Lowlights: GB September 2023

Governing Body voting                                              Source: Church in Wales

The Church in Wales goes green is the main message to come out of the meeting of the Governing Body (GB) earlier this month.

Attendance may be in crisis but was not mentioned, apart from a brief reference to decline in one of the reports. That is despite the GB's guiding notes which state:

"Every year, a report on the current membership and finance statistics of the Church in Wales is presented to the meeting. This covers key information such as: church attendance, the level of financial giving towards the work of the church, details of what parishes are spending their money on."

Session Three was about 'Priorities, Growth and Resilience'. One of the items covered in discussion groups was "What stops us from growing?"

The Church in Wales, like the Church of England, The Episcopal Church in the US and others have become self-centred rather than God centred, using the name of Jesus as a passport to earthly desires. - Jesus loves me, therefore I do as I please.

The secularisation of the Church in Wales was made obvious by the archbishop of Wales when he commented on the recently announced 'historic appointments of Canons at Bangor Cathedral'. 

He said, "It is a real joy to be able to announce the appointment of eight new Canons to the Cathedral, five Honorary Canons and three Foundation Canons. .... Together they bring with them an enormous breadth of skills and experience to their new roles, enabling the Cathedral’s common life and witness to be a place where all can come and experience faith, hope and love. Each of these new Canons has been invited in recognition of the significant contribution they have made, and continue to make, within their field of expertise, and I invite you to join with me in praying for them as they take up their new positions and responsibilities."

The Canon Preacher's experience of the Anglican Church is short. He was ordained Deacon in 2021 after becoming an Anglican in 2020 but more importantly for the archbishop he becomes the "first gay, black Canon to serve in a Church in Wales Cathedral, a pioneering moment that highlights its commitment to diversity and inclusivity." 

Just the sort of experience the Church Wales has come to value above all else. But there is more.

'Glastonbury priest'         Sourcee: CinW

A new priest welcomed to the diocese of St Asaph by bishop Gregory is "part way through a professional doctorate exploring better ways for neo-Pagans and Christians to have open conversations about faith." 

 She should receive a good welcome from the Peace Mala while the Church in Wales struggles with its identity.

As the decline of the Church continues more senior executives are hired. The latest is a Director of Mission and Strategy on a salary of up to £70,000 p.a.

On the plus side, perhaps the archbishop of Wales feels better able to cope with his workload having sanctioned all these appointments. 

Last year he felt the need for someone to share the leadership of his Bangor diocese with while serving as Archbishop of Wales as if that were an onerous task. He appointed an assistant bishop who has since been appointed bishop of Llandaff with no replacement assistant bishop. Perhaps he discovered that he is not that busy after all being responsible for the souls of less than 1% of the population of Wales.

What about the souls of Anglicans in Wales? Pew sitters have been led astray by their bishops while others have simply been abandoned in the shift to secularism.

A timely reminder of the dire situation Anglicans in the Church in Wales find themselves comes from Bishop Stuart Bell a former Church in Wales priest who was ordained as an Assistant Bishop in The Anglican Convocation in Europe in March after serving in the Church in Wales for 51 years.

In an interview with Dr Tony Rucinski of Coalition for Marriage (C4M), Bishop Bell said the Church in Wales’ 2021 decision to bless same-sex partnerships was "hugely significant". He told Dr Rucinski that "substantial" numbers have left the Church in Wales, following its decision to turn its back on the Bible and go with contemporary culture.

He rebuffed claims the Church’s move was compassionate, saying: "Justice and compassion are not rootless, they are rooted within truth and they are rooted within Christ and they are rooted within an authority that is completely unchanging."

The Bishop warned that we are being seriously misled by people whose hearts are set on "anarchy and nihilism". That voice is growing stronger by the day and is being promoted at government level and  by the media, he said.

He urged Christians and traditional marriage supporters to be absolutely resolute in the face of LGBT activists’ attempts to push the country into a state of "total gender confusion and sexual confusion".

Full details of the Christian Institute interview can be found here. 

The response of the Church in Wales was: Clergy told to keep breakaway bishop at arm’s length. "No ministers affiliated with the Anglican Convocation in Europe should exercise ministry or leadership in a Church in Wales context, unless the explicit written permission of the appropriate Church in Wales diocesan bishop has been given."

That came as little surprise to the many Anglicans abandoned by the handful of heretic bishops in the Church in Wales for keeping the faith as received in common with millions of Anglicans around the world.

This is the legacy handed on by a former bishop of Bangor, later archbishop, Barry Morgan who decreed after the retirement of Bishop David Thomas that there would be further alternative Episcopal oversight 'over his dead body'.

Now in comfortable retirement Morgan's legacy lives on. He continues to meddle in Church affairs showing no shame for leaving so many faithful Anglicans who had been in his care in a spiritual desert, a situation perpetuated by the bench of bishops to this day to their utter shame.

 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

Caption corner 26 September 2023

Bishop Gregory with 'Glastonbury priest'                                                                                              Source: Church in Wales

As usual publishable captions will appear as comments.

Handwashing

Hand washing in the Repair Shop                                         Source: BBC TV

As a long term admirer of the skills demonstrated in the BBC TV series, the Repair Shop, I was taken aback by the first item in last night's episode when a requested repair was made conditional upon the handlers first washing their hands and working in a clean space.

The challenge was for the team to 'fix a 100-year-old handwritten Qur’an passed down four generations of women'. 

A woman of Kashmir descent living in Newport, South Wales, made the handwashing stipulation before leaving the book for repair with those regarded in Islam as infidels.

It is understandable that the book can be regarded as sacred by the family but for others the content of the book however beautifully crafted results in persecution and misery for others.

Aid to the Church in Need is reporting that a mass exodus threatens Christianity in Syria and Lebanon while concerns grow over rising attacks against Christian sites in Israel .

The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (1948) guarantees freedom of religion for all yet The Jerusalem Post reports that 'Dozens of incidents, ranging from spitting to vandalism to assault, have been committed by extremist Jews against Christians and their sites this year.'

According to Aid to the Church in Need "Christianity is facing an 'existential threat' in parts of the Middle East, where communities have dwindled to mere shadows of their former selves... Nearly 75 years on from the creation of the state of Israel, Christians in the West Bank have declined from 18 per cent to less than one per cent; and, in Syria, the number of Christians has plummeted from ten per cent in 2011 — before the war began — to less than two per cent."

Meanwhile others, including the Church of England and the Church in Wales, affirm Islam as if it were another religion of love and forgiveness.

There is handwashing and there is handwashing.

Postscripts

Archbishop of Canterbury hosts hardline Islamists for tea and cake:

Interfaith event included Iran ayatollah’s former UK envoy and mosque chief who exalted terrorist as a ‘holy warrior’

[23.09.2023] ‘Destruction’ of ethnic Armenians is imminent, experts warn:

"The 'destruction' of an enclave of 120,000 Armenian Christians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region is imminent, warns Siobhan Nash-Marshall, a U.S.-based human rights advocate..."

More 'firsts' for the Church in Wales

The John/Starkey wedding, Bangor 2021      Source: Facebook

From Church in Wales Provincial news: 'Archbishop of Wales announces historic appointments at Cathedral':

"The Archbishop of Wales, Andrew John, has announced the appointment of five distinguished individuals to serve as Honorary Canons at Saint Deiniol's Cathedral in Bangor. These appointments mark significant milestones in the Church in Wales, as they encompass a range of 'firsts' ."

Among the firsts is the second Mrs Andrew John, the Rev Naomi Starkey, who has been appointed one of three foundation canons who will be members of the Cathedral Chapter.

Another first is author Fr Jarel Robinson-Brown who becomes "the first gay, black Canon to serve in a Church in Wales Cathedral, a pioneering moment that highlights its commitment to diversity and inclusivity. Father Jarel, who will become Canon Preacher, holds joint British and Jamaican citizenship and is a much sought after preacher, having spoken recently at St Paul’s Cathedral, Yale Divinity School, and Oxford, Cambridge and Durham Universities. He is also co-Chair of the LGBTQ+ Christian Charity OneBodyOneFaith."

Among previous Church in Wales firsts are the first transgender priest and the first same-sex partnered lesbian bishop.

The World's Greatest Classical Music Festival

Soprano Lise Davidsen and conductor Marin Alsop receive the audience's applause at the last night of the Proms 2023                                           Source: BBC

 

The Proms 2023 reached its rousing conclusion on Saturday night. There was the usual selection of music but comparatively little televised. 

For me the highlight of the season was Sir Simon Rattle’s final UK performance as Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra when he conducted Mahler’s valedictory ninth symphony. Poignant indeed, especially so for those of us who recall a young Simon Rattle setting out on his long and distinguished conducting career.

TV coverage was mainly confined to Friday and Sunday evenings, unlike the interminable coverage of soccer and cricket matches followed by endless analysis and punditry.

A curious aspect of their TV coverage was the inability of BBC to schedule performances in advance. The much anticipated televising of the National Youth Orchestra was not published until the last moment while Mahler's ninth was unexpectedly slotted in mid-week.  

One would have thought that the "greatest classical music festival" would have enjoyed far greater TV coverage but culture is not a word the BBC TV sits easily with as they concentrate on appealing to the masses.

On that score (no pun intended), wokery dominated the Last Night. The conductor, Marin Alsop proclaimed from the podium: "Tonight, marks the tenth anniversary of the day I became the first woman to conduct the Last Night Of the Proms. Which apparently is worthy of inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records!" 

She was aided in a feminist double act by Sandi Toksvig in the commentary box who continued the theme of female oppression with no sign of discomfort that all three in commentary box were women along with the conductor and soprano soloist.

The biggest cheer and prolonged applause was reserved for the BBC Singers , recently saved from oblivion after protest.

Perhaps another protest is due before the Proms share the fate of Christian programmes which been gradually shunted out of the main TV schedules.

We are still a Christian country despite claims to the contrary

Anglican clergy                                                                                                                                                      Source: News

Yes, we are a Christian country despite claims to the contrary following a poll by The Times which suggested that "three quarters of Church of England priests say Britain can no longer be described as a Christian country".

The story had wide coverage from Daily mail to The Christian Post among many others. The latest article comes from News which claims to provide 'information and analysis on the life of the Church'.

Their analysis gives rise to the false claim that "The clergy of the Communion of Anglican Churches in England are overwhelmingly supportive of the idea of completely ignoring biblical teaching on sexual morality. This is what emerges from a large-scale poll carried out by the London newspaper The Times, the results of which were published on August 29, 2023.

"The last similar poll was in 2014. The current poll shows a significant shift in opinion among English clergy regarding sexual morality over the past 10 years. The Bishop of Leeds, Nick Baines, told The Times the survey showed pastors faced the same problems as society as a whole."

But hang on a minute. The Times sent their questionnaire to 5,000 Church of England clergy of whom only 1,200 responded. 

The responders then became the sample giving rise to the misleading claims which have been appearing in the media as fact. 

The Rev Dr Ian Paul gives a detailed account of the 'survey' in his blog Psephizo while psephologist the Rev Peter Ould says "Anecdotally I've heard lots of clergy who refused to do the survey because they weren't sure whether results would be used against them personally, or they thought questions were biased." A sad reflection on the state of the Church of England today,

Meanwhile Jacob Rees-Mogg blasts a ‘defeatist’ Church of England amid 'Christianity failures'.