Jolly June's Iceland gender jolly

Jolly June with Iceland bishop Agnes Sigurdardottir                             Source: Twitter @BishopJuno 

I see from the Llandaff diocese web site that as we approach the season of Advent 'jolly' June's preparation for Christmas is another jolly, this time in Iceland from where she grandly tweeted:

"Such a pleasure to meet Bishop Agnes Sigurdardottir, the first woman bishop of the Church of Iceland and Porvoo colleague whilst at the Global Women Leaders’ Forum @ChurchinWales #PowerTogether @LlandaffCath".

I can understand June's affinity with the first woman bishop of the Church of Iceland since both their churches are in a downward spiral. More importantly, like jolly June, Agnes Sigurdardottir is a firm advocate of same sex marriage in church.

It was reported back in October 2015 that "the Bishop of Iceland has categorically stated that there is no possible way of interpreting Icelandic law to enable Church of Iceland priests to refuse to marry couples on the grounds of their sexuality." As bishop she would "never put forward any proposal which has the effect of enabling discrimination of this type."

No wonder it was such a pleasure for jolly June to meet fellow hard liner Agnes.

In an earlier tweet June wrote: "The Global Women Leaders’ Forum in Reykjavik begins with welcomes from extraordinary Icelandic women, the first ever elected woman President and the current Prime Minister. Thank you Iceland for your welcome and example of gender equality."

Such sentiments imply that these women occupy their posts not on merit but as a result of positive discrimination.

 In her latest tweet jolly June rails against presumed gender inequality:

"This figure for the G7 nations is shocking. For the UK 52% of men and 62% of women say they’d be ‘comfortable with having a woman head of government’.  That’s a problem for all of us and not just women who aspire to public service @ChurchinWales.

If jolly June aspires to public service she should look beyond parity towards suitability, something currently lacking in the appointment of bishops in the Church in Wales regardless of gender.

Along with bishop Agnes, June and the rest of the bench ignore conscience, dismissing Anglicans in their flock who have not fallen for the spirit of the age but who adhere to the historic faith of the Apostles as received.

Acting more like a politician than a bishop, jolly June's message is not about salvation. It is about queering the Church and gender equality, a euphemism for sexual discrimination in favour of women. It is naked misandry as demonstrated by the bishop of St Davids in her attempt to rid her diocese of retired elderly male clergy.

Her latest prodigy is following her bishop's example. In yet another article, Church in Wales' newest vicar on the church and being transgender, the Rev Sarah Jones the new vicar at St John the Baptist church in Cardiff talks of 'diversity in the church' with emphasis on transgenderism.

Disregarding the Great Commission Jones does not believe in "bashing people with the bible" or telling them what they should believe. Instead her ministry is built around transgenderism making it clear why jolly June appointed her over more suitably qualified clergy.

Given the parlous state of the Church in Wales one would have thought that June had more pressing work in her diocese and beyond to counter declining attendances but that does not have the same cachet as somewhat incongruously attending the Global Women Leaders’ Forum to promote gender politics.

Postscript [30/11/2018]

A tweet from the Church in Wales about the Global Women Leaders’ Forum informs readers that there were "400 leaders from 80 countries and the Bishop of Llandaff was one of them".

In June's linked blog "Stepping over the gender gap" the bishop of Llandaff puts her cards on the table with this revealing statement: "Faith is in the business of challenging entrenched attitudes and changing perceptions." Changing attitudes!

It not only sums up her ministry but the direction of the bench.

Changing faith

“Pride is the beginning of sin" said Augustine of Hippo. 

Not a sentiment shared in the rudderless diocese of Monmouth where the Vicar of St Augustine, Rumney has tweeted "proud to be hosting Changing Attitudes DC Conference here in Rumney in February."

The tweet has links to the usual camp followers but oddly not to St Davids diocese where the bishop of St Davids is in the forefront when it comes to matters LGBT. Instead a newspaper link is included: @ImpactCardiff @EsgobaethBangor @LlandaffDio @MonmouthDCO @Swanbrec @StAsaphDiocese @ChurchinWales @XtiansAtPride @OzanneFoundn @1Body1Faith @CymruMae @TheGatheringCdf @PoblDewi.

Apparently the whole parish of St Augustine is proud to be an inclusive church where "all God's rainbow people" are "welcomed, affirmed and included", something one might reasonably expect from any Christian church. The difference is that young, old and even pets are used to distort the gospel.

Preceding the quoted text is "So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples (John 6:31). 

Taken out of context the quotation is misleading, aiding the cause of the bench of bishops in their promotion of same sex marriage in church.

The Church in Wales is not alone in redefining faith. Jules Gomes in his Rebel Priest blog highlights how, in the last couple of years, Church of England cathedrals have "shocked Christians and the secular world by hosting events that are in conflict with scripture and church tradition."

His latest example highlights Derby cathedral where "graphic sex scenes, full female nudity, a pagan sacrifice and a satirical depiction of Jesus Christ" have been screened but has "banned a prominent conservative clergyman" from preaching at a student carol service during Advent.

Church involvement in gay pride parades has become commonplace but the church has gone far beyond flying the rainbow flag. It has been draped over the Holy Table while celebrating 'inclusive' LGBT Eucharistic services and over an Icon of Christ Crucified.

Muslims have been allowed to use Cathedrals to recite the call to prayer: "Allah is the greatest; I bear witness that there is no other god but Allah; I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah" when Islam denies the divinity of Christ, and that He died on the cross to bring salvation to the world.

The Blackburn Cathedral event is acknowledged to be an error of judgement but elsewhere mistaken clergy continue to encourage the spread of Islam in the guise of interfaith dialogue which is one way channel to the acceptance of Islam as a faith equivalent to Christianity despite its many contradictory beliefs.

Tragically, the more commonplace these events become the more normal they appear, not changing attitude but changing faith.

"Pride goes before destruction,

    a haughty spirit before a fall."

- Proverbs 16:18

Caption corner 24 November 2018

Source: Twitter @gavinashenden 

As usual publishable captions will appear under Comments.

Mother god

The dream,

 Speaking at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London on Monday evening Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury said that God is not a father in the same way that a human would be – and that descriptions of God are always “to some degree metaphorical”.

The trap was sprung. The media pounced. Mail Online put it thus:

 'God is not male… OR female’: Archbishop of Canterbury says ‘the Father’ cannot be defined by human gender.

Newsnight kicked off [@28.20] in the context of gender fluidity with 'When the Archbishop of Canterbury suggests that God is not male, what should we think?'

The Rev Dr Margaret Joachim suggested that we should not pray to Our Father because the simple word father has an appalling connotation for people who have had unfortunate relationships with their fathers!

          

the reality

Are there no unfortunate relationships with mothers in Dr Joachim's book?

It is an odd notion that it is sexist to pray to the father but not if we pray Our Mother as women bishops are suggesting. 

Unlike pagan fertility godesses and Mother Earth Christianity is not about fertility, sex and gender.

The simple truth is that when asked how we should pray Christ said to pray 'Father, hallowed be your name'.

Metaphorical images of a female God in the Bible speak of motherhood. A mother's selfless care and nurture of her children, something feminists in the church fail to recognise.

They have marginalised many devout mothers of conscience who for millennia have been happy to pray Our Father as Christ taught us. I know who I would rather listen to.

A bird in the hand...

The knives were out before the Prime Minister outlined the negotiated Brexit deal to the House of Commons. 

Remainers have used every ploy to halt the process and remain in the EU despite a clear majority vote to leave in one of the highest turnouts of the electorate while the purists among leavers want only what they want as if their demands would be accepted if they shouted loud enough,

Mrs May presented a negotiated 'divorce' settlement which satisfies the main objective of many who voted leave which was to put an end to uncontrolled migration from Europe. It also guards against the 'cliff-edge' warnings about jobs, trade and medicine shortages while protecting the N. Ireland border.

Cometh the hour, cometh the woman. 

Mrs May's mastery of her brief has impressed friends and foes alike. Many readers will not agree with some of her liberal policies but on this occasion she has delivered what she set out to do and deserves credit for that.

Grapevine

The above figures taken from the Diocesan Conference 2018 Edition of 'Monmouth Grapevine' illustrate the shift from the traditional parish priest to lay ministry. Rounding up the '.5' to 48 Stipends plus 20 House for Duty priests produces a figure of 68 priests for 175 churches averaging two or three churches per priest aided by 31 NSMs.

Consequently the laity are taking on more responsibility but not for the better. Anglican priestly ministry is being diluted in Wales.

Communion by Extension, "that is, where the sacrament is taken to a church from another church within the benefice, where the Holy Eucharist has previously been celebrated" is becoming commonplace. The sick and the housebound are more likely to be visited by a lay person than by a priest and funerals are conducted by LMEs (Readers).

In a postscript to a previous entry, Local Mission Areas mask decline of 24 October 2017 I wrote:

"The bishop of  Monmouth has proclaimed that 'A third archdeaconry is to be created in Monmouth Diocese following overwhelming support for the move at this year’s Diocesan Conference (21 October)'. He said, 'As Bishop I am charged with the leadership of this Diocese. Faced with such a challenge I could ignore it and almost certainly let the Anglican presence in the Valleys fade away. Or I could do – what any organisation would do – let alone the church – invest in the area and try and turn it around'."

Since her arrival the third archdeacon has been over the diocese like a rash, unlike the bishop. The 'Anglican presence in the Valleys' he referred to has not faded away but the bishop who is 'charged with the leadership of his Diocese' has. His prolonged unexplained absence has left his clergy in the dark and the diocese in limbo.

Peppered throughout the 2017 Conference Edition of Grapevine there is no mention of the bishop in the 2018 edition or elsewhere giving rise to rumours ranging from nervous exhaustion to all manner of other possibilities.

That is not to suggest anything irregular or to add to his difficulties but the current situation reveals a weakness in the governance of the Church in Wales when paralysis can exist with no apparent remedy.

In the event of an Archbishop’s incapacity or absence from the British Isles "the senior Diocesan Bishop willing to act and capable of acting and not then absent from the British Isles, as long as the Archbishop remains incapacitated or absent from the British Isles, shall be the guardian of the spiritualities of any vacant see, and shall have and exercise all the other rights of the Archbishop".

What of the spiritualities of a non-vacant see when the system breaks down?

On the broader front, under its Disciplinary Policy and Procedure of The Clergy provisions, disciplinary proceedings may be instituted on the grounds of "teaching, preaching, publishing or professing, doctrine or belief incompatible with that of the Church in Wales" (3)(b)(a) but while the bishops are of one  mind on matters incompatible with the official position of the Church in Wales, as on Holy Matrimony, they will not hold themselves to account.

There is a spiritual vacuum in the Church in Wales because the bench lacks godly men to teach the faith as received. The decline continues.

Caption corner 16 November 2018

Source: Pobl Dewi

As usual publishable captions will appear under Comments.

Interfaith week - for some!

 Asia Bibi, a Christian woman recently acquitted on false charges of blasphemy, is still 'in captivity'
   Source: Breitbart/AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary

People celebrating Interfaith week in the UK are fortunate that they are allowed to demonstrate their tolerance of other faiths. Not so in Pakistan where Asia Bibi was acquitted on false charges of blasphemy after spending nine years in prison but remains in custody. It's all about intolerance.

A Guardian report states that "The court established that Bibi, a Christian, was falsely accused by Muslim women picking fruit with her on 14 June, 2009. The allegation stemmed from a quarrel over the fact that she had taken a sip of water from a cup she had fetched for them, which in the eyes of her accusers she wasn’t allowed to touch."

Breitbart reports that "Bibi will remain in captivity, though not in a prison, until the 'finalization of the legal process,' despite Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordering her release. The Supreme Court is Pakistan’s court of last resort, yet the government brokered a deal with the radical Islamist Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party granting them an extra appeal on the case over the Supreme Court’s ruling." 

Mob rule prevails in Muslim Pakistan. Meanwhile, Church and State are encouraging the Islamification of Great Britain, cowed by claims of Islamophobia if anyone seeks the truth. 

The Church in Wales has been advertising an Interfaith Walking Tour in Cardiff ending at the Dar-Yl-Isra Mosque for a ‘Faith Speed Dating’ experience! 

It is probably no coincidence that the mosque is listed as the Muslim Welfare & Education Centre.

Muslims regard Jesus as a prophet, not the Son of God, and reject the fact that He died on the Cross. 

The Son of God has become a victim of political correctness. By denying Muslims the truth they are being denied salvation and others are made more vulnerable to intolerance.

Peace and Reconciliation

German president lays a wreath at the Cenotaph                                                            Source: Mirror

There was a heart-warming gesture at the spot where the First World War ended when French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel embraced at a special ceremony which marked the centenary at Compiègne north of Paris.

The mood of reconciliation continued into Remembrance Sunday when German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier placed a wreath at the base of the Cenotaph.

President Steinmeier reverently bowed his head in a prolonged gesture which encapsulated the tone of the Royal British Legion centenary commemoration at the Festival of Remembrance on Saturday night and at the commemoration service in Westminster Abbey on Sunday evening.

A fitting tribute to all those who gave their tomorrow for our today. 'Their name liveth for evermore'.

Remembrance Day 2018

Armistice Centenary

Source: MailOnline

WW1 soldiers going into action.

 Source: ITV

72,000 shrouded figures commemorating the men who died in the

 Battle of the Somme whose bodies were never recovered.

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them."

 Lest we forget

Caption corner 9 November 2018

"Great gathering for Maecymru at Newtown. Inspiring words from @BishopJuno
'keep telling each other that you are powerful, beautiful and loved by God'."
Source: Twitter @CymruMae

As usual publishable captions will appear under Comments.

Welsh politics

To be brutally honest, Welsh Assembly Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford, the front runner in the Welsh Labour leadership race, reminds me of M. Hulot, a character far removed from his creator, the multi-talented Jacques Tati.

Drakeford said that if he wins he will not look forward to question time in the assembly or media interviews that are part of the job.

How refreshingly honest.

It has often been said that the last person to be a bishop is someone who wants to be a bishop. Looking at the parlous state of the Church in Wales that has become increasingly obvious.

Drakeford will be rubbished for his honesty but good luck to him.

More honesty and less ambition shouldn't go amiss.

Off message

"Transgender Anglican priest" the Rev Sarah Jones 
Source: Twitter @SarahJonestoo

The Rev Sarah Jones prides herself on being the first transgender priest in the Church of England. She illustrates the fact on her Twitter account using her profile picture to push what she appears to regard as her prime priestly ministry.

Her appointment as vicar of the City Parish of St John the Baptist, Cardiff, in the heart of Wales' capital city sends a clear message regarding the priorities of the bench of bishops despite the rejection of their policies by the Governing Body.

Imported by the bishop of Llandaff as if there were no suitable candidates in the Church in Wales for this high-profile, civic church position, her message is clear. LGBT LGBT LGBT with transgender as the latest buzz.

Jesus said, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

The reverse is happening.

Advocates of the ordination of women who claimed that there was no biblical objection to women presbyters now ignore clear warnings about morality, cherry picking verses that appear to support their case and ignoring others.

It has gone further. Men can now choose to be regarded as women and vice versa with a special welcome for transgender people in the Church of England while traditionalist Anglicans continue to be marginalised. Transgender people are actively encouraged to become Church of England priests on the pretext that "the church's reputation as being unwelcoming towards gay and transgender people is causing young people to stay away."

On the same wavelength as the four Church of England bishops in the diocese of Oxford currently in the news, the Welsh bench of bishops continue aping bishops in the collapsing US Episcopal Church despite many obvious signs of failure.

They need to be disciplined but there is no discipline. A law unto themselves, they do as they please. Hence the slide into obscurity.

The archbishop continues the disastrous policies of his predecessor, but faster. Bangor carries on regardless of endless criticism. Having lit the rainbow touchpaper the 'tree-eating' bishop of St Asaph sits back and contemplates the next copse. St Davids and Llandaff  dwell on misandry and the promotion of transgenderism while Monmouth fades away without explanation or comment.

There is no recourse. They continue taking the money and look forward to unearned pensions on the backs of pew sitters who are expected to dig ever deeper to support the unsupportable.

It could only happen in the Church.

Bad company ruins good morals

Baroness Morgan in St Davids Cathedral Library for #BibleSunday                              Source: Twitter @StDavCathLib 

The quote from Corinthians "Do not be deceived: 'Bad company ruins good morals' " sits uneasily under the hashtag link #BibleSunday in the photograph associated with this St Davids Cathedral Library tweet.

Baroness Eluned Morgan must have been keeping bad company according to a BBC News item.

She told the BBC that she will give up her peerage and title if she becomes first minister adding, "A difficult decision because I'm very proud of the work that I have done in the House of Lords: to help promote gay marriage...". [My emphasis - Ed.]

A curious message after viewing a display of ancient bibles in the Cathedral library. Perhaps she was searching for a reference in support of gay marriage in holy scripture after listening to errant bishops promote same sex marriage rather than the sanctity of Holy Matrimony:

"The introduction to the Church in Wales Marriage Service describes marriage as a gift from God.  The Bible teaches that marriage is a life-long, faithful union between a man and a woman, and compares married love with the love Jesus has for his people – a love expressed in his willing sacrifice of himself on the cross."

St Davids has become a hotbed of feminist intrigue under the first female bishop to be appointed in the Church in Wales whose driving force is most noticeable when advancing her LGBT agenda along with the bishop of Llandaff.

More recently +Joanna has been condemned for her misandry after being caught out ridding her diocese of elderly male clergy after years of faithful service to the Church.

Such clergy have devoted their lives to preaching the Gospel according to scripture and tradition, unlike many of the new breed of clergy who have 'come to faith' later in life with the notion that the Church has been in error for 2,000 years.

Sadly the baroness has been caught up in the whole sorry mess, another example of "Ministry and Equality in the Church in Wales" advocated by MAE Cymru voicing the values of a "fair and just society" as they see them. (Scroll down in the link to MAECYMRU NETWORKING LUNCH JULY 2018).