Truth will out!

Many thanks to Dr Gavin Ashenden for his Ashenden Scripted presentation. Truth will out!

More promised from Calvin Robinson on X (formerly Twitter)

Postscript {25.01.2024]

What Happened at the Mere Anglicanism Conference? Calvin Robinson's response.

No honour among thieves

 

In This is not Dibley I referred to the MailOnline story: "Remind me, it is 2023, isn’t it?’: Why has the Cornish town Dawn French loves risked such an unholy row by refusing its own Vicar of Dibley?"

The report: 'Cornish church reverses ban on female vicars' has given church feminists and toadying MPs a field day.

These feminists have used the Church for their own political purposes, accusing, scheming and reneging. Promises and agreements that enabled them to reach their goal mean nothing.

Listen to the blatant misrepresentation by the chair of WATCH as she seeks help [to] bring "discrimination" in the Church of England  to an end. As did the recently retired bishop of St Davids, WATCH regard difference of opinion, even when based on fact, as discrimination and prejudice

There have also been attempts to redefine gender language used about God. In The Mother Church: Turning God Trans published in Crisis Magazine [a recommended read - AB] it is suggested that a disproportionate number of those pushing for change would appear to be 'left-wing female vicars'.

No honour from certain MPs either, including the the Father of the House, a self-declared WATCH supporter, who appear unable or unwilling to distinguish between equality and theology regardless of measures agreed to,

Anglicanism in this country is dying. The Church in Wales is leading the decline with their one-track strategy of inclusion and diversity which again uses the Church to advance a political cause at the expense of others. 

If only a fraction of the effort put into their latest 'outreach-social justice' drive had been devoted to the excluded things may have been different. St Davids diocese is watched with trepidation as they prepare to elect their new bishop. Scripture, reason and tradition must not again be sacrificed to secularism.

Despite denials the Roman Catholic Church is creeping in the same direction in proposing women deacons and Catholic LGBTQ+ advocates. This has arisen as a real possibility through the Synod on Synodality, which was launched by Pope Francis in October 2021.

This is a repeat of the push for Anglican women deacons. It was claimed that it did not mean that they would become priests if made deacons. As deacons they argued that it was discrimination if they could not be ordained to the priesthood followed by the threefold ministry argument that it would be discriminatory not to allow women bishops.

Now that they have achieved their aim and converted Anglicanism to conform with their own desires they want to get rid of anyone who does not share their warped ideas of equality.

There is no honour among thieves.

Thirty years on...

Dawn French playing the Rev Geraldine Granger, Vicar of Dibley, who dons a joke bishop's hat
 in a 2013 Comic Relief sketch.  Source: Mail Online

A tweet from one of the Church of England's celebrity priests indicates that thirty years on from the approval by General Synod of the final legislation for women to become priests, a third of all those who are in ordained ministry are women and 31 women have been made bishops.

The Rev Kate Bottley along with the fictional Vicar of Dibley are about as far removed from the traditional view of priesthood as we could have possibly imagined 30 years ago but they fit in perfectly with the aims of Women and the Church. Their 'charitable' objectives are purely secular -

"The promotion of gender equality and diversity with the Church of England as experienced by both lay and ordained people for the public benefit by:

1. The elimination of discrimination on grounds of gender;

2. Advancing education and raising awareness in gender equality and diversity;

3. Conducting or commissioning research on equality and diversity issues and publishing the result to  the public; and

4. Cultivating a sentiment in favour of gender equality and diversity."

The secular aims of gender justice, equality and inclusion are far removed from the 'otherness' enjoyed by churchgoers thirty years ago. They have split communities and friendships as false notions of equality have replaced theology. 

More 'diversity' has resulted in bishops and archbishops abandoning traditional understanding of biblical teaching which has been handed down over two millennia.

The Five Guiding Principles which provide guidance for candidates for ordination in the Church of England have been consistently undermined by WATCH under the mask of ‘institutionalised discrimination’, something the absent bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy, regularly complained of.

When pressed to describe the alleged discrimination the best the bishop could come up with was that some people disagreed with her. That precisely sums up the attitude of WATCH. 

The same tactics have been adopted by LGBT complainers to accuse anyone who disagrees with them of discrimination and homophobia with no evidence whatsoever, something with which readers of the blog will be very familiar.

All of which has led to blessing same sex couples with same sex marriage on the horizon, which is driving Western Anglicanism further away from the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of which they claim to be part of in such as the Five Guiding Principles.

It is predicted that the Church of England will be extinct by the 2060's and the Church in Wales well before that.  Equally dead!

Pied Piper of Oxford

The bishop of Oxford, Dr Steven Croft, has decided to ditch his baptismal vows and turn from Christ following the example of the former archbishop of Wales.

Other bishops have swiftly followed. No doubt more will join them as they follow the herd listening to the simpering stories of 'suffering' peddled by Jayne Ozanne and the Ozanne Foundation.

The Church in Wales is a prime example of what happens when Anglicans abandon their baptismal vows. Blessings of same sex unions will soon be followed by marriage in church of same sex couples when the bishops have bent the minds of the puppets on the Governing Body. 

The Scottish Episcopal Church and the The Episcopal Church of the United States have trod the same path. All are in decline.

The revisionists could not care less for the pain and suffering of those, often cradle Anglicans, who have been effectively excluded from the church for keeping their baptismal vows.

Secularism is killing Anglicanism.

Cherry picking

Still from 'Lambeth Conference 2022 - a reflection by Bishop Cherry'                                                                                                                    Source: YouTube

Reflecting on Lambeth 2022 the bishop of Monmouth, Cherry Vann, shares some of her initial thoughts in this video.

Still processing everything that happened there, Cherry says that there was much that was 'rich and inspiring'.

For her that was the greatly increased number of women bishops and the well publicised presence of seven LGBT+ bishops (up from just one at the previous conference) who were "taking a full part in the sessions making them feel very held in the fellowship of allies as well as the love and the prayers of many at home. "Thank you" she says, "Things are shifting, albeit slowly".

For the vast majority of the 85,000,000 Anglicans worldwide things are shifting too quickly and are unacceptable when biblical teaching is sacrificed for secular desires. 

The Cherry picked items are an impediment to Christian unity and are changing Anglicanism from a Communion into a fellowship to please a minority whose motives are questionable.

Cherry concludes:
"Underpinning all this was the letter of 1 Peter and how its message of faith and hope in Christ in the midst of suffering, exile and persecution can sustain, inspire and strengthen our witness today. We left renewed in our desire to walk together, listen together and witness together so that we might truly be God's Church for God's world - today.! 

 Walking together for most bishops in minority western provinces means walking in step with them or leave the Church as the many unchurched Anglicans in Wales, England and elsewhere can testify.

A shorter statement from Cherry could have been 'Pull up the ladder girls, we are in the lifeboat' which is all that appears to matter to them while the majority of provinces follow the traditional path of The Great Commission.

Some welcome words

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (left) with His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, head of Egypt's Coptic Church, at the
papal residence in Cairo. Photo: Lambeth Palace Source: Anglican Journal

Some welcome words for a change from Justin Welby, not something that can often be said of the current Archbishop of Canterbury who is noted more for his wokery than for his Christian leadership.

Calling for social care reform he said the government needed to start with the person, not financial costs. I would go along with that but what of people's spiritual health. Anglicanism is becoming increasingly secular.

How refreshing, then, to read the words of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, head of Egypt's Coptic Church:

"In an interview broadcast by an Egyptian television station on Friday, January 7th, on the occasion of Coptic Christmas, the patriarch of the largest Christian community in the Arab countries repeated in a few sentences the reasons why the Catholic Church and all the churches of the East do not have the faculty of conferring priestly ordination to women.

"The priesthood in the Church is reserved for men only, according to the will of Christ himself, who, during his public life, as highlighted in the Gospels, chose his apostles from among men, while not even the Virgin Mary 'wanted to be a priestess'. This was emphasized by the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II, pointing to the source of the teaching on the priesthood that the Catholic Church shares with all Orthodox churches and the ancient churches of the East."

A timely intervention when the Catholic Church seems hell bent on following Anglicanism on a path to destruction. 

The movement for the ordination of women is part of a job lot which starts with ordaining women deacons then 'progresses', step by step, to women priests and bishops accompanied by all the gender baggage that goes with it.

The Church ends up with lesbian bishops who claim justification for their position by interpreting scripture in a way that enhances their role based on secular views of social justice.

Another Bleak Midwinter

Of all the Christmas carols the Church of England could have chosen to update for their  #AtTheHeartOfChristmas campaign they chose Christina Rossetti's In the Bleak Midwinter. 

That is what the Anglican Church does best, tinkering with the familiar to replace timeless, simple beauty only to end up with something traditional worshippers barely recognise.

Gustav Holst's In the Bleak Midwinter has a timeless beauty with a clear message which has not been bettered despite the rise of the new version top of the classical charts.

Similarly the beauty of the Book of Common Prayer has not been surpassed by attempts to modernise it. Its language is timeless and comforting, presenting an otherness which modern attempts at revision frequently lack.

Ecumenical News reports that In England and Wales number of Christians falls to half the population, while in US similar pattern shows:

"Figures from 2019 show that only 51 percent of people in England and Wales are Christian, while those with no religion account for more than one-third., Christian Today reported on Dec. 17.

"A few days earlier, Pew Research Center published a survey showing that about three-in-ten U.S. Adults are now religiously unaffiliated, and self-identified Christians make up 63 percent of the U.S. population in 2021, down from 75 percent a decade ago."

This is in marked contrast to the #TeamBelieve campaign which would have us believe that everything in the twitter garden is rosy. 

It probably is for career women in the Church who now have everything they wanted - while it lasts!

Source: Twitter

Postscript [26.12.2021]

Royal approval? 

"While Covid again means we can’t celebrate quite as we may have wished, we can still enjoy the many happy traditions. Be it the singing of carols (as long as the tune is well known);..."

The Christmas Broadcast 2021

"The 'look and smell' of a traditional wedding"

 

"Fabiano Da Silva Duarte, left, and Father Lee Taylor were blessed by the Bishop of St Asaph"                                                                                   Source: BBC

From BBC News: "Father Lee and his partner Fabiano Da Silva Duarte have become what is thought to be the first same-sex couple to be officially blessed by the Church in Wales." 

Unofficially a former archbishop is rumoured to have performed at least one same-sex blessing for one of his diocesan clergy and same-sex partner.

Commenting on the official "landmark" blessing delivered by the bishop of St Asaph, bartender-turned-vicar Father Lee Taylor said with a choir, bell ringers and family and friends attending, the ceremony had the "look and smell" of a traditional wedding.

No surprise there, especially given that the Welsh bishops regard the new service merely as a stepping-stone to gay marriage in Church.

So why is the bench hell-bent on pursuing a policy that puts them at odds with the Church of England in particular and the wider Anglican Church in general, risking suspension from the Anglican Communion?

Having lost all credibility and most of its membership, perhaps the bishops have calculated that by becoming the queer Church in Wales they can avoid its predicted collapse and save themselves from the ranks of the unemployed.

In doing so the bench of bishops claim to be caring for the 'unloved and rejected' which is clearly a nonsense. 

They show no regard whatsoever for others who fit bishop Cameron's description of "real disciples of Jesus Christ...vulnerable, fragile human beings" whom the bishops have chosen to leave without any of the pastoral care they lavish on those who worship under the LGBTQ+ banner.

Episcopal trick or treat?

 

Bishop Joanna with some Halloween prop suggestions added   Original photo: Christian Today/CiW

One facet of Halloween festivities that few of us can avoid regardless of our attitude is 'Trick or Treating'. 

Given her penchant for matters secular the bishop of St Davids could enter fully into the festive spirit by swopping headgear and staff for something more suited to the expectations of trick and treaters.

More importantly for the Church in Wales and Anglicanism in general is whether Joanna would have chosen trick or treat. 

'Away from work' until the end of October Joanna could have treated Anglicans by announcing her retirement rather than trick the Church again by returning to duties, such as they are given her devotion to party politics.

Sadly she is reported to be more eager to trick the Church and treat herself by beginning 'a phased return to work from November 1'.

This is a problem not confined to the Church in Wales with their unaccountable bishops. 

The Scottish Episcopal Church is in a similar position: "The Times reports the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church is in fear of being deposed by the members of the church’s College of Bishops over his handling of the Anne Dyer affair. An independent investigation recommenced the Rt. Rev. Anne Dyer, Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney be placed on a terminal sabbatical leave for mismanagement. The primus, the Most Rev. Mark Strange, is being blamed by his brother bishops for Dyer’s appointment and the public relations fiascos that have ensued."

Meanwhile, before the election of the next Archbishop of Wales can take place, the appointment the bishop of Swansea and Brecon is awaited with uneasy anticipation  

Given the mess in which the bench finds itself after successively appointing like-minded individuals they should realise that they cannot afford another botched job. But I doubt it. 

More likely they will have another trick up their sleeve to take the Church in Wales even further from its roots.

Postscript [29.10.2021]

The 'Away from work' link in paragraph 4 above has been removed. A new notice under the original absence date 'Posted: 21 June 2021' has appeared advising that "Bishop Joanna is to make a phased return to work following four months of ill health. She will return to her office on Monday November 1st."

Having abandoned her Twitter account on which she spent so much of her time, presumably her duties will be light. The nature of the bishop's ill health has not been disclosed. 

Coinciding as it did with breaking news of her party political Twitter activities many will draw their own conclusions as she brazens it out without any sign of contrition other than being sorry for being caught out.

The whole episode stinks to high heaven but the Church in Wales carries on regardless.

Joanna's absence has not prevented her from adding her name to those of other bishops' joint statements, eg, Statement on COP26 . 

Some Epiphany!

Mary Teresa Streck is Ordained a Roman Catholic Woman Priest                    Source: Call to Action

The Epiphany season brings some unwelcome news for opponents of the ordination of women who fled Anglicanism for Rome. 

Reports suggest that the drive for change which has destroyed much of the Anglican Communion is gaining momentum in the Roman Catholic Church.

This is all very familiar for Anglicans who have witnessed the long, drawn out, chipping away of the faith as received until their Church has become virtually unrecognisable as evidenced by the near collapse of the Episcopal Church in the United States and the demise of Anglicanism in the UK.

The Irish Examiner reports that Fr Tony Flannery, a founder of the Association of Catholic Priests, who has been suspended from active ministry for the past eight years has asked whether the hierarchy in the Catholic Church will now change its approach to him after senior clerics expressed support for the ordination of women. 

In a statement issued on Sunday Fr Flannery highlighted comments made by the Archbishop-elect of Dublin, Dermot Farrell, in which the incoming Archbishop said he would 'like to see women becoming deacons in the church'.

"The Archbishop-elect of Dublin, Dermot Farrell, in an interview with the Irish Times, said he would like to see women becoming deacons in the church. He is reported as going on to say that 'the biggest barrier to having female priests in the Catholic Church is probably tradition, not the Scriptures'. In saying this he appears to undercut the main argument used by the Church against the ordination of women."

LifeSiteNews reports: Bishop Georg Bätzing, the head of the German bishops’ conference, supported in a new interview the idea of “ordaining” women to the diaconate and the priesthood and a blessing for homosexual and cohabitating couples. He also defended the idea of intercommunion. And he even claimed that the German bishops could make some of these changes without approval from Rome. 

Bätzing revealed in an interview with the German Catholic journal Herder Korrespondenz that already in the 1980s, he participated in discussions about the female “priesthood.” He argued that there are “well-developed arguments in favor of opening the sacramental [priestly] office also for women.” That is why he himself “often mention[s] the female diaconate, because I see there some more possibilities.” Mentioning the fact that Pope John Paul II and his successor “unanimously” stated that “this question has been answered,” the German bishop sees that “nevertheless, it [the question] is on the table.”...

... But with regard to the possibility of a liturgical blessing of so-called irregular couples – homosexual and cohabitating couples – the German bishop claimed that such a decision can indeed be taken by the German bishops “without Roman approval.” Bätzing then went on to say that he, however, is of the opinion “that we should change the Catechism in this respect.”

Back in 2013 WAMC reported that 'religious history' was made in Albany, New York, when the city's first "woman priest", Mary Theresa Streck, was ordained. "Streck will now carry on the ancient tradition: taking on the role of spiritual leader of a 40-person strong Catholic community — a rainbow congregation of gay, straight, divorced, married and single  folks." 

It is all so familiar for Anglicans. The warnings are there to be heeded.

Postscript [12.01.2021]

Pope Francis opens ministries of lector and acolyte to women

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.

Confirmation

 "The new bishop of Llandaff's first presidential address at a Llandaff diocesan conference makes informative reading. Strong on sociology but weak on theology and spirituality she should sit easily on a bench of bishops devoid of such talents.
Formerly five of the bishops in Wales held Oxford Firsts in Theology."
- From an entry 'Sociology replacing religion' in October 2017.

There was much hype about the former Dean of Salisbury beginning to transform Llandaff as soon as she crossed the Llys Esgob threshold.

She has - but not as one might have expected as the illustration shows.

In 2016 the Bishops of the Church in Wales wrote a Pastoral Letter to "all the faithful" concerning admission to Holy Communion of all the baptised "by virtue of their Baptism alone".  There were objections that the decision was based on dodgy legal advice,

In the rite of confirmation the Holy Spirit is invoked to come upon those who are to be confirmed.

At the Governing Body of the Church in Wales in September 2017 a private members’ motion asked for the time to consider in more detail documents prepared by the Bench of Bishops and for their period of introduction to be extended by a year to enable greater consideration of its implications. The Mover said "some people had theological objections to the change and their opinions should be heard."

The motion was carried. Discussed again in April 2018 at the  meeting of the Governing Body the bishop of St Asaph told delegates: "We are in the business of creating faithful disciples of Jesus Christ; enabling people to grow into a living faith." He added without any hint of irony: "We are a church which believes in theological debate and as a Bench of Bishop’s we are open to discussion."

There has been no meaningful debate with traditionalists but there was a brief nod to orthodoxy when a Confirmation service took place on 3 October in Llandaff Cathedral led by a Society bishop. Bishop Philip North was invited to celebrate and to confirm candidates.

I have seen no official report or photographs of the event. Some have suggested this was probably out of  official embarrassment due the numbers present. However, this is one report which appeared on Twitter: "Standing room only in the Cathedral for a Diocesan Confirmation @LlandaffDio and the most candidates I think I have ever seen. What utter joy. Thank you @BishopJuno and @BpBurnley. God is good!"

There is no such holding back in the Winter issue of Croeso in which the sacrament of Confirmation is subsumed under a story about same-sex marriage, the joys of the Gathering (an ecumenical LGBTQ+ safe space)! and a mini celebration in the candidate's local church with "flags and prayers for LGBTQ+ folks."

The liberal drift has indeed engulfed the Church in Wales.

From her gay friendly base in Llandaff, June Osbourne has followed the example of the bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy in promoting the LGBTQ+ cause while the third woman bishop to be appointed, Cherry Vann, bishop elect of Monmouth confirms the priorities of women clergy with a talk at a Rochdale Pride event on 'the Church of England's Pastoral Principles for living well together'.

Sociology has replaced theology but it should come as no surprise.

Writing for Virtue Online, Biblical Anthropologist Alice C. Linsley who served as a priest in the Episcopal Church for 16 years addresses 'Ten reasonable objections to women in the priesthood':

1. The Church is not a democratic body.
2. Women's ordination is linked to homosexual activism.
3. Women's ordination is rooted in Feminist thought.
4. Women priests perpetuate confusion about gender.
5. Women priests represent rejection of the authority Scripture and Tradition
6. Women priests cause confusion about the Eucharist.
7. Women priests represent a denial of the Fathers' teaching.
8. Ordination of women to the priesthood undermines women's ministries.
9. The feminization of the clergy discourages men's participation in the church.
10. A female at the altar blurs the biblical distinction between life and death.

The paper is confirmation of how sociology has replaced religion in liberal Anglicanism.

Double standards

Sydney Anglican Archbishop Glenn Davies has said to supporters of same-sex marriage:
‘Please leave us.’  Source: Guardian. Photograph: David Moir/AAP

The Bishop of Liverpool rebuked the Archbishop of Sydney, Glenn Davies, after he called for gay marriage supporters to leave church saying he ‘seems to want to exclude people rather than to engage with them’.

That's rich.

From the Guardian: "Archbishop Glenn Davies said last week that those who supported same-sex marriage should abandon the church. If people wish to change the doctrine of our church, they should start a new church or join a church more aligned to their views – but do not ruin the Anglican church by abandoning the plain teaching of scripture,” he said. “Please leave us.”

The Australian Newcastle Herald reports that "Anglicans have joined two other Australian dioceses to support same-sex marriage church blessings at a Hunter Synod where Bishop Peter Stuart said he had "spoken frankly" to a Sydney archbishop against the move. Newcastle Anglicans strongly supported changes to church rules that could allow clergy to bless same-sex marriages and protect clergy in a same-sex marriage from church discipline."

The Dean of Newcastle, the Very Reverend Katherine Bowyer supports the diocese's move to bless same-sex marriages. She rejected comments by the Archbishop of Sydney that supporters of same-sex marriage should leave the church, saying differing views deserve respect.

Her views and those who side with the Bishop of Liverpool have nothing to do with traditional Church teaching.

The Archbishop of Sydney is correct. If Western Anglican leaders had adopted the same approach many of us would still have a church to attend.

Dean Katherine Bowyer's attitude typifies the double standards of liberal Anglicans amply illustrated by Mae Cymru the Welsh offshoot of the feminist organisation Women and the Church.

Mae Cymru recently tweeted an article from cruxsolablog An Open Letter to John MacArthur (re: Beth Moore). The author states:
"Recently John MacArthur commented that Beth Moore (Christian leader and teacher) should “go home.” As I have pondered this over the last few days, I wondered what Paul would say to John. So, I wrote an open letter.

It is not my intention to comment on the letter's content. Readers of the letter can draw their own conclusions but I was drawn to the double standards of the new breed of Anglican.

The membership secretary of Mae Cymru the Ven Peggy Jackson, Archdeacon of Llandaff and scourge of  orthodox, often cradle Anglicans is a late convert to Anglicanism. Their idea of engagement is exclusion dressed up as inclusion.

Before Barry Morgan imported her from the Church of England as his hatchet woman the then Rev Canon  F A Jackson wrote in a paper for GRAS (Group for Rescinding the Act of Synod):

"New individuals with conscientious difficulties over women’s ministry will simply have to make personal decisions and individual choices, to find accommodation as best they can – just as many already have to do over a host of other current issues, some very uncomfortable, where people find themselves representative of a view which is not that sanctioned by the ‘church’ as a whole, and upheld through Synod and Parliament." 

Ten years later with attendance figures still plummeting, thousands of often cradle Anglican women and men have been abandoned by their Church.

Far from relenting Jackson has attempted to turn the screw ever tighter by seeking to exclude from ordination anyone who does not conform to her wishes, misrepresenting genuine theological doubt about sacramental assurance as misogyny.

The concept of twin integrity has been all but abandoned. As Sir William Fittall said in response to a complaint:
"To expect someone whose theological conviction does not enable him to receive the sacramental ministry of women routinely to turn up to a celebration of Holy Communion when he cannot discover in advance whether he will be able to receive Holy Communion seems to me to be asking too much."

Following the appointment of a third woman bishop in the Church in Wales half the bench will be female.

The diocese of St Davids has been quickly feminized after the appointment of the first woman Bishop. She lost no time in appointing a woman Dean. Two female minor Canons have also been appointed. If the Canon in Residence is a female cleric the sub-Dean is the sole male priest at Wales' premiere place of pilgrimage.

There is no indication for pilgrims who will be celebrating yet the Cathedral online Worship Sheet merrily quotes St David's last words to his followers, “...Be Joyful, Keep the faith and do the little things that you have heard and seen me do...”

The Bishop of Liverpool should have looked closer to home before whinging about the Church in Australia.

Anglicanism on the rocks

How depressing to listen to the leader of the Anglican Communion responding to questions on the LBC radio talk show yesterday morning.  

Had the archbishop been a candidate for election to Parliament I doubt that we would have ever heard of him again. 

Sitting on the fence for half an hour Welby said next to nothing spiritually worthwhile ('teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you' as in the Great Commission) that would encourage anyone to become a Christian. 

No wonder traditional Anglicanism is on the rocks.

Would I Lie to You?

 Church in Wales bishops Joanna, Cherry (elect) and June                     Original source: BBC/Twitter

Readers may be familiar with the popular BBC comedy panel show Would I Lie to You? where contestants have to bluff about their deepest secrets while the opposing team have to find out which ones are true.

A massive bluff has been disclosed as a lie by one of the pioneers of 'gender theory'. He has admitted that he and his colleagues "basically just made it up". 

From the Coalition for Marriage:

"In an article in online magazine Quillette, former gender historian Christopher Dummitt explains how he and his fellow academics simply ignored the innate differences between men and women. In this way they 'proved' that 'sex was wholly a social construct'.

"What's worse, everyone was at it. 'Everyone was (and is) making it up. That's how the gender-studies field works', he confesses. Over the past 30 years, whole university departments have been taken over by subjects like 'gender history' and 'gender studies', which perpetuate the fiction that sex is not a 'biological reality'.

"Disagreeing with this nonsense is increasingly being regarded by our society as 'tantamount to hate speech'. It’s also being used to push all kinds of dangerous ideas to school children.

"The peer review process, far from providing a check on this groupthink, only made it worse. It was no better than a 'form of ideological in-group screening'.

"Dr Dummitt says that 'critics of the social constructionists are right to raise their eyebrows at the so-called proof presented by alleged experts'.

Parts of the Anglican Church were quick to pick up on the opportunity presented by gender theory to promote a non-biblical lifestyle as if somehow endorsed by references in the Bible to love, compressing its many forms into one. Their distortions have been used to accuse people who disagree with them as prejudiced homophobes and bigots simply for holding contrary opinions.

Despite constant claims of LGBT persecution in the Church, Archbishop Barry Morgan said way back in 2008: "There are a huge number of gay clergy and gay partnered clergy. There’s no reason why they shouldn’t be bishops and they will be. We’re not arguing about if, we’re just arguing about when." He also said that he would be willing to consecrate Britain’s first openly gay bishop despite fears that such a move would further split the Anglican Communion.

Today there is a plethora of gender study courses even at some of the most prestigious universities. They are predominantly attended by women suggesting perhaps that either some women are more gullible or that they saw an opportunity to beat the Church into submission by making her more relevant to society.

The 'madness' began in the United States.

In his book The Crockford's File William Oddie wrote about the suicide of Dr Garry Bennett in December 1987 after he anonymously wrote the Preface to the 1987 Edition of Crockford's Clerical Directory: "The problems of modern Anglicanism are highlighted by the case of the Episcopal Church in the United States"(ECUSA).

Oddie writes
"Their intention was to make the Church more relevant to society's perceived needs so that more and more Americans would find those needs answered within the Episcopal Church.

"The Episcopal Church had been in decline for over 20 years. In 1968 ECUSA had 3,588,435 members. By 1989 this had dropped to 2,420,000. This decline had taken place against a steady increase in churchgoing in the American population as a whole, an increase which has been going on steadily since the1950s. During the same period, the classification of ECUSA by the Library of Congress in Washington has changed: it has now been demoted from the status of a 'denomination' to that of a 'sect'."

The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan
 with The Right Reverend Gene Robinson
 Photo: John Robertson. Source: Telegraph

 Gene Robinson was elected bishop coadjutor in 2003 then diocesan bishop, the first priest in an openly gay relationship to be consecrated a bishop in a major Christian denomination believing in the historic episcopate. This was followed in 2009 by the election of Mary Glasspool as a suffragan bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. She is an openly gay woman living with her partner.

Amazingly the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, adopted the ECUSA experiment as his model for advancing a programme of regularising homosexuality in the Church in Wales.

The retirement of Barry Morgan presented the ideal opportunity to right Morgan's wrongs. Instead the bench of bishops under their new archbishop, John Davies, chose "more of the same" - but faster.

The Dean of Salisbury addresses Gay Pride
 marchers. Source: Facebook

A seasoned LGBT campaigner the Dean of Salisbury, June Osborne, whose advance in the Church of England had, like other imports from England, come to an abrupt halt, was elevated to bishop of Llandaff . She joined another LGBT campaigner on the bench who had been fanfared as the first woman bishop in the Church in Wales, Joanna Penberthy. She had been appointed under  Barry Morgan's presidency in what many believe was the first of three episcopal stitch ups.

Osborne's influence led to the first transgender priest in Wales, since elevated to Canon of Llandaff Cathedral, presumably for her work in promoting transgenderism, followed recently by the appointment of the first bishop in a same sex relationship as bishop-elect of Monmouth.

Given the decline of ECUSA (now TEC), the slavish adherence of the Church in Wales and, indeed, of the Church of England, to the United States model remains a puzzle to orthodox, mainly cradle, Anglicans who have been abandoned by the liberal-minded new Anglicans.

The most charitable explanation is that gender studies motivated people to press for the Church to make a stand for the equality of women in the workplace. The consequences have been intolerance and exclusion despite promising that there would be no victimisation of those who in conscience could not accept the ordination of women and all the liberal theology that has followed it.

Many bishops would have you believe that gender studies (feminism, gender, politics and queer studies) make the church more relevant to society.

It's a lie!

Anglicanism in England and Wales today

No pun intended?                                                                 Source: Twitter @guardian

From the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby:

"Great fun celebrating 25 years of women's ordination to the priesthood at @lambethpalace today!

We're here at Lambeth. Behind me you can see priests and indeed deacons from all over the country who have come to celebrate 25 years since the ordination of women to the priesthood began in the Church of England. We've had great fun, it's been a very happy gathering and we're going to press on."

Great fun and happiness for some but hell for others as the Church of England presses on, abandoning her commitment to 'mutual flourishing'. Such commitments are easily dropped after goals have been achieved.

Pressing on means unpicking the agreement that let loose ordained women in the Anglican Church.

Pressing on means excluding anyone who does not conform to the new regime.

As strident 'Eves' seek their own fulfilment at the expense of others, countless 'Marys' who have followed the example of the mother of God, serving others rather than themselves, have been forgotten after nurturing the young in the faith and providing continuity in the Church for generations. They have been cast out by women who constantly celebrate their own 'success' on social media while leaving the vanquished to fend for themselves as best they can. Great fun!

The establishment is complicit. Mutual flourishing was simply used as a device to win the debate in the same way that 'Shared Conversations' are being used to advance the LGBT+ agenda in the Church.

 Figures published by Anglican Ink answer the question put to the CofE General Synod, Who has flourished under mutual flourishing? 

Since the enactment of the legislation in 2014:
• 22 women have been ordained Bishop;
• 4 women have been appointed Deans
• 23 women have been appointed Archdeacons
• 31 women have been appointed Residentiary Canons

The diversity monitoring data for those appointed to senior roles since that time indicates that:
• 1 diocesan bishop;
• 2 suffragan bishops; and
• 1 archdeacon
identify themselves as either traditional catholic or conservative evangelical. However, the labels which people use to describe their church tradition do not necessarily correlate with whether they are unable for theological reasons to recognise the priestly or episcopal ministry of women.

In Wales the situation is even more dire.

In the latest edition of New Directions, the former Chairman of Credo Cymru, Jeffrey Gainer, writes about the Church in Wales "Then and Now". He considers the challenges facing traditional Christians in Wales.

I quote:

"It should surprise nobody then that some younger clergy have gone elsewhere, some to England and some to other communions. The numbers are not large, but they are significant signs of the narrowing of the basis of Anglican fellowship in Wales where the bishops have throughout refused to provide any structural provision for traditionalists even though the innovations in sacramental life and teaching that they have promoted have made the inherited structures less unifying. The sense of collegiality between bishops and clergy is reduced in some instances and some clergy from Wales renew their ordination vows by attending chrism masses outside the province as result. This practice has developed after the Provincial Assistant Bishop, who ministered to traditionalist clergy and laity, was not replaced after his retirement in 2008. No theological explanation for this decision was given then or since; there was no consultation with Credo Cymru, the organization representing traditionalists. Recently, the relatively new Archbishop of Wales, acting on behalf of the whole bench of bishops, declined to meet with representatives of the same organization to discuss matters of concern and argued that the positions of both sides were evident. It was simply a matter of episcopal fiat again. Likewise, at the most recent meeting of the Governing Body, held at Cardiff, the archbishop stated publicly that the code of practice was purely in the hands of the bishops, and could be torn up tomorrow should they so wish.

"...the Church in Wales is similar to other Anglican provinces from North America to Australasia which have striven to commend their claims by accepting the social mores of the societies in which they are set and have ended up being ignored as offering very little that is distinctive. Especially since the major social changes of the 1960s all churches in Western Christianity have had to confront the issue of the extent to which they challenge or conform to profound change in attitudes and behaviour. As has been remarked by many, the fault lines in belief and practice nowadays do not run so much between denominations as within them. It might be supposed that Anglicanism with its inherited patterns of diverse churchmanship might be better equipped to face this challenge but that is a claim that is more optimistic than accurate. In fact, the Anglican churches have found that whilst engaging with contemporary culture they have been tempted to capitulate to that culture. Part of the reason may be that without a strong centre such as the Papacy, they are tempted to follow the model of provincial autonomy. The Lambeth Conference has failed to fulfil the role of securing eucharistic communion and mutual recognition of ordained ministries, a clear sign of a breakdown in common faith. After all, in 2008 a third of the Anglican episcopate did not even attend the Conference which also did not issue teaching, say on the family, as the 1958 Conference had done. What has ensued is a pragmatic acquiescence in provincial autonomy. In Wales this has led within a few years to unilateral innovations affecting the administration of the sacraments.

"Some may suppose that the recent rejection of a private member's motion at the Governing Body points in a different direction. It is true that Archdeacon Peggy Jackson's motion  was heavily defeated after ten speakers criticised its attempt  to bar traditionalists from access to the ordination process. However, what should not be missed is that not one bishop voted against this illiberal proposal and that two of their number, Joanna Penberthy of St Davids and Andrew John of Bangor voted for it. Moreover, the indications are that in Bangor the policy advocated by the motion has been the de facto reality for some time. In St Davids, a traditionalist parish with one of the strongest congregations, and with a significant ministry to children and young people, has been told that it will not have a resident cleric although it is still expected to contribute over £60,000 in ministry share. Another parish, elsewhere in the diocese, and one which did not ask for a male bishop to officiate at confirmation, will have a new priest resident in its parsonage after only a month's interregnum. This strikes many as anomalous, to say the least."

It is difficult to escape the conclusion that orthodox Anglicans in England and Wales are held in contempt for not conforming to this world.

Epiphany

Perhaps alluding to Brexit, in her latest reflection the bishop of St Davids, Barry Morgan's idea of the "best person to be a bishop", tells her listeners that "the God who kept His people Israel safe, even through the holocaust and beyond, who kept His Church safe through the centuries will keep us safe. And we are called simply, not to wave magic wands to make things better but to open the ordinary things of our lives that the Holy Spirit may rush in through the gaps and in us Christ's glory may be seen by our love for one another and our service of the community."

What Church is Joanna Penberthy talking about? Not the Church in Wales which, thanks to her and her colleagues on the Bench, is crumbling around them. A Church that has become totally irrelevant outside Wales.  The Washed Up World of the Anglican Church of Wales is no longer considered when the state of Anglicanism is discussed. See Hey! Nobody Cares.

As for 'our love for one another', the excluded will take that with a pinch of salt. Traditionalist Anglicans in Wales have been deprived of  sacramental or pastoral care since the late Bishop David Thomas retired in 2008. Provincial episcopal visitors (PEVs or flying bishops) have been banned from Welsh dioceses in a determined effort to stamp out traditional Anglicanism in Wales showing a distinct lack of love for one another from the bench of bishops .

Yes, 'His Church', the body of Christ, is safe in the hearts and minds of conviction Christians. But they have been left out in the cold. They no longer count in the Church in Wales, just like the Church in Wales no longer counts in the wider Church.

That is the realization of Archbishop Barry Morgan's vision for the Church in Wales.

Some Epiphany!

Birds of a feather

Dean Martyn Percy            Source: davidould.net    Dean Lister Tonge          Source; Church in Wales

I see from the GoFundMe page set up on behalf of friends and colleagues of the Very Rev Professor Martyn Percy £60,525 has been raised from 475 people in 24 days. The target was £60,000.

Of the larger contributions there have been four gifts of £5,000 and one of £3,000. It would be interesting to know the sources of such large sums but the gifts are anonymous.

Way down the list is a gift of £100 from one Lister Tonge. Given his unusual name and Oxford links, I take it to be from the 'adventurous' Dean of Monmouth who has successfully rearranged the seating in the re-named Newport Cathedral.

His views are similar to the progressive professor who readers will recall created an almighty fuss forcing the withdrawal of Bishop Philip North's nomination to become Bishop of Sheffield, probably egged on by his wife Emma Percy, Chair of the feminist pressure group (some) Women and the Church.

Following a letter in 2010 in which the Bishop of Norwich wrote about women bishops Lister Tonge commented:

"But, having voted for the Archbishops’ disastrous compromise (torpedoeing) ammendment, be aware that the Synod is likely to throw out any Code of Practice which undermines the episcopal integrity and authority of women which you and your male colleagues enjoy.

The game is up for those who would seek to stay and at the same time wreck the forward movement of the Church of England. Their bluff has been called by Rome. It now needs to be called by Canterbury." 
See previous entry The bizarre world of the Church in Wales 

The 'movement of the Church of England', and indeed of the Church in Wales, has not been forward but backward as illustrated by declining attendance figures. The Church of England stares at oblivion as "just 2% of young Britons say they identify with it".

The reasons seem clear when comparing growing attendance at churches such as St John's church in Hull. Their vicar is currently in hot water for holding "an orthodox line, just on the basic beliefs and basic Christian behaviour and discipleship."

Commenting on tensions in Oxford in 2016 David Ould wrote:

 "Martyn Percy is well known as a liberal theologian and has a record of public statements that challenge orthodoxy, particularly in the field of sexual ethics. He is an outspoken advocate for full LGBTI inclusion in the life and ministry of the Church of England, and the revision of the Church of England’s traditional understanding of marriage.

What lesbian, gay and bisexual Christians are asking for is bread, not stones (LK. 11:11).  And many of us now long to see this bread freely given; not at a price, or with conditions attached.  So, what I hope and pray for from the Primates’ gathering next week is an unequivocal ‘yes’ to lesbian, gay and bisexual Christians’ full and equal membership of the church, holding up a mirror to the full love and cherishing that God has already poured upon them, and also awaits them in heaven."

Bread not stones was the battle cry of the late Dr Una Kroll referred to in Twenty disastrous years of decline. She was eventually "called by Rome" but not until after she and her friends had inflicted their brand of progress on the Church which is crippling Western Anglicanism.

Cop out?

Pope Francis and the devil                                                          Source: Twitter

As the sexual abuse crisis continues to haunt the Catholic Church Pope Francis blames the devil. 

He says the devil is alive and well and working overtime to undermine the Roman Catholic Church according to a report in Christian Today.

Too convenient? More here.

The Church is in a mess with Western Anglicanism on the brink and disunity in the Orthodox Church.

Does the Pope have a point?