Women bishops defy Governing Body

Jolly June          Source: Twitter@LlandaffDio

Within the Church in Wales, those who on grounds of theological conviction and conscience are unable to receive the sacramental ministry of women bishops or priests continue to be within the spectrum of teaching and tradition of the Anglican Communion. The Church in Wales therefore remains committed to enabling all its members to flourish within its life and structures as accepted and valued. Appropriate provision for them will be made in a way intended to maintain the highest possible degree of communion and contributes to mutual flourishing across the whole Church in Wales. (Principles. Women Bishops Code of Practice) 

It appears that the newly appointed women bishops in the Church in Wales are happy to defy their Governing Body in an act which can only be described as a visible sign of disunity, showing no regard for the procedure which enabled them to be appointed bishops.

At ordinations presided over by the first female bishop of Llandaff, as a mere gesture towards the agreed Code of Practice, arrangements have been made for a male bishop to step forward for the laying on of hands if the ordinand, on grounds of conscience, is unable to receive the sacramental ministry of a woman diocesan bishop.

I understand that similar arrangements have been made for ordinations carried out by the bishop of St Davids. The gesture is clear.

The rules were changed unilaterally by the Church in Wales to grant the wish of women who claimed to be 'called to ministry', even though the Church in Wales claimed to share the historic episcopate with other Churches, 'including other Churches of the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Churches, which continue to ordain only men as priests or bishops'.

No provision was made for those, who on grounds of theological conviction and conscience, are unable to receive the sacramental ministry of women bishops or priests. Instead the Governing Body voted for a Code of Practice.

Under the Code, "Individual members of the Church in Wales who, on grounds of conscience, are unable to receive the sacramental ministry of a woman diocesan bishop, shall not be required to do so against their conscience, and alternative provision shall be made".

For the Code of Practice to have any meaning it must be seen to satisfy the consciences of those for whom it was intended but I understand that the new female bishops are making their own arrangements, thus placing orthodox ordinands in an impossible position.

The procedure has become so far removed from when the Provincial Assistant Bishop presided at ordinations that it lacks any integrity whatsoever.

The minister in the Sacrament of Ordination is the Bishop. The celebrant presides over the whole service – the interrogation of the candidates, the laying-on-of-hands (assisted by other priests who are symbolically receiving the new priests into the presbyterium) and the celebration of the Eucharist.  Importing another bishop (solely because he is male) to step in and lay hands on any candidates who have conscientious objections to the sacramental ministry of women, far from being a gesture of accommodation, turns the whole business into a charade of misogyny.

The curious arrangements proposed in Llandaff and St Davids do nothing to solve the basic problem of conscience either, since it is a requirement in the ordination service that those being ordained receive Holy Communion from the bishop who is the celebrant.

It has been said over and again that we do not have a problem with women; our problem remains the unilateral departure from the practice of the undivided church and by far the greater part of Christendom whose orders we have always claimed to have shared.

Traditionalist Anglicans in Wales are not alone in their struggle to survive. In the Church of England specific provision was made for men and women who in conscience are unable to receive the sacramental ministry of women bishops or priests but there has been a constant chipping away at the agreement. For the latest developments see the Forward in Faith document Nomination to the See of Sheffield: Lessons Learned.

When it comes to women's ordained ministry there seems to be far more of the old Eve than the new.

Church in Wales Code of Practice. FiF Update

From Credo Cymru (FiF Wales):

 Saturday 20th September 

12.30pm 

All Saints, Shrewsbury 

Preacher: The Rt Revd Jonathan Goodall, SSC

 Bishop of Ebbsfleet 

A sung Eucharist for the Holy Cross

 Bring a picnic, tea & coffee provided

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I had hoped to write to you around this time with considered reaction to the Code of Practice which the Bench of Bishops has been instructed to produce to accompany the Bill which allows women to become bishops. But the code has not yet been published so we are still in the limbo of waiting.

The likely scenario for the Code now is that it will be published immediately after the presidential address at the September meeting of the Governing Body and that address itself will be in part about the Code.

It is tempting at this time of not knowing to do one of two things:

1 To say with Elijah 'It is enough' and just to
give up the hope and give up the struggle.

2 To become totally negative and to reject
everything that is going on around us; pulling
up the drawbridge and ignoring our brothers
and sisters in the church.

Neither of these approaches will do. After all these years of struggling to maintain Catholic Faith and Apostolic Order we cannot give in to despair or defeat. We owe it to those who have gone before us in the fight: and even more to those who will follow us. There has to be a future for our children and our children's children and such a future will not be there if we give up, or give in to negativity and despair.

It is possible for a church to go forward with a 'mixed economy' of belief and practice. We have done it already with women priests and the Church of England has shown us how it can be done with women bishops.

So keep praying. Praying that what comes from the Bench will be offered in a spirit of generosity and love: praying that it will be received by the whole of the Church in Wales as a way of living with one another in love and respect and diverting the time and energy that has been used in these discussions and debates to proclaiming the Gospel to the people of Wales and offering them the gift of Life that Jesus alone can give.

As the Archbishop of Canterbury said in the recent debates in York:

"You don't chuck out family. You make them
feel at home even when you disagree."

We will have the opportunity to meet in prayer and worship following the GB meeting when we go to Shrewsbury for our annual Festival of Faith. As you see, Bishop Jonathan of Ebbsfleet will preside and preach - and after hearing him at the Chrism Mass and at Glastonbury we know we will be well fed with the authentic word of God. The Bishop has juggled with his diary in order to be able to come that day and I hope you will all respond with an equal enthusiasm both out of respect for him and as a sign of your continuing commitment to our cause.

With my continuing prayers for you all I am yours in the love of Christ

Alan Rabjohns

The above information has been circulated by Credo Cymru, the Welsh arm of Forward in Faith. From paragraph 2 it appears that the Code of Practice required under the Bill to allow women to be bishops in the Church in Wales will be presented to those for whom it is intended as a fait accompli.

Also, I see from the Church in Wales web site (here) that the Church in Wales has joined the 'Keep me Posted' campaign emphasising the importance of choice. As the Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan rightly says, "Whatever the reason, far too many people are being penalised or disadvantaged". Pray that his own Church members are not penalised or disadvantaged by the Bench when the Code of Practice is published. - Now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love - hopefully!

A pox on them all

That was the message received from WATCH and their allies after yesterday’s Synod vote. Those in favour of the ordination of women succeeded in denying those who disagree with them an honoured place in their New Anglican church simply brushing them aside with false accusations of discrimination against women. Their spokesperson Ms Rees with her usual charm hailed the result as “wonderful news”. So wonderful that it will exclude people from their church simply for keeping the historic Apostolic faith.

Of course they argue that ‘traditionalists’ are not being excluded while they legislate to make their position untenable with a ludicrous code of practice designed to ensure that women bishops would not be seen as 'second class bishops'. Demonstrably they must be if that is their idea of pastoral care. It cannot be discrimination to oppose something that is regarded as illegal by the vast majority of Christians.

I have long believed and trusted that Archbishop Rowan would see us through this mess but he is so wedded to women’s rights that he is in danger of losing sight of the rest of his flock. Like Forward in Faith he uses the ways of gentleness to persuade but there is no persuading those who see only their own selfish ends. The time for gentleness is over. Strong action and leadership is essential. For the results of the meek look to Wales where Credo Cymru has become impotent in the face of those who seek only to satisfy the insatiable demands of a few frustrated women. Traditionalists have been left with nothing but a self-satisfied Bench bent on doing the latest trendy thing to keep themselves “relevant to society”. In the process they have become wholly irrelevant to 99% of the population.

Ironically the Eucharist reading yesterday was from 1 Corinthians 3. One verse in particular stood out, “There can be no other foundation beyond that which is already laid; I mean Jesus Christ himself.” Today, thanks to Fr Michael’s Let Nothing You Dismay blog, I read:

"Robert Key, the General Synod member and former Conservative MP, speaks exclusively to The Times about women bishops and why he believes strongly that any legislation that makes women 'less than' men or that attempts to guarantee the Church of England exemption from the 2010 Equality Act should not and probably will not get through Parliament's Ecclesiastical Committee, or the Lords and Commons"

Is that what the church has come to? Unable to win the argument based on scripture and tradition they use untruths repeating them often enough so that people believe them. Jesus Christ, the foundation of our faith, did not shy away from righting injustice. Neither must we. Despite the cries of the Anglo Papists that the battle is done it must continue to ensure that faith prevails over feminism for those for whom the Anglican church is their natural home.