Bishop of Monmouth to retire

Bishop of Monmouth Richard Pain                                                                Source: Church in Wales

From a Provincial press release: The Bishop of Monmouth, the Rt Revd Richard Pain, is to retire at the end of the month. He is retiring due to ill health.

The Church in Wales is watching

Church in Wales bishops of Llandaff, Bangor, St Davids, St Asaph Swansea & Brecon and Monmouth 

Archdeacon Peggy Jackson has attracted much criticism over her brutal treatment of faithful women and men who look to scripture and tradition rather than to her to decide what it takes to be an Anglican as accepted by 85 million members of the Anglican Communion of which the Church in Wales comprises 0.03%.

In her latest move she requests the Church's Governing Body to endorse her Motion that "all Bishops, consonant with previous undertakings, agree not to hold in future separate ordination services for any candidates, on the grounds of the candidates’ views on gender."

That is to deny ordination to men who are unable to accept the sacramental ministry of women and who rely upon the conscience clauses of the Code of Practice as intended.

In Jackson's book God calls women regardless but He calls men only if they enjoy the archdeacon's stamp of approval.

She is not alone in seeking to rid the Church of men who are not governed by the spirit of the age.

Canon Emma Percy, Chair of Women and the Church (WATCH) is quoted in The Times as saying “People are baffled that you can have senior bishops yet there are parts of the church which won’t accept women’s ministry.”

If people are baffled it is as a result of feminist propaganda which avoids theology, comparing instead secular standards of equality of opportunity in the workplace.

MAE Cymru, the WATCH sister organisation in Wales supposedly stands for ‘Ministry and Equality’. In practice it is about advancing the ministry of women in the Church regardless of ability and suitability under the guise of equality with emphasis on LGBT rights.

Anyone who gets in their way is expendable. Ignoring solemn pledges made to achieve their objective of women bishops the revisionists employ a form of taqiyya, using any means at their disposal to achieve their objective regardless of the truth.

When the bench of bishops meekly accepted the Jackson/Wigley amendment which substituted a voluntary Code of Practice for the statutory provision they became complicit in the MAE Cymry/WATCH agenda.

The BBC reported at the time:
"There were huge cheers in the hall as the result was announced....The Church in Wales' bishops wanted a second bill to allow the Church's constitution to be rewritten for traditionalist priests who do not want to be led by a woman. But reformers successfully put forward an amendment earlier in the day to avoid delays in adopting the change during a meeting at Lampeter, Ceredigion. Their amendment led to the straight yes-no vote."

If the bench supports Jackson's coup they will be hastening the end of the Church in Wales, turning it into a sexualised organisation dominated by priestesses as in pagan times.

Governing Body suggested slide

Original photo: Church in Wales

'Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest'.

Laid bare

Ancient stone carving with apple

 ‘We asked for bread but you gave us stones‘ became a familiar cry from the movement for the ordination of women.

What has been revealed since they achieved their objectives is that they have hearts of stone.

Provisions made for orthodox 'traditionalist' Anglicans to ensure the successful passage of their 'equality' legislation have been gradually eroded.

Alternative episcopal oversight was cruelly withdrawn by archbishop Barry Morgan after bishop David Thomas retired.

The axe is hovering again, waiting to strike the final blow against orthodoxy. A blow by Morgan's hatchet woman that will change the Church in Wales forever, turning it into a feminist sect on the outer fringes of Anglicanism.

Following the Canon to enable the Ordination of Women as Bishops a Code of Practice in relation to the Ministry of Bishops was added.

There was a nod towards the Code of Practice adopted by the Church of England but it was twisted by the Jackson/Wigley amendment to ensure that there would be no similar structure to provide alternative episcopal oversight in Wales:

[4.] "Within the Church in Wales, those who on grounds of theological conviction and conscience are unable to receive the sacramental ministry of women bishops or priests continue to be within the spectrum of teaching and tradition of the Anglican Communion. The Church in Wales therefore remains committed to enabling all its members to flourish within its life and structures as accepted and valued. Appropriate provision for them will be made in a way intended to maintain the highest possible degree of communion and contributes to mutual flourishing across the whole Church in Wales."

Another paragraph was added:

[5.] " Since the Code of Practice needs to be both strong and flexible enough to respond to a changing situation in the future, and since the Governing Body has entrusted the Bench of Bishops with the task of agreeing a Code which commits the Bench to making provisions for all the members of the Church in Wales, the Bench reserves the right to amend the provisions of this Code as may be necessary in the future."

The sting was in the tail. Jackson's strategy is laid bare. Unless it is voted down the final blow will be delivered at the next meeting of the Governing Body (GB) of the Church in Wales.

An alleged "changing situation" private member Motion submitted by Archdeacon Peggy Jackson reveals her original intent. 

It seeks to remove any provision for conscience in the Church in Wales:

"the Bishops should not in future allow conscience provisions to be extended towards anyone who seeks ordination from this point on; nor should they be prepared to consider for ordination in the Church in Wales anyone, who intends from the very outset of their ministry, to restrict the exercise of that ministry, by their reliance upon conscience provisions."

Archdeacon Peggy Jackson's Motion:

"That this Governing Body rejoices that the Church in Wales has now received the consecration of two Bishops who are women, and: 

1. requests that all Bishops, consonant with previous undertakings, agree not to hold in future separate ordination services for any candidates, on the grounds of the candidates’ views on gender. 

2. calls on the Bench of Bishops to resile from paragraph 5 of the Explanatory Note to their 2014 Code of Practice, and cease to ordain those who, refusing the sacramental ministry of women, expect to rely upon the conscience clauses of the Code."

Code of Practice procedures which were designed to allow those who 'on grounds of theological conviction and conscience are unable to receive the sacramental ministry of women bishops or priests' to continue have been gradually eroded. 

In her final blow Jackson seeks to renege on a Church in Wales commitment designed to enable all its members to flourish within its life and structures.

In her explanatory note Jackson writes: 

"The purpose [of the Code of Practice] was to  recognise and honour the long allegiance and service many such people had given to the Church in Wales, and to mitigate as far as possible any feelings of rejection that they might otherwise experience, by the enactment of this doctrinal change. The provisions were never intended to maintain within the Church in Wales a parallel, or alternative, doctrinal tradition to that which had been decided by Governing Body; nor were they intended to uphold, or sustain on behalf of others, different doctrinal traditions belonging to other provinces of the Anglican Communion, with whom the Church in Wales has chosen to disagree."

Her duplicity is clear. Jackson portrays women as victims deserving sympathy despite having no sympathy whatsoever for the many women and men she has successfully shut out from her 'inclusive' Church:

"The Code of Practice set out, as a priority, its intention to promote as far as possible the mutual flourishing of all within the Church in Wales, and made provisions accordingly.  The cost of these provisions has been borne, at times painfully, by many people across the Church in Wales, but most specifically, and constantly, by women who serve the church: women ordinands who have been obliged to train alongside other ordinands who, with impunity, have been allowed to question and deny the validity of their vocations; women clergy who have been made to feel, in the context of some clergy gatherings where shared communion is impaired, that they are the ‘problem’, or who have been asked to tolerate the public  rejection of their ministry by fellow clergy, in the name of ‘tradition’ or ‘conscience’;  women exploring their vocations, who have had to overcome additional hurdles in discernment, over and above their male counterparts, because of a prevailing attitude among some influential people, that their vocations were somehow questionable.  A survey undertaken in 2017 indicated that, four years after the passing of the legislation on women bishops, women were still disproportionately being subject to these experiences."

It is difficult to see why anyone would believe the archdeacon after the lies, distortion and duplicity used by the women's movement when mere differences of opinion are deliberately exaggerated and represented as prejudice.

The women who are suffering are not those exploring their vocations but those with conscientious beliefs who have been shut out of their own Church. 

Conscience is not something to be turned off like a tap however Jackson wraps it up.

When she was a member of the Church of England Jackson is on record as saying that anyone who could not accept the new order would have to make their own arrangements. It is as if she was talking about changing social clubs:

"New individuals with conscientious difficulties over women’s ministry will simply have to make personal decisions and individual choices, to find accommodation as best they can – just as many already have to do over a host of other current issues, some very uncomfortable, where people find themselves representative of a view which is not that sanctioned by the ‘church’ as a whole, and upheld through Synod and Parliament." - Canon Jackson in a GRAS Newsletter.

On the contrary, it is Jackson's view that is "not that sanctioned by the ‘church’ as a whole, and upheld through Synod and Parliament."

  

The Church in Wales is not a world leader in Anglicanism. It is a tiny Province which, thanks to Barry Morgan and Peggy Jackson, chooses to disagree with orthodox doctrinal traditions in the Anglican Communion and beyond. But it still represents the Anglican Communion in Wales. 

Faithful Anglicans who have had unorthodox doctrines imposed on them have no choice but to leave or be accused of hypocrisy. That there is nowhere else to go within the Communion is of no concern to Jackson and those sharing her views. 

Many have left, hence the dramatic fall in attendance leaving mainly elderly people with something to do on a Sunday as the Archbishop of Wales succinctly commented in an ITV interview.  

Average Sunday attendance in 2017 was 27,359 representing 0.8% of the population of Wales. A dismal figure which would cause many to stop and think but not those determined to pursue their own agenda at any cost.

Few elderly people are involved in Church politics. Under their noses the Church in Wales is being changed into a feminist cult using the hash tag #lovewins. It does not. More accurately #sex triumphs, now with the aid of the two women bishop activists glorified by Jackson in her Motion.

This callous disregard of faithful Anglicans by feminist entryists is un-Christian. It lacks even the slightest semblance of fair play. 

The faith held by the overwhelming majority of Christians has served the Church for two thousand years. A late convert, Peggy Jackson's approach to Anglicanism is warped in favour of her personal preferences as if she knows better than the Apostles and even Christ Himself.

She does not represent the majority of Christian women, only a certain type of woman. One standing naked in the garden tempting others with an apple. 

If the bench associate themselves with Jackson's motion they will deserve their share of odium that should be deservedly heaped on the archdeacon for dishonouring the Church with her blatant misandry.

Her Motion has to be rejected if the Church in Wales is to retain any shred of credibility.

Rogue report?

Bishop of Monmouth Richard Pain       Source: South Wales Argus

The Bishop of Monmouth farce continues. 

The South Wales Argus has picked up an obscure note from the Agenda of the Governing Body which meets at Cardiff's  City Hall 1 - 2 May for their headline Bishop of Monmouth Richard Pain should continue on church panel for 'another six years', report recommends.

Item 7 on the Agenda, Report of the Standing Committee (PDF) presents recommendations following the committee's meetings going back to to 29 November 2018 and 14 February 2019. From this the Argus has picked up, or, more likely, was fed:

"11. Under the procedure for appointing to the Panels of Chairs and Assessors members are reviewed after six years. This year two members of the Panel of Chairs came up for review, Mrs Helen Biggin and the Right Reverend Richard Pain. The Committee recommends that they are re-appointed for a period of a further six years. The Committee also recommends the appointment of His Honour Judge Andrew Keyser QC to the Panel of Chairs for a period of six years.                                                Recommendation 1 "

Translating a self-perpetuating old boy/girl system to imply a vote of confidence in the bishop of Monmouth is absurd. The bishops and their minions have become a self serving elite. They are completely out of touch with reality.

Bishop Richard Pain has been absent for ten months despite there being no case to answer in relation to the dispute. The 2019 Chrism Mass was celebrated in Newport Cathedral by archbishop John Davies.

The verdict of many Monmouth clergy was to travel to Bristol where the Bishop of Ebbsfleet was celebrating for the reaffirmation of their ordination vows.

Easter 2019

The Resurrection of Christ, Tintoretto

Wishing all a Happy and Blessed Easter

Easter message

Bishop's Pride involvement 'fantastic'                                                                              Source: BBC

From the bishop of St Davids' Easter message:

 "Many of us this year will have lived through pain and suffering that we did not

choose and could hardly bear, knowing that God walks with us, but also hardly

knowing how that is supposed to help. Holy Week, Good Friday and Holy

Saturday remind us that we are called to endure." 

How true. Not just this year but every year since women were ordained in the Church in Wales.

Orthodox Anglicans did not choose to be cut off from their Church but Barry Morgan and his band led by his embittered Archdeacon Peggy Jackson saw to that.   

Each year absence from the Triduum reminds us most strongly of what we have to endure for our faith. 

The bishops welcome all manner of allegedly persecuted minorities while rejecting Anglicans who remain faithful to the orthodox teachings of the Church. The 'inclusive' church has no time for orthodoxy.

No doubt there will be further dollops of hypocrisy from other bishops.

As the Archbishop of Wales told anyone who was prepared to listen at the Swansea and Brecon Chrism Mass: "Because one act of compassion, one act of gentleness, of kindness, of mercy, of forgiveness, of love, from one person to another, changes someone’s life. And if someone’s life is changed then, as imperceptibly as it may be, the world is changed for the better.”

There is no sign of life changing compassion for abandoned Anglicans.

In Monmouth the bishop is still absent. For Holy Week and Easter they have instead a guest preacher, the 'married' gay priest, the Revd Canon Jeremy Davies, former Precentor of Salisbury Cathedral, the old stomping ground of the bishop of Llandaff June Osborne.

It is more of the same and not just for Easter!

Notre Dame Cathedral

Smoke billows as fire engulfs the spire of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris   Source: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Lord have mercy.

Postscript [17.04.2019]

 “Interpreting the great fire of Notre Dame.”
Gavin Ashenden in conversation with Rodney Hearth. http://a1r.tv/videos/view/19124

Double standards

The thought police are having a field day.

From renowned philosopher to star Australian rugby player, alleged statements and views that do not correspond to 'correct' thinking spell trouble from people who believe they have the right to tell us what to think.

The BBC reported that Conservative academic Sir Roger Scruton had been sacked as head of a government housing body following comments in an interview with the New Statesman in which he referred to  Islam, China and George Soros.

Downing Street said, presumably without checking, that the comments were "deeply offensive".

Claiming that Scruton had been misreported, Adrian Hilton, AKA Archbishop Cranmer, tweeted: In an educational context, any academic supervisor would consider this a serious breach of ethical standards, and would fail him. To manipulate a quotation in order to fabricate an interpretation which inflicts harm on the interviewee is devoid of morality and integrity.

This is unethical journalism. You can't interview someone and then edit their comments so that readers will infer racism, when clearly Roger Scruton was referring to the generational replication of communist ideology.

Sir Roger has written An apology for thinking in The Spectator.


The Independent reported that Israel Folau is to be sacked by Rugby Australia after refusing to respond to attempts to contact him following his "homophobic and hateful" social media outburst, ruling him out of this year’s Rugby World Cup.

According to the Mirror England rugby star Billy Vunipola could also face disciplinary action from the RFU for refusing to unlike an Instagram post published by Israel Folau. "Rugby is an inclusive sport and we do not support these views" the RFU said in a statement.

That is, selectively inclusive. As in new Anglicanism, orthodoxy is excluded.

Many people of Polynesian heritage take their religion seriously. Folau is alleged to have said that "hell awaits" homosexuals. That does not make him homophobic and hateful. In communicating his Christian beliefs to others based on his understanding of scripture he is warning others so that they may be saved, as was the Christian street preacher who was arrested for breaching the peace because he was being "islamophobic".

One of the errors Sir Roger Scruton was accused of was questioning the definition of Islamophobia. He said he stood by comments he has made in the past that Islamophobia was a "propaganda word invented by the Muslim Brotherhood in order to stop discussion of a major issue".

Robert Spencer claims in Jihad Watch that the term was invented in the 1970s:

"According to the French philosopher Pascal Bruckner, 'At the end of the 1970s, Iranian fundamentalists invented the term ‘Islamophobia’ formed in analogy to ‘xenophobia’. The aim of this word was to declare Islam inviolate. Whoever crosses this border is deemed a racist. This term, which is worthy of totalitarian propaganda, is deliberately unspecific about whether it refers to a religion, a belief system or its faithful adherents around the world'.”

The double standards are plain to see. Christianity is kicked around as a fabrication while Islam has become inviolate.

The video above shows the continuing plight of Christians in Africa. They are being murdered and dispossessed by Muslim Fulani herdsmen in what amounts to a program of ethno-religious cleansing but there is no mention of the atrocities in the mainstream media. By contrast, petrified by accusations of Islamophobia extended coverage of the Christchurch massacre was assured.

Closer to home from a Diocesan press release Llandaff is to hold 'A day to explore spirituality and prayer' in a joint event with their neighbouring Monmouth Diocese.

One of the highlights, will be the opportunity to "learn about spirituality and prayer in the Islamic traditions" while Islam denies that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died on the Cross to save others.

Sadly that has become the norm reducing the opportunities for more people to be saved as Christ Himself commanded.

Postscripts [14.04.2019]

1. The Australian Christian Lobby stands with Israel Folau and supports his right to express his beliefs.

“When a belief is disagreed with, however vehemently, it should be critiqued, not censored. That is how a mature, democratic society works.”

Censoring a belief does not change the fact that it is part of the identity of millions of people. In fact, it will only cause greater conflict and friction over time.”

2. Watch: 'They just turn up at night and kill Christians'

Nigerian priest shares his harrowing experience of persecution.

"They come at night shouting and by sunrise they leave a trail of destruction with dead bodies of women, children and men whose only guilt is their Christian belief."

Postscript [17.04.2019]

Belfast Telegraph - Peter Lynas: Today’s secularism leaves no space for Billy Vunipola... or Ashers

Caption corner 12 April 2019

Bishop of Llandaff June Osborne sharing a moment with Archbishop John Davies      Source: CinW

Publishable captions will appear under Comments.

Where faith doesn't matter

The Spring 2019 issue of Croeso, the Llandaff diocese newsletter, has the 'Diocesan Vision' logo Where Faith Matters splashed across its front cover. 

The reality is different. 

Faith does not matter in Llandaff or in any other diocese in the Church in Wales. 

What matters is toeing the party line. Bishops busy themselves making the Church more relevant to society, principally by championing the LGBT movement and embracing other faiths while excluding orthodox Anglicans who have kept the faith.

In Llandaff the bishop has alienated many by her high-handed managerial style moulded by the marketplace. The mystery of faith is unlikely to be conveyed successfully by a few Power Point presentations. 

Doubts have been raised about her alleged consultations regarding St Teilo's in Cardiff being given over to a church plant experiment. 

Also, it has been widely reported than an elderly priest has been told that if he is not fit enough to join jolly June on her jaunt to Compostela he is not fit to run his parish so he must retire. - Echoes of the bishop of St Davids trying to ditch faithful long serving male clergy!

No wonder that the Church in Wales is sinking fast.

According to the 2011 census nearly one third of people in Wales have no religion, a higher proportion than in Wales and England as a whole. A total of 58% (1.8m) gave Christianity as their belief, a 14% drop since 2001.

Numbers regularly attending Anglican Sunday services in Wales have declined every year since. Down to 0.8% of the population in 2017.

By contrast those in Wales stating in 2011 that they were Muslim was 1.5%,  more than double the 0.7% figure in 2001. 

Helping to encouraging the growth of other faiths at the expense of Christianity, the bench continues to embrace Islam even though Christians are reduced to living under humiliating dhimmi status in Islamic states, many of which continue to allow stoning of homosexuals and adulterers under strict sharia law.

Faith matters, particularly among Anglicans who are unable in conscience to accept the sacramental ministry of women in common with the overwhelming majority of Christians but their faith has been cast aside while favouring others and none.

Peace Mala. The Archbishop of Wales with supporters @StDavidsNeath.                                                                                     Source: Twitter @WelshMuslims

Update [07.04.2019]

From Christian today: Brunei's draconian new laws don't just affect gay people, Christians are at risk too.

Protests have been held outside the Dorchester in London over Brunei's new gay stoning laws. Some Christians are wondering why there isn't more outcry about the threat of death to the country's Christian community.

Despite the focus of media attention on the threat to LGBT people, the laws also affect the Christian community, with conversion from Islam and insulting the Prophet Muhammad both carrying the death penalty.

"The newest and third phase of the law is difficult news for Christian converts who are expected to have to go into deeper hiding," said Open Doors USA. 

The first phase, which rolled out five years ago, already curtailed the freedoms of Christians and other faiths by making it a crime to "persuade, tell or encourage" Muslim children under the age of 18 "to accept the teachings of religions other than Islam".  Anyone who does so risks being fined or imprisoned.

Around two thirds of the population are Muslim and the Islamic faith is strictly enforced.  In 2015, the Sultan of Brunei cancelled Christmas celebrations.

Tomas Muller, a persecution analyst for Open Doors' World Watch Research unit, said converts stand to be particularly badly affected by the latest changes to the law, with risks including separation from spouses and children, or forced divorce.

"It is to be expected that not only society will change—depending on what exactly will be considered as 'anti-Islam' –but also that the country's Christian converts will be forced to hide their faith even more carefully," he said. 

Postscript [08.04.2019]

In a Provincial press release the Archbishop of Wales has condemned as "barbaric" the laws recently enacted in Brunei, as the result of which those who are in same-sex relationships and those who renounce Islam face severe penalties.

There is no suggestion that his Muslim friends joined the archbishop in his condemnation after the Church in Wales in common with all people of faith and goodwill  reached out in friendship and solidarity with Muslims after the attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Feminizing St Davids diocese clergy

Farmer priest relaxes on the silage                                                                 Source: Farmers Weekly

From a St Davids Cathedral tweet: "Congratulations to Canon Eileen Davies, Archdeacon designate of Cardigan in succession to The Ven Dr Will Strange who retires in May. Canon Davies will be installed and collated here in June."

Diocesan Rural Life Adviser and 'farmer priest', Eileen Davies was interviewed for BBC News in 2013 as the Church in Wales prepared to vote on women bishops.

If God calls a woman to be a bishop she said, "therefore the Church in Wales should not actually put a stumbling block there and say sorry you cannot because of the various reasons that the Representative Body of the Church in Wales  might put forward" !

It is not clear whether she thought Barry Morgan was God or his agent when he shoehorned Joanna Penberthy into St Davids to be the first woman bishop in the Church in Wales. 

Claiming to have heard God's calling herself, Canon Davies said it was important that the Church in Wales was prepared to look forward.

"We have many new ideas upon our agenda now. As a Church in Wales we have various new strategies that are now being proposed to move the Church forward. And to be able to move the church forward also we should lead the way as a Church in Wales to offer the opportunity for women to become bishops."

Women bishops have  proved to be an utter disaster. 'Moving the church forward' proved to be driving forward the LGBT agenda towards same sex marriage in church. New ideas have included misandry, deception and profligacy with a fixation on gender parity. 

Being unable to distinguish between forwards and backwards are obvious assets in the eyes of 'the best person to be a bishop'. With such callings perhaps we are to assume that God has a sense of humour.

Today is 1st April but this is no joke.