Living with Diversity

From left to right: The Rt Revd Gregory Cameron (Bishop of St Asaph); The Rt Revd Rachel Treweek (Bishop of Gloucester);
The Revd Canon Jeffrey Gainer (Chairman, Credo Cymru) The Rt Revd Philip North (Bishop of Burnley); The Rt Revd Jonathan Goodall
(Bishop of Ebbsfleet) and The Most Revd Barry Morgan (Archbishop of Wales). Source: Credo Cymru

'The English Experience of Living with Diversity' was the title of an address given by the Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Rev'd Rachel Treweek, to the Credo Cymru conference held in Cardiff on 21-22 September under the heading 'That Nothing Be Lost: A Conference to Preserve the Breadth of Welsh Anglicanism'. 

Book ending participants in the above photograph are the Bishop of St Asaph and the Archbishop of Wales who chose not to live with diversity when the Governing Body of the Church in Wales agreed that women could be made bishops in Wales. In consequence many devout Christians have since left the Church in Wales with catastrophic effects on attendance figures and consequent finances. For those who have remained in hope, the current dialogue represents the best opportunity for something to be salvaged from a Code of Practice which not only lacks charity but smacks of vindictiveness.

In his address the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, the Rt Rev'd Jonathan Goodall, quoted the then Archbishop of Canterbury replying to a Church of England debate on the same subject. Abp Rowan Williams said,

‘People have talked at times about differences of opinion and how the Church

can live with differences of opinion. I think that the problem is for those who

are not content with the idea that we should go forward along the line of

ordaining women as bishops, the problem is not one of opinion, it’s rather of

obedience. It’s one of obedience to scripture, or obedience to the consensus of

the Church Catholic. And, while that’s not a view I wholly share, I think we

ought to recognise that that’s where it comes from, that those who hold that are

not just thinking this is a matter of opinion, and therefore it is rightly and

understandably a lot harder to deal with dissent if you’re talking what

fundamentally comes down to a question of whether you obey God or human

authority. That’s why it’s serious, that’s why it's difficult. More than opinion.’

The Credo Cymru Media Release (here) quotes the Bishop of St Asaph, the Rt Rev'd Gregory Cameron, asking ‘hard questions’ in his keynote address:

 Did the Church in Wales really mean what it said in the canon enabling women to be bishops – that traditionalists should be given ‘a sense of security in their accepted and valued place within the Church in Wales’? Did traditionalists really want to be in communion with the Bench of Bishops? He thought it ‘very, very unlikely’ that the Church in Wales would establish any form of supplemental episcopal ministry, but recognized that traditionalists needed a corporate life. He encouraged them to explore ‘double belonging’: loyal both to the fellowship of their diocese (with canonical obedience to the diocesan bishop) and to their own (non-political) fellowship (with ‘affective loyalty’ to a bishop, whose friendship, trust and relationships with the Bench of Bishops would be crucial).

Obedience is the key. Conscience, or, as Abp Rowan put it, the problem of 'obedience' rather than 'opinion', whether you obey God or human authority. This cannot simply be superseded by loyalty to "the fellowship of their diocese (with canonical obedience to the diocesan bishop)". There has to be give and take on both sides, 'transformation of conflict' as Bishop Rachel Treweek succinctly put it. 

I have heard differing interpretations of what Bishop Gregory said, some more cynical than others. In my view it would have been the height of cruelty for the bishops of the Church in Wales to enter into discussions offering no hope. If 'double belonging' means anything it must surely mean living with diversity, something that the Anglican Communion is well accustomed to as a broad church. 

On 23 September the Church Times published an article under the headline, ‘Your Grace’ receives farewell tributes. The report was followed by another, 'Traditionalists try to build bridges', referring to the Credo Cymru conference. It reminded readers of the final straw for many of the only significant minority not to be favoured by the current Archbishop - closing the door to any meaningful pastoral and sacramental integrity: "Any attempt to approach another bishop elsewhere to provide episcopal ministry would have 'very serious implications' ", a threat one hopes is regretted if the Church in Wales is to live with diversity.

In the absence of a separate structure for Wales along the lines of the Church of England model, the simplest way forward is for visiting bishops from The Society to provide an additional episcopal ministry, the ‘double belonging’ as Bishop Gregory put it, for mutual flourishing.

Update [28.09.2016]

Two further papers delivered at the "That Nothing Be Lost" Conference last week have been added to those previously posted (here).

Update [04.10.2016]

The keynote Address by the Rt Rev'd Gregory Cameron, Bishop of St Asaph has been added to the Credo Cymru web site. You can read it here.

Leading by example!

This morning two of the items to arrive in my in tray referred to His Grace the Archbishop of Wales. The first was an alert about the NATO summit to be held in Newport, South Wales in September (see second half of the article):
"THE Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan, has come out in support of anti-Nato protestors. A Church in Wales spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that the archbishop had signed the No Nato Newport 'statement of opposition.'

However she said the archbishop wouldn’t be taking part in protests themselves, due to take place in the days leading to the September event...'We are a broad church, literally,' she said, saying she didn’t know the Archbishop’s motivation for joining in. 'It’s all about helping magnify the voices of the little people that are being bombed and droned,' she added.

Dr Morgan's concern for "the little people" is touching but selective. The little people in his "broad church" dare not speak openly for fear of retribution if they criticise Barry's agenda. It is noticeable that in general only commentators wishing to secure favour with the Archbishop such as the Diocesan Secretary and his staff have used their own names when making unsubstantiated accusations against commentators.

The second item was a comment in response to the previous entry, Discretionary funds @ 9:45AM on July 5, 2014: " I am happy to facilitate the tabling of a proposal at the PCC that such collections are only contributed to audited funds".

To avoid retribution others need to step forward so I would urge all readers who are PCC members in the Church in Wales to propose similar action along the lines:
'That this Council resolves, for the furthering of the mission of the Church in Wales in the Diocese of Llandaff, within a framework of full accountability, that collections at confirmations and institutions in this parish will, after expenses have been defrayed, be donated only to those accounts which are the subject of annual audit and publication.'