Caption corner 1 February 2024

Source: Rorate Caeli

 

Publishable captions will appear as comments.

C of E agrees to bless sin on trial basis

General Synod November 2023                             Source: Church of England

Despite the Church of England's belief that marriage is between one man and one woman, its General Synod has agreed that special services of prayer and dedication asking for God’s blessing for same-sex couples should be introduced on a trial basis.

The religious service could follow a civil wedding ceremony with readings and prayers, music, flowers and confetti, giving the appearance of a wedding in all but name.

The Church of England Evangelical Council said the decision "will tear local parish congregations apart, damage the relationship between large numbers of clergy and their bishops and cause churches across the dioceses to feel as though their shepherds have abandoned them."

Sadly, most of the bishops of the Church of England could not care less, as in the Church in Wales, where many faithful Anglicans have already been abandoned for keeping the faith.

'Love' and 'Hate'

It is a sad reflection of the Church in Wales that anybody who attempts to uphold traditional teaching in the Church can be described as 'hateful'.

The self styled Mthr Rosematy Hill SMMS, a long time LGBT promoter, recently had her same sex partnership blessed. Of her charity she will pray at Mass for those she apparently regards as sinners for believing in the sanctity of marriage.

On Twitter she describes herself as "Vicar for Children, Family & Community in @EastCardiffMA  & School Priest in @StTeilos. Unashamedly LGBT+. She/Her. Students will not be followed back."

Police with Welsh Pride

Source: Twitter @PrideCymru

Children are unashamedly used in promoting the LGBT agenda. The tweeted photo on the left shows a shouldered child carrying  a rainbow police flag. The tweet promises treats to come; "From a dog show to drag story time, we can’t wait for you to stop by! 🐶👑"

 

Regular LGBT defence comes from @CommsGuyMatt who could well be mistaken for the Llandaff diocesan LGBT liaison officer, 

Complaining of homophobia himself he is not averse to mocking a critic of same sex blessings by reversing the gender to tweet 'Ooh she's angry! 😂'

One wonders why Llandaff diocese tolerates the use of official channels for private purposes but then  CommsGuyMatt is a member of bishop Osborne's 'Leadership Team', a bishop who has spent much of her episcopal ministry advancing the LGBT cause to the detriment of the Church. Something she has tried to perpetuate by the appointment a new same sex partnered dean to take office just before she retires.

Never, never, never trust a bishop!

Binding together                                                                                                                                            Source: FaceBook

'Never, never, never trust a Tory' was the infamous tweet from the bishop of St Davids. 

The bishop, Joanna Penberthy, issued an apology after a torrent of complaints: "On March 25th, 2021 I put out a private tweet about Conservative Party supporters which has caused offence and for which I sincerely apologise."

She later went on extended sick leave and has again been signed off. Readers will not wish the bishop ill but why did she not do the honourable thing and resign having offended just about everyone in her diocese and beyond who were not of her party political persuasion?

Archbishop Cranmer wrote in his blog, "The apology issued by the Bishop of St Davids (of the Church in Wales) in the wake of her ‘Never never never trust a Tory‘ tweet is disingenuous. It is expediently sly. In short, it is a lie."

The archbishop of Canterbury was 'deeply embarrassed,' but not Andy John, the future archbishop of Wales, who as the senior bishop issued this statement:

  “I think the question whether Bishop Joanna resigns is done and dusted”, Bishop Andy states. “She made clear that she regretted what she had to say… I think if we cannot provide a way in which people can acknowledge wrongdoing, learn from their mistakes, and come back, then it begs questions about whether we believe people can change. Whether or not we think the Christian faith is about second chances. To me, fundamentally, it’s about that. And those who are baying and frothing at the mouth seem to me to be part of what I think is quite pernicious in society: which is that we dress up in virtue – or in the language of virtue – a kind-of campaign to persecute.”

In a previous blog I wrote, "Having found 'Biblical support for church gay marriages' the divorced and re-married bishop of Bangor can no doubt justify anything he fancies."

The whole bench is committed to gay marriage. Some just cannot wait. 

The above photo has a caption from the Revd Sarah Hildreth-Osborn, leader of the chaplaincy service for the LGBTQIA+ community in the diocese of St Asaph where Gregory Cameron is bishop:

 "A huge thank you to Gregory K Cameron for conducting such a beautiful and life giving service for us at St Grwsts at lunchtime today, the blessing of our marriage. A reminder to all that it is only love that sets us free!!! Thank you so much Bishop Gregory 💕"

 As one correspondent put it, "If that isn’t mimicking a wedding, I don’t what does . . . binding with his stole and presumably saying, "Those whom God hath joined . . ."

The Rt Revd Gregory Cameron  received the Religious Leader Award 'for his leadership within the Church in Wales in bringing them to a point of enabling same-sex blessings'.

A news item issued by St Asaph diocese in December 2021 described the award as "Bishop Gregory honoured for his outstanding contribution to the lives of LGBT+ people of faith."

The bench has jumped the gun before. They could not wait to see a woman bishop celebrate the Eucharist so imported a converted Jewish, Episcopalian woman bishop from the United States before women bishops were legal in the Church in Wales.

These actions typify the current bench of bishops. 

What of others 'of faith' in the Church in Wales? They count for nothing. The Church in Wales has become obsessed with promoting just about anything LGBT+ . 

The bishop of Monmouth is the first same sex partnered bishop. The bishop of Llandaff, June Osborne appointed the first transgender priest and has recently appointed a same sex partnered dean of Llandaff, thus perpetuating their main mission as she retires. 

Osborne has long been associated with rumours of bullying tactics with a disciplinary panel finding she had a case to answer. 

The Vicar of Radyr submitted her resignation saying that she could no longer, with integrity, knowing the many things she knew, serve in the diocese where she believed a 'culture of fear' exists. A diocesan survey conducted after her initial exposure 'brought up the same results'.

Today it has been reported that the vicar of Aberporth has "quit his post after revealing a lengthy battle with mental health he says brought him to the brink of a nervous breakdown.

"In announcing his intention to leave the Anglican Church In Wales he also had harsh words for Bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy."

The Rev Christopher Frost said: "Earlier this week I tendered my resignation as vicar which was accepted by the Archbishop of Wales in the absence of Bishop Joanna."

The bench does as it pleases. They have no regard for the Christian message as received and delivered by others. Instead they distort it, a pretence intended to validate their own opinions while deceiving others.

The bench has become a self perpetuating clique leading others to perdition. Honour escapes them.

 

It leads one to believe never, never, never trust an Anglican bishop in Wales.

Postscript [27.09.2022]

Leaving the Church in Wales...but not the church in Wales. A broken vicar's story. God bless him.

  

"Bishops in our Church have too much power and far too little accountability which has the tendency to make a little chaos in our diocese particularly. When the bishop is installed, who is pleasant to be with in person, but who makes very divisive and unwise decisions that bring the whole Church into disrepute while also having a catastrophic effect on clergy morale is a problem being keenly felt in our diocese today. Also over the past five years or so, the teaching of the Church in Wales has been pulled very hard into what I consider to be a wildly liberal theological direction, one that no longer really represents truly the teachings of Jesus Christ on a number of key moral issues that are facing our society today. So the banner of the Church in Wales, the Anglican Church in Wales, is becoming one which is becoming just a bit too difficult for me in good conscience to work under any more." - Rev Christopher Frost in a video posted to YouTube.

Highlights September 2021 - the big fix

Church in Wales Governing Body September 2021                                                                                                                                                   Source: YouTube

Highlights of the Church in Wales (CinW) meeting of the Governing Body, September 2021, have been published. 

Highlights for bishops of the CinW they may be but for the vast majority of Anglicans, they will be anything but that. Attracting widespread criticism, the process has been a gigantic fix.

Built around a Bill to authorise a service of blessing for same-sex partnerships, the meeting's opening prayers invited us to show "love, compassion and concern for all those who are anxious about the day's debate, especially for the members of the LGBTI+ community." Especially for the LGBTI+ community! Do others merit no concern?

Even the response 'In your love and tenderness, remake us' was geared towards voting in favour of the measure. The cleric leading the prayers was far from neutral having already been remade, 'living happily' in a civil partnership with a younger man, he is a noted LGBT activist in common with all three women bishops.

One of the more illuminating speeches came from the Revd Dr Jonathon Wright (S&B), who submitted an amendment that, according to the Chair, Judge Andrew Keyser QC, 'touched on a fundamental part of the Bill'. Dr Wright wanted to have it delayed until it could be considered holistically as part of the Church’s doctrine on marriage, and introduced with same-sex marriage at some future date.

The bishops were in no mood to stop and reflect on their actions, typified by the response the bishop of Monmouth, Cherry Vann, also in a same sex civil partnership, said that it would be "a huge missional and pastoral opportunity lost for yet another generation. . . The cry will go up, ‘How long, O Lord, how long?'"

Not the Lord, bishop Vann but GB members. The amendment was lost by 77 votes to 27, with no abstentions. 

The Bill itself was proposed by the bishop of St Asaph who was "conscious that some members saw the Bill as a departure from Biblical teaching and the historic faith of the Church", probably his most accurate statement, but nevertheless he asked if members would be “bold enough to take a decision in favour of faithful love and mercy, which will bring hope and joy?”

The bishops won, the Bill passed. The Church in Wales lost.

Church in Wales bishops ditch faith for secularism

      Source: WalesOnline (Image: Caroline McCredie/Getty Images)

The Christmas present to the Church in Wales from their bishops:

A BILL TO AUTHORISE EXPERIMENTAL USE OF PROPOSED REVISIONS OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER (service of Blessing following a Civil Partnership or Marriage between two people of the same sex)

WHEREAS the Order of Clergy and Order of Laity of the Governing Body of the Church in Wales indicated their view by informal poll on 12 September 2018 ‘that it is pastorally unsustainable for the Church to make no formal provision for those in same-gender relationships’.

AND WHEREAS the Bench of Bishops believes that it is desirable that, before a bill for the revision of a part of the Book of Common Prayer is submitted by the Bishops for the consideration of the Governing Body, a proposed form of service be used experimentally in the churches of the Church in Wales for a limited period.

BE IT HEREBY ENACTED that:

1. A Diocesan Bishop shall have power to authorise for experimental use in the churches within their diocese the form set out in the Appendix for a service of Blessing following a Civil Partnership or Marriage between two people of the same sex for a period of five years from 1 October 2021, subject to the conditions set out below.

2. No Cleric shall be obliged to officiate at such a service.

3. The Parochial Fees for a ‘Marriage Blessing (following a Civil Marriage)’ may be charged by the officiating minister and Parochial Church Council for such a service.

Backers:

+John Cambrensis
+Andrew Bangor
+Gregory Llanelwy
+Joanna Tyddewi
+June Landav
+Cherry Monmouth

From Church Times:

In an explanatory memorandum, the Bishops acknowledge that scripture and Christian tradition have previously understood unions of one man and one woman as the only context for sexual relationships.

“However, with new social, scientific and psychological understandings of sexuality in the last one and a half centuries, we believe that same-sex relationships can be understood in a radically different way, and that the teaching of Scripture should therefore be re-interrogated,” the Bishops write.

Postscript [02.01.2021]

From Coalition for Marriage (C4M):

Legalising gay marriage has caused a surge in divorce rates among lesbians, says same-sex fertility chief. - Mail Online

Meanwhile in Wales, Kirsty Williams’s Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill was debated last month. The current legal requirement for pupils to “learn the nature of marriage and its importance for family life and the bringing up of children” has been ditched. The parental right of withdrawal is also thrown out.

More from C4M here.

The LGBT Church in Wales

Drawing on the teaching of the Bible, and of the Church down through the centuries, the Church in Wales Marriage Service talks about marriage as a gift of God. Marriage is described as the lifelong, faithful union between a man and a woman, and married love is compared with the love Jesus has for his people – a love expressed in his willing sacrifice of himself on the cross. 

Church in Wales Weddings

 

The Governing Body of the Church in Wales will next meet on April 14-15 2021.  Details of a Consultation have been issued:

"A Bill to authorise experimental use of proposed revisions of the Book of Common Prayer (service of Blessing following a Civil Partnership or Marriage between two people of the same sex)"

In an explanatory memorandum the bishops 'unreservedly and collectively' commend to the Governing Body, a service of Blessing following a Civil Partnership or Marriage between two people of the same sex.

The standing Committee has appointed a Select Committee ‘for the purpose of considering and collating any amendments which members of the Governing Body may wish to move to the Bill’. 

The Chair of the sub-committee is the John 8:32 quoting vicar whose church in the above photo has the Holy Table decked in rainbow colours, not of God's covenant with all living creatures but of those who like bishops and priests in the Church in Wales regularly parade under the LGBT rainbow flag. 

The bishops claim that the Rite is a "step on the way towards repentance of a history in the Church which has demonised and persecuted gay and lesbian people, forcing them into fear, dishonesty and sometimes even hypocrisy, and which has precluded them from living." 

Utter balderdash! Yes, homosexuality was treated as a crime in the past and is still in parts of the world, punishable by death in some countries. I have no experience of the bishops' allegations. Rather the reverse when trying to uphold traditional marriage which is the union  of one man and one woman for life.

Much has changed. 

 Civil partnerships rightly extended legal protection to same sex partners leaving any physical attraction between them and God.

Many Anglicans of conscience have been left by their Church leaving their LGBT trumpeting bishops to lead astray what remains of their flock.

  

 As predicted in 2017, liberal drift has engulfed the Church in Wales. There are gay bishops, transgender priests with same sex marriage on the cards. Polyamory next?

This Bill makes every Church in Wales member complicit in the bishops' actions.

Postscript [12.12.2020]

1. The bishops' memorandum is discussed on Anglican Unscripted (edition 636) starting at 25 Mins in.

https://youtu.be/vSrv7ZAumIM

2. The Explanatory Memorandum from the Bishops of the Church in Wales – a response.

    Reflections of an Anglican Theologian