“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.
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
When are these pagans going to start celebrating the other deadly sins?
ReplyDeleteI could weep. In my own diocese it was just two bishops "ago" that we had a true pastor - someone who felt and understood the weightiness of sharing in the apostolic succession. Since he retired, "the serpent who is the devil and Satan" has held sway and what was already a steady decline has accelerated downwards into the pit under two secular and political "line managers". Some of us have been unable to renew our priestly vows for years since we have been deprived of a catholic bishop's ministry (something I believe was promised to us for as long as was needed). Little wonder that there is scarcely any enthusiasm left in faithful clergy for anything other than loving and guiding their flocks. Who IS there to berate and correct these secular / pagan / multi "faith" clerks when they even count deans and bishops in their ranks? The Advent bidding, Maranatha, come Lord Jesus, seems to have more urgency with every Ad Clerum and each new gender fluid appointment.
ReplyDeleteTolerance is a wonderful virtue. It recognises the importance of the heart and individual conscience and an absolute commitment not to force one's beliefs on another. This is done not only as a respect for the rights of others but also from a pragmatic standpoint that no-one can truly know what another genuinely believes. To me, forcing another to blather some profession faith or else, is just crass stupidity let alone abusive.
ReplyDeleteBut, and its a big but - tolerance does not mean we all believe the same thing or that we are duty bound to allow other beliefs to be given permission to express their contrary views in our space. Would we be allowed to pray to our Lord Jesus Christ, "who is alive and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever" in the Mosque? I think not!
There can be no equivocation: these clerics who allow these things in Christian sacred space are simply false teachers written of long ago by St Paul.
"Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. (Acts 20:28-30)
Having had the Olivet discourse from Mark 13 in our readings recently, we should not be surprised by these events save pray for the revival this country needs and a weeding out of these 'tares' amongst us. Respect and dialogue, I'm all for it - but implying all roads lead to the 'mountain top' by allowing multi-faith worship is a violation of scripture, reason and tradition.
PP I have to wholeheartedly agree with AB and the first two commentators.
ReplyDeleteAdding carefully another layer. Go back a little way In our Church Gay men were an accepted part of churchman ship, both in and out of holy orders. Even when the law of the land was against gay men (not lesbians, trans etc) the.church simply welcomed so this inclucivity drivel has to come from other than just gay men.
A pride March in Cardiff in the 80s was mainly a gay and lesbian event. The tension, homophobic aspects came as part of gay life. But fast forward to the present it is now a celebration of the modern culture. The gay churchman is still sitting in his pew but is now mocked for not being "out" because all he wants is his quiet life, faith and a place to call his spiritual home.
The idea of any other faith teaching in a Christian church is very short sighted, you cannot link dialogue or learning another faith to unity. Christ is the corner stone no one else should be seen to take precedence.
Our Bishop's need to be ultra careful in this area Dialogue away from Church is just an acknowledgement of another a respect. But allowing it to enter the sacred spaces is unacceptable to many people
It's a sad fact that the liberal Anglican Church has succumbed to secular pressures via LGBT, gender equality and transgenderism. The ordination of women has to do with this, and the indulgence of counter faiths simply follows the trend.
ReplyDeleteThe loss of authority is plain to see.
GeorgeT
Fr Hunwicke has some useful thoughts here: http://liturgicalnotes.blogspot.com/2018/11/signum-magnum.html
ReplyDeleteI think I had to go through the identification of objects more than 20 times. It's actually quite difficult (a) to see some of them and (b) to scroll down without losing the panel altogether.
ReplyDeleteThank you for you persistence Matthew. Unfortunately by switching off the word verification facility unwanted spam comments build up.
DeleteI hear that some commentators are unable to comment at all but the reason is unclear and I have yet to discover a remedy.