MAE Cymru's misandry

St Davids Bishop-Elect Joanna Penberthy at the 2016 AGM of MAE Cymru                                                                                                      Source: Pobl Dewi

" While we, as bishops, welcome the decision that women can now be ordained as bishops in Wales, we recognise that there are some people who do not. We want to make sure that adequate provision is made for them so that they will still feel valued and accepted in the Church and will continue to worship and minister alongside us." 

- Archbishop Barry Morgan

MAE Cymru's latest Newsletter contains this highly prejudiced piece of misandry from its Llandaff division:

This from an organisations that claims: "We are a group of people with a vision of the Church in Wales as a community of God’s people where, regardless of gender, justice and equality prevail." 

The obvious conclusion is that MAE Cymru is a sexist organisation which has no intention of honouring the Code of Practice which was drawn up after the admission of women to the episcopate. - See Acceptable pastoral and sacramental ministry.

Under the Code [2.] "Individual members of the Church in Wales who, on grounds of conscience, are unable to receive the sacramental ministry of a woman diocesan bishop, shall not be required to do so against their conscience, and alternative provision shall be made."

MAE Cymru's Llandaff Link, Jenny Wigley, was co-conspirator with Peggy Jackson in designing the voluntary code that replaced the statutory provisions proposed by the bench of bishops.

Taken with Archdeacon Peggy Jackson's 'divisive' motion [page 9 of the link] at the Governing Body of the Church in Wales that bishops no longer hold separate ordinations for those who refuse the sacramental ministry of women, it is clear that there was never any intention of carrying out the archbishop's pledge to make acceptable provision for loyal Anglicans who are unable on grounds of conscience to accept the sacramental ministry of women.

The Jackson/Wigley Morgan partnership                         Photos: Church in Wales

Not one of the bishops voted against Peggy Jackson's divisive motion. Two, Joanna Penberthy and Andy John, actually voted in favour of it!

None of  the male bishops in the Church in Wales has shown any sympathy for Anglicans who are unable in conscience to accept the sacramental ministry of women. Bishop Philip North does and pays a heavy price for his faith. Jenny Wigley's attack is the latest of many, particularly from Women and the Church, MAE Cymru's affiliate.

Canon Wigley and her companions show no understanding of Anglican orthodoxy which binds together most of the Anglican Communion. The Church in Wales is among its smallest of provinces. A province that has chosen, unilaterally, to be guided not by scripture and tradition but by the spirit of the age.

Their message is for love and understanding, welcoming the marginalised but strictly on their own terms. Their vision of justice and equality for the Church in Wales is perverse. They accuse others of discrimination while displaying it themselves. 

Recently the Archbishop of Wales, John Davies, was ‘honoured and humbled’ to be awarded an honorary doctorate  (Doctor of Divinity) by the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in recognition of his services to the Church in Wales and of his leadership across faith communities.

That is all except orthodox Anglicans who keep the faith.

Hear, hear!

The appointment of Jacob Rees-Mogg to the position of Leader of the House of Commons and his interaction with John Bercow should prove both amusing and interesting especially for his predecessor Andrea Leadsom after her skirmishes with Mr Speaker.

Caption corner [23 July 2019]

Archbishop of Wales outside the church tent at the100th Royal Welsh Show                                                                               Source: Twitter  @ChurchinWales

Responses to the Archbishop's question will appear as comments.

Ordination of women, the package

"July 16, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – There has been much concern among faithful Catholics about the upcoming Amazon Synod. Progressive Cardinals from Germany and the Vatican have already held a private meeting strategizing about how to get the Synod to approve a female diaconate. Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, one of the two remaining dubia cardinals, issued a strong critique of the working document of the synod saying its real intent is 'the abolition of priestly celibacy and the introduction of a female priesthood – beginning with female deacons'.”

"The Vatican’s working document for its upcoming Amazon Synod is 'politically correct nonsense', a venerable Catholic journalist, editor, and author has said.

"Damian Thompson, of late the former editor-in-chief for the Catholic Herald, said certain parts of the document are “garbage” and that given some elements involved in the forthcoming Pan-Amazon Synod, the assembly should be called off...

"The Amazon Synod’s controversial working document, or Instrumentum Laboris, aside, many fear that the synod is being used as a vehicle for abolishing the discipline of priestly celibacy and for ushering in female priests, using the remoteness of the region, its indigenous customs, and its religious practices as a rationale."

One would have thought that the innovation of ordaining women in the Anglican Communion would have provided the Vatican with sufficient experience-based evidence that, in general, women who seek ordination are advancing themselves not the Kingdom of God which has become a vehicle to further personal aspirations.

Using the Son of God as their model, they play on the various meanings of 'love' to legitimise their departure from the bible, twisting scripture to fulfil their particular desires. - Jesus loves me, therefore....

Their campaign has resulted in leading gullible women into believing that only love matters, excusing any excess. Familiarity leads to 'normality' and acceptability.  Opponents are regarded as disposable bigots. They are the odd ones out, despite having given decades of service to the Church and being among the majority in the Anglican Communion and the wider Church.

First and foremost the ordination of women is about women's rights and equality of opportunity in the workplace based on secular criteria. Their claims are not supported by scripture or tradition. They are based on criteria that permit ambitious women and their supporters to attack the Church as being out of touch for not moving with the times. As a consequence congregations have plummeted.

Regular attendance projections indicate collapse. The Church Growth Modelling blog indicates that the Church in Wales, Scottish Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Church of the USA are all firmly under the extinction threshold with some doubt about the Church of England.

The 'Historic Episcopate locally adapted' has resulted in do as you please provinces, some with women bishops, some approving of same-sex marriage. In Canada where same sex marriage has been defeated, some bishops have decided that they will ignore the decision and go their own way.

The Anglican Communion is unravelling but there is no indication among those responsible for the innovation of women's ordination that it was a step too far. They carry on regardless while Church in Wales bishops have admitted in private that it is finished but encourage congregations to dig ever deeper.

Women have shamelessly lied and cheated their way into the Church, misrepresenting Christ's teaching to satisfy their personal demands.

If what they claim is true, why the lies and deception? False accusations of bigotry, misogyny and homophobia designed to smear anyone who defends the faith against the false prophets as predicted.

It does not stop there. The complete package includes the full liberal agenda leading to LGBT+ clergy promoting so-called 'equal' marriage so that they can live with their partners with the apparent approval and blessing of the Church.

The Anglican experience is clear, progress step by step: Deaconesses leading to women deacons, women priests and women bishops leading to demands for the acceptance of same-sex relationships and same-sex marriage.

There is the constant self-promotion of women clergy on Twitter with endless celebrations of women's ordination.

A recent Twitter example illustrates how the trail leads from a tweet to The Campaign for Equal Marriage in the CofE and onto the rainbow collar under the banner 'When in doubt, love'.

That is the ordination of women package. You don't get one bit without the other and the other and the other, etc. Are you listening Francis?

You couldn’t make it up if you tried.

Call me madam!

Dr Mackereth says he lost his job doing assessments for the DWP because he believed using
transgendered pronouns were against his conscience (Picture: Christian Concern/BPM Media)

It has been widely reported that a Christian doctor was ‘sacked’ for refusing ‘to call any 6ft bearded man madam’:

"Dr David Mackereth, 56, claims the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) discriminated against his religious beliefs because he would not use pronouns relating to people’s ‘chosen’ sex. 

"The disability claim assessor has taken his case to an employment tribunal after allegedly being suspended from his post following a conversation with a manager at Birmingham’s Fiveways assessment centre in June 2018. 

"‘In truth, the argument between us arose not because of any realistic concerns over the rights and sensitivities of transgender individuals, but because of my refusal to make an abstract ideological pledge to call any six-feet tall bearded man “madam” on his whim,’ Dr Mackereth said in a statement."

The 'gender identity' crisis continues. 

An explanatory note appears below examples of gender pronouns on the "Transforming Education" site Trans Students Educational Resources:

There are no “male/female” or “man/woman” pronouns. All pronouns can be used for any gender and are gender neutral.

We also do not use “preferred pronouns” due to people generally not having a pronoun “preference” but simply having “pronouns.” Using “preferred” can accidentally insinuate that using the correct pronouns for someone is optional.

[image description: a chart of some gender pronouns by Trans Student Educational Resources. The columns are the “subjective, objective, possessive, and reflexive” part of each pronoun set and an example.

The first pronoun set is she, her, hers, and herself. The examples are “she is speaking. I listened to her. The backpack is hers.”

The second set is he, him, his, himself. The examples are “he is speaking. I listening to him. The backpack is his.”

The third set is (singular) they, them, theirs, themself. The examples are “they are speaking. I listened to them. The backpack is theirs.”

The fourth set is ze, hir or zir, hirs or zirs, hirself or zirself. If used it would be ze/hir/hirs/hirself or ze/zir/zirs/zirself. The graphic happened to combine them into one row. The examples included “ze is speaking. I listened to hir. The backpack is zirs.”

A note at the top reads “Please note these are not the only pronouns. There are an infinite number of pronouns as new ones emerge in our language. Always ask someone for their pronouns.

Got that? 

If not you are likely to be labelled phobic for not lapping up the latest trend even if the evidence before your eyes contradicts what you are instructed to believe.

 The situation has become so confusing that school pupils in Brighton were given pronoun stickers to "help" transgender children.

Concern is now being expressed over the "rocketing number" of children seeking to change sex. It has become a national scandal according to a powerful coalition of whistleblowers, academics and medical experts'.

Source: Daily Mail

The experts' concerns are laid bare in a forthcoming book of essays entitled Inventing Transgender Children And Young People. It challenges what it calls the 'dangerous' transgender ideology promoted in schools, universities, the NHS and other public institutions.

"Heather Brunskell-Evans, a former research fellow at King's College London, who co-edited the book, said that 30 years ago the thought of a child being born in the wrong body would have made no sense to the public.

"She added: 'Now the idea, which was invented by specialists in gender medicine and transgender activists, has become universally accepted.

"'But we are collectively arguing that this unquestioning acceptance poses a serious threat to children's well-being and safety. We hope through this book to bring the world's attention to the public scandal of transgendering children.'"

Next up, 'normalising paedophilia right in front of our eyes': 

"Follow the trajectory and it is not hard to see where we go next. Ten years ago, there was no such thing as "drag kids" or drag queen story hours. Leftists would have called you a paranoid lunatic had you predicted that such things would come to pass. Now both are utterly commonplace, yet leftists will insist that even though grown men in dresses like to hang out with little children at libraries, and adults like to go to gay bars to watch boys dance around in skirts and high heels, there is nothing sexual about any of it. Ten years from now, or maybe sooner, they will admit that it is sexual but insist that there is nothing wrong with a young boy and a grown man getting together, so long as it is consensual. You do not need to be Nostradamus to see this next step. It is right in front of us, clear as day." [H/T Anglican Mainstream]

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” 

— Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa

Postscript [17.07.2019]

Mail Online: Branded a 'bigot' for standing up for his Christian beliefs, Dr Mackereth who refused to call a 6ft bearded man 'madam' take it as a 'badge of honour'.


Postscript [21.07.2019]

Bishop Gavin Ashenden: "Have a look at what is actually taught in LGBT lessons in UK primary schools. Take the time to watch this so that you know what is really happening. It’s not what they said. It’s not what you thought."

Anglicanism in England and Wales today

No pun intended?                                                                 Source: Twitter @guardian

From the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby:

"Great fun celebrating 25 years of women's ordination to the priesthood at @lambethpalace today!

We're here at Lambeth. Behind me you can see priests and indeed deacons from all over the country who have come to celebrate 25 years since the ordination of women to the priesthood began in the Church of England. We've had great fun, it's been a very happy gathering and we're going to press on."

Great fun and happiness for some but hell for others as the Church of England presses on, abandoning her commitment to 'mutual flourishing'. Such commitments are easily dropped after goals have been achieved.

Pressing on means unpicking the agreement that let loose ordained women in the Anglican Church.

Pressing on means excluding anyone who does not conform to the new regime.

As strident 'Eves' seek their own fulfilment at the expense of others, countless 'Marys' who have followed the example of the mother of God, serving others rather than themselves, have been forgotten after nurturing the young in the faith and providing continuity in the Church for generations. They have been cast out by women who constantly celebrate their own 'success' on social media while leaving the vanquished to fend for themselves as best they can. Great fun!

The establishment is complicit. Mutual flourishing was simply used as a device to win the debate in the same way that 'Shared Conversations' are being used to advance the LGBT+ agenda in the Church.

 Figures published by Anglican Ink answer the question put to the CofE General Synod, Who has flourished under mutual flourishing? 

Since the enactment of the legislation in 2014:
• 22 women have been ordained Bishop;
• 4 women have been appointed Deans
• 23 women have been appointed Archdeacons
• 31 women have been appointed Residentiary Canons

The diversity monitoring data for those appointed to senior roles since that time indicates that:
• 1 diocesan bishop;
• 2 suffragan bishops; and
• 1 archdeacon
identify themselves as either traditional catholic or conservative evangelical. However, the labels which people use to describe their church tradition do not necessarily correlate with whether they are unable for theological reasons to recognise the priestly or episcopal ministry of women.

In Wales the situation is even more dire.

In the latest edition of New Directions, the former Chairman of Credo Cymru, Jeffrey Gainer, writes about the Church in Wales "Then and Now". He considers the challenges facing traditional Christians in Wales.

I quote:

"It should surprise nobody then that some younger clergy have gone elsewhere, some to England and some to other communions. The numbers are not large, but they are significant signs of the narrowing of the basis of Anglican fellowship in Wales where the bishops have throughout refused to provide any structural provision for traditionalists even though the innovations in sacramental life and teaching that they have promoted have made the inherited structures less unifying. The sense of collegiality between bishops and clergy is reduced in some instances and some clergy from Wales renew their ordination vows by attending chrism masses outside the province as result. This practice has developed after the Provincial Assistant Bishop, who ministered to traditionalist clergy and laity, was not replaced after his retirement in 2008. No theological explanation for this decision was given then or since; there was no consultation with Credo Cymru, the organization representing traditionalists. Recently, the relatively new Archbishop of Wales, acting on behalf of the whole bench of bishops, declined to meet with representatives of the same organization to discuss matters of concern and argued that the positions of both sides were evident. It was simply a matter of episcopal fiat again. Likewise, at the most recent meeting of the Governing Body, held at Cardiff, the archbishop stated publicly that the code of practice was purely in the hands of the bishops, and could be torn up tomorrow should they so wish.

"...the Church in Wales is similar to other Anglican provinces from North America to Australasia which have striven to commend their claims by accepting the social mores of the societies in which they are set and have ended up being ignored as offering very little that is distinctive. Especially since the major social changes of the 1960s all churches in Western Christianity have had to confront the issue of the extent to which they challenge or conform to profound change in attitudes and behaviour. As has been remarked by many, the fault lines in belief and practice nowadays do not run so much between denominations as within them. It might be supposed that Anglicanism with its inherited patterns of diverse churchmanship might be better equipped to face this challenge but that is a claim that is more optimistic than accurate. In fact, the Anglican churches have found that whilst engaging with contemporary culture they have been tempted to capitulate to that culture. Part of the reason may be that without a strong centre such as the Papacy, they are tempted to follow the model of provincial autonomy. The Lambeth Conference has failed to fulfil the role of securing eucharistic communion and mutual recognition of ordained ministries, a clear sign of a breakdown in common faith. After all, in 2008 a third of the Anglican episcopate did not even attend the Conference which also did not issue teaching, say on the family, as the 1958 Conference had done. What has ensued is a pragmatic acquiescence in provincial autonomy. In Wales this has led within a few years to unilateral innovations affecting the administration of the sacraments.

"Some may suppose that the recent rejection of a private member's motion at the Governing Body points in a different direction. It is true that Archdeacon Peggy Jackson's motion  was heavily defeated after ten speakers criticised its attempt  to bar traditionalists from access to the ordination process. However, what should not be missed is that not one bishop voted against this illiberal proposal and that two of their number, Joanna Penberthy of St Davids and Andrew John of Bangor voted for it. Moreover, the indications are that in Bangor the policy advocated by the motion has been the de facto reality for some time. In St Davids, a traditionalist parish with one of the strongest congregations, and with a significant ministry to children and young people, has been told that it will not have a resident cleric although it is still expected to contribute over £60,000 in ministry share. Another parish, elsewhere in the diocese, and one which did not ask for a male bishop to officiate at confirmation, will have a new priest resident in its parsonage after only a month's interregnum. This strikes many as anomalous, to say the least."

It is difficult to escape the conclusion that orthodox Anglicans in England and Wales are held in contempt for not conforming to this world.

Caption corner 5 July 2019

"The Rt Rev Joanna Penberthy, Bishop of St Davids, was lifted in a specially adapted forklift to anoint the statue's forehead with oil."                     Source: BBC

It's becoming a woman's world

Petertide ordinations 2019                                                                                                                                                                              Source: Church in Wales

As predicted, women are gradually taking over Western Anglicanism. At the shrine of St David men are becoming a rarity as Joanna continues her policy of feminising the church in her diocese. 

It is not just the feminisation. Solemnity has been replaced by a carnival atmosphere highlighted in many tweets following this year's Petertide ordinations. Dignity has given way to frivolity, mystery to madness. Just about anything goes.

"25 years on"                                                                                                                Source: Twitter

There have been endless celebrations to mark women priests celebrating 25 years of women’s ordination giving the impression that the Anglican Church has become little more than a vehicle for feminism in a do-as-you-please religion.

Figures reported in the Church Times show that more women than men are going forward for training for ordination for the first time in more than 15 years. The total number of female clergy has risen steadily from 5310 in 2013 to a record high of 5690 last year, the total for men declined by about 860 in this time, contributing to the overall decline in clergy in the past four years.

Meanwhile, those whose consciences prevent them from engaging in 'Churchianity' are advised to make other arrangements as best they can which generally means leaving them with no place of worship.

So much for the new, loving, friendly inclusive church.

Postscript [05.07.2019]

CoE General Synod Q&A — Who has flourished under mutual flourishing?

Since the enactment of the legislation in 2014:

• 22 women have been ordained Bishop;
• 4 women have been appointed Deans
• 23 women have been appointed Archdeacons
• 31 women have been appointed Residentiary Canons

The diversity monitoring data for those appointed to senior roles since that time indicates that:

• 1 diocesan bishop;
• 2 suffragan bishops; and
• 1 archdeacon

identify themselves as either traditional catholic or conservative evangelical. However, the labels which people use to describe their church tradition do not necessarily correlate with whether they are unable for theological reasons to recognise the priestly or episcopal ministry of women.