Confirmation

 "The new bishop of Llandaff's first presidential address at a Llandaff diocesan conference makes informative reading. Strong on sociology but weak on theology and spirituality she should sit easily on a bench of bishops devoid of such talents.
Formerly five of the bishops in Wales held Oxford Firsts in Theology."
- From an entry 'Sociology replacing religion' in October 2017.

There was much hype about the former Dean of Salisbury beginning to transform Llandaff as soon as she crossed the Llys Esgob threshold.

She has - but not as one might have expected as the illustration shows.

In 2016 the Bishops of the Church in Wales wrote a Pastoral Letter to "all the faithful" concerning admission to Holy Communion of all the baptised "by virtue of their Baptism alone".  There were objections that the decision was based on dodgy legal advice,

In the rite of confirmation the Holy Spirit is invoked to come upon those who are to be confirmed.

At the Governing Body of the Church in Wales in September 2017 a private members’ motion asked for the time to consider in more detail documents prepared by the Bench of Bishops and for their period of introduction to be extended by a year to enable greater consideration of its implications. The Mover said "some people had theological objections to the change and their opinions should be heard."

The motion was carried. Discussed again in April 2018 at the  meeting of the Governing Body the bishop of St Asaph told delegates: "We are in the business of creating faithful disciples of Jesus Christ; enabling people to grow into a living faith." He added without any hint of irony: "We are a church which believes in theological debate and as a Bench of Bishop’s we are open to discussion."

There has been no meaningful debate with traditionalists but there was a brief nod to orthodoxy when a Confirmation service took place on 3 October in Llandaff Cathedral led by a Society bishop. Bishop Philip North was invited to celebrate and to confirm candidates.

I have seen no official report or photographs of the event. Some have suggested this was probably out of  official embarrassment due the numbers present. However, this is one report which appeared on Twitter: "Standing room only in the Cathedral for a Diocesan Confirmation @LlandaffDio and the most candidates I think I have ever seen. What utter joy. Thank you @BishopJuno and @BpBurnley. God is good!"

There is no such holding back in the Winter issue of Croeso in which the sacrament of Confirmation is subsumed under a story about same-sex marriage, the joys of the Gathering (an ecumenical LGBTQ+ safe space)! and a mini celebration in the candidate's local church with "flags and prayers for LGBTQ+ folks."

The liberal drift has indeed engulfed the Church in Wales.

From her gay friendly base in Llandaff, June Osbourne has followed the example of the bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy in promoting the LGBTQ+ cause while the third woman bishop to be appointed, Cherry Vann, bishop elect of Monmouth confirms the priorities of women clergy with a talk at a Rochdale Pride event on 'the Church of England's Pastoral Principles for living well together'.

Sociology has replaced theology but it should come as no surprise.

Writing for Virtue Online, Biblical Anthropologist Alice C. Linsley who served as a priest in the Episcopal Church for 16 years addresses 'Ten reasonable objections to women in the priesthood':

1. The Church is not a democratic body.
2. Women's ordination is linked to homosexual activism.
3. Women's ordination is rooted in Feminist thought.
4. Women priests perpetuate confusion about gender.
5. Women priests represent rejection of the authority Scripture and Tradition
6. Women priests cause confusion about the Eucharist.
7. Women priests represent a denial of the Fathers' teaching.
8. Ordination of women to the priesthood undermines women's ministries.
9. The feminization of the clergy discourages men's participation in the church.
10. A female at the altar blurs the biblical distinction between life and death.

The paper is confirmation of how sociology has replaced religion in liberal Anglicanism.

Liberal drift to engulf Wales?

The Dean of Salisbury addresses Gay Pride marchers.       Source: Facebook

The above still from a gay pride video on Facebook last Summer shows the Dean of Salisbury, the Very Rev June Osborne, encouraging participants to be strong in difference, standing against "prejudice and hatred" and to march with pride in Salisbury after she gives the parade her blessing.

Lobbyists interpret 'dislike' as 'hatred' and 'disagreement' as 'prejudice'. Allegations which stick whether or not they are based on factual evidence. Charges of homophobia are used as a matter of course to stymie any discussion on the legitimacy of accusations that LGBT+ people are treated unfairly. Say it often enough and people will believe it without checking the facts. Introduce something and people will get used to it. That is the strategy and it has worked, hence the liberal drift of the Church.

When a senior church person speaks, people are expected to take note. The fact that senior church persons increasingly speak not for the Gospel but for the advancement of liberal values in the Church makes the problem all the more serious.

Even though the implication is false, 'spread love not hatred' is a mantra that has become fully in tune with Anglicanism in the UK today as it drifts away from Christianity towards paganism. Love is all but the meaning of love has been twisted to mean acceptance of just about every desire. If you are not 'for' you are regarded as 'against'.

The image of the Dean of Salisbury at the gay pride march is considerably different from the image projected on the Church in Wales website where she is presented as a thoroughly competent woman who will take the Church forward. But forward to what? The irony of the 'homophobia' charges after Jeffrey John's rejection by the Electoral College will not be lost when the reality of another LGBT promoting appointment dawns on unsuspecting Anglicans in Wales. June Osborne previously lent her name to the suppressed Osborne Report on homosexuality which should have been published in 1989 and was finally published in 2012. Some think the Report damaged her chances of preferment in England.

The die has been firmly cast in Wales. Interviewed in Llandaff Cathedral on BBC TV News yesterday evening bishop John Davies candidly explained  that: "There is no truth whatsoever in the allegation that the bench of bishops or indeed the Electoral College of the Church in Wales is homophobic. I have said on countless occasions that homosexuality, participation in civil partnerships is no bar whatsoever to ordination in the Church in Wales whether that be to the order of deacons, priests or bishops."

The charge of homophobia was clearly absurd given the grovelling apology by the bench of bishops to the LGBT+ community for perceived errors. There followed the Changing Attitude, Iris in the Community propaganda film alleging homophobia while promoting the LGBT+ cause despite the  gay friendly stance of the bishop of St Asaph who not only has appointed a LGBT chaplain but has a transgender ordinand waiting in the wings. So at some stage there will be a 'she' at the Altar though she is he, preferring to be thought of as she.

All minorities are regarded as acceptable in the Church in Wales with the exception of orthodox Christians. After the stitch-up which saw the first woman bishop in Wales involved in MAE Cymru's 'Saints and Sparklers' event it appeared that things could not get much worse.

What has become known as the liberal drift in England is overwhelming the Church in Wales with seemingly no-one able to repel it. When the bishop designate said "I do want to be a bishop for absolutely everybody, [including] those who might have wished for another candidate", did she really mean everybody, including loyal, conscientious Anglicans who have found that their Church has left them without provision.

Para 346 of the Osborne Report will be of particular interest for traditionalists:
We believe that the bishops, as the focus of unity of the Church, need to affirm the catholicity of the inclusiveness of the Church. The bishops have an important role in helping the Church live with unresolved issues. The way to resolve the conflict and tensions between groups is not by exclusion of one or more minority groups.

Exclusion has been used as a weapon in the Church in Wales since the retirement in 2008 of the  Provincial Assistant Bishop. Every minority has been deemed worthy of inclusion except orthodox Anglicans. Are they not worthy of love?

This problem has become all the more pressing with the appointment of a second women bishop to the most Anglo Catholic and populous diocese in the Province. Many more Anglo Catholic clergy who have kept the faith find themselves with nowhere to turn. They deserve better.

I hope the new bishop of Llandaff along with the rest of bench will now consider the dire position of the orthodox minority in the Church in Wales. Many of these loyal Anglicans are now elderly, often lonely with little to sustain them other than their faith but after years of service they find that their church has left them.

The bishop designate claims that women can make a difference. To date that has been wholly negative resulting in a code of practice designed for exclusion. If women want to make a difference they can start by making arrangements to include all, not just all those caught up in the liberal drift.