Their hypocrisy!

Source: Church in Wales

"There can be no room for seeking to undermine sincerely held views. Neither should we seek to walk away from each other." - Church in Wales bench of bishops.

The hypocrisy of it. 

Highlighted in Provincial News, top of the Agenda for the forthcoming meeting of the Governing Body of the Church in Wales from  September 6-8 is a Bill to authorise a service of blessing for same-sex partnerships. 

"Same-sex couples will be able to have their civil partnership or marriage blessed in Church in Wales churches for the first time if new legislation is passed next month (September)."

No doubt seeking their usual secular support an article has already appeared in BBC News. 

The bishops have issued a set of ‘Pastoral Principles’ intended to 'guide people towards thoughtful and considerate discussions'.

Introducing them they say: “There can be no room for seeking to undermine sincerely held views. Neither should we seek to walk away from each other. Our union in Christ is at the heart of our life and the bonds and character of our baptism hold us together; sharing a commitment to each other as together we seek the Kingdom of God. We hope these materials will stimulate this quality of engagement.”

But that is precisely what they have done to faithful Anglicans who have not been swayed by secular desires. Undermined for years they have been ignored by the bench and left with no hope.

Clearly regarded as less worthy than same-sex couples desiring a blessing of their union, the bishops have walked away from traditionalist Anglicans who hold sincerely held views with no thought for their spiritual welfare.

One has to wonder if the bishops of the Church in Wales really do believe in the Kingdom of God.

It's Wimmin Wot Matters

 

#GoodNews: So glad to follow the lead of St David’s. Historic for @ChurchofEngland and very welcome alongside Diocese
of St Davids in @ChurchinWales with female Bishop Joanna and female @DeanofStDavids Sarah  Source:Twitter

The tweets in the caption above suggest that the diocese of St Davids (not St David's) has become the model for feminist expansion in the Church of England. 

Four out of five Cathedral clergy are female. The bishop, dean and two minor canons are female with one solitary male, the sub-dean.

Looking at the various published figures for ordinations in 2020 more female than male deacons and priests have been ordained in St Davids diocese, a trend in the Province as a whole.

Gender parity, or Church by numbers, is the name of the game. 

Early in 2019 the Church in Wales concluded that there was 'more work to do on gender parity'. In September 2019 Cherry Vann was appointed Bishop of Monmouth. This allowed the former Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, architect of the Church in Wales' demise, to brag last night on S4C's Dechrau Canu Dechrau Canmol that the smallest Anglican province was the first to achieve parity among bishops.

Archbishop Morgan also spoke of the part played by the bilingual Church in Wales in helping to maintain the Welsh language. Not something regarded as important when aiding the feminist cause by 'electing' the three women bishops in St Davids, Llandaff and Monmouth. 

None of the three female bishops is a natural Welsh speaker. Neither is the current Archbishop of Wales which necessitated wheeling out the retired archbishop to speak of the achievements of the Church in Wales one hundred years after disestablishment. 

Archbishop Morgan was also given the opportunity to advance another of his 'achievements'. His policy of accepting same sex relationships on a par with traditional marriage. This policy has not been accepted by the Church at large and this, along with the ordination of women, has seen many faithful Anglicans leave the Church through exclusion.  

New worshippers have not been attracted by these failed policies. After years of decline a mere 0.8% of the population in Wales regularly attend Sunday services. 

Between 1996 and 2016 the number of signed-up Church in Wales members dropped from 91,247 to 45,759. The 2018 Membership and Finance Report shows that the average Sunday attendance of people over 18 had fallen to 26,110.

At its demise the Church in Wales will be a feminist institution along with the Church of England. In 2019 the CofE ordained more women deacons than men.

Sweden already has a majority of women priests and a female archbishop. In 2009 Eva Brunne became the world's first openly lesbian bishop, another example of feminist 'equality'.

The process of 'feminisation' went much quicker than the Swedish Church had foreseen. In 1990 it was estimated that it would take another century before half of the clergy would be made up of women. But the 50 percent threshold has been reached just thirty years later.

None of this prevented Mary McAleese, former President of Ireland, warning that "people are leaving the Catholic Church 'in droves', tired of 'little old men' who continue to 'beat the drum of obedience'."

Complaining that she is "ignored completely by the Church's hierarchy" McAleese should not be surprised after all the false promises made by women's groups such as Women and the Church and their supporters.

Describing herself as a person with a "thinking brain" it doesn't take much thinking to see where the Catholic Church would be heading after ordaining women based on the experience of Protestant Churches.

For feminists it is wimmin wot matters, not the Kingdom.                                                                      

Lambeth 2008 warning unheeded

Lambeth Conference 2008                                                                     Source: Anglican Communion

At the close of the 2008 Lambeth Conference Archbishop Rowan Williams warned of a grave peril to the Anglican Communion caused by some provinces deciding unilaterally to consecrate gay clergy and bless same-sex unions.

Addressing a gathering of clergy and laity in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles in 2019 the former Archbishop of Canterbury said that the Anglican Communion was "fractured but still a family".

As if to emphasis the fracture, LGBT+ campaigners are to hold a church service led by two high-profile married lesbian priests on the eve of the Lambeth conference which is expected to be dominated by conflicts over sexuality and marriage. According to a Guardian report the service is intended to send a strong message to once-a-decade Lambeth conference.

The “inclusive” eucharist will be presided over by the 'first avowed lesbian to be consecrated a bishop in the Anglican Communion',  the Rt Rev Mary Glasspool, assistant bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of New York. The preacher will be a daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Rev Canon Mpho Tutu van Furth. Having entered into a same-sex marriage she told the Guardian that her message at the eucharist would be one of a “Christian welcome and hospitality”. She said: “Jesus was always determined to make those who society sees as outsiders be insiders.”

No distinction is made between sin and the sinner.

Former 'insiders' who do not subscribe to the LGBT+ creed and their 'inclusive' church now find themselves outsiders as more bishops and clergy test which way the wind is blowing and endorse un-Christian values.

Under the heading Same Sex Marriage Research the Ozanne Foundation claimed a victory for supporters of same-sex marriage: "Same sex marriage support far outweighs those against". A YouGov poll allegedly shows that "a marked increase in the number of Anglicans believing same-sex marriage is right alongside a marked decrease in numbers believing it is wrong."

The Rev Peter Ould, also a psephologist, responded with a timely tweet: "A gentle reminder to everyone that 'Anglican' here is not in any way correlated to attending church OR believing the basics of Christianity. These are all self-identified and not qualified as having any religious / spiritual activity." You can read an extended response from Peter Ould here.

Rowan Williams' warning at the last Lambeth Conference went unheeded. The liberals have their way.

Twelve years after Lambeth 2008 the Church in Wales has its own lesbian bishop as the bench drives forward its agenda to change the nature of Holy Matrimony, twisting scripture to mean what they want it to mean or what secular society thinks it should mean.

The Archbishop of Wales⁩ speaks at a Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast about the ⁦Church in Wales ⁩ being "a pilgrim people and a kingdom building people" but it is not the Kingdom of God.

Postscript [06.03.2020]

Snuffing out Love.

From Christian Today: A trial that should shame all Anglicans

"Bishop Love stands accused of believing what most Christians – Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostal, Evangelical, and indeed Anglican – believe, and have always believed, about sex and marriage. His crime, if one can call it that, is not to permit same-sex marriages in his diocese."

Church in Wales in denial

Church in Wales bishops

The duplicity of Church in Wales bishops knows no bounds.

Responding to concerns expressed by Anglican Essentials Wales in the Church Times in advance of their inaugural conference in March, a spokesperson for the Church in Wales said that it was “committed to proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God, and this includes both a call to personal faith and commitment, and bearing witness to God’s call to justice and peace in society.

“All major policy decisions are, and have been, taken either by its Governing Body, which is made up of elected representatives from across the Province, or in consultation with it. This is a fair and democratic process, representative of the whole church, and we believe it is the best place for people to express their views and seek to bring in change.

“We do not recognise the criticism expressed by Anglican Essentials Wales as a fair description of our common life.”

'Proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God' in the Church in Wales has become how the bishops presume to interpret the message.

In the interests of 'democracy' they have embraced “a thoroughly this-worldly message” instead of upholding orthodox faith and practice.

Far from representing 'the whole church' as claimed, traditional Anglicanism is not officially represented. In an appalling breach of faith, commitments given to secure the ordination of women were abandoned when Bishop David Thomas retired.

Faithful worshippers have been left with nothing while overtures continue to be made to high profile minority groups who claim to be persecuted while enjoying their privileged status with access to special chaplaincies.

Movements such as Mae Cymru claim to be "a group of people with a vision of the Church in Wales as a community of God’s people where, regardless of gender, justice and equality prevail". That is exclusively on their terms.

'Gender, justice and equality' have become twisted. Love is everything so everything is permissible. But it is not agape, it is Eros, blatant sexual licence that has little if anything to do with the Gospel message.

Sad to say the ordination of women has proved to be nothing to do with equality. It is about power. Feminist power. Feminists demand equality. Equality demands equality 'regardless of gender'.

In the Church in Wales that means parity regardless of suitability, embracing everything LGBT+, advocating transgenderism and working towards same sex marriage even though the innovation failed to win the necessary votes at the Governing Body of the Church in Wales.

The bench did not accept the 'democratic' decision against same sex marriage in church after a heavily weighted discussion in favour. Instead they decided that more work was needed to implement their decision, using their Governing Body as a tool, drawing participants into heresy. 

In my entry Another farcical Church in Wales 'consultation'? I outlined how the bench of bishops use consultations to cherry pick comments they find favourable while binning those which fail to accord with their predetermined agenda. Their idea of democracy.

Small wonder that the Church in Wales is in terminal decline. The latest press release shows that Wales' struggling rural churches look to tourism for survival. The churches will be fitted out with sleeping stalls and 'services built for cycling'. Services for the faithful are no longer required.

The Church in Wales has entered into dialogue with followers of Witchcraft, Atheism, Peace Mala, Hare Krishna, Sufi, Islam, Yungdrung Bön, Judaism and Druids. Only orthodox Anglicans are regarded as beyond the pale. Unworthy of consideration because they remain true to the historic Apostolic faith in common with Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

That is the 'fair and democratic process' of the Church in Wales.

Homily on John 17

Where the Gospel and the World Collide. Feminism v the Kingdom of Heaven.

Gavin Ashenden.

Reproduced from the blog: Gavin Ashenden - Restoring Orthodox Christianity as an Anglican.