Evangelism?

In 2018 the Church in Wales announced that they would spend £10m to 'breathe new life' into its churches:
 

"In the wake of dwindling numbers, the Evangelism Fund will fund “ambitious projects” to get more people engaging with churches. Between 1996 and 2016 the number of signed-up Church in Wales members dropped from 91,247 to 45,759. Now, grants of between £250,000 and £3m will be available for new projects."

Llandaff diocese received £3 million from the fund for their Young Faith Matters Scheme which made possible the Citizen Church with a mission designed to create a new Christian Community for Cardiff students. - That doesn't say much for the Cardiff University chaplaincy which attracts just a handful of students compared with its early years when faith really did matter in the Church in Wales. 

To make the church plant possible, without prior consultation the congregation of St Teilo's in Cathays were to be moved to St Michael’s, also in Cathays, to make St Teilo's available for the experiment. 

Similarly parishes learnt at last week's Llandaff Diocesan Conference how they were to be grouped into Ministry Areas or Benefices, again without prior consultation.

Parishioners in Cathays now learn that they are to be combined along with the parish of Roath St Martin into a new Benefice of Roath where only one of its four daughter churches remains after many years of decline.

Citizen Church is part of the Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) network known mainly for its charismatic leader Nicky Gumbel and his Alpha course. At 65 some are questioning Alpha's survival following Gumbel's retirement.

Many former members of the Church in Wales who kept the faith, digging deep in pockets and purses for the Church, now find themselves on the outside seeing money squandered on fads and fancies.

In his address at the September meeting of the Governing Body, about the only part of the video proceedings that did work before the meeting was abandoned, the Archbishop urged all the church to embrace change. 

So far that has increased the number of senior posts while congregations dwindle. Liberal feminism has taken hold leaving traditional Anglicans unchurched.

That is the Church in Wales, where faith doesn't matter outside the bishops' guidelines.

Get Cummings

The PM's Chief Advisor running the gauntlet of hate                                                                                                                                        Source: internewscast

Regardless of which side of the fence you find yourself in the 'Cummings must go' campaign, the treatment he and his family have had to endure as glimpsed in this tweet is not British. It is a disgrace. 

Following the example of snowflake no-platformers, get Cummings campaigners have been acting as judge and jury. A witch hunt designed to ensure the departure of the Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister, thus settling old scores after Remainers lost the vote to remain in the EU. 

Allegedly unbiased TV presenters who are paid vast amounts of money by the cash strapped BBC decided that Dominic Cummings' actions when he and his wife were required to self-isolate were reprehensible. The man was guilty regardless of circumstances, timing or his use in the fight against the common enemy, Covid-19

Possibly emboldened by the fact that BBC Breakfast's presenter Naga Munchetty was let off  after she 'breached BBC rules', presenter Emily Maitlis launched into her Newsnight introduction with: "Good evening. Dominic Cummings broke the rules. The country can see that and it is shocked the Government cannot. The longer Ministers and Prime Minister tell us he worked within them the more angry the response to the scandal is likely to be.... He made those who struggled to keep the rules feel like fools and has allowed many more to feel that they can flout them".

 Crackpot Acting LibDem Leader Sir Ed Davey described the breach as "brilliant journalism". The BBC has since said that "an introduction about Dominic Cummings on Tuesday's Newsnight did not meet the required standards of due impartiality".

'Journalists' and MPs following the pack have been lining up to demand the PM's Chief Advisor should either resign or be sacked regardless of his value in combating the Coronavirus. The Church of England's duplicitous bishops have also weighed into the Prime Minister with "lied to, patronised and treated as mugs" although one has to acknowledge their considerable expertise in that area. 

This week we have been celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the rescue of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from Dunkirk. The coverage of the BBC today is in marked contrast with the desire for victory regardless of the cost in 1940.

The get Cummings campaign has completely lost sight of the need to beat the real enemy, Covid-19.

Sir Keir Starmer has tweeted: "Boris Johnson's unwillingness or inability to do the right thing has left the Government looking untrustworthy and unprincipled. Worst of all he's undermined the public health advice that keeps us all safe, just to keep one aide in his job. Our nation’s health must come first."

Sir Keir is correct. Our nation's health must come first. For that reason MPs, the media and Anglican bishops should stop doing what they accuse Dominic Cummings of having done, putting the country at risk. 

The issue has been flogged to death. 

It is the vendetta that is more likely to undermine the Government's fight against Covid-19 with mischievous suggestions that people should perhaps make their own judgements rather than follow government guidelines.

Postscript [01.06.2020]

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Blasts Bishops over Cummings Controversy

"Controversy is ridiculously overblown, says George Carey

Hysterical, coarsened and divisive nature of debate is creating a dangerous culture war that could harm civic life, he says."