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Monday 16 December 2019

Another page turns






While he was a chaplain to the Queen, Gavin Ashenden objected to the reading of the Koran at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow. The Koranic chapter on Mary, read from the lectern at the service of Holy Communion explicitly denied the divinity of Jesus. 

Under pressure from Buckingham Palace, Dr. Ashenden resigned his royal chaplaincy in order to be free to challenge the rising tide of apostasy in the Church of England.

His wise counsel, particularly on Anglican Unscripted, has been greatly appreciated by disaffected Anglicans whose Church has left them.

Consecrated as a Missionary bishop to the UK and Europe by the Archbishop of the Christian Episcopal Church, Bishop Ashenden struggled, without pay, to provide an element of leadership for orthodox Anglicans. Without a formal structure he effectively used the Internet to perform his ministry.

It says much for his integrity that he was asked by a Roman Catholic bishop to use his skills for the benefit of the Kingdom as a member of the Roman Catholic Church.

Our loss is their gain. May he continue to be blessed in his ministry of truth.

Postscript [19.12.2019]

Gavin Ashenden: Why I’m becoming a Catholic

6 comments:

  1. I hope that Bishop Ashenden finds in his new communion a warm welcome and, more importantly, a fulfilling and nourishing spiritual home.

    In the end there isn't - and from the start I never believed that there was going to be - any real future within the formal structure of Anglicanism for those who couldn't in integrity accept the communion's complete volte-face on several of the teachings to which it had long adhered, and to which it broadly continued to adhere until the middle of the last century.

    This seemed clear to me when the unilateral decision to ordain women to the priesthood was made, and I departed Anglicanism in the early '90s. At that time I had an interesting correspondence with my then local bishop, who was pleading with everyone that we all should surely put the supreme Christian virtue of charity to the fore, and be aiming at holding together in the face of our differences.

    Since he was a convinced conservative evangelical, I thought it probable that the breach of Catholic order inherent in a unilateral Anglican decision to ordain women to the priesthood might not register so much with him as it did with me. So I asked him how he would feel about Anglican provinces moving towards acknowledging same-sex relationships and quite possibly ultimately solemnizing same-sex marriages by the Church's rites, because I was pretty sure that would be the next issue raised once the matter of women priests was resolved.

    He was honest enough to admit that same-sex marriage was a matter of much more serious concern to him, and one which he could not conceivably back. But his only answer was that he thought the debate on it would take some time, and if it did indeed come about, by then he'd be retired.

    He was a lovely and a loving man, but it was rather a sad response,

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  2. Anne Ffowcs Williams17 December 2019 at 19:03

    “Our loss is their gain. May he continue to be blessed in his ministry of truth.”

    Amen to that! At first I felt devastated by the news. Now I feel fury at the whole Anglican community. We, in the Anglican church, desperately need people like Gavin Ashenden but we haven't had the wit to see it.

    Here in Wales we need priests of his wisdom, integrity and generosity more than anywhere in the British Isles. Here we have six bishops, three of whom are women, one of whom is in a same sex relationship and the last thing they want is someone like Dr Ashenden! Sadly, even the few Anglicans who still go, unhappily, to church, don't know they need him either.

    I suspect there are more of us outside the CiW now than are still in it, but we don't know what to do about it or where else to go,

    The Archbishop of York designate wants to reach out to the unchurched. When is someone going to reach out to the thousands of dis-churched in the wilderness or worshipping on line.

    Good luck to the Roman Catholic diocese in England, who knew a good thing when they saw it. May God bless Gavin Ashenden in his new home.

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    Replies
    1. I read your post with such sorrow, and I know exactly what you mean when you talk about the dis-churched. There are many in our parish who have turned their back on the Church in Wales over a number of theological issues.
      2020 is going to be a telling year. The bishops are going to press on with their LGBT+ agenda, pushing the blessing of same-sex marriage through the Governing Body. I believe that it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Instead of 2020 being the year we celebrate the centenary of the Church in Wales, it will be the year that the Church in Wales disintegrates and disappears.
      One priest, I know is already planning for that day. His congregation have asked him look at setting up a congregation in the local school, which will make the Parish and daughter church redundant because the congregation which would be left in them would not be able to support them financially.
      Don't despair, Anne; the Lord is about to bring calamity on the Church in Wales. The one thing I will guarantee: when it happens, the bishops and the Governing Body will take as much responsibility for it as Jeremy Corbyn did for losing last Thursday's General Election. Another thing to watch out for in 2020 is the membership figures. The Electoral Roll has to be re-enrolled this year. Just watch the membership figure plummet.
      Seymour

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    2. 2020 Vision?
      2020 Division!

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  3. May I remind you of the Anglican Catholic Church. We have a presence in North Wales, in the Conwy area, and in Pembrokeshire in South West Wales. We are small in number but we are growing. We are one diocese in Britain, under Bishop Damien Mead. We have apostolic orders and we teach the biblical, orthodox and catholic faith. I grew up in the Church in Wales and left over three years ago. In our ACC Mission here, The Good Shepherd & St Tudwal (Cenhadaeth y Bugail Da a Sant Tudwal) we have at present a monthly Eucharist, plus all the High Festivals, and a fortnightly Evening Prayer and Bible Study. We are looking to extend our mission, prayerfully and with discernment and guidance of the Holy Ghost. The Diocese now organises an annual retreat. We are praying and looking for new vocations, both lay and ordained, and we would welcome all those who are searching and seeking a spiritual home.

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  4. The above comment about the Anglican Catholic Church, Mission of the Good Shepherd & St. Tudwal, Conwy & district, is by myself, the Revd. Gareth Parry, Priest-in-charge, with apologies. I don't post anonymously.

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