 |
| A "packed Margam Abbey" welcomed @BishopJuno as she outlined the Diocesan Vision – Where Faith Matters. Source: Twitter |
The result of 18 months of work with bishop June Osborne visiting all areas of her diocese and listening to parishes, schools and chaplaincies.
These figures are from Where Faith Matters which the bishop of Llandaff, June Osborne, delivered to the elderly in what was claimed to be a "packed Margam Abbey":
 |
| Population of Wales with Easter and Christmas Communicants in 2017 |
Her figures show that only 1% of the population were Church in Wales Communicants at Easter and Christmas in 2017.
Faith mattered to many more people in Wales before Barry Morgan set about secularising the Church in Wales. Under him nobody was allowed to progress unless they followed his line.
One has only to look at those who style themselves bishops in the Church in Wales and many of their senior staff to see where that has led. Jolly June's statistics illustrate the result.
CORRECTION
The bar chart should have referred to the diocese of Llandaff which covers around a third of the population of Wales. The total population of Wales in 2011 was 3,063,456. The average Church in Wales Sunday adult attendance in 2017 was 27,359 representing less than 1% of the population. My apologies for the error.
As has been said before on this esteemed blog, this is a 'vision' that will get no further than a few meetings with a flip chart or power-point presentation. Like Theresa May, June's hacked-off even the dregs of any residual support for her episcopate. Her profligacy (and the bullying that followed it in its wake) and failure to engage with perspectives other than her own, is such that she cannot hope to make any sort of difference to the decline. Already parishes are sick and tired of hearing about 'My Leadership of the Diocese' and seeing what this means in real terms. No surprise to anyone with Salisbury connections, of course. But this is what happens when you appoint a frustrated, disappointed cleric, who was deliberately overlooked as unsuitable for senior appointments, and has already qualified for her state pension, to a Diocese whose wounds and divisions needed to be healed before jetting off in all directions on displacement activity and power-point presentations. 65 this year. Keep checking the Gazette pages for the retirement announcement.
ReplyDeleteOf course, we all know that another disappointed and overlooked female cleric from England was the key mover in June's appointment (how many archdeaconries had she applied for and not been appointed to?) and it's time for her to fly off into the sunset as well!
"she cannot hope to make any sort of difference to the decline"?
DeleteAu contraire CC.
Caiaphas will speed up the decline.
Ask the Parish of St. Teilo's in Cathays.
Talking of disappointed and overlooked female clerics, is there any truth in the whisper I've heard that the Dean of St Davids is off work with stress? yes, that's right. Stress. That's what happens when you appoint the wrong person to the wrong job, when you're only criteria is being on the rebound after Peterborough declined to shortlist her. That tells us something, I think.
DeletePacked?
DeleteI call Bullshit.
Fake news!
Does this answer your question Alwyn?
Deletehttps://twitter.com/StDavidsCath/status/1109949284324130817
Observer
Thank you, Ancient Briton, for continuing to tell it how it really is. Jesus, as the Good Shepherd, left the 99 in the sheepfold and went out to rescue the one little lamb that was lost. Things are a bit different today as you continue to point out. Bishop June, for example, is clearly doing her best to kick out the one lamb remaining in the fold to join the rest of us in the wilderness.
ReplyDeleteIn the blog you posted before this one you said “Church in Wales bishops have been resolute in refusing permission for orthodox bishops to cross the border.”
Really? In that case let me shed a little ray of light. I was in Cardiff last Saturday. As you may have noticed there was a little rugby game going on. That fact probably explains how Bishop June came to miss the two orthodox Anglican bishops who were in her diocese, as large as life and twice as effective. They weren’t watching the game; they were keynote speakers at the Anglican Essentials Wales conference in the University. It was an inspiring gathering and a quite amazing occasion. Evangelicals and Anglo Catholics and a wodge of people like me in the unlabelled middle. It shouldn’t have worked but it did. There was a lovely atmosphere of genuine tolerance and acceptance and absolutely no need for “good disagreement” or any other silly slogan.
Bishop Michael Nazir Ali gave a most impressive lecture on Mission and Orthodoxy and Bishop Philip North spoke, brilliantly, on Mission and the Sacraments. Lee Gatiss, from Cambridge and Bridgend, spoke on Mission and the Uniqueness of Christ. Finally, we heard from Lorna Ashworth, a member of General Synod for many years until the strident voices of LGBTQUIA+ became too aggressive and abusive to be tolerated. She spoke about Mission and the Counter Cultural Church, and it was only during that lecture that there was any mention of sex. Nor was there any notice taken of the Bench of Bishops, although I must admit there was some gorgeous gossip in the tea breaks. Most of the time we talked and thought about what should be the core values of the Anglican church.
For the first time in years I didn’t feel a Misfit. I felt free to speak out, to voice my opinions with no fear of being bullied or labelled. I can’t wait for another similar conference up here in the north. I have a feeling we worms are finally turning.
I was there and Bishop North was truly, truly outstanding and inspiring. He was 'evangelical' in his Anglo-Catholicism and although a little rich sacramentally for my tastes, the devotional quality of his address was breath-taking.
DeleteFor a man of such quality to be hounded out of his nomination to the See of Sheffield was non other than a work of the evil one.
Bishop Phillip North's address to Anglican Essentials Wales can be found here. The link to the talk is listed at the top: https://www.blackburn.anglican.org/bishop-philip
DeleteI realise it's of the forlorn variety, but here's hoping the Holy Ghost appoints Philip North as the next Bishop of Llandaff.
DeleteIt will take someone truly exceptional to sort out the swamp Caiaphas will leave behind her.
Such events provide ideal opportunities for the congregation and supporters of St Teilo's.
ReplyDeleteIf ten or twelve of them turn up at every event Caiaphas attends along with a nice big portable Tannoy, set up a table for others to sign their petition and make their protests live and loud, she'd soon get fed up of it.
I hope St Teilo's have some activists amongst them as well as their (now) 1,000+ keyboard warriors.
Check the Diocesan website for events Caiaphas is attending or give Sarah Rogers a call for her diary commitments.
Bishop June claims the Compostela outing is cheaper than it would be in UK. Perhaps she could publish a breakdown of the costs so we can all be sure.
ReplyDeleteLoosemore
Lol Loosemore.
DeleteYou might as well ask her for receipts and the like for the ongoing secretive unaudited "discretionary" funds.
Margam was not packed out last week neither will be packed out this week for june`s pal Chris, the photo more or less was the total number there, if the photo had been taken from the west door you would have a true picture of those who attended!
ReplyDeleteShould have taken the photo from the west door and you will see how packed it wasn`t.
ReplyDeleteThe Diocesan Officer for Propaganda and Deceit could not possibly have permitted the real number of attendees to be apparent. The true irrelevance of Caiaphas would have been revealed.
DeleteSurely, the population of Wales is nearer 3 million rather than the 1 million in the chart? This makes the demographic of those in church for Christmas and Easter even more ridiculous. Perhaps, "She who must be obeyed" has appointed Joseph Goebbels as the Bishop's Officer for Disinformation in Llandaff.
ReplyDeleteSeymour
Well spotted Seymour. The population of Wales in 2011 was 3,063,456. June's figure was closer to the population of Wales in 1851 (1,163,000).
DeleteSee https://ancientbritonpetros.blogspot.com/2015/07/statistics-of-omission.html
PP, while the Bishop at least tries with her vision it is thwarted by the double standard of crushing the spirit out of parishes like Cathays, who have been excellent stewards. If only Bishop June, used this example as a model of inner city mission. But, no, the hammer blow of dispersal and distraction is used to smoke screen, a flawed methodology that is HTB.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the valley parishes, who tirelessly work, the priest who burns himself out, and the marginalised who fine hope, that church, not this wishy washy fundamentalist drivel.
With all the turmoil in the CinW, what's better than a little expensive excursion to Compostela, to deflect the true. Fiddling while Rome burns.
"wishy washy fundamentalist" ? Mixed metaphors, possibly?
DeleteNot into this twittertwattertwonk. Is the Dean of St. David's on sick leave or not?
ReplyDeleteNo she isn’t.
DeleteWhen June was Dean of Salisbury it was often remarked (with some mirth) that she went through secretaries like water. Now she needs a new Diocesan Secretary. In today's Church Times:
ReplyDeleteThe Bishop of Llandaff and the Diocesan Board of Finance are looking for an inspirational individual with successful experience in executive leadership to take up the key position of Diocesan Secretary.The launch of our new Diocesan Vision – Where Faith Matters – in Lent 2019 commits the whole of the Diocese to fulfilling its aims to be a joyful, growing, serving Church. As head of the central administration and a member of the Bishop’s Senior Staff team, the Diocesan Secretary will play a key role in the delivery of the Vision. You will:
have a passion for God’s mission and ministry in South Wales
be a team player who can motivate others in a period of
rapid change
be a creative and strategic thinker
be a good and effective manager and communicator
possess strong financial acumen
If you are ready for a post in which you can make a significant difference, we look forward to hearing from you.
Interviews are on 7th & 8th May (candidates required to attend both days, no less) so keen-eyed observers may get a glimpse of which lambs are being led to the slaughter.
Call me cynical, but I can't help wondering whether the Bangor Diocesan Secretary's supportive tweets for June's plans for St Andrew & St Teilo are related to this vacancy in any way? Rat deserting sinking ship, perhaps?
It didn't take long to get rid of Rowena then!
DeletePP, Church Times has a further 3 Llandaff vacancies, quite senior roles, obviously something is brewing in the wind of changes.
ReplyDeleteThe Monmouth situation has gone quiet, the visit of the Bis of Jarrow and Barnsley appears to have inspired a certain Archdeacon. With a series of confirmations services coming up, who will be the episcopal pair of hands?
PP.
ReplyDelete+ Dominic of course!
Bishop Philip North is the episcopal visitor to the SSC.
Catnap
PP. Thanks Catnap. Dominic was a good diocesan, what on earth went wrong after he retired. Its such a sad state of affairs.
ReplyDelete