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| Three bishops from the same class in St Michael's College, Llandaff Source: Church in Wales |
In a previous entry From hat trick to three card trick I wrote the bishops' consultation on same sex marriage ... is akin to the classic three card trick, otherwise known as 'find the queen', designed to win regardless.
Hey presto, the queen wins. Like loyal subjects, members of the Governing Body queued to speak of love and equality, apparently understanding neither. They swallowed what they had been fed and regurgitated the poisonous rubbish fed by the bench of bishops, unworthy of the office they hold for leading astray those in their care. The souls of the righteous being sacrificed by false prophets.
Archbishop John Davies told Premier Christian Radio: "There was a very significant majority in favour of us making a formal move ahead and discussing provision further".
The Church in Wales even published this deceptive tweet
Church members did not have a vote. A majority of bishop affirming members of the Governing Body perhaps but of the wider church?
So far as the membership of the Church in Wales is concerned its Governing Body has become an irrelevant tool of the bench.
As the 2012 Church in Wales Review observed, "We do not believe that the present system of elections to the Governing Body always results in a true reflection of church opinion. At the moment there is very little knowledge for people to go on when making up their minds for whom to vote." (page 5)
Not that it would make a jot of difference when members decide on their own volition to vote on the basis of personal preference instead of on the expressed wishes of church members.
Archbishop John Davies told Premier Christian Radio: "There was a very significant majority in favour of us making a formal move ahead and discussing provision further".
The Church in Wales even published this deceptive tweet
So far as the membership of the Church in Wales is concerned its Governing Body has become an irrelevant tool of the bench.
As the 2012 Church in Wales Review observed, "We do not believe that the present system of elections to the Governing Body always results in a true reflection of church opinion. At the moment there is very little knowledge for people to go on when making up their minds for whom to vote." (page 5)
Not that it would make a jot of difference when members decide on their own volition to vote on the basis of personal preference instead of on the expressed wishes of church members.
The bench has now positioned itself so that it will be at odds with the rest of the Anglican Communion as the Scottish Episcopal Church discovered following their unilateral decision to allow same sex marriage in church.
Governing Body agreed that “It is pastorally unsustainable for the Church to make no formal provision for those in same-gender relationships.”
On what evidence? A bald statement that is in direct contradiction to the archbishop's keynote speech. "Play your part, great or small, in spreading the Gospel message, urges Archbishop".
The gospel of the bench is not the gospel of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
The pretence of it being so has become widespread leading to the notion of an inclusive church in the living catholic tradition which may be translated as homosexual practices are affirmed here with the expectation of imminent blessings by the church.
The pretence of it being so has become widespread leading to the notion of an inclusive church in the living catholic tradition which may be translated as homosexual practices are affirmed here with the expectation of imminent blessings by the church.
Affirming catholicism affirms that which should not be affirmed. It has little to do with the catholic faith as received. It claims catholicity while behaving contrary to the catholic faith with consenting clergy joining the Society of Catholic Priests, an 'Anglican society for men and women serving as Priests throughout the Anglican Communion'.
It is window dressing claiming allegiance to the catholic faith while acting contrary to it.
It is window dressing claiming allegiance to the catholic faith while acting contrary to it.
The wider church is appalled at these deviations from the faith by churches which use self-governing arguments to adopt practices that are contrary to the gospel.
Declining numbers demonstrate that they cannot deceive all of the people all of the time.
From Church in Wales Report on Membership and Finances 2017
"The rate of decline in average adult Sunday attendance between 2016 and 2017 is in line with the general annual trend since 2010":
Average Attendance - over 18 Sundays: 27,359 (2017) 28,185(2016) - 826 (2017-2016) - 3%
In 2006 the average weekly attendance aged over 18 was recorded at 39,490 showing a fall in adult attendance of 31%, almost one third in just over a decade.
At that rate of decline there will soon be no Anglican church to care pastorally or otherwise for anyone.
In 2006 the average weekly attendance aged over 18 was recorded at 39,490 showing a fall in adult attendance of 31%, almost one third in just over a decade.
At that rate of decline there will soon be no Anglican church to care pastorally or otherwise for anyone.
What the archbishop was really saying in his keynote address is that the Church in Wales is in crisis. Parishes which had ample clergy now find that there are more churches than there are clergy to run them so the laity must pull their weight when the bishops do not as they play politics jeopardising the souls of their flock.
A Framework for Healthy and Joyful Mission in the Church in Wales
A Report to the Governing Body September 2018
+Andy Bangor:
"We believe that every person in our province has the right to hear the message of Jesus Christ in a way they understand. Our responsibility as a church is to play our part with God and other Christians so everyone can hear, engage with and respond to this message."
"We believe that every person in our province has the right to hear the message of Jesus Christ in a way they understand. Our responsibility as a church is to play our part with God and other Christians so everyone can hear, engage with and respond to this message."
That will be the favoured group of the bench sorted but not everyone is in it, just a minority, so to hell with the rest.
The majority in the wider church will, of course, be aware that the bench of bishops have that the wrong way round.
Postscript [18.09.2018]
There are some relevant comments under an Anglican Ink article including this personal testimony:
"I cannot tell you how devastated I am at this lurch away from the Gospel. When it was discussed at a Parish level a few years ago, St David's was one of the more conservative dioceses and I was much encouraged by the 'traditional' views expressed by representatives from the Cathedral, but since then there has been a complete change of staff, reflecting a more liberal agenda."
I think you should wake up and smell the roses.
ReplyDeleteIf we are not all embraced with the love of God, then who are you to choose
How strange Cymro; my sense of smell has completely disappeared!!
ReplyDeleteCatnap.
AB: Do you know what Peggy Jackson has in mind in her building project plans for that medieval gem, St Mary's Church, St Fagans?
ReplyDeleteRob
That ninny has a mind?
DeleteI dread to think given the current direction of the Church in Wales Rob.
DeleteA.B. Given the contempt which the current bench consistently displays towards the inherited Christian faith and its faithful souls not to mention the Welsh language and culture the following lines are offered in tribute to the faithful contributors to this blog.
ReplyDeleteI sought of bishop and priest and judges
From the West to the East
For the good of the soul what course is best?
Paternoster "beati" and the holy creed
Who chants is well served in his soul's hour of need
Till Domesday protected in word and deed
Carve out a way and to it hold And fashion peace which is richer than gold
Mercy will never die and grow not old
Give food to the hungry, and the naked clothe
And sing your devotions with suppliant lip
You'll escape the grip of the demons you loathe
The vain have a craving, the idle no less
To miss the way and to go to excess
Impure is the grain they winnow and press.
From The Black Book of Carmarthen Circa 12thCentury
Tr. D M Lloyd
"We believe that every person in our province has the right to hear the message of Jesus Christ in a way they understand." What hypocrisy! How many churches in majority Welsh-speaking parts his own Diocese of Bangor have clergy that can lead the liturgy in Welsh, preach in Welsh, and have an appreciation of the culture 'from within'? Crap's own grasp of the language is - still, after 10 years in the job - pretty ropy. I am reduced to laughter, otherwise I would become so angry at the way this mindless embodiment of superficiality has not only demeaned the Diocese of Bangor by leading it from a strong base towards terminal decline, but has inflicted so much damage on gifted clergy along the way. They had the good sense to get out and are now flourishing in the Church of England. Meanwhile, Canute-like, he continues to spout his drivel, oblivious to the contempt with which he is regarded by many in the Diocese.
ReplyDeletePP. While the sentiments of the above contributors are spot on, it poses a question of accountability.
ReplyDeleteWe can all agree the terminal decline is certainly a vision of a now reality, but what has to be done to thwart the cliff edge ?
One has to ask of leaders in all levels both laity and clergy, what accountability is holding them to account?
The RB is supposed to be the accountable body as are the diocesan deanery conferences. Unfortunately, silence and in part,towing the line has become the vestige of membership.
So what now? Herein, many have stopped giving, the result: more top heavy appointments and church closures. Then debate at RB, accountable concerned members, shot down, decisions made prior, ready for the inevitable rubber stamp!
So what now? Wholesale revolt, not a comfortable option for many. Continue to ask serious questions of financial stewardship, and be black balled! FoI requests, and other devices. All of which appear to be like Noddy hitting Bigears, with a rubber mallet!
So is an exit strategy necessary for strong Anglo Catholics, Mission focused Evangelicals? Or, stay fight, and eventually what?
The clear and only option has to be accountability at all levels in the CiW. Driven by the members, but the appitite for sustained battles, remains a hard and torturous road. Therefore, who is brave enough to stand and use Amos's plumbline to bring accountability.
PP, you're entirely correct in your analysis. The unaccountable and largely corrupt Representative Body no longer represents the general members of the Church in Wales and is therefore unfit for purpose.
DeleteIn my opinion, it should be investigated, shut down and its funds disbursed back to the parishes that contributed them. The only accountability that can truly be achieved is at a local level.
However, this top-heavy parasite has sucked the life out of the parishes and therefore killed its only source of sustenance. Quite apart from the questionable moral decisions forced upon the Church, its sheer complacency has led to a total lack of new members.
Fact: the only churches with increasing and young memberships are evangelical ones. It's not my style of worship but I've encouraged friends to go to these growing churches instead of staying on board the sinking ship of the C in W.
If it's accountability you're looking for, the only way is to play dirty and leak as much information to the press as possible. The upper echelons of the C in W have done far worse than merely abusing the trust of their members and this will come to light long before 2020.
Though much of this can be squarely blamed on the former Archbishop, his very existence in the Church was itself a symptom of a deeper rot from the 1970s onwards. The C in W has been a zombie for the past 40 years but only now has the stench become undeniable.