At position 3.30 in the above video, the decision of the Church in Wales to find a way to introduce gay marriage is discussed.
Described along with the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Brazilian Church as "the least healthy Anglican churches in the world in terms of growth, membership and viability", the Church in Wales was said to be "drowning fast". Coincidental or not, all three along with the US Episcopal Church were said to have led the charge on gay marriage.
The treatment of conservative elements by the hierarchy in Wales, particularly under former archbishop Barry Morgan, comes in for particular criticism: Traditionalists have been demonised as 'evil' or 'mentally deluded' for not thinking the same way as the bench.
It is a "dreadful environment" for traditionalists in the province of Wales says the Rev George Conger. They no longer want to raise their heads above the ridge because they are going to get their head chopped off.
Described in the video as a fertile mission field because "the faith is still there", the possibility of revival in Wales has been stymied by the refusal of Church in Wales bishops to allow AMIE and other conservative elements to cross the border.
That was no barrier to the woman bishop invited to celebrate the Eucharist at Llandaff Cathedral even before women bishops were legal in the Church in Wales.
In the 'inclusive' Church in Wales you are welcome only if you are allied to the prevailing culture. Within a generation, says Conger, the Church in Wales will be gone. It is even less healthy than the Church of England which has twenty years to pull out of the nosedive. The Church in Wales has even less time.
It is a "dreadful environment" for traditionalists in the province of Wales says the Rev George Conger. They no longer want to raise their heads above the ridge because they are going to get their head chopped off.
Described in the video as a fertile mission field because "the faith is still there", the possibility of revival in Wales has been stymied by the refusal of Church in Wales bishops to allow AMIE and other conservative elements to cross the border.
That was no barrier to the woman bishop invited to celebrate the Eucharist at Llandaff Cathedral even before women bishops were legal in the Church in Wales.
In the 'inclusive' Church in Wales you are welcome only if you are allied to the prevailing culture. Within a generation, says Conger, the Church in Wales will be gone. It is even less healthy than the Church of England which has twenty years to pull out of the nosedive. The Church in Wales has even less time.
"The faith is still there but the leadership and institutions have failed. The Church in Wales is a dead church."
Murder but no revolution.
I dislike the phrase 'loved ones' but their fate sums up an impending catastrophe.
All those Parish and daughter churches so lovingly cared for by worshippers who lie buried in churchyards, perhaps to be joined by those for whom the penny has still to drop. Their graves will become overgrown with no-one to care for them as the churches close and are sold or left to decay.
Nobody in the liberal Church in Wales seems to care beyond short term gain. Ambition, gratification and relativism are all that matter.
A sad end to Anglicanism in Wales. Nobody will be tried for their crime, not in this life, but you have to wonder if the bishops believe in another life anyway.
If the Church in Wales is extinct in 20 years, where will the faithful traditional Anglicans worship? Who will be performing the sacraments? Some of us are not yet middle aged and have no wish to cease being Anglican.
ReplyDeleteWorried 40 year old.
GAFCON - http://www.gafconuk.org/
DeletePlease don't forget that there are faithful 'traditional' anglicans already worshipping in Wales in the Anglican Catholic Church (ACC). I don't disparage GAFCON, but they allow for the priestly and episcopal ordination of women, and we believe that is not true to the biblical or catholic traditions of the universal church. What we do wish to see is an increase in priests willing to stand out in faith and join the ACC, to extend the availability of the ACC to others (not only in Wales). This will mean that potential priests will have to have a 'day job', as they can not depend on a stipend, house etc from a denomination that disagrees with their stance over fundamental issues of faith. 'He who pays the piper calls the tune'. So, readers should pray earnestly and do a little rummaging on the internet to find a place where they can continue to be faithful to our Lord and all that He teaches. Fr M
DeleteAt a service earlier this year, His Grace whilst referring to the resurrection said, ...if that is what you want to believe." A number of people afterwards were asking the question, "Doesn't the Archbishop believe in the resurrection?" I suspect that, to fit into the mould of his predecessor, all Christian biblical and patristic teaching has been jettisoned. So your query about an episcopal belief in the afterlife here is Wales is most likely "Eat, drink. be merry, and marry your gay lover because tomorrow we die and that is it."
ReplyDeleteSeymour