Jolly June's Iceland gender jolly

Jolly June with Iceland bishop Agnes Sigurdardottir                             Source: Twitter @BishopJuno 

I see from the Llandaff diocese web site that as we approach the season of Advent 'jolly' June's preparation for Christmas is another jolly, this time in Iceland from where she grandly tweeted:

"Such a pleasure to meet Bishop Agnes Sigurdardottir, the first woman bishop of the Church of Iceland and Porvoo colleague whilst at the Global Women Leaders’ Forum @ChurchinWales #PowerTogether @LlandaffCath".

I can understand June's affinity with the first woman bishop of the Church of Iceland since both their churches are in a downward spiral. More importantly, like jolly June, Agnes Sigurdardottir is a firm advocate of same sex marriage in church.

It was reported back in October 2015 that "the Bishop of Iceland has categorically stated that there is no possible way of interpreting Icelandic law to enable Church of Iceland priests to refuse to marry couples on the grounds of their sexuality." As bishop she would "never put forward any proposal which has the effect of enabling discrimination of this type."

No wonder it was such a pleasure for jolly June to meet fellow hard liner Agnes.

In an earlier tweet June wrote: "The Global Women Leaders’ Forum in Reykjavik begins with welcomes from extraordinary Icelandic women, the first ever elected woman President and the current Prime Minister. Thank you Iceland for your welcome and example of gender equality."

Such sentiments imply that these women occupy their posts not on merit but as a result of positive discrimination.

 In her latest tweet jolly June rails against presumed gender inequality:

"This figure for the G7 nations is shocking. For the UK 52% of men and 62% of women say they’d be ‘comfortable with having a woman head of government’.  That’s a problem for all of us and not just women who aspire to public service @ChurchinWales.

If jolly June aspires to public service she should look beyond parity towards suitability, something currently lacking in the appointment of bishops in the Church in Wales regardless of gender.

Along with bishop Agnes, June and the rest of the bench ignore conscience, dismissing Anglicans in their flock who have not fallen for the spirit of the age but who adhere to the historic faith of the Apostles as received.

Acting more like a politician than a bishop, jolly June's message is not about salvation. It is about queering the Church and gender equality, a euphemism for sexual discrimination in favour of women. It is naked misandry as demonstrated by the bishop of St Davids in her attempt to rid her diocese of retired elderly male clergy.

Her latest prodigy is following her bishop's example. In yet another article, Church in Wales' newest vicar on the church and being transgender, the Rev Sarah Jones the new vicar at St John the Baptist church in Cardiff talks of 'diversity in the church' with emphasis on transgenderism.

Disregarding the Great Commission Jones does not believe in "bashing people with the bible" or telling them what they should believe. Instead her ministry is built around transgenderism making it clear why jolly June appointed her over more suitably qualified clergy.

Given the parlous state of the Church in Wales one would have thought that June had more pressing work in her diocese and beyond to counter declining attendances but that does not have the same cachet as somewhat incongruously attending the Global Women Leaders’ Forum to promote gender politics.

Postscript [30/11/2018]

A tweet from the Church in Wales about the Global Women Leaders’ Forum informs readers that there were "400 leaders from 80 countries and the Bishop of Llandaff was one of them".

In June's linked blog "Stepping over the gender gap" the bishop of Llandaff puts her cards on the table with this revealing statement: "Faith is in the business of challenging entrenched attitudes and changing perceptions." Changing attitudes!

It not only sums up her ministry but the direction of the bench.

Your new home?

Christ Church, Rhosybol, on sale for £45,000                                                       Source: Daily Post

This is just one of twelve redundant churches currently offered for sale by the Representative Body of the Church in Wales following closure for worship which could be your new home. How many more to follow?

Worship often took place twice and more in bigger churches on Sundays, many with a daily Eucharist during the week. That was before they became the means of spreading political correctness, misapplying notions of gender equality to the priesthood, substituting equality for theology.

With few exceptions Church attendance continues to fall year by year. Ironically, in one of the largest ever surveys of peoples' attitudes towards the role and influence of churches in local communities published in Christian Today, more than a third of UK adults surveyed said that they would "campaign to keep their nearest church from closing because it provides 'vital' services to its local community." Without supporting members, who would maintain them?

MAE Cymru supporters. Source Church in Wales

 In former years five of the bishops of the Church in Wales held Oxford Firsts in Theology. The bishop designate of Llandaff studied social sciences. When interviewed by BBC TV News she was very much into gender parity so regardless of merit no doubt there will be an explosion of female appointments in Llandaff along with St Davids where the first woman bishop was appointed. Bishop Penberthy is a strong supporter of MAE Cymru, an organisation spreading feminism in the Church Wales under the guise of equality but only as they see it.

In response to my previous entry some commentators became exercised over a suitable spiritual home for disillusioned Anglicans. Sadly, as the declining numbers indicate in all but a few churches, most Christians do not look for an alternative. They give up in despair and stay home. Robbed of its mystery and otherness, church-going has for many become another weekly social occasion while others turn up at Easter and/or Christmas expecting their church to be there for them.

The obsession with gender politics has been a disaster. It has spread from the acceptance of the ordination of women to demands for acceptance of just about every sexual permutation including same sex marriage, the red line for many Anglicans.

Woe betide anyone who dares to hold a contrary opinion or to question the basis of different beliefs. Witness the Tory MP forced to stand down after a sixteen year old student and LGBT rights campaigner did not like the answer to her question after she asked him if he was planning on attending the Isle of Wight's first ever pride event.

Shades of Germaine Greer who was pilloried for expressing her personal opinion that she did not think post-operative transgender men are women, an opinion shared by experts.

Devout Christian Tim Farron the leader of the Liberal Democrat party was hounded until he gave a politically correct answer when asked if he thought that homosexuality was a sin. He had no support from the Church of England.

The first Church of England vicar to marry his same-sex partner has announced his resignation as a parish priest complaining that the CofE is 'institutionally homophobic'. He claimed that he and other gay and lesbian clergy were 'barely tolerated'.

That is an odd claim given the experience of remaining churchgoers, a claim which also contradicts the experience of the Rev Sally Hitchiner who told viewers of the BBC Breakfast programme on 30 April while discussing the marriage of Pippa Middleton that she was to "marry" her same sex partner next month.

Many, particularly younger, people today simply shrug their shoulders and say, So what? It doesn't affect me. But it does. As churches close some are converted into mosques while new Islamic centres are being built to accommodate the growing number of Muslims resulting from immigration and higher birth rates. Mohammed already tops the list of most popular baby boy names in England and Wales.

Islam is not tolerant of homosexuality. Woman count for less than men. It is ironic, then, that the politics which have split the Church will be unacceptable to the predominant faith group when Islam becomes the largest religion in the world by 2070.

If church leaders spent as much time exposing the ideology that is stamping out Christianity in its birthplace as they do on gender politics and affirming Islam there would be less need for GAFCON to send a missionary bishop to our shores to speak for traditional marriage.

Meanwhile in New Zealand a transgender weightlifter is causing controversy. Olympic Weightlifting NZ high performance manager Simon Kent described Hubbard's performance as 'magnificent'. "This is such a new issue for society to have a conversation about," said Kent, of the transgender question. "It really challenges how people respond to it - it's not something that is openly discussed and talked about." [My emphasis - ED.]

Transgender athlete Laurel Hubbard  Source: NZ Herald Photo: Doug Sherring