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.

Muslim-Christian interfaith dialogue

Instead of being surrounded in paradise by the 72 virgins he believed he was promised in the Quran the latest Islamic 'martyr' will have found himself disappointed along with all the Islamic 'martyrs' who did not know Christ.

Reporting on Interfaith Relations in 2013 the Pew Research Centre stated: "Muslims around the world agree that Islam is the one true faith that leads to salvation. Many Muslims also say it is their religious duty to convert others to Islam."

By contrast the Anglican Church shows no appetite for converting others to Christianity despite the Great Commission. Instead they provide space in churches and cathedrals for inappropriate interfaith meetings, the implication being that many senior Anglicans simply do not understand what they are doing.

If they watch edition 570 of Anglican Unscripted (starting at position 10.40) they should be left in no doubt that Islam is incompatible with Christianity and that Muslims along with other non-Christians need to be saved.

Postscript [05.02.2020]

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: "My Question in the House of Lords yesterday asking the government whether they will go to the root of the problem and encourage our Muslim leaders to reform their religion to stop it being used to carry out attacks like in Streatham on Sunday. Their answer shows they will not." 

The answer given: "My Lords, it is a matter of regret that these outrageous attacks are not limited to any one section of the community and are not to be attributed to religious belief but to a corruption of that belief", indicating that some serious reading is required.

From Christian Concern: "What is Islam? Is it a religion of peace? Read this article by @TDieppe
https://christianconcern.com/resource/is-islam-a-religion-of-peace/

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.

Time for change

Bishop John Davies who is to be the 13th Archbishop of Wales                          Source: WalesOnline

A leopard does not change its spots but many a cleric changed his stance after the Church in Wales' Governing Body decision to ordain women, ignoring the counsel of the Eastern church, Roman Catholics and, indeed, the vast majority of Anglicans throughout the world who had not been caught up in the mistaken belief that society has to inform the church rather than the church inform society as part of the Great Commission.

Whatever their reason, with the Church of Wales predicted to collapse within a generation it is again time for a change of stance to restore the sense of mystery and 'otherness' of the church so that when officials offer their "thoughts and prayers" after every tragedy their 'heartfelt' words are less of a cliche.

Many ex-churchgoing worshippers have remarked on hearing the news of bishop John's election: 'Hasn't he done well but, of course, he used to be against the ordination of women......' Readers can fill in the rest - but not for publication! The same could apply to most clergy who occupy senior positions in what have become management roles, primarily for managing decline.

'Unlucky for some', the 13th Archbishop of Wales, John Davies, Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, has a heaven sent opportunity to make a different call, to right previous wrongs in line with the wishes of the majority of church members when they were consulted about the woeful Code of Practice devised by the Archdeacon of Llandaff to exclude faithful traditionalists whilst pretending to be inclusive.

The latest regular, adult, Sunday attendance figures in Wales make grim reading at 28,291 souls. That is 0.9% of the population, with Baptisms down 8% and Confirmations down a massive 21%.

Even funerals, a nice little earner for many a cleric, are down 4% as the popularity of secular funerals increases. Weddings are also down 4%. With more than half of the UK's population declaring no religion, the future for Christianity in this country looks bleak.

The Harris Review Recommendation [XLII (1)] that Fees for occasional offices should be paid into church accounts and go towards the cost of the Share in the Ministry Area was rejected at Governing Body. Perhaps financial self-interest will be the Achilles heel requiring a review of past mistakes.

The worst mistake the new archbishop could make is to be seen as being tarred with the Morgan brush. Archbishop Morgan's political agenda has resulted in the Church in Wales suffering a similar fate as the US Episcopal Church (TEC) under their heretical Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori.

So, is there hope? From Wales Online: "'Religion isn't something to be frightened of' - Wales' new archbishop on the challenges ahead. - The new Archbishop of Wales is on a mission to “rehabilitate” the church in Welsh culture at a time of plummeting attendances.

Referring to the "debate and controversy" on same sex marriage the archbishop-elect rather worryingly said: “I think the world outside the church certainly thinks that the church is probably out of step with society... so it’s going to remain a live issue and I have little doubt that it will come back onto our agenda probably at some point in the not too distant future.”

That does not sound very encouraging if the church is to uphold the Christian faith against the tide of secularism but bishop John deserves a chance to prove that he is his own man, not a Morgan clone. To “rehabilitate” is to to return someone to a good, healthy, or normal life or condition. That should indicate a return to traditional Christian values, the 'otherness' and mystery of faith. Further secularisation, twisting scripture to mean something different after millennia is not rehabilitation, it is devaluation.

Looking forward to Archbishop John's Presidential address at the forthcoming meeting of the Governing Body he cannot afford to disappoint traditionalists again. The Church in Wales needs every soul she can muster. He has already expressed his wish that "traditionalists and progressives within Church in Wales can continue to worship together".

That wish is not new. Previously it was expressed by the Archdeacon of Llandaff based on terms dictated by Barry Morgan which ignored the conscientious beliefs of faithful Anglicans. It was a take it or leave it approach. Many have left the church, or more accurately, the church has left them, a dreadful indictment.

If that take it or leave it approach is allowed to persist bishop John Davies could well be the last Archbishop of Wales as numbers continue to fall and giving shrinks to unsustainable levels. It is indeed, time for change.

Updates

Listen to a 30 min in-depth BBC radio interview with the Archbishop here.

[11.09.2017]

Archbishop John Davies shares his vision for the Church in Wales under his leadership
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=21&v=jdo1hiMUzr4

Welby's Muslim charm offensive

Click here for Archbishop Welby's understanding of Islam, a faith which denies that Jesus died on the cross, a faith that has no time for unbelievers in its political ideology, a political system which is explained here in a 5 minute video for those prepared naively to accept claims that Islam is a religion of peace.

Justin Welby says, "We can show the world around us that it is possible to differ and yet to support and care for one another very, very profoundly. That is particularly important for me and has been growingly so over the last few years when it comes to the unacceptable expression of Islamophobia which is totally against what anyone who professes to have their own faith should do."

The Archbishop then gives his blessing: "May God bless you and protect you as you dedicate yourselves to this time of fasting and discipline. I wish you a very good Ramadan. Ramadan Kareem."

On the same day, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: 'We mourn, we lament, we cry out for the injured and bereaved in Manchester' here. He fails to see the connection. Some leaders, political and religious, would have us believe that such attacks are our own fault, that Western foreign policy is to blame but Islam needs no such excuses.

I find Welby's comment about Islamophobia particularly offensive. It is a word conjured up to avoid any critical assessment of a supremacist ideology. There is nothing irrational in fearing such an ideology which has spread its influence through conquest for 1400 years. Accusations of Islamophobia also serve to obscure the fact as Alexander Boot put it in his blog Massacre, Manchester, Muslims that "Over 300 verses in the Koran explicitly call for murdering infidels, specifically Christians and Jews".

 Regardless of all the evidence to the contrary, Islam is being affirmed by the leader of the Anglican Communion as a great religion on an equal basis with Christianity which Islam is fighting to eliminate as illustrated by the plight of Coptic Christians in Egypt, a pattern being repeated in many other Muslim majority countries.

How can that be? Jesus said "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me".  He warned us about false prophets, "They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves."

Welby is not alone in his charm offensive. See Manchester chief of police posing after bomb attack with the Koran which legitimised the killing. Of course there are many Muslims who would not act as soldiers of Islam but there are many who are prepared to die for their religion and take innocent people with them.

The way to defeat Islam is not by affirming it but to confront the ideology that drives followers to present the ultimatum: convert to Islam, pay a religious levy or face death. The Great Commission is the key.

He doesn't get it

Culture Secretary Sajid Javid has accepted what Dame Louise Casey said in her Report about some sections of society not accepting British values such as tolerance.

Javid said that people could not play a "positive role" in British public life unless they accepted basic values which include democracy, equality and freedom of speech. That is true.

That these three basic values are contrary to the ideology of those claiming to be suffering most because they are not allowed to do as they please in their host country appears to have escaped him. Sharia is preferred to democracy, equality is an alien concept and free speech is a one-way vehicle.

There are diverse views within groups as illustrated by the Muslim housemates in the previous entry. Many public servants may be sufficiently relaxed or ill-informed about their faith allowing them to accept the idea of a British values oath. They are not the problem. It is those who are prepared to follow their supremacist ideology to the letter with the promise of salvation if they die in the process.

The idea is well intentioned. It is based an typical British values which requires a sacred Oath to be sworn or an affirmation to be made. If the values expressed in the sacred book of choice are alien to British values the idea is dead before it starts.

What is needed is a proper evaluation of an ideology which expects others to accept that it is a religion of peace but regards any questioning or perceived criticism as Islamophobia.

Better understanding is the key. A comparison with traditional Christian values on which our culture is based is paramount but politicians and religious leaders shrink from the challenge as they ignore the Great Commission and validate other faiths to the detriment of Christianity.

Two Anglican Archbishops obsessed with women and the queer agenda

Revd Isabelle Hamley (CofE)                    Revd Canon Joanna Penberthy (CinW)

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of Wales have shown by their recent appointments that they have much in common, putting women's issues and the Queer Bible at the heart of their ministries.

Before anyone complains that the bishop elect of St Davids was not appointed by Dr Morgan but by an electoral college, there is no difference other than going through the motions. The name of Canon Penberthy as the next bishop of St Davids was circulating months ago despite her having to endure "sexism on her way to the top". That is, the absence of female toilets in a male college which moved her to micturate in England. Had her trail-blazing taken place today she could have armed herself with a transgender sign and urinated in St Michael's College, Llandaff rather than having to micturate elsewhere.

In the 1980s St Mike's as it was affectionately known trained half the bishops now sitting on the bench, Swansea & Brecon, St Asaph and Monmouth. It is no more. Down the pan and soon to be followed by the 'washed up' Church in Wales herself. St Michael's Theological College now houses the St Padarn's Institute which we are told "comes on the back of dwindling attendances in the Church in Wales and the church's subsequent decision to reorganise traditional parishes into larger Ministry Areas". As Dr Morgan draws his pension early in the new year he will have much on which to reflect. Perhaps he will contemplate writing a book on how he excluded faithful Anglicans from Christian worship in Wales.

Canon Penberthy regards the first women Deacons as 'trailblazers' in the feminist cause. A supporter of blessing gay unions and same sex marriage in church she is also studying for a PhD in Quantum Physics which may not be regarded by the faithless as the most useful asset in the Great Commission if they are to be brought to Christ.

Another PhD student is the Rev'd Isabelle Hamley who is to take up the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Chaplain in January 2017, replacing Archbishop Welby's previous choice, another female Chaplain who has been appointed bishop of Dorking.

In modern parlance, 'the Revd Hamley' is recorded as being in the final stages of a PhD in Biblical studies, (Relational identity, Otherness and Victimisation: An Irigarayan Reading of Judges 19-21).

Not acquainted with the subject I Googled to find out what on earth she was talking about, only to discover that it boiled down to more from the Queer Bible and gender politics.

Is it any wonder that church attendance is declining at an alarming rate? Why not be honest and proclaim Western Anglicanism as the Church of Queer Theology?

'No religion' outnumbers Christians, the more so in Wales

The Ass Bishop of Llandaff, the Rt Revd David Wilbourne, the Very Revd Janet Henderson
the first female Dean of Llandaff and the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan
Picture credit: CHURCH IN WALES

"Anglicans lose 12 followers for every person they recruit, the majority of whom are converts from other Christian denominations, rather than non-Christians or people with no religion."

The above photo in a 2013 Church Times article records happier times for the Archbishop of Wales before it hit the fan.

From the choice of photo it appears that Wales was regarded by modernisers as the place to be with Archbishop Morgan making a habit of appointing like minded acolytes to help him steer the Church in Wales towards his dream of a church moulded in his own image. He came badly unstuck when the briefly Dean Janet Henderson saw the light and resigned after just a few weeks.

Supporting figures in the article show that from a total of 4437 people polled, 1261 [28%] identified themselves as Anglican and 201 [5%] identified themselves as Muslims. The remainder identified themselves as Roman Catholic (354) [8%], Jewish (162) [4%], Baptist (58) [1%] and of no faith (1649) [37%] leaving 752 [17%] unaccounted for. New figures illustrate a greater decline of Christianity.

According to an analysis in the Guardian, the proportion of the population who identify as having no religion – referred to as “nones” – reached 48.5% in 2014, almost double the figure of 25% in the 2011 census. Those who define themselves as Christian – Anglicans, Catholics and other denominations – made up 43.8% of the population.

Wales showed the highest proportion of people saying they have no religion (nones) at 59.5%. The figures also show that around 13% identify as Anglicans in marked contrast to the 1% of the population of Wales who are recorded on their own figures as regular weekly worshippers.

To the "nones" should be added much of the Church in Wales hierarchy who claim to be Anglicans but show little if any of the traditional Anglicanism that would be recognised by the 80 million Anglicans worldwide now that the CinW along with the C of E have fallen in step with the US Episcopal Church's liberation theology.

A previous analysis showed that Norwich was the most godless city in England and Wales with 42.5% claiming to have no religion, well short of Wales' current 59.5%. The then Communications Director for the Diocese of Norwich the Venerable Jan McFarlane had a knack of turning disaster into triumph describing people who stayed at home as "doing their church going differently"! A successful ruse which has since seen McFarlane's appointment as the Suffragan Bishop of Repton.

One wonders what sort of a job she would have made of Dean of Llandaff. Clearly a catch not hooked by Dr Morgan but perhaps she is more savvy than the Ven Peggy Pilot who is still waiting in the wings and likely to remain there despite her vigorous opposition to anything smacking of scripture and tradition if current rumours regarding St Davids and Llandaff prove to be true.

After the same sex marriage debacle the appointment of the first woman bishop in Wales will result in further haemorrhaging of worshippers. It will be the last straw for many who have struggled to keep the faith in what now resembles a failing company run by incompetent directors who have long since lost sight of their aims and objectives.

The Spectator has this blunt warning: "Britain really is ceasing to be a Christian country. A landmark in national life has just been passed. For the first time in recorded history, those declaring themselves to have no religion have exceeded the number of Christians in Britain. Remarkably, the overall decline of religion in Britain has coincided with the arrival of three million migrants who tend to have more religious belief than British Christians. In particular, the visual impact of Islam, most obviously expressed in the proposal for a 9,000-capacity ‘super-mosque’ in east London that was rejected by planners last year, might give the impression that migration has brought a religious revival to Britain.

"Yet neither the growth of British Islam nor the huge influx of Christian immigrants from Africa and Eastern Europe has spurred a revival in public Christianity. It is possible that the rise of Islamism has made casual believers less inclined to ally themselves with any kind of organised faith. Say ‘religious’ to many Britons and the next word that pops into their heads is ‘extremist’, or perhaps ‘bigot’ or ‘homophobe’. To the growing population of secularists, religion has become something to be treated with suspicion."

While Christianity is on the wane, Islam is made to appear more commonplace and acceptable through the wearing of Islamic dress, ever increasing Mosques and misguided promotion by those who should know better. Ignoring the Great Commission the Archbishop of Canterbury has said that Christians should not share their faith with Muslims and other non-Christians unless they are asked while Muslims attempt to convert as a matter of religious duty. Perhaps His Grace is unaware that in Islamic countries the question most likely to be asked is whether non-Muslims would prefer to convert to Islam or die.

Pope Francis has been preaching from the same sheet while the Archbishop of Wales is well known for being better disposed towards Muslims than towards those in his own flock who dare to disagree with his disastrous liberal policies which have resulted in Wales having more "nones" than any English region.

Two recent accounts of the reality of Islam:

Doctor who worked in Welsh hospital has left his family behind and joined Isis in Syria, and

Elderly Christian woman stripped naked and paraded through streets by mob

It is understandable that the uneducated are easily led by rabble-rousers but when the highly educated are taken in by false prophets it is time to proclaim the gospel.

One has to ask oneself if our spiritual leaders live in the real world. On current trends, how long before they have anyone to lead?

Welby wobbling the wrong way

 Archbishop Justin Welby                                                                          Photo: Owen Humphreys/PA

 "Welby, an evangelical, is a supporter of female bishops. He is also, like the prime minister and the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, an old Etonian." That was the Guardian's reaction following the news that Justin Welby was to replace Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury. Perhaps it is because he is an old Etonian that he has been "reassessing his own views" on marriage and sexuality.

Public schools have long had a reputation for same sex activity which may have influenced the thinking old Etonians such as the Prime Minister who (regretfully) forced through the gay marriage legislation and Boris Johnson who supported it although old Etonian Welby voted against it. As the Telegraph put it: Although Archbishop Welby comes from the born-again evangelical wing of the Church and voted against David Cameron’s Same-Sex Marriage Bill, he has recently spoken about wanting to get his “mind clear” on the issue. 

The issue is to be top of the agenda at GAFCON in Nigeria later this month when an “action plan” on marriage and sexuality will "reassert a traditionalist interpretation of the Bible" which is seen by some as "a challenge to Archbishop Welby". He told a meeting in August that the Church needed to face up to the fact that most young people, including Christians, thought that its stance on gay marriage was “wicked”. So? That doesn't make them right.

Has the Archbishop also considered that "Ofsted claims that most pupils don’t know who Jesus was"? He should do because he is backing a move in his own Church to introduce what is being likened to “Sunday school for adults” because the Lord’s Prayer, the 10 Commandments and the Beatitudes are now so "unfamiliar to a modern audience".

If Justin Welby is wobbling on marriage and sexuality, he should be sure to wobble in the right direction. Jesus didn't look to the ignorant asking what they should have. He sent his disciples to teach what they had received from Him:

 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” - The Great Commission