Locked out

Many regular Sunday church attenders will be feeling lost following the closure of churches in accordance with government instructions on defeating the spread of the coronavirus. In time of need they are denied the comfort of Holy Communion and fellowship. 

Many of us have been there for years. Effectively excommunicated, orthodox Anglicans have in many areas been left with no church to attend, especially in Wales where the Assistant Provincial Bishop David Thomas was not replaced following his retirement in 2008. 

My experience of virtual services has not been inspiring, unlike the above video link which was sent to me by a well wisher. 

We have lost so much.

“Women of Jerusalem, do not shed your tears for me, but for yourselves and for your children! For the days are coming when men will say, ‘Lucky are the women who are childless—the bodies which have never borne, and the breasts which have never given nourishment.’ Then men will begin ‘to say to the mountains, Fall on us! and to the hills, Cover us!’ For if this is what men do when the wood is green, what will they do when it is seasoned?”
Luke 23:28-31

Grandstanding

Source: Twitter

Rachel Treweek @BishGloucester tweeted:

"Amid all that we’re living in the present, I am pausing today to give thanks for the joy of this day in 2015 when I was announced as the next Bishop of Gloucester @churchofengland Thank you @GlosDioc it is such a privilege to be here.."

Why do women clergy find it necessary to parade themselves on social media claiming to be privileged, proud, etc?

It is a privilege that has been abused, substituting feminism for Anglicanism. It is nothing to be proud of.

Lambeth Conference postponed

Lambeth Conference 2008                                                                     Source: Anglican Communion

An uncomfortable looking Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has announced that Lambeth 2020 has been rescheduled to the Summer of 2021. He must be relieved given all the angst that has preceded it.

His announcement follows his earlier underwhelming performance in his politically correct televised act of devotion on Mothering Sunday.

Perhaps following the Bishop of Monmouth and partner venture, Justin Welby, in his latest pronouncement sends his wife's greetings to all the spouses, presumably, therefore, including those in same sex partnerships who were told not to attend, before uttering his blessing from both of them. 

I am sure he means well but the trials that are likely to come reveal a sick political set up in the Church of England that leaves the faithful with little comfort in their hours of need.

Please stay home request

Source: Twitter

Please stay home. Surely it is not too much to ask.

Postscripts

[23.03.2020]

Two powerful messages to obey government advice and stay home:

https://twitter.com/ShiptonMartin/status/1242072350323073026

Anyone ignoring requests to stay at home could be responsible for infecting 59,000 people.

https://twitter.com/aljwhite/status/1241859943017349126

[24.03.2020]

https://twitter.com/BBCWalesNews/status/1242383182449840132

God bless!

Loser

Labour's Jeremy Corbyn in the House of Commons. Source: Independent (PA)

There was no contrition after Jeremy Corbyn led the Labour Party to a humiliating defeat at the 2019 General Election. He refused to accept any blame and remained in office.

 Ignoring Coronavirus advice from Prof Chris Whitty the Chief medical adviser that people over the age of 70 should take "particular care to minimise their social contact" Jeremy Corbyn said he would not be working from home and would carry on with his duties as normal.

Advice from the Government is designed to keep British citizens as safe as is reasonably possible. 

As Leader of the Opposition, Corbyn set an abysmal example demonstrating that he is a loser the country was fortunate to avoid. 

Something interesting

From: Coalition for Marriage (C4M)

Dear marriage supporter,

Something interesting is beginning to happen…

Travelling around the country in recent months, I’ve met over a thousand Christians, Jews and Muslims, atheists and agnostics, young people and old, men and women.

There aren’t many areas in life these days where such a diverse group of people can sit together and agree on one thing. But when that one thing is restoring the importance of real marriage to society, it turns out that the unlikely just keeps on happening.

Ignoring the recent inclement weather, supporters joined us on our northern tour which took in Chester, Sheffield, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh. And we’ve been invited to speak to yet more groups around the UK.

It is wonderful to present people with the evidence and arguments for one man, one woman marriage. But what's even more amazing is peoples’ desire to spend a considerable time after each session asking questions and discussing together the need and means of restoring this bedrock in our society.

Whether the issue is rising teenage pregnancies, knife crime figures, inappropriate sex education in schools or the gender confusion seemingly prevalent in our culture, we all know the key answers are to be found in supporting and promoting marriage.

We are the only organisation in the UK that reaches so many different kinds of people up and down the country with that one clear message: marriage matters.

So, if you or anyone you know, would like us to come and give an engaging and completely FREE talk on the arguments and evidence supporting traditional marriage, please get in touch. We would love to bring the message to you also.

Yours faithfully,

(Sgnd) Dr Tony Rucinski

Dr Tony Rucinski
Director of Supporter Strategy
Coalition for Marriage (C4M)

Caption corner 7 March 2020

Bishop of Llandaff patronises Fair Trade shop                     Source: Twitter

As usual publishable captions will appear under Comments.

Lambeth 2008 warning unheeded

Lambeth Conference 2008                                                                     Source: Anglican Communion

At the close of the 2008 Lambeth Conference Archbishop Rowan Williams warned of a grave peril to the Anglican Communion caused by some provinces deciding unilaterally to consecrate gay clergy and bless same-sex unions.

Addressing a gathering of clergy and laity in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles in 2019 the former Archbishop of Canterbury said that the Anglican Communion was "fractured but still a family".

As if to emphasis the fracture, LGBT+ campaigners are to hold a church service led by two high-profile married lesbian priests on the eve of the Lambeth conference which is expected to be dominated by conflicts over sexuality and marriage. According to a Guardian report the service is intended to send a strong message to once-a-decade Lambeth conference.

The “inclusive” eucharist will be presided over by the 'first avowed lesbian to be consecrated a bishop in the Anglican Communion',  the Rt Rev Mary Glasspool, assistant bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of New York. The preacher will be a daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Rev Canon Mpho Tutu van Furth. Having entered into a same-sex marriage she told the Guardian that her message at the eucharist would be one of a “Christian welcome and hospitality”. She said: “Jesus was always determined to make those who society sees as outsiders be insiders.”

No distinction is made between sin and the sinner.

Former 'insiders' who do not subscribe to the LGBT+ creed and their 'inclusive' church now find themselves outsiders as more bishops and clergy test which way the wind is blowing and endorse un-Christian values.

Under the heading Same Sex Marriage Research the Ozanne Foundation claimed a victory for supporters of same-sex marriage: "Same sex marriage support far outweighs those against". A YouGov poll allegedly shows that "a marked increase in the number of Anglicans believing same-sex marriage is right alongside a marked decrease in numbers believing it is wrong."

The Rev Peter Ould, also a psephologist, responded with a timely tweet: "A gentle reminder to everyone that 'Anglican' here is not in any way correlated to attending church OR believing the basics of Christianity. These are all self-identified and not qualified as having any religious / spiritual activity." You can read an extended response from Peter Ould here.

Rowan Williams' warning at the last Lambeth Conference went unheeded. The liberals have their way.

Twelve years after Lambeth 2008 the Church in Wales has its own lesbian bishop as the bench drives forward its agenda to change the nature of Holy Matrimony, twisting scripture to mean what they want it to mean or what secular society thinks it should mean.

The Archbishop of Wales⁩ speaks at a Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast about the ⁦Church in Wales ⁩ being "a pilgrim people and a kingdom building people" but it is not the Kingdom of God.

Postscript [06.03.2020]

Snuffing out Love.

From Christian Today: A trial that should shame all Anglicans

"Bishop Love stands accused of believing what most Christians – Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostal, Evangelical, and indeed Anglican – believe, and have always believed, about sex and marriage. His crime, if one can call it that, is not to permit same-sex marriages in his diocese."

St David's Day

St David's Day Walk from St Non's through St Davids                                                                                                                                            Source: Twitter

Yesterday was St David's Day. The Tweetosphere was full of tweets about the patron saint of Wales but the 'little things' St David spoke of were not aired, just the phrase.

David's last words to his followers were in a sermon on the Sunday prior to his death: "Lords, brothers and sisters, Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed, and do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. And as for me, I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us." (Wikipedia)

The 'little things' referred to, keeping the faith and your creed, walking in the path that our fathers have trod before us are omitted, probably because they are precisely the things that the bishops of the Church in Wales have ceased to observe.

The path walked from St Non's through the city of St Davids on St David's Day, pictured above, shows just one clergyman among a group of women clergy who now control St Davids Cathedral which has become more of a tourist attraction than a place of pilgrimage.

Preaching to politicians at Cardiff’s St David’s Day National Service at St John the Baptist Church on Sunday the Archbishop of Wales urged politicians to 'model St David'. Perhaps with tongue in cheek he said: David and his monks, whether doing the little things or the larger ones, were focussed and concentrating servants of God and God’s kingdom;  people who, as Jesus demanded, built their lives on the rock of his teaching, absorbed it, lived it out and stood firm and strong in times of testing."

The rock has crumbled in Wales.

When tested the bishops have not keep the faith or walked the path our fathers trod before us. They have conformed to this world pursuing 'inclusive' policies, not the faith of our fathers and creed.