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Saturday 6 October 2018

Fit for purpose?


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


All dressed up but nowhere to go. The Church in Wales has no future.

That is the conclusion of bishops who are not deluded by their own sense of importance. 

Much has been made of dwindling attendances at Sunday services, apart from at the Governing Body (GB), but why does anyone attend services at a church that has lost its way? It cannot be for theological reasons because the Church in Wales has abandoned theology for the Zeitgeist.

Conclusions reached at GB are no longer based on scripture and tradition but on the whims of a manipulative bench of bishops. Biblical truths are ignored or misinterpreted to make them appear more plausible.

Faithful Anglicans who are unwilling to accept false doctrine have left the church thus strengthening the hand of remaining members who are willing to conform.

If the mission of the Church in Wales is based on false doctrine its evangelism will lead people astray so it must be better for the soul to be a believer on the outside than a non-believer on the inside.

To be cast out by remainers with false accusation of misogyny, homophobia and of not believing in equality is the flowering of weeds sown by bishops who have interpreted the Gospel to accommodate secular trends resulting in churchianity rather than Christianity.

The Church of Wales is deformed with no apparent chance of correction. All of its bishops continue to show allegiance to posturings of the former archbishop. A form of succession which perpetuates his brand of radicalism has developed into a ministry not of hope but of despair. The consequences are dire.

For worshippers no longer able to tolerate the hypocrisy of the bench of bishops there is not the range of options available to disaffected Anglicans in England.

Assistance that may have been provided by provincial episcopal visitors from England to allow traditional parishes to flourish has been stymied by mean-spirited shepherds and shepherdesses who refuse to allow PEVs to cross the border.

Consequently most of Wales has been turned into a spiritual desert for traditionalist Anglicans. The faithful have been abandoned while the Church in Wales continues to pretend to be in fellowship within the Holy Catholic Church.

It is generally assumed that disaffected Anglicans will turn to Rome as the only practical alternative for those who need to find another spiritual home.

That is not so simple for conscientious worshippers who are drawn to the 'catholic and reformed' worship provided by the Anglican Church.

The Ordinariate was set up by Pope Benedict XVI to maintain Anglican patrimony. It allowed 'Anglicans to become Catholic while retaining elements of their identity', not that there is much opportunity to participate in Wales other than in SE Wales.

If that option is available the process of reception into another church after a lifetime of Anglican devotion is not an attractive option, particularly for those in declining years, often widows or widowers, cradle Anglicans who hoped to die as Anglicans as did their husband or wife.

In the absence of Anglican churches abroad visiting Anglicans have been permitted to receive at the local Catholic church but that does not apply in the wilderness created in Wales so the faithful are denied Holy Communion.

The bench of bishops speak of an inclusive church based on equality. It includes some but not others. There is no equality in that.

They are not fit for purpose.

21 comments:

  1. A gloomy outlook indeed, AB, but in my experience most Anglican laypeople -- and many clergy -- carry on regardless of the absurdities propagated by their bishops. How often, outside such exceptional environments as parishes whose church is also the cathedral, do ordinary worshippers actually encounter a bishop? Prelatical remoteness used to be a cause of criticism, but it may turn out to be a blessing. And it's worth remembering that the revival of Catholic consciousness in the CofE and W came about in defiance of a generally anti-Catholic episcopate.

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    1. The real problem today Matthew is that the Episcopate are anti- God, anti-Christ and anti-Holy Ghost.

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  2. Alwyn from Abertawe6 October 2018 at 15:28

    I am wondering when this photo was taken? Obviously not in the last few weeks, because the Bishop of Monmouth is off work. So far as I know, no official explanation has been given. One hopes that it is not pending an investigation into Conduct Unbecoming (i.e. visual fixation with another bishop's cleavage as illustrated on this very same photo)?

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  3. Those of us who have joined the Ordinariate do understand your hesitation and misgivings. But take the plunge: you might soon discover that the Ordinariate will grow beyond its S.E. enclave. Praying for you all at this difficult time.

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  5. There are various alternatives to the official Cof E and CinW, but none of them take into account the expectation among ordinary Anglicans both practising and non- that their spiritual needs can and should be met by their local parish church and its clergy. In England this expectation has its roots in the establishment of the parochial system under Theodore of Tarsus in the 7th century, although in Wales it is perhaps slightly more recent.

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  6. Maybe if the Anglo Catholic presence in the province held a conference to debate and decide the way forward. Presenting the GB and Bench will a series of requests or demands. Then keep up the pressure organising meetings, masses and events in each diocese. Otherwise as well meaning the RC Ordinariate is, will see many more join, reluctance on the part of many, who just wanted there home in the CiW to be more accepting of there litergical and theological stand. PP.

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    1. I wouldn't hold your breath PP
      https://ancientbritonpetros.blogspot.com/2016/08/conference-to-preserve-breadth-of.html
      and
      https://ancientbritonpetros.blogspot.com/2016/09/living-with-diversity.html

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  7. While we all debate a future course, the impact of Joanna in St David's is producing its predictable harvest. One of the brightest priests in the province has escaped from Milford Haven to become Vicar of Walsingham in the Diocese of Norwich. We won't ever see him back this side of Offa's Dyke. Meanwhile, in the Cathedral, all of the former Dean's hard work to make it a place of pilgrimage, and its worship to encourage mystery and devotion, is being undone by She Who Knows Best (aka the bonkers Dean). Not only has their excellent verger, who worked so co-operatively and loyally with the former Dean, escaped to the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court; but she is bringing in pop groups and raves in the nave. That's when she's there, of course. Her most repeated slogan is to tell everyone that she needs to be away from St Davids because she is in such demand as a key player on the world stage of ecumenical relations. I can think of other, more appropriate, descriptions! One can only fear for the choir and the musical tradition that has attracted such dedication and commitment over the years.

    Just as Bangor slides into inexorable oblivion under the neglect of an incompetent puppet of the Golfer, so too St Davids.

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    1. Don't be so sure Iolo.
      Incompetent puppet? I think not.
      I am certain this is all quite deliberate and is the work of Satan.
      He has worked tirelessly for millennia to place his worms in the centre of the apple.
      And lo!
      We have Bully boy --Bazza, his cronies and the coven followed by the crones in St Davids and Llandaff.
      Has there ever been such a shambles, such disunity, such false prophets??

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  9. Pete from Petriburg9 October 2018 at 08:31

    Sad to hear of developments in St Davids. We are breathing a HUGE sigh of relief here in Peterborough, I can tell you. She was never a realistic possibility, I grant you, but the sight of her application falling onto the doormat at the Wash House in Lambeth Palace was enough to get some of our musicians looking for other jobs.

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  10. DPM: How soul distroying for the pew sitters, the stalwarts, the donator of time and money. If this blog is anything to go by, the temperature in the Province, is artic! What is the solution? Put up, shut up or ship out? Surely, some modicum of revolt awaits ignition in the pews to claw back the Church from the precipice duly noted herein.

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  11. Hurrah!
    Some common sense at last.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-45789759
    Ashers 'gay cake' row: Bakers win Supreme Court appeal
    The president of the Supreme Court, Lady Hale ruled that the bakers did not refuse to fulfil his order because of his sexual orientation.
    "They would have refused to make such a cake for any customer, irrespective of their sexual orientation," she said.
    "Their objection was to the message on the cake, not to the personal characteristics of Mr Lee."
    She added: "Accordingly, this court holds that there was no discrimination on the ground of the sexual orientation of Mr Lee."

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  12. The justices had to rule this way or freedom of conscience would have ceased to exist. A slap in the face to the LGBT Inquisition and the moronic bureaucrats in the NI Equalities Commission who wasted 1/4M of public money on legal fees.

    Furthermore, how Mr Lee can look himself in the mirror when that money could've been spent on schools and hospitals when it was squandered on his vexatious and false complaint of discrimination I don't know.

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  13. These splendid garments go back to when the Church was great in the land - when apologetic smiles were not necessary. Smug/silly/delusional - take your pick.
    Cromarty

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  14. DPM: I see the Bishop of St David's is sporting a new hairstyle in her recent activities.

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  15. At least that is one thing to congratulate her about. It suits her. Just a shame about some of her extreme liberal opinions; otherwise she seems a nice lady.
    Rob

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  16. DPM, @ Rob. Perhaps her Liberal views will soften over time. She must be listening to her friends +Rachel and +Sarah. Her time in CofE must have helped too.

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  17. The Welsh church is now viewed as any other institution, not having a special or unique role, without 'otherness' or mystery and not insisting on what it claims or believes. Consequently it has become attractive to those who find this comfortable and have felt themselves qualified to occupy roles within the priesthood and in administration. It is self perpetuating.
    While all is not lost it can be said that indeed the worm is in the very centre of the apple.
    Lostwithiel

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