Church of England in crisis

The Archbishop of Canturbery celebrating 25 years of women’s ordination to the priesthood in 2019                Source: CofE

Now, thirty years after the first ordinations of women to the priesthhood, one of their number, the Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, is calling on Justin Welby to resign.

She has decribed the archbishop's position "untenable" following a damning report into abuse by a prolific child abuser associated with the Church.

She is not alone in her demand. The Revd Dr Ian Paul, a member of General Synod and the Archbishops’ Council, has, among others, initiated a petition calling for Welby's immediate resignation:

"Given his role in allowing abuse to continue, we believe that his continuing as the Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer tenable. We must see change, for the sake of survivors, for the protection of the vulnerable, and for the good of the Church—and we share this determination across our traditions. With sadness we do not think there is any alternative to his immediate resignation if the process of change and healing is to start now."

The archbishop is already under fire for making comments contrary to the doctrine of the Church of England after expressing his views on gay sex outside marriage.

One abuse survivor has demanded a “clean sweep” of senior clergy members. Allegedly, 7 or 8 bishops knew what was going on.

MPs are already considering a call to remove Church of England bishops from House of Lords, thus lessening their influence. 

If Welby does resign no doubt there will be fresh demands for a woman to become the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury providing feminists with yet another opportunity for celebration their success in the Church. 

Update

Archbishop of Canterbury resigns

BBC report here.

It's becoming a woman's world

Petertide ordinations 2019                                                                                                                                                                              Source: Church in Wales

As predicted, women are gradually taking over Western Anglicanism. At the shrine of St David men are becoming a rarity as Joanna continues her policy of feminising the church in her diocese. 

It is not just the feminisation. Solemnity has been replaced by a carnival atmosphere highlighted in many tweets following this year's Petertide ordinations. Dignity has given way to frivolity, mystery to madness. Just about anything goes.

"25 years on"                                                                                                                Source: Twitter

There have been endless celebrations to mark women priests celebrating 25 years of women’s ordination giving the impression that the Anglican Church has become little more than a vehicle for feminism in a do-as-you-please religion.

Figures reported in the Church Times show that more women than men are going forward for training for ordination for the first time in more than 15 years. The total number of female clergy has risen steadily from 5310 in 2013 to a record high of 5690 last year, the total for men declined by about 860 in this time, contributing to the overall decline in clergy in the past four years.

Meanwhile, those whose consciences prevent them from engaging in 'Churchianity' are advised to make other arrangements as best they can which generally means leaving them with no place of worship.

So much for the new, loving, friendly inclusive church.

Postscript [05.07.2019]

CoE General Synod Q&A — Who has flourished under mutual flourishing?

Since the enactment of the legislation in 2014:

• 22 women have been ordained Bishop;
• 4 women have been appointed Deans
• 23 women have been appointed Archdeacons
• 31 women have been appointed Residentiary Canons

The diversity monitoring data for those appointed to senior roles since that time indicates that:

• 1 diocesan bishop;
• 2 suffragan bishops; and
• 1 archdeacon

identify themselves as either traditional catholic or conservative evangelical. However, the labels which people use to describe their church tradition do not necessarily correlate with whether they are unable for theological reasons to recognise the priestly or episcopal ministry of women.