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| Another Llandaff vacancy? |
In 2013 the Church in Wales lost probably the best woman priest appointed to serve in its tiny province. Janet Henderson resigned her position as Dean of Llandaff after only two months in the post.
The episode opened a can of worms. There were rumours, charges and counter-charges. To her credit Janet Henderson did not allow any of the mud to stick on the accused.
The real reason for her departure remains a mystery so, undeterred, archbishop Morgan carried on as before regarding the Church in Wales as his personal fiefdom.
The episode opened a can of worms. There were rumours, charges and counter-charges. To her credit Janet Henderson did not allow any of the mud to stick on the accused.
The real reason for her departure remains a mystery so, undeterred, archbishop Morgan carried on as before regarding the Church in Wales as his personal fiefdom.
Two camps formed. The 'antiques' group being largely in favour of the appointment and those who thought the elevation of a relatively inexperienced priest to a senior position was asking for trouble.
Commentators have made their views clear on this blog since Barry Morgan made the appointment. Comments made under the preceding entry suggest that the matter may soon be resolved by the departure of Dean Capon. Currently on sick leave it is thought in clergy circles that the dean is unlikely to return other than to allow access for the removal men.
I had already received uncorroborated information that a complaint of bullying had been lodged by the dean after he was confronted by the bishop about 'a web of deception'.
The Church in Wales is becoming a woman's world.
The dean's departure would provide June with the opportunity to make another feminist senior appointment.
The bishop of Llandaff has already proved to be provocative as a LGBT+ campaigner and in her appointment of the first transgender vicar, now Canon Sarah Jones.
After news that most deacons ordained in the Church of England in 2019 were women it has been reported that the Church of Sweden which encourages its clergy to use gender-neutral language now has more female than male priests for the first time, described as "a sign of huge strides for gender equality since women were first allowed to be ordained in 1960."
The priesthood is not about gender equality but secular criteria have been used to sway public opinion resulting in a secularised church making politically correct appointments.
Archbishop Morgan has much to answer for. He was in the forefront of the drive for the ordination of women and same sex marriage. The Church in Wales now has the first lesbian bishop living openly in a same sex relationship. With her two LGBT campaigning sister bishops they now have gender parity on the bench. No doubt they will be insisting that the next archbishop of Wales will be a woman.
The Church in Wales is heading for extinction by 2040, largely as a result of archbishop Morgan following the example of his heretical mentor, Katharine Jefferts Schori the former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States (TEC).
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| Katharine Jefferts Schori Barry Morgan |
Along with the Church of England TEC is on a downward spiral
Some legacy!
The Capon might have been male notionally but a bigger girl's blouse you'd be hard pressed to find and for him to complain of bullying is rank hypocrisy.
ReplyDeleteThe Capon's collusion with his former boss's need to maintain the culture of secrecy and dissembling at Llandaff Cathedral, and from which a person of greater of integrity (e.g. Janet Henderson) would walk away, meant that this appointment was doomed from the start. The fact that Barry Morgan's successor had sustained experience as the Dean of an English cathedral meant that she was not going to have the wool pulled over her eyes by some whipper-snapper who had been promoted well beyond his abilities. Indeed, if some people had got their way and Jeffrey John had become the Bishop of Llandaff, he too would have arrived from the Deanery of an English cathedral and would have rumbled the dysfunction reasonably quickly. I am told that sharing certain genetic characteristics with the Dean of St Albans is no defense against the indefensible.
ReplyDeleteThe Capon's real undoing has been his arrogance, coupled to his less-than-well-developed political street wisdom, to say nothing of his paucity of intellectual ability. He imagined that, having survived the visitation (in all but name) June Osborne ordered into the running of the Cathedral a few years ago, he could revert to form in the manner learned at the feet of his former master. Lack of transparency, an exceptional sense of entitlement, dividing and ruling, a contempt for accountability and, worst of all, a tendency to semantic circumlocution (to use Anne Widdecombe's oft-used euphemism) soon became the common currency. Blissfully unaware that June would be watching him like a hawk, The Capon believed he was untouchable - not least because he had seen this modus operandi as the norm at close quarters when he was Keeper of the Episcopal Handbag in Llys Esgob. I know few clergy in the Llandaff Diocese who are queuing up to be President of his fan club - and, if the 'senior priest' of the Diocese lacks the support and solidarity of his peers, there's a basic vulnerability to be exploited if necessary.
I was once told by someone who sat around the table of the senior staff meeting in Salisbury that June Osborne's patronage comes at a very high price. I think The Capon may be about to pay the price of her withdrawing that patronage. Time to sell a few antiques, methinks.
By the way, AB, to save you any unwelcome hassle, my description of behavioural tendencies in this comment are 'in my opinion.'
Isn't there another Quinquennial report due about now?
DeletePerhaps the Bishopette is more than slightly concerned about discovering just how little has been achieved in the last six years.
Not to mention the latest set of accounts that have yet to see the light of day.
Never mind about a new Quinquennial report, the last one has proven to be as elusive as the Communicant numbers for the last five years or so and the Organ Appeal accounts.
DeleteMy question is why has it taken Caiaphas so long to become "woke" concerning the antics of the antiques dealing dud in the Deanery?
ReplyDeleteIt's not as if she wasn't warned by Mrs X, the two Davids et al, not to mention Ancient Briton and the majority of the contributions to this blog.
PP. That two deaneries shortly to be vacanted in the province. One moving into retirement while an enquiry goes on into the former episcopal demise and a second beated by his own incompetence. It's better than a soap opera, you just couldn't make it up, a version of "All Gas and Gaters" or, Barchester Chronicles with antiques supplied from the deanery exit,tabletop sale, to off set the Llandaff accounts.
ReplyDeleteI understood Sister Lister's retirement as Dean of Newport was to be immediately after Easter. Was it delayed by the Covid-19 lockdown?
DeleteYes. He probably didn't want to go quietly, unlike many of others whose resignation dates took effect during lockdown. Not like Lister to go without a fizz and a bang, with a large audience before whom he can rehearse his considerable achievements (sic) on Stow Hill.
Deletehttps://thecritic.co.uk/vox-populi-vox-dei/?fbclid=IwAR2j8J7QBqzcN85BT452lShN9Ffb9xKJ0i9Omy7KAzSd6h6gI1ggWI8XvvI
ReplyDelete"Public statements are intentionally opaque, platitudinous and contradictory; moral leadership has been abandoned in favour of managed decline."
"Behind the faux radicalism of so many clerical statements lies the worst kind of conservatism, a view of all change as a threat. It is ironically for this reason that many church leaders react to change with cowardly compliance, hoping to outrace the pace of alteration. Not surprisingly, bumbling Anglican bishops do not successfully retreat before the incoming tide of progress and end up flopping around in rapidly dampening trousers as dry land recedes before them."
This is something with which the long-suffering Llandaff pew sitters will be only too familiar.
Read it and weep.
I regret to say that I cannot possibly agree with your description of Janet Henderson as probably the best woman priest to be appointed in the Province, despite the bar being set so low AB.
ReplyDeleteGranted that Byzantine Bazza no doubt sold her a pup but she had plenty of warnings about what she would face upon her arrival if she was stupid enough to accept, not least the various threads on your blog.
She failed to heed the warnings and unfortunately reaped the rewards of her folly much like reports of the present dud doing likewise.
Enoch seems very well informed. Did he glean this fascinating information from Janet Henderson herself, or is this speculation based on what he hopes is the case? I ask because, having been taught by Janet Henderson over 20 years ago, I know her to be an astute and questioning individual who takes nothing for granted and, long before arriving in Llandaff, had resigned from a former post because she was not prepared to tolerate and collude with a situation in which her integrity would be compromised. Her resignation of the Deanery of Llandaff after only two months in office is entirely consistent with her character and clear sense of rectitude.
DeleteOpinion is one thing, Enoch. But passing it off as factual is an entirely different matter.
I see only two facts presented by Enoch.
DeleteFirst, Ancient Briton's blog included dozens of threads all containing numerous warnings about the state of affairs in the Llandaff Diocese, Llandaff Cathedral and the nasty nature of bully boy --Bazza.
Second, she accepted the job and was installed as Dean of Llandaff.
Which of these facts are you disputing EP?
If she was "not prepared to tolerate and collude with a situation in which her integrity would be compromised" whilst also being "an astute and questioning individual who takes nothing for granted" please explain how and why Janet Henderson was fooled into moving to Llandaff in the first place.
DeleteQuite Dick. Although normally astute, she naively trusted the integrity of a Metropolitan Archbishop who more than anyone in the Province should've been a paragon of virtue.
DeleteYou need to get Eccles on the case.
ReplyDeleteLooks like there'll be a vacancy in the Bell tower too for a while.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-53854807
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/llandaff-cathedral-cardiff-police-church-18804677
Rumours of frantic efforts in the Cathedral office to find a risk assessment before the arrival of the Health & Safety Executive inspectors.
The Green was looking like a scene from Trumpton!
DeleteToday, I heard from a fairly reliable source, that there has been an Industrial Tribunal - at which, The Dean was well supported by a certain former Archbishop. The Tribunal found in favour of the Dean. A certain lady is now, allegedly, instigating proceedings in an Ecclesiastical Court. Oh what a tangled web !
ReplyDelete