Jolly June's folly?

Source: Twitter

Last year the Pride Cymru Eucharist Service was celebrated by Joanna Penberthy, the first woman bishop in the Church in Wales. In another first, the Rev Sarah Jones, the first transgender priest in the Church of England, was chosen to celebrate Holy Eucharist in a move that could be regarded as a calculated snub to supporters of traditional marriage.

It is a mystery why someone who has complained about being "OUTed" (see the 3.45pm event, above) would want to attract so much publicity but the Rev'd Sarah Jones is not shy when it comes to preaching about same sex marriage:

From her own website: "Before ordination Sarah played on the UK acoustic music scene...Sarah also speaks to conferences and groups on a range of topics including sex and gender, social influence, leadership and diversity."

Currently Rector of St Mary’s Ross-on-Wye, St Michael’s Walford and St Michael’s Brampton Abbotts, Sara Jones has been appointed to the post of Priest in Charge of The City Parish of St John The Baptist, Cardiff, described as being at the heart of Cardiff City Centre and a significant post in the Diocese of Llandaff.

From St John's website:
"The City Parish of St John the Baptist is among the oldest in Cardiff. The church is next to city centre's covered market, and is the oldest remaining mediaeval building in the city after Cardiff Castle, dating from the 12th century.

"Cardiff University Chaplaincy and its main campus are within the City Parish."

I have found no obvious explanation for this import from the Church of England to be vicar of the capital's civic church so unless she was the only applicant it appears to be yet another case of Church in Wales politics which saw the first woman bishop appointed.

The bishop of Llandaff was appointed by the bench of bishops after the rejection of Dean Jeffrey John's candidature. Undoubtedly better qualified than the current bench, Jeffrey John's promotion of the LGBT agenda was too much for many. He also came Out4Marriage.

Barry Morgan and his bench sitters failed in their bid to get the Church in Wales to accept same sex marriage but the bishop of Llandaff has appointed an advocate of that policy to one of the most significant posts in the Diocese of Llandaff in a move that appears to be a calculated thumbing of the nose to those who believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, to the exclusion of all others and for life, the official position of the Church in Wales.

New Anglicanism: secularism with ritual?

"Recent developments in The Episcopal Church with respect to a change in their Canon on marriage represent a fundamental departure from the faith and teaching held by the majority of our Provinces on the doctrine of marriage. Possible developments in other Provinces could further exacerbate this situation." - Scottish Episcopal Church Agenda and Papers, General Synod 2016.

Last month the Scottish Episcopal Church voted to allow same-sex couples to be married in church.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have been criticised for inviting the proposer of the Scottish gay-marriage motion to the General Synod meeting in York, placing a group of the Synod’s laity and clergy in an “invidious” position.

There should be nothing to discuss if a change is "a fundamental departure from the faith and teaching" but the Archbishops of Canterbury and York appear to be one-track minded on this issue. In January 2016 there was an explanation in The Telegraph explaining how the Anglican Communion came to find itself in this mess.

Much has been made of changing attitudes towards gay marriage but how many simply go with the flow? That public opinion has shifted is hardly surprising in a do-as-you-please society which fails to recognise the absurdities of the new 'anything goes' mentality.

In what could be a "world first" an eight-month-old Canadian baby has been issued with a health card that does not specify the child's sex. It has been done at the request of parent Kori Doty, a non-binary transgender parent who identifies as neither male nor female. The obvious is no longer obvious.

The Holy Smoke podcast above poses the question: Are Christians warming to gay marriage? For secularists same sex marriage is defined in terms of equality, regarding any opposition as discrimination. That religious groups are apparently falling into line indicates not so much a change in view of the sacrament of marriage, rather it indicates how the church has been infiltrated by lobbies determined to advance their agendas at any cost.

Civil partnerships were introduced to ensure that homosexual couples are not discriminated against. For the Anglican church to introduce same sex marriage would be to turn it into a secular institution with ritual, a return paganism.

Update [09.07.2017]

Reporting on GS Misc 1158 - Proposals for the Pastoral Advisory Group on Human Sexuality and the Development of the Teaching Document (item 8 on Saturday's Agenda at the York Synod) - Archbishop Welby "hoped a document would be available for discussion at the synod in early 2020 'though on a process this complicated we cannot be pinned down relating to time'."

Had the Archbishop maintained Christian doctrine ‘founded in scripture, in reason, in tradition, in theology and the Christian faith as the Church of England has received it’, the Church would not have the complication.

Winding up the debate on her motion calling for a ban on the practice of Conversion Therapy aimed at altering sexual orientation, Ms Jayne Ozanne quoted a tear jerking letter from a retired homosexual priest in his 90's who complained about homophobia in the Church. This has been alleged so often that the bishops believe it when in my experience the reverse is true, often with the innocent on the receiving end as some gays seek to extend their influence at the expense of others.

Next up: Church of England to vote on transgender services. To follow, 'polyamorous' marriage?

Postscript

Please also read Sin at Synod - How the Church forbad forgiveness by Gavin Ashenden and listen to Peter Ould losing it in his Podcast T is for Tearing up the Rules of Anglicanism.

What hope can there be for Anglicanism in this country?

If you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything

I found this 'live and let live' attitude of college kids to life rather endearing. There is no aggression, simply a polite, that's OK with me provided it is not hurting others attitude. 

That is fine on the surface but then the students are forced to consider the logic of their attitudes. 

How have elders of Church and State fallen into the same trap? Or are they guilty of indoctrination?

My thanks to Underground Pewster for this.