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| Archbishop of Wales, John Davies Source: Brecon & Radnor Express |
From the Brecon & Radnor Express: "In his message for St David’s Day, the Archbishop of Wales, John Davies urged his followers to follow the example of St David to make our society strong, robust and caring."
A comment which sums up what has gone wrong with Anglicanism.
Followers of the former Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, now lead the Church in Wales.
Followers of Christ have been left to fall by the wayside.
In his St David's Day message the archbishop talks of society, not the Kingdom of Heaven.
Following the example of the bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy, John Davies quotes from the life of St David:
"Community, commitment and concern are things that can make our society strong, robust and caring, and that an ability to live in harmony alongside those with whom we might have significant differences mark us out as decent, honourable, people."
The archbishop has overlooked the fact that the bench of bishops would be ruled out of being "decent, honourable, people" since they have no time for anyone who follows Christ not them.
Shirley ought to try stand-up, he might attract a bigger audience.
ReplyDeleteAs you will know, I'm hardly the president of Shirley's fan club. But to be fair, and reading his St David's Day message as a whole, his references to the kind of society he is encouraging would not be out of place in the writings of Pope Benedict XVI. There is a body of Catholic social teaching, starting with Thomas Aquinas, that says, broadly, that the Church, as a sign of the kingdom of God, is called to be in a relationship of critical solidarity with its social context, to witness to the sovereignty of God over human structures of power, and to call all people to live in relationships that strengthen the common good. I take it to mean that this includes virtues such as kindness, and living well with those who are different. That's not the monopoly of those tainted by the Barry Morgan disease (which is more about style rather than substance).
ReplyDeleteWhere Shirley now has a chance to redeem himself is to put some of his St David's Day message into practice, not least in affirming those who (like him) are not fully signed-up to the Barry Morgan agenda. As we await the fulfilment of the kingdom of God, how about showing how the Church in Wales can offer a way of 'living in harmony alongside those with whom we might have significant differences [to] mark us out as decent, honourable, people' by making pastoral provision for those clergy and parishes that cannot accept the ministry of a female bishop?
'A comment which sums up what has gone wrong with Anglicanism. Followers of the former Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, now lead the Church in Wales. Followers of Christ have been left to fall by the wayside.'
ReplyDeleteNot quite how I'd put it myself, but nevertheless I recognize the underlying point!
I was once an Anglican priest in Wales, but after fifteen years moved to a parish in my home area of England to keep an eye on my dad, who was in failing health and hadn't another relative in the world. Nor, given his irritable devotion to his privacy, no close friends either!
Some years after his death we took a diocesan youth group to an annual weekend camp which, that year, happened to have been arranged in a village in the diocese of Bangor. As I was familiar with the Welsh province, I took on liaising with the local parish to arrange for the group to participate in the Sunday Eucharist.
While we were there, the local rector - newly appointed rural dean and wanting to see his deanery 'up and running' successfully - besought me, as in earlier years I'd learned some Welsh, to consider taking on the incumbency of one of two long-vacant groups of parishes in his deanery, and talked ne into going to take a look at them. In his enthusiasm he subsequently apparently mentioned me to the archdeacon of the next-door archdeaconry, which prompted a further earnest invitation to view a couple of other vacant incumbencies on the latter's patch. No bishop was involved, as Bangor had a vacancy in see at the time.
Within a matter of days of visiting the latter two parish groups, however, I read that the Electoral College had met and had confirmed that a certain Barry Morgan would be the next bishop of Bangor. I immediately put any thought of a move to Bangor diocese out of my mind. I'd never actually met Dr Morgan, but I'd known of him ever since he became Anglican chaplain to Bangor university; his opinions were well-known enough in the province, and I'd been up-front to both the rural dean and to the archdeacon about my views on Anglicans unilaterally deciding to admit women to the three-fold ordained ministry.
'I bet I never hear a word further about being persuaded to move to Bangor diocese', I thought! And, of course, I never did. That was still some years before any Anglican province had made the final decision about women's ordination. But the direction of the wind was plain!
So I stayed where I was; and, being in England, when the time came I at least got the 'periodic payments' which helped to finance me to train to do something else to earn my living!