Rounding off Compostela

Llandaff clergy dancing the pilgrim dance after the final Eucharist of their clergy school in Santiago de Compostela                      Source: Twitter @Gould2Jan

Jolly June rounded off the Llandaff clergy school in Santiago de Compostela with the tweet: "Michael Sadgrove teaches about pilgrimage and the brilliant story of the Emmaus Road -seeing with hope. Are we dealers in hope?"

Hope for what?

Chief cheerleader among pilgrim commentators was Pilgrimprogress who looked forward to spending even more money on clergy schools making them annual events.

In a comment on Llandaff clergy school off to a flying start Pilgrimprogress wrote: "Happy to support them and hope they make it an annual event. I note that Michael Sadgrove is leading them in teaching - he's an amazing speaker and they are sure to receive some great input. I recommend his writings.

Later the Cardiff University Anglican Chaplain added a similar tweet: "It has been an absolute delight to have @MichaelSadgrove with us at our clergy school delivering three very thoughtful morning addresses. Like a good meal, you might not remember all that you have been fed, but you certainly know that you have been well fed!"

Amazing speaker he may be but what he has been feeding in some of his writings, particularly on his blog Woolgathering in North East of England, is a million miles from the doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church.

In a gushing endorsement of women's ordination The Ordination of Women as Priests - 25 Years On he wrote: "But I knew on that day that this was a ceremony that would not just live on bathed in a kind of generalised afterglow. I knew that it would be unforgettable in its detail as well. Such as singing 'Be still for the Spirit of the Lord is moving in this place' and, for once, truly recognising that she was."

If 'she' were the only reference to the spirit of the age one might put it down academic argument but it happens to be part of "his friend" June Osborne's revisionist theology, an inclusive church leading to same sex marriage in church

The Campaign for Equal Marriage in the CofE   Source: Twitter

On his Twitter account Sadgrove pledges his support for the Campaign for Equal Marriage in the CofE and for the Rev Andrew Foreshew-Cain who launched a campaign for the rights of LGBTQ Christians claiming that his same-sex marriage cost him his ministry.

In a previous comment on Llandaff clergy school off to a flying start Berty wrote of the absurdity of a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela: "Also odd that clergy of a reformed protestant church who sign up to the 39 Articles should go on pilgrimage to a major ‘Romanish’ shrine which is only open during its rebuilding work for pilgrims to venerate the relics of St James? Is that not contrary to Article XXII?

In another blog entry A Day of Wisdom Sadgrove wrote: "I've just got back from leading a study day for clergy and readers in Llandaff Diocese where my friend June Osborne is bishop. They had asked me to reflect with them on wisdom literature in the Hebrew Bible with the tasks of leadership, ministry and preaching in the church today especially in mind."

The whole episode is so incongruous and a colossal waste of money when the study days could have been held in Llandaff as Sadgrove did last year when speaking about leadership.

To cap it all Michael Sadgrove tweeted: "At the conference dinner last night, @BishopJuno is given a standing ovation by her clergy. So well deserved. But remarkable all the same."

Remarkable indeed but as Pilgrimage Fatigue quipped in Caption corner: "What you need to do is engineer a standing ovation at the end of the conference dinner. That'll have them all eating out of my hand."

You can read what Michael Sadgrove thought of the jolly in his glowing blog entry A Pilgrimage to Santiago.

Bishop of Llandaff sacrifices parishioners in latest initiative

Church in Wales parish church of SS Andrew and Teilo, Woodville Road, Cathays, Cardiff.                                                                              Source: Wikipedia

The parish church of SS Andrew and Teilo has followed the revisionist path of the Church in Wales to the letter but that has not saved parishioners from being sacrificed by bishop June Osborne.  Her latest strategy, presumably for growth, is to give away their church. Parishioners are far from pleased.

From their petition Save St Teilo's - Save Our Community:
"In March 2019 the members of St Teilo’s church have been informed that a decision has been made by the Bishop of Llandaff, June Osborne, to give their church away to an evangelical church called Holy Trinity Brompton. The decision was made with no consultation with the clergy or members of the congregation and wider community and she says the decision is final."

Popularly  known as St. Teilo's, the parish church became St. Andrew and St. Teilo after the nearby St. Andrew's church was rededicated as Eglwys Dewi Sant.

Before its rededication St Andrew's was a chapel of ease to St John the Baptist Church, the civic church in the heart of Cardiff now dedicated to the advancement of transgenderism following the bishop's appointment of a transgender activist vicar.

Led by a female priest the parish  of SS Andrew and Teilo has an "inclusive ethos" and is "formally associated with the Inclusive Church movement". They responded to the Church in Wales initiative taking up the Seven Sacred Spaces model to shape their mission life, something the former bishop of Llandaff, Archbishop Barry Morgan referred to as "places of pilgrimage", an unfortunate link in June Osborne's year of pilgrimage initiative as she prepares to fly her diocesan clergy much farther afield in her widely ridiculed Costa Compostela initiative.

 Famed for its Alpha course, Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) describes itself as "a vibrant Anglican church in the heart of London, passionate about seeing lives changed in the name of Jesus." In 2017, the Church Revitalisation Trust (CRT) was established to help build on this momentum of church planting in strategic cities across the UK:

While the success of HTB is to be admired, it is no reason for the bishop's high handed action, destroying one congregation in the hope of starting another. That is not church planting.

"Church planting is a process that results in a new (local) Christian church being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, new worship center or fresh expression is created that is integrated into an already established congregation. For a local church to be planted, it must eventually have a separate life of its own and be able to function without its parent body, even if it continues to stay in relationship denominationally or through being part of a network." Wikipedia

 Church of England Bishops set out principles for church planting.

 Among their guiding principles [20 ii]:
"We expect those responsible for church plants to commit themselves to work
to the best of their ability in cooperation with the other churches in the local
area, including the church in whose parish the new church plant is located, as
an integrated part of deanery and diocesan structures. They should aim to use
some of their resources to support the mission of their neighbours and expect
to make regular financial contributions to the diocese, as an expression of the
mutual responsibilities that are a normal part of church life."

What the bishop of Llandaff appears to be doing is adapting Church of England practice for use in the Church in Wales without its structure. In a similar way they cherry picked to write a Code of Practice which specifically excluded separate structures leaving orthodox Anglicans in Wales with nothing but their memories.

Church in Wales bishops have been resolute in refusing permission for orthodox bishops to cross the border. HTB plants have their own bishop for church plants, the Bishop of Islington. There is no indication how this would work in Wales.

We have been here before.

Revisionist bishops have destroyed orthodox Anglicanism in Wales, sacrificing  faithful worshippers in pursuit of their secularist agenda. If attempting to address the resulting decline with another experiment is June Osborne's answer parishioners is not taking it lying down.

You can sign their petition here.

Postscripts [22.03.2019]

Church Times: Church in Wales launches its first resource church

[25.03.2019] Anglican Unscripted coverage:

The big lie

'The team': + Dick and St Augustine, Rumney, Cardiff clergy. Source: http://www.parishofrumney.org/

Two press releases that have appeared on the Church in Wales web site:

Church founded in the 12th Century launches into 21st Century online world as a welcoming, affirming and inclusive church (Diocesan press release)

and 

Inclusive church (Provincial press releases) - Welcoming EVERYONE at the door!

From the Diocesan press release: "The Parish of Rumney, and it’s 12th Century parish church of St Augustine, were propelled into the modern world of online communication on Sunday (12 August) with the launch of their new website parishofrumney.org

"With a popular page on Facebook, @RumneyParish which has 650 followers, the Parish Priest, Fr John Connell, and curate, Fr Ross Maidment, decided that the time had come to bring St Augustine’s well and truly into the 21st Century and raise the parish’s profile via modern media.

Also propelled into the modern world of the 21st Century -  "Alongside its new website, St Augustine’s also launched its #inclusionis campaign.

"Fr Ross, explained: 'St Augustine’s seeks to be an inclusive church which welcomes, affirms and includes all God’s people and our new website enables us to witness to a wider community for whom the internet is at the centre of everyday life'."

Since when did the church not welcome and include all God's people?

This is nothing more than indoctrination, especially of the young, by attempting to normalise homosexual activity.

These now familiar tactics were adopted by feminists to gain access to the priesthood:

• Exploit the “victim” status;
• Use the sympathetic media;
• Confuse and neutralize the churches;
• Slander and stereotype [traditionalist] Christians;
• Bait and switch (hide their true nature); and
• Intimidation.

These often used LGBT tactics claim victimisation to gain sympathy and muster support for what is nothing more than a campaign to accept same sex relationships leading to same sex marriage in church.

Many churches have for years included gay worshippers in congregations with increasing numbers of openly gay clergy .

The only cases of exclusion I have encountered followed the introduction of the ordination of women when some Anglican Christians looked the other way and refused to share the peace.

As the provincial press release puts it, "More and more churches in Wales are joining the Inclusive Church register to pledge that they welcome everyone, whatever their age, sexuality, gender, race or physical ability. Fr John Connell describes the #inclusionis campaign at one of those hoping to join soon, St Augustine’s Church in Rumney, Cardiff."

Despite what is claimed on the St Augustine’s Church website this is not the "living catholic tradition" - even in the Church in Wales.

St Augustine's Rumney                                                                 Source: Twitter

Postscript [18.08.2018]

The Pinc List 2018: The 40 most influential LGBT+ people in Wales

No. 36 of 46 on the list is Bob Woods:

"Bob has been a lifelong LGBT+ activist in both his personal and professional life. A highly respected children’s social worker with Barnardos, he also fostered through the Albert Kennedy Trust.

"He has played a key voluntary role at St Teilo’s Church in Wales School in Llanedeyrn, promoting respect for difference. He has been an inspirational role model for young people which has given them the confidence to be frank about their sexuality and the confidence to say so in public and amongst their friends and family."

More indoctrination of the young by attempting to normalise homosexual activity.

The bishop of Llandaff does not appear in the list despite her best efforts. Her appointment over more qualified candidates of a transgender priest to the Parish of St John's in the centre of Cardiff must have come too late for her.

The winner in No 1 spot "Stood kissing her new husband on the steps of the register office, Cardiff-born Hannah and her ivory dress made a beautiful wedding picture.

"The Army captain had shunned her army wear and was every inch the bride. Oh, and did we mention she's trans?"

Where can the Church in Wales go next?

Postscript [19.08.2018]

The rainbow ring. Just a coincidence?

Bogus bishops destroy Anglicanism

Parliamentlive.tvStephen Cottrell is a member of the House of Lords in his current role as Bishop of Chelmsford.                       Source@ Christian Today

It is rumoured that the next Bishop of London, the third most senior post in the Church of England after the Archbishops of Canterbury and York is to be the current bishop of Chelmsford, Stephen Cottrell.

Christian Today reports that if the appointment of Bishop Cottrell goes ahead it could cause major tensions in the diverse diocese with a number of powerful conservative parishes opposed to both women's ordination and gay relationships:

"Cottrell called for thanksgiving services for gay couples earlier this year, warning the church was seen an 'immoral' because of its opposition to gay marriage. Some conservative parishes in his diocese called for him to 'repent' in protest and later declared 'no confidence' in both him and the Archbishop of Canterbury over the issue."

Bishop Cottrell's entry in Wikipedia shows that he is a member of the Society of Catholic Priests (SCP), and a member of Affirming Catholicism. In December 2014, he was selected as president of the movement, taking up the appointment at the start of 2015.

Affirming Catholicism it is not. It is a self affirming organisation "noted for holding that Anglo-Catholic belief and practice is compatible with the ordination of women. It also generally supports ordination into the threefold ministry (bishops, priests, deacons) regardless of gender or sexual orientation".

It had ties with Inclusive Church , "a Christian organisation with the aim of advocating for the full inclusion of all people in the Christian churches (especially the Church of England), including in the threefold order of bishops, priests and deacons, regardless of ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. More broadly, it seeks 'to raise awareness about the ways that people feel excluded by the church'.

"In 2013, Inclusive Church started hosting an annual lecture related to the organisation's goals. The inaugural lecture was given by Martyn Percy, then principal of Ripon College, Cuddesdon, and later Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and was entitled 'Beyond Inclusion: Whose Church is it anyway?'"

Percy is married to the Chair of Women and the Church (WATCH), another self-fulfilling organisation which ranks feminism above faith. In an article headlined Our Mother who art in heaven: Group of Church women want to refer to God as a 'She' to combat sexism in 2015, the Mail Online reported: "One of the supporters of the idea, the Rev Emma Percy, chaplain of Trinity College, Oxford, said the dominance of male language makes women feel that they are less holy. The chaplain, who is also a member of Watch (Women and the Church), the pressure group that helped win the argument for female bishops in the Church of England, said using the word ‘She’ for God would be more inclusive."

Faith matters little today as the Anglican Church in Great Britain treads the same path to ruin  followed by the US Episcopal church. Ideology matters. Feminism, gender issues dressed up as equality with demands for 'equal' marriage. The "mass hysteria" transgenderism banner is the latest to be waved in the name of equality.

Faith built on compromise is not faith it is an ideology as many ex-members of the Church in Wales can testify.

Postscript [18.12.2017]

Wrong again!

After the feting of Mo debacle at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards when the favourite to win came fourth, the Bookies again backed the wrong horse when they declared the bishop of Chelmsford 2/1 favourite to be appointed the next bishop of London.

Instead Downing Street has announced an ex-NHS Chief Nursing Officer, Dame Sarah Mullally, the bishop of Crediton, has been appointed the 133rd bishop of London in a move that "will delight campaigners for gender equality but dismay conservatives in the church" according to a Guardian report.

Another ideological triumph for the feminist movement and trendy progressives in the Church of England in their race to the bottom.