Then there were three

The bishops of St Davids, Monmouth (bishop-elect) and Llandaff                              Source: Twitter

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning or in rain?" - At the Sacred Synod regardless.

Following the announcement that the Ven Cherry Vann had been elected bishop of Monmouth she tweeted: "Absolutely thrilled to be joining these wonderful women on the bench of Bishops in the Church in Wales.

Perhaps she was less than thrilled to be joining the three male bishops on the bench!

It had long been rumoured that the bishop of Lancaster, Jill Duff, would be the 11th bishop of Monmouth but not so. Presumably her CV did not match the expectations of the bench.

In her first interview after her election the Ven Cherry Vann told the South Wales Argus: "I found out I had been elected at about 2.30pm on the Thursday afternoon [when] I got a call from Archbishop John".

A little over half-an-hour later at 3.08pm the Archbishop announced that the bishop elect was Cherry Vann, Archdeacon of Rochdale.

Ms Vann is not a member of the Electoral College. The Cathedral would have been locked so she must have been hovering in the vicinity. Cynics may wonder how the archdeacon came to be in Newport for the announcement. Another episcopal stitch up?

What could the Electoral College have found so attractive about the Archdeacon of Rochdale? Few in the Church in Wales would have heard of her apart from the bishops and special interest groups such as Mae Cymru.

Contrary to sentiments expressed by Ms Vann and the Archbishop of Wales in a video message after the announcement, in her first newspaper interview Ms Vann said: "This is a very different province to the Church of England, and it works differently. I am aware that I have a lot to learn both about the church and how it works, but also about the past and what I am inheriting.

“I am also aware that the church is struggling to be relevant in people’s lives. I want to work with people to find ways of communicating, what is essentially, a message of love and hope to people who find the institutional church difficult or inaccessible.

“Institutions do not find it easy to change. I think what we have got, not just in Monmouth but right across the established churches, is an organisation that is struggling to meet the demands of the present age. An age where religion is seen as irrelevant at best and people do not understand what it is about. That is a huge challenge for everyone.”

There must be priests in Wales and beyond, even Welsh speaking, who do not have a lot to learn both about the church and how it works, about the past and what the bishop is inheriting so it appears that more weight was attached to supporting 'an organisation struggling to meet the demands of the present age'.

No doubt being relevant to society is why Ms Vann is absolutely thrilled to be joining the "wonderful women" on the bench of Bishops as they pursue their secular cause.

Now there are three.

Third woman bishop in a row in Church in Wales

Church in Wales bishop elect Cherry Vann (centre) and her sister bishops with a grim looking Dean Lister Tonge looking on                                Source: Twitter

The Archbishop of Wales, John Davies, has announced that the Ven Cherry Vann has been elected bishop of Monmouth replacing the Rt Rev Richard Pain who retired on health grounds.

Miraculously she was on hand to be photographed with her sister bishops Joanna and June.

Currently Archdeacon of Rochdale, Vann is a musician by background. It is not immediately clear how her name came to the attention of the college but she was one of the signatories to a letter from Church of England Synod members 'piling pressure' on the College of Bishops in appealing for greater inclusion for gay Christians within the Church, thus sharing the same sympathies as her sister bishops.

Is this another stitch up to advance the bishops' drive for same sex marriage in the Church in Wales?

In support of this theory a correspondent who checked the names in the electoral college was disturbed to find that of the 26 Clergy Electors (including Bishops), 17 of them were dignitaries - i.e either a bishop, dean or archdeacon. Leaving only 9 electors from front-line clergy. "Considering any appointment needs a super-majority of two-thirds there is no chance of a popular appointment since the college is loaded with the hierarchy. If the dignitaries voted against a candidate they could block anyone since you need 32 votes to get the requisite majority. They could literally guarantee it goes to the bench and the confidentially rules means we can never know if they are voting as a block - can you believe it? This disenfranchisement of front-line clergy is wholly wrong as is loading the college with deans and archdeacons."

The announcement comes as the three-day meeting of the electoral college was drawing to a close amid suggestions that a number of candidates who had been approached intimated that they wouldn't touch the Church in Wales with a barge pole. 

Time to draw a line

St Woolos Cathedral                                                                                                                                                                                   Source: Church in Wales

From the South Wales Argus: Archbishop of Wales John Davies declares saga that has engulfed Diocese of Monmouth for months is 'now closed' but for whoever is feeding the Argus and for some commentators it is not closed.

In a postscript to my entry The Monmouth effect?, I published a link to the Archbishop's statement of 5th June 2019 regarding the Bishop of Monmouth's long absence. It was hoped that the Archbishop's statement would draw a line under this sad episode in the life of the diocese of Monmouth.

Archbishop John said, "In July of last year, I met, at their request, with Dean Lister and Archdeacons
Ambrose and Jonathan who raised with me, as Archbishop, concerns about Bishop Richard’s well-being. This was entirely the right and proper thing for them to do, and I commend them for doing so. I then asked others to look into some of the issues which they raised with me and to report back confidentially" after emphasising that he was "not going to betray confidences or disclose confidential matters".

That seemed perfectly reasonable, especially in conjunction with the clarification:

"Keeping confidences can be a two-edged sword since, whenever matters are, for legal or
other reasons, required to be kept private and confidential, rumours and misinformation begin
to develop, grow and then circulate.

"I am aware that all manner of rumours and some salacious speculation have been circulating
in this Diocese, and this has been deeply critical of particular individuals, some of whom are
here, myself included. This leaves those of us in full possession of the facts with a temptation
to betray trust and breach confidentiality to set the record straight. So, I pay tribute to those,
who in the face of severe, ill-informed criticism, and sometimes to their own detriment, have
neither breached confidences nor disclosed confidential matters."

It is time to draw a line and move on.

Bishop of Monmouth to retire

Bishop of Monmouth Richard Pain                                                                Source: Church in Wales

From a Provincial press release: The Bishop of Monmouth, the Rt Revd Richard Pain, is to retire at the end of the month. He is retiring due to ill health.

Time to put an end to this farce

Sticking together? Bishop Richard Pain (centre) with Archbishop John Davies to his right and Bishop Gregory Cameron, both former college
 chums at the former St Michael's Theological College, Llandaff.    Source: Bishop hat-trick South Wales Argus

Enough is enough. 

February, the month suggested when the Bishop of Monmouth was likely to take up his duties again, has come and gone. Nine months of impasse. Nine months when Anglicans in the diocese of Monmouth have been left with an absent bishop raising questions about the need for six diocesan bishops. 

If Bishop Pain were to be 're-born' in the diocese of Monmouth after his senior clergy have lost confidence in him he would return to office with no moral authority. He should heed advice and retire.

According a Church Times report the bishop is "spoken well of by his flock", unlike the abuse directed by his supporters at those who properly used the established complaints procedure authorised by the Church in Wales.

Claims of smoke without fire make no sense unless intended to rubbish complaints of those who in conscience believe they have a genuine grievance. 

The South Wales Argus reports: Some churches are preparing to withhold parish shares until problems in the Diocese of Monmouth are resolved.

They should have been doing that already in protest against the secularisation of the Church in Wales which has perverted the faith of many for personal satisfaction.

Meanwhile the Church in Wales descends further into obscurity.

Church in Wales: More of the same

Photo: South Wales Argus

After all the speculation about the Dean of St Albans, Dr Jeffrey John, going to Monmouth, the hat has gone to local boy Richard Pain, Archdeacon of Monmouth, suggesting that the Archbishop of Wales doesn't always get his own way.

Archbishop Morgan can console himself in the knowledge that like the rest of the bunch bench, the new Bishop of Monmouth has ticked all the right boxes. According to a BBC report [here], he is "in favour of women bishops and wants to make the church more relevant for society". A similar report in the local press includes this gem: "The Venerable Pain will be bishop-elect until the appointment is formally confirmed by the Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan at a Sacred Synod service", written by a member of society to which the bishop-elect wants his flock to be more relevant, ie, completely ignorant of matters religious. The report ends: "A keen amateur photographer, The Ven Pain, also plays classical guitar and keeps hens." Eggs for the curates?

The "Venerable Pain" said: "Among the issues which needed to be tackled was declining church membership" and he looks forward "to a day when we're able to have women bishops for a sense of equality in the church"! No problem with being more relevant to society there. So more of the same in the Church in Wales for her dwindling congregations.

The bizarre world of the Church in Wales

When Canon Jeremy Winston was appointed Dean of Monmouth transferring his many undoubted talents to the Cathedral Church of St Woolos in Newport, many people in Wales and beyond were heartened that one of their brightest stars had, at last, received belated recognition, perhaps even opening a new chapter in the life of the Church in Wales. That joy was to be short-lived. Fr Jeremy's untimely death was a cruel blow. With the appointment of the new Dean, announced yesterday, comes another severe blow while it will be music to the ears of their Archbishop. Perhaps the Bishop of Monmouth is making amends for previously appointing a traditionalist to one of the top positions in the Church in Wales when preferment of those who do not toe the line is out of the question!

The official announcement looks straight forward enough - ignoring the implication in the Bishop's comments that former Deans may not have been up to scratch ("I was conscious that people were asking for a Dean who would make the Cathedral a place of prayer, welcome and pilgrimage so that it is truly the Mother Church of the Diocese") - but the Bishop's delight in welcoming to his diocese "someone with Fr Lister’s gifts and personality" may not be shared by the very people who were delighted by Fr Jeremy's appointment.

Following a link provided in the LNYD blog, at first there appeared to be an error but reading on,  two comments under the blog entry were made abundantly clear when I read the following from he who is to be the new Dean of Monmouth: 

"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.

Posted by: Lister Tonge on Wednesday, 14 July 2010 at 10:39pm BST"

With such credentials one wonders why the dear leader of the Church in Wales hadn't already spotted him. His uncompromising comments epitomise the sentiments I questioned in an earlier entry. Meanwhile in the Church of England the Archbishops are "keen to ensure the Church of England remains a broad church 'in which conscientious difference of theological judgement is fully respected' and 'do not want would-be priests to be discriminated against if they oppose the ordination of women'." How bizarre then that the Church in Wales continues policies contrary to those of its sister church across the border with whom clergy are inter-changeable as witnessed by the new appointment.