Mothering Sunday

Screen capture from video of a Russian soldier captured by Ukrainian forces. (YouTube)                                                                      Source: The Times of Israel

 

Mothering Sunday, now more commonly referred to, commercially, as Mothers' Day falls on 27 March in the United Kingdom this year. Other countries celebrate the event on different dates. In Ukraine it falls on Sunday, 8 May 2022. In Russia, Mother's Day is celebrated on the last Sunday of November by when many more mothers will have lost their sons in a phoney war.

The Times of Israel reports that Ukraine has "invited the worried mothers of Russian troops captured on the battlefield to come and collect their sons, in an apparent attempt to embarrass Moscow."

Sadly mother Church in Russia, in particular Patriarch Kirill has sided with his friend Vladimir Putin, turning his invasion of Ukraine into a holy war.

The Russian people have been deceived. Many more sons and daughters will be sacrificed in Putin's war, his so called 'special operation'. 

On Mothering Sunday spare a thought for mothers in Ukraine and in Russia who are needlessly suffering while we celebrate.

Passing the Cup

Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." 

Priestesses in the Church of Ireland are celebrating 30 years of ministry - as they see it.

A video presentation in this NewsLetter link shows ordained women passing the cup and candles between themselves. What they are actually celebrating is the exclusion of many more devout women and men so that priestesses can indulge in their fantasies.

Celebrating their achievements with quips which make light of sincerely held objections to the ordination of women on theological grounds does their cause no credit. That is not saving souls.

While some women may be sincere in their beliefs, they have been deceived by those prepared to use the Church for political objectives, subscribing to secular notions that theology becomes secondary when considering equality of opportunity in the workplace. 

All those feeling compromised by the innovation of ordaining women to the priesthood as though it were just another glass ceiling for feminists to shatter have been allowed to fall by the wayside.

 Consequently it is the Anglican Communion that has been shattered.

Feminizing St Davids diocese clergy

Farmer priest relaxes on the silage                                                                 Source: Farmers Weekly

From a St Davids Cathedral tweet: "Congratulations to Canon Eileen Davies, Archdeacon designate of Cardigan in succession to The Ven Dr Will Strange who retires in May. Canon Davies will be installed and collated here in June."

Diocesan Rural Life Adviser and 'farmer priest', Eileen Davies was interviewed for BBC News in 2013 as the Church in Wales prepared to vote on women bishops.

If God calls a woman to be a bishop she said, "therefore the Church in Wales should not actually put a stumbling block there and say sorry you cannot because of the various reasons that the Representative Body of the Church in Wales  might put forward" !

It is not clear whether she thought Barry Morgan was God or his agent when he shoehorned Joanna Penberthy into St Davids to be the first woman bishop in the Church in Wales. 

Claiming to have heard God's calling herself, Canon Davies said it was important that the Church in Wales was prepared to look forward.

"We have many new ideas upon our agenda now. As a Church in Wales we have various new strategies that are now being proposed to move the Church forward. And to be able to move the church forward also we should lead the way as a Church in Wales to offer the opportunity for women to become bishops."

Women bishops have  proved to be an utter disaster. 'Moving the church forward' proved to be driving forward the LGBT agenda towards same sex marriage in church. New ideas have included misandry, deception and profligacy with a fixation on gender parity. 

Being unable to distinguish between forwards and backwards are obvious assets in the eyes of 'the best person to be a bishop'. With such callings perhaps we are to assume that God has a sense of humour.

Today is 1st April but this is no joke.

I wasn't expecting this

Addressing 'The Challenge of Secularism' at the 2018 meeting of GAFCON in Jerusalem the Rt Rev Dr Gavin Ashenden spoke about The Challenge of Cultural Marxism to the Church.

Explaining how the deception works,  Dr Ashenden explains how "a 3rd wave feminism extended parity into the area of social and sexual engineering. It involved the re-imagining of gender. Making gender flexible and fluid according to the preferences of the imagination.

"The strategy was first feminism and the introduction of the virus of equality , then gay marriage , based on the same artificial notion of equality, then the eradication of gender in the mind with transgenderism. And then paedophilia."

Referring to the latest Canadian propaganda videos "which show the increasing sexualisation of children as they are educated to become ‘allies’ of the LGBTQI++ , the bishop provided a reference to this sample video

  "Give me the child for the first seven years and I will give you the man"! 

This goes way beyond tolerance and understanding. How did we allow ourselves to get here?

Women in the Church

The 'dark' side.

"Women bishops would humanise the priesthood" said the then Archbishop of Canterbury in 2011. Dr Rowan Williams warned the Church hierarchy to prepare for the “culture change” that would come with the “full inclusion” of women. Not the full inclusion the Archbishop would have expected. Instead it is inclusion to the exclusion of anyone with views not in accord with Women and the Church (WATCH) and their fellow travellers as highlighted by the "Sheffield controversy".

At the time Ann Widdecombe was closer to the truth when she said,  "Christianity in Britain today is under severe persecution. And it will get much worse. I do not resent this persecution. I welcome it. For it will weed out the pseudo-Christians, the wimpish bishops and the caved-in Synod. By persecution we discover who our true friends actually are." In 2017 that has come to pass.

Feminists have mercilessly used the Church for their own political ends. On the face of it WATCH ran a legitimate campaign, as they saw it, for the ordination of women. But, as with the world wide web, there is a dark side. A deception which has been gnawing away at the soft underbelly of Anglicanism. Say anything, do anything to gain the advantage. Thus the five guiding principles were agreed allowing women to become bishops in the Church of England. Perhaps they were crossing their fingers behind their backs as they voted but either way, they have reneged on the agreement rendering the whole procedure untenable.

Critics of WATCH were accused of misogyny from the earliest days when Canon Lucy Winkett said in a keynote speech, "Never mind Gordon Ramsay, we have in modern society a new F-word: Feminism." Extracts from her speech can be read here, eg,

Now women are on the inside, are exercising authority in
state and church, although the power is not yet equally
shared and the pay is certainly not equal. We are in a
new situation; I am not here to make a case for women
to be bishops – that case is obvious...

From the historical perspective of exclusion, women are
able to speak with authority from long centuries of marginalisation,
to bring these perspectives into the decision
making structures of society and church.

In the West, we live in a half changed world. There are
now very few areas of public life not open to women –
except those protected by organised religion."

In their campaign WATCH have used Christian values as a weapon to secure an advantage over their target audience, secularists and Anglicans who have been brought up on 'love thy neighbour', 'turn the other cheek', etc. Many have been bullied into submission for fear of being branded un-Christian while the majority outside the Church either do not care or have become so secularised they no longer understand the issues. When Bishop Philip North withdrew from his appointment as Bishop of Sheffield a BBC News reader said it was because 'his congregation' had complained.

Similar tactics, including false accusations, are being used by LGBT campaigners to bully the Bench of Bishops of the Church in Wales into appointing the Dean of St Albans to Llandaff. In an undignified campaign Members of Parliament have become involved. They have been led to believe that Dr John has suffered discrimination because he is in a civil partnership.

The MPs wrote "We understand that Dr John, a fluent Welsh speaker, was born in Tonyrefail in 1953. He grew up there and went to Hertford College, Oxford where studied both Classics and Modern Languages and was awarded a First. He was ordained to a title at Holy Nativity, Penarth. From Penarth he went back to Oxford to study for a DPhil and became Dean of Divinity to Magdalen College."

Many Welsh Anglicans have been asking themselves why, as a fluent Welsh speaker, Dr John was not appointed to St Davids in what looks more than ever like the politically motivated appointment of the first woman bishop in Wales. A gay priest and friend of Dr John’s for 40 years said "There’s homophobia everywhere but that’s no reason to stop a gay person from becoming a Bishop."

It is not homophobia and not because Dr John is gay and living in a civil partnership. The reasons why Dr John was rejected are open to speculation but for Church members who have been alerted to the controversy it is because he has campaigned for same sex marriage in Church which was rejected by the Governing Body. Moreover, he has used an unorthodox interpretation of the Bible account of the healing of the centurion’s servant in Luke 7 to justify his stance.

Looking to feminism, to gay rights or any other secular cause to swell congregations is not what the Church is about. That has failed. Decline continues. False claims by campaigners are leading astray a politically correct audience for selfish, political ends. That is not the Way of the Cross.

Deception

Archbishop Barry Morgan

"They also apologised to gay and lesbian people

for the persecution and mistreatment they have

endured at the hands of the Church and they

committed themselves to providing a safe place

within the Church for all gay and lesbian people." 

So said the bench of bishops at the Governing Body of the Church in Wales in April 2016 when they introduced their 'Pastoral Letter to all the faithful concerning gay and lesbian Christians'. It was the precursor to the dangerously absurd conclusions Dr Morgan advanced in his final Presidential address in September when he claimed that ‘Biblical stories can reveal a new understanding of same-sex relationships’.

In February 2015 Christian Today reported that Jayne Ozanne, a founder member of the Archbishops' Council in the Church of England (CofE) and one of the CofE's most influential evangelicals had come out as gay. Formerly from the orthodox wing of the Church she held strictly conservative views on sexuality but Ms Ozanne came out after 'falling madly in love' and starting a relationship with a another woman. (Video interview here).

A 'LGBT activist', Ms Ozanne commissioned a YouGov poll which purported to show that 45 per cent of Anglicans (of over 1500 surveyed) believe that same-sex marriage is right, while 37 per cent believe it is wrong. Ms Ozanne and others "hailed this result as indicative of a shift in public opinion, as compared to a YouGov survey three years ago. At that time, 38 per cent of Anglicans said they supported same-sex 'marriage', while 47 per cent said they believed it was wrong".

A priest in the Church of England and consultant statistician, the Rev Peter Ould, questioned the way that the results of the poll were represented and has given a detailed account of how the findings are the opposite of those claimed by Ms Ozanne and her supporters.

His analysis of the figures indicate that Church of England is regarded as welcoming by a margin of 7:1. A majority of C of E members also said that the church was welcoming to the LGBT community by a margin of two and a half to one. For unclassified Christians the majority was 2:1. Only those of 'no religion' took a negative view. Read what Peter Ould had to say about the poll on Facebook (here) and listen to his explanation on Periscope TV (here). You can also find him on Twitter.

Rather than apologising to gay and lesbian people for the alleged "persecution and mistreatment they have endured at the hands of the Church", on this evidence the bishops should have congratulated members of the Church for providing a safe place for all gay and lesbian people. The new analysis helps to explain the number of gay and lesbian people among the clergy and the laity.

In another recent article for Christian Today the question is asked, Why Do People Stop Going To Church? Ms Ozanne said: "The Church of England needs to have the courage to look decline directly in the face and have the humility to ask 'Why?'. She repeated her assertion, "As my recent YouGov poll clearly shows many - even within the Church - do not believe it is there for everyone, as the Secretary General so confidently asserts. Indeed the young and those of 'no religion" - who we need to reach most - have the most negative perception of the Church. Growth will only come through a honest assessment of the mistakes we have made and a humble admission of the pain we have caused to so many."

We have been deceived. For too long we have been cowed by false assertions for fear of being thought uncharitable while pressure groups use every tactic to get their own way. Deceit has been used to damn the faithful and change the Anglican Church into a pale shadow of her former glory, often by trendy bishops who have taken the lead in this shameful process. One has to wonder what is in it for them. Cheap popularity or the hope of 'respectability' for those in the closet?

At last in the Church in Wales there are signs that people have had enough. The bench have not had their way on same sex marriage and at their last meeting the Governing Body refused simply to 'take note' of the relentless decline resulting in less than 1% of the population regularly attending church each Sunday. They passed this revised motion:

That the Governing Body
(i) Do take note of this Report with a heavy heart; and
(ii) Request that the Standing Committee, as a matter of urgency, identify the minority of parishes which are growing, investigate the factors behind this, and suggest what we might learn and implement from this good practice.

As an example of the blind attempting to lead the formerly blind, the Ass Bishop of Llandaff claimed that "much more was happening than could be recorded by statistics. We are beating ourselves up and I am sorry about that. There’s a lot going on – God does not depend on our contribution to thrive. We need to joyfully let down the nets and go fishing at His command." He and the Archdeacon of Llandaff were appointed by Dr Morgan from outside the Province to advance Dr Morgan's political objectives at the expense of the church and many faithful worshippers. He should go fishing and take the like minded with him.

Ordinary members must stand their ground and return the church to the Apostolic faith into which we were baptized, not a variant of nonconformity. 

In a final flourish before he retires Barry and his bench sitters have decided that anyone who has been baptised will be able to receive Holy Communion in church regardless of whether they have also been confirmed, thus opening the door to the Uniting Church in Wales. In pursuit of their ambition the bench calls us to look to the tradition of the Church. So we should, not to become nonconformists but to return to the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

The liberal experiment has been an absolute disaster for the Church of England and the Church in Wales using deceit and deception to mask the truth. We must return to orthodoxy. Pray that the appointment of the new Bishop of St Davids will aid the church in that mission.

Lowlights September 2015

The Bench of Bishops of the Church in Wales  

Last week the Governing Body of the Church in Wales spent Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday talking about things which mattered to them. Based on the time devoted to each subject the most important was same sex marriage (SSM) and among the least, the survival of the Church in Wales (CinW) indicated again by the continuing downward spiral in membership.

The Bench employed the same insidious tactics as they had used to admit women to the Episcopate when they deviously planned to make no provision for members who had theological objections to the proposal. No love there! The bishops did not participate in the debate but their acolytes spoke for them, trying to persuade voters to give their Archbishop the votes he needed to drive through his secular SSM policy. To their shame, three bishops voted in favour of same sex marriage ignoring scripture and tradition. - "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." 

The reasons given in favour of SSM which appear in Highlights had nothing at all to do with faith which illustrates why the CinW finds herself in the mess she is in, a position neatly summed up by one speaker from Llandaff diocese who said "Living in a post-modern world, we kick God into touch. In danger of bowing to external pressure we choose between pleasing God and pleasing people", something I hope the Bench took due note of when they consider the way forward.

The Standing Doctrinal Commission Report put it this way in Para 76:

"Our friends, family members, neighbours and colleagues number amongst
those who experience same-sex attraction. There is a strong appeal in the
argument that we must adjust the Church’s view to ensure their happiness.
Western society is increasingly hostile to those who question the goodness or
rightness of same-sex relationships: this provides a powerful motive to secure
our own good name by conforming to the majority opinion of our
contemporaries. Is same-sex marriage just another ethical issue on which
Christians can agree to disagree? Is this debate leading us to change our
teaching and discipline in order to ensure personal fulfilment for our
neighbours and avoid social disapproval for ourselves? Scripture and the
consistent teaching of the Church over twenty centuries compel many to view
the debate in terms of a choice between obedience to God or conformity to
the world, a touchstone of authentic Christian life; and “We must obey God
rather than men” (Acts 5.29). Would such radical obedience damage our
witness to our society? A Church with an unpopular message certainly faces a
challenge: but a Church which evades the challenge of obedience will have
no life-changing message at all. Article 20 of the 39 Articles puts the issue
succinctly: “it is not lawful for the Church to ordain anything that is contrary to
God’s Word written.” Yet that is precisely what we would be doing, if the
Church were to presume to pronounce a blessing on same-sex marriages, or
even on more broadly-defined partnerships of a similar nature."

The bishops have shown themselves to be out of touch with Church membership as are many of the clergy and lay members of GB who appear simply to do their bishops' bidding, presumably believing that the bishops know best when the truth is that they had no business bringing forward another Church splitting, un-Christian, secular policy. 

"Suffer me not to be separated from thee,
From the malignant enemy defend me."

Postscript

See also "The Church in Wales steps back from Same-Sex Marriage"

A report for Anglican Mainstream by Ven Dr Will Strange, Archdeacon of Cardigan here.

Premature celebrations

The Jackson/Wigley Morgan partnership

Following the Church in Wales Governing Body vote to allow women to become bishops their Archbishop,  Dr Barry Morgan, said, "While we, as bishops, welcome the decision that women can now be ordained as bishops in Wales, we recognise that there are some people who do not. We want to make sure that adequate provision is made for them so that they will still feel valued and accepted in the Church and will continue to worship and minister alongside us.  We have been entrusted to draw up a Code of Practice within a year and we are keen to consult as widely as possible with church members in order to reflect their views as best we can." [My emphasis - Ed.]

Under the Bench of Bishops' original Bill, as soon as practicable after the promulgation of the Canon the Bench had to establish a Working Party which would (a) invite, receive and consider proposals for a scheme of provision for Members of the Church in Wales who, for reasons of conscience, dissent from the provisions of section 1 of the Bill to permit women bishops and (b) produce recommendations to the Bench of Bishops for such scheme of provision.

Recommendations made pursuant to the provisions of subsection (1) of the Bill and agreed by the Bench of Bishops were to be included in a Bill introduced into the Governing Body of the Church in Wales within two years of the promulgation of the original Bill. 

That commitment seemed clear. An accommodation similar to that being worked on in the Church of England would allow all members of the Church the opportunity to flourish but having achieved their primary objective of allowing women to be admitted to the Episcopate through the Jackson/Wigley Amendment, that commitment under a voluntary Code of Practice is already looking pretty thin, adding to the suspicion that the Amendment merely provided Dr Morgan with the opportunity to maintain his position that there would be alternative pastoral and sacramental provision 'over his dead body' despite the costly charade of inviting submissions and organising diocesan meetings throughout the Province to receive and consider proposals for alternative provision.

As the date to allow women bishops draws near, arrangements have been made to celebrate the success of the women bishops campaign - jumping the gun in the process. For those who wish to remain true to the Catholic faith there is not even a whisper of what the bishops have in mind. According to Credo Cymru (here) the bishops' scheme will be presented as a fait accompli after women bishops become legal in the Church in Wales. 

This is contrary to the spirit of the amendment to the Bill which, according to the accompanying explanatory notes (here), aimed for a shortened one-year lead time from the previous two years to:-

a) impart a sense of urgency to the Bench that a Code of Practice should be agreed 

without delay, but 

b) provide a period of time in which the Bench may reassure as wide a range of 

people as possible of their good faith, and desire to give a sense of security in the 

future, to individuals holding different views. 

The amendment sought "explicitly to restore the relationship of Trust between the
body of the Church in Wales and the Bench of Bishops, and to reassert the desire
for this trust to lie at the heart of the bishops’ ministry and their role as a focus for
unity."

There has been no sense of urgency or reassurance of a sense of security for the future of those members of the Church for whom provision has to be made under the Code of Practice. It remains to be seen if good faith suffers a similar fate.

The decision to allow women bishops was greeted at Governing Body with wild applause. No doubt there will be similar expressions of ecstasy at the Crossing the Threshold event in Llandaff on 4 September which ends with a Eucharist at 7.45pm in Llandaff Cathedral when the President will be the Rt Rev’d Geralyn Wolf of the US Episcopal Church.

As she stands at the Altar, she and the congregation may wish to reflect on the fact that her presence there appears at this point in time to be as the result of a deception. Not good news or the best start for women in the Episcopacy in the Church in Wales!