Faith 5%

The six Church in Wales diocesan bishops with the newly appointed 'youngest ever bishop' (left)   Source: Church in Wales

An  extract from a 'Faith' News Alert from the Church in Wales:

"Some people say 'the Church is always after your money' and that money shouldn’t be discussed in church. We believe that with over 2,350 verses in the Bible relating to money and possessions, the subject cannot be ignored. Indeed, the Church in Wales recommends that its members should give 5% of their take-home pay to the Church. We believe that the way we deal with our money speaks volumes about our discipleship. Giving money is part of giving the whole of yourself to God."

In many churches money is necessarily discussed regularly as they try to make ends meet while struggling to pay their diocesan 'share'.

Using some rounded numbers, in Wales 5% of average monthly take home pay of £2,000 amounts to £100 (around £25 per week) which is earmarked for the Church before more deserving causes.

One may ask, What could be more deserving than the Church? There are many deserving causes. The poor. The hungry. The dispossessed. Many relying on charity. The list is endless.

Instead of being a place for worship the Church has become increasingly politicised providing a platform for secular causes, a situation many resent supporting with predictable consequences.

The Church in Wales has long since ceased to be an example of good stewardship, maintaining a bloated structure reminiscent its former thriving self. 

In 2012 the Harris Review recommended structural changes including reducing to three administrative centres (Recommendation XXII) followed by Recommendation XXV: "The recommendations XXII, XXIII and XXIV should be reviewed after three years and a judgement made about whether the Church in Wales is best served by six dioceses with three administrative centres or whether it would be more effective to reduce to three dioceses, together with four area bishops."

Instead the bench of bishops have extend their empire, adding assistant bishops, advisors and administrative staff while turning the Church into a home for factional groups seeking to  'legitimise' their secular activities at the expense of the faithful.

The Church in Wales says, "We believe that the way we deal with our money speaks volumes about our discipleship." - Exactly!

With dwindling membership a once thriving Church has become largely irrelevant to former worshipers.

Fortunately the good shepherd knows His sheep and His sheep know Him.

Ordinariate Episcopal Ordination

 

Father David Waller, second Ordinary of the Ordinariate of Our Lady
of Walsingham. Source: Catholic News World

I have heard little of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham of late but tomorrow (22nd June) marks a special occasion for the Ordinariate with the Episcopal Ordination of the Revd David Arthur Waller as the second Ordinary, and first Bishop Ordinary, following the retirement of Monsignor Keith Newton.

From their web site:

EPISCOPAL ORDINATION OF BISHOP-ELECT DAVID WALLER - Live Streaming Links

Friday 21st June at 6.00pm  

Solemn Evensong and Benediction together with blessing of episcopal insignia at Our Lady of the Assumption Warwick Street.

Livesteam link - www.ordinariate.live

Saturday 22nd June at 11am

The Episcopal Ordination of Bishop Elect David Waller at Westminster Cathedral

The principal consecrator will be His Eminence Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Livesteam link - Westminster Cathedral YouTube channel

Sunday 23rd June at 10.30am

Solemn Mass at Our Lady of the Assumption Warwick Street,

when Bishop David will take possession  of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Livesteam link - www.ordinariate.live

We pray for Bishop-elect David as he takes on his new responsibility and give thanks for the ministry of Monsignor Keith Newton as the Ordinariate's first Ordinary.

Keir Starmer on Islamophobia

 

In the above video Keir Starmer speaks to Sadiq Khan about how Khan celebrates Eid before going on to discuss Islamophobia which he describes as 'intolerable'.

A phobia is a "persistent, irrational, intense fear of a specific object, activity, or situation (the phobic stimulus), fear that is recognized as being excessive or unreasonable by the individual himself." 

There is nothing irrational, excessive or unreasonable about the fear of Islam, a political ideology that sees non-Muslims as infidels. Three things you should know about Islam can be viewed here.

Douglas Murray is one of the few prepared to put the problem of fact and fiction into perspective as he does here.

Islamophobia (as explained here) is an invention designed to grant special privileges that Islam would deny to others.

Witness the fate of Iraqi Christians in 2014 when Islamists gained control there. It is happening to Christian Armenians in Azerbaijan.

The Christian Middle East is now predominantly Muslim, the fate of Great Britain if some Muslims have their way.

In April The Express reported that a "new survey found that nearly half - 46 percent - of British Muslims sympathise with Hamas while a third wished for Shariah law to be implemented in the UK."

Sadiq Khan says it is a priority for him to "build thousands more homes in London for Muslims to live near mosques and halal food shops."

"If Islam ran the country, it would be the end of all our freedoms" warns an ex-Muslim lady.

Starmer's vote gathering is truly offensive in a Christian nation. 

Postscript (28.06.2014)

Post by Rafe Heydel-Mankoo, including a prophetic Christopher Hitchins video on X here

Archbishop attracts further criticism

The Archbishop of Wales (right) and gay pride supporters, the sub-dean of Bangor
 and former Mayor      Source: Twitter

Martin Shipton writes in Nation Cymru:

 "Questions are being raised about the judgement of Archbishop of Wales Andy John after the emergence of concerns relating to potential financial irregularities in his home diocese of Bangor.

"Several Church in Wales sources have independently contacted NationCymru to criticise the Archbishop for creating a situation where one cleric – the Rev Canon Siôn ap Rhys-Evans – was effectively running both the diocese of Bangor and its cathedral. He has been on gardening leave since February 29."

Continuing their mushroom method of management the church remains silent about the absence of the sub-dean of Bangor.

Shipton continues, "One Church in Wales source told us: 'The Church is doing its best to keep a lid on this and make sure it doesn’t become a public controversy. But the fact is that the Archbishop made a serious mistake when he appointed Sion Rhys-Evans as the Sub-Dean of Bangor Cathedral in 2021. The fact that he’s in charge of both the cathedral and the diocese is a major problem and he may live to regret it'."

The archbishop's judgement has already been called into question for ignoring the teaching of the Church having remarried after his divorce form his first wife. Also for appointing an assistant bishop who is engaged to another man implying future marriage which contrary to the teaching of the Church in Wales.

Not the symbol of unity his flock expects.

D-Day: 80th Anniversary Thanksgiving and Apology

D-Day on 6 June 1944 was the largest amphibious invasion in history and was vital in the defeat of the Nazis in the Second World War. Source: Forces Net

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission web site gives the number of D-Day allied casualties as 156,000. Allied deaths totalled over 4,000 during Operation Overlord. 

On the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings we remember with gratitude all those who perished in conflict and grieve for families who lost loved ones defending our Island only to see their hard won freedom surrendered to an alien ideology. Examples here and here.

Churchill was right.

His resolve:

"We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old."
 -Winston Churchill, House of Commons 4 June 1940.

His warning:

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries, improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement, the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Muslims may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome."
- From Churchill Gets the Last Word on Islam (Middle East Forum)

His warning must not go unheeded.

Postscript 13.06.2024

Darren Grimes on the madness of the West’s new religious double standards
https://x.com/darrengrimes_/status/1800868307148718315

I don't believe it!

Former Dean of Llandaff, Rev Gerwyn Capon Source: CinW

From the Diocese of St Asaph:

The Bishop of St Asaph has announced the appointment of a new Archdeacon of Montgomery.

The Revd Gerwyn Capon will take up the post following the retirement of the current Archdeacon, the Venerable Dr Barry Wilson, in August.

Scottish Episcopal Church bishop Anne Dyer to face a disciplinary tribunal

Bishop Dyer  has a month to enter her plea ahead
 of the hearing in Edinburgh in September. Source: Mail Online

From Mail Online: "Scotland's first female bishop has been accused of bullying but claims she's actually a victim of sexism. As the Right Reverend Anne Dyer faces a church court... just what is the 'conduct unbecoming of the clergy' that could see her axed?" Full report here.

In a previous entry (2018)  I commented on a statement by the new Episcopalian Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney in which she made it clear she was not interested in restricting herself to "prayers, pews and parochial parish life". She would be focused on "fighting for social justice, sexual equality".

Clearly she would have been better employed as a social worker than pretending to be a man of God. 

Postscript (14.06.2024)

From BBC News: "Members of the Scottish Episcopal Church who raised concerns about the behaviour of Scotland's first female bishop are urging its senior leader to address what they have described are "baseless accusations" of homophobia and misogyny." Details here.

From Wikipedia: "In February 2021, Dyer was accused of bullying by a number of clergy, laypeople and church employees in The Times.[15] In March 2021, the College of Bishops commissioned Iain Torrance to lead an Independent Review into "difficulties" in the Diocese following a series of allegations regarding the Bishop.[16] In August 2021 the College of Bishops announced their intention to defer publication of the report and move to a second stage of reviewing." Details here.