never read the Bible, and 36 per cent say they never attend church. One in three said they never pray.

By contrast Muslims are the world’s fastest-growing religious group. "In the next half century or so, Christianity’s long reign as the world’s largest religion may come to an end". Who cares? What is the Government's response to the continuing 'Islamic extremist' threat to our democracy?

If there were a secular book for sale which was full of hate against non-believers with instructions on how to deal with kafirs by decapitating them for not agreeing to subjugation it would be banned but it is acceptable as a religious book of instruction because devotees assure the ignorant that Islam is a religion of peace despite all the evidence to the contrary over the last 1400 years.

The Government and media are so caught up in the political correctness that in addition to the constant threat of violence, countless young British white girls have been trafficked by Muslims who have a totally different outlook on life and the position of women in their adopted country.

So successful has the Muslim community been in claiming to be persecuted victims that anyone daring to draw attention to the many anomalies are branded hateful racists even though Islam is not a race but a religious ideology. That alone should indicate a level of ignorance which demands attention but critical analysis is immediately challenged as Islamophobia. - Heads you loses, literally, tails they win.

Ironically it seems that many Muslims know as little about their religion as many Christians while many Anglicans are prepared to twist the faith to accord with their own selfish desires.  A 'good' Muslim will follow instructions in the Quran to defeat the kafir by whatever means. Most will choose deception while a few pursue violent jihad. That the majority live peacefully convinces the gullible that Islam is a religion of peace.

Can we trust the Government to study this contradiction before we too become a minority in our own land as loyal Anglicans have been sidelined by secularists in their own church?

"For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them." Matthew 25:29

Time for change

Bishop John Davies who is to be the 13th Archbishop of Wales                          Source: WalesOnline

A leopard does not change its spots but many a cleric changed his stance after the Church in Wales' Governing Body decision to ordain women, ignoring the counsel of the Eastern church, Roman Catholics and, indeed, the vast majority of Anglicans throughout the world who had not been caught up in the mistaken belief that society has to inform the church rather than the church inform society as part of the Great Commission.

Whatever their reason, with the Church of Wales predicted to collapse within a generation it is again time for a change of stance to restore the sense of mystery and 'otherness' of the church so that when officials offer their "thoughts and prayers" after every tragedy their 'heartfelt' words are less of a cliche.

Many ex-churchgoing worshippers have remarked on hearing the news of bishop John's election: 'Hasn't he done well but, of course, he used to be against the ordination of women......' Readers can fill in the rest - but not for publication! The same could apply to most clergy who occupy senior positions in what have become management roles, primarily for managing decline.

'Unlucky for some', the 13th Archbishop of Wales, John Davies, Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, has a heaven sent opportunity to make a different call, to right previous wrongs in line with the wishes of the majority of church members when they were consulted about the woeful Code of Practice devised by the Archdeacon of Llandaff to exclude faithful traditionalists whilst pretending to be inclusive.

The latest regular, adult, Sunday attendance figures in Wales make grim reading at 28,291 souls. That is 0.9% of the population, with Baptisms down 8% and Confirmations down a massive 21%.

Even funerals, a nice little earner for many a cleric, are down 4% as the popularity of secular funerals increases. Weddings are also down 4%. With more than half of the UK's population declaring no religion, the future for Christianity in this country looks bleak.

The Harris Review Recommendation [XLII (1)] that Fees for occasional offices should be paid into church accounts and go towards the cost of the Share in the Ministry Area was rejected at Governing Body. Perhaps financial self-interest will be the Achilles heel requiring a review of past mistakes.

The worst mistake the new archbishop could make is to be seen as being tarred with the Morgan brush. Archbishop Morgan's political agenda has resulted in the Church in Wales suffering a similar fate as the US Episcopal Church (TEC) under their heretical Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori.

So, is there hope? From Wales Online: "'Religion isn't something to be frightened of' - Wales' new archbishop on the challenges ahead. - The new Archbishop of Wales is on a mission to “rehabilitate” the church in Welsh culture at a time of plummeting attendances.

Referring to the "debate and controversy" on same sex marriage the archbishop-elect rather worryingly said: “I think the world outside the church certainly thinks that the church is probably out of step with society... so it’s going to remain a live issue and I have little doubt that it will come back onto our agenda probably at some point in the not too distant future.”

That does not sound very encouraging if the church is to uphold the Christian faith against the tide of secularism but bishop John deserves a chance to prove that he is his own man, not a Morgan clone. To “rehabilitate” is to to return someone to a good, healthy, or normal life or condition. That should indicate a return to traditional Christian values, the 'otherness' and mystery of faith. Further secularisation, twisting scripture to mean something different after millennia is not rehabilitation, it is devaluation.

Looking forward to Archbishop John's Presidential address at the forthcoming meeting of the Governing Body he cannot afford to disappoint traditionalists again. The Church in Wales needs every soul she can muster. He has already expressed his wish that "traditionalists and progressives within Church in Wales can continue to worship together".

That wish is not new. Previously it was expressed by the Archdeacon of Llandaff based on terms dictated by Barry Morgan which ignored the conscientious beliefs of faithful Anglicans. It was a take it or leave it approach. Many have left the church, or more accurately, the church has left them, a dreadful indictment.

If that take it or leave it approach is allowed to persist bishop John Davies could well be the last Archbishop of Wales as numbers continue to fall and giving shrinks to unsustainable levels. It is indeed, time for change.

Updates

Listen to a 30 min in-depth BBC radio interview with the Archbishop here.

[11.09.2017]

Archbishop John Davies shares his vision for the Church in Wales under his leadership
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=21&v=jdo1hiMUzr4

Decision time

The bishops of St Davids, St Asaph, Llandaff, Swansea & Brecon, Bangor and Monmouth                                                                   Source: Church in Wales

The 2012 Church in Wales Review kicked off with two recommendations:

Recommendation I

1) The Governing Body and bishops should make it clear, if

necessary by Constitutional amendment, that motions can come

from parishes, and deaneries (or whatever body might replace

them), to Diocesan Conferences, and from Diocesan Conferences

to the Governing Body, and that such motions would be

welcome.

Recommendation II

Candidates for election to the Governing Body should provide a

short manifesto which would be sent out to all electors by each

diocesan office. All elections in the Church should be conducted

in such a way as to ensure that electors know what the

candidates stand for on the issues of the day. 

Looking at the Agenda for the next Governing Body meeting little has changed. However, the spirit of Recommendation I is apparent in the Reverend Harri Williams' Private Members Motion on ‘Admission to Communion’. 

From the explanatory note: "Following the publication of the ‘Documents about Admission to Communion’ in September 2016, considerable discussion was held within the Deanery of Roose about the proposed changes. Whilst acknowledging that matters of faith and order are the preserve of the Bench of Bishops, it was recognised that these changes presented significant practical and pastoral considerations, for both clergy and laity, which it was felt had not been fully considered. These discussions voiced concerns which were shared on a wider basis throughout the Diocese."

The background can be read in a March entry, 'Dodgy legal advice leads to Eucharistic free for all'. That was the conclusion of the Rev'd Professor Thomas Glyn Watkin, a former Professor of Law at Cardiff and Bangor and former Legal Assistant to the Governing Body of the Church in Wales.

Professor Watkin wrote: "The interpretation placed upon the rubric by the Legal Sub-Committee not only circumvents the Church's due processes for alteration to rites and discipline. In its consequences, it displays a scant respect for - or an inchoate understanding of - the rule of law in Church affairs."

It will be interesting to see how the bishops respond to genuine concerns expressed in the pews about an enforced alteration to rites and discipline. The bishops were forced to backtrack on their desire to adopt same sex marriage in Church after the pew sitters expressed their concerns illustrating that their liberal agenda is not necessarily shared by members paying the Parish Share which is reflected by a continual fall in regular attendance, down to 28,291 and a reduction in planned giving from £11.4m in 2015 to £11.1m in 2016 - see Membership and Finances 2016 here.

Recommendation II implies openness but that could be used to vet candidates for election to the Governing Body to ensure even more like-mindedness to drive through proposals which do not necessarily reflect the views of the pew sitters. Of the farcical consultations carried out by the Church in Wales the most damaging was the refusal of the bench of bishops to entertain any sort of alternative Episcopal oversight for members who in conscience cannot accept the sacramental ministry of a woman priest. This has become a far greater problem with the appointment of two women bishops.

The bishops of St Davids and Llandaff have clearly stated their liberal agendas with more emphasis on inclusion and parity but with Barry Morgan in retirement, what are the real thoughts of the more senior bishops? Some potted histories are available here but what of their future plans if elected? In the process as described the meeting of the Electoral College will "begin with a discussion on the needs of the Province and a period of prayer and reflection".

They will need to pray about past mistakes and reflect on taking the Morgan line that there would be alternative episcopal oversight over his dead body. Many clergy and lay people have been forced to decide whether they can, in conscience, continue their membership of a church which values only their financial contributions. For many there is no alternative but to stay away. If that sits easily with the collective consciences of the bishops of the Church in Wales they will be seen as wolves rather than shepherds.

The decision must be for a good shepherd who cares for all his sheep.

Updates [06.09.2017]

1. It has been announced that he new Archbishop of Wales is the Rt Rev John Davies, the bishop of Swansea and Brecon. Our prayers must be for the restoration of the Church in Wales, undoing the damage of his predecessor, to ensure that all are welcome with acceptable sacramental and pastoral provision for all those souls neglected for so long.

2. Church in Wales report here.