The Church in Wales 2021

 

Bangor wedding                                               Source: Facebook

My first blog entry featuring the Church in Wales in 2021 posed the question, The next Archbishop of Wales? 

The entry led with a Facebook photograph showing a divorced father of four with his new bride, one of his female priests. The groom was, of course, the bishop of Bangor, the Rt Rev Andrew John, who would be the most senior bishop in the Church in Wales following the retirement of archbishop John Davies.

If, for some, 1 Timothy 3 came to mind, no matter. The Church in Wales had already decided to put the Bible to one side and do things their way, something that was to become a habit.

In 2004 'fury' and 'anger' surrounded the appointment of Britain's first divorced bishop in North Wales when the Archdeacon of Carmarthen was declared the unanimous choice of the church's Bench of Bishops after the electoral college failed to agree on the most suitable candidate. This procedure has since become a habit resulting in of a self-perpetuating clique.

The Daily Post, North Wales Live reported at the time that a member of the original secret electoral college said the appointment was a shock and unexpected: "There may be controversy over this," he said. "My own view is that the scripture does say that a bishop has to be married to one wife."

Responding to criticism from within the diocese of Bangor, the then archbishop, Barry Morgan, said that the appointment was "in accord with the Church's view on divorce."

Moving on to June 2021, the only woman bishop not to be appointed by the bench is proud Corbynista Joanna Penberthy, bishop of St Davids. 

She caused uproar following a 'private tweet' about Conservative Party supporters in which she said Never never never trust a Tory. Many commentators thought that was the end of the road for Barry Morgan's chosen one but showing no shame she simply carries on after a few months off work. 

Mentored along with the bishop of Llandaff by TEC's former presiding bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, it appears that no embarrassment for the Church is too great to shift her as she remains doggedly stuck to her throne.  

On the plus side the Church in Wales bade farewell to another of Barry Morgan's Church of England rejects, Peggy (the pilot) Jackson, Archdeacon of Llandaff. If she had had her way this spiteful woman would have barred from ordination anyone who objected, on grounds of conscience, to women clergy thus making a mockery of the promises made to allow the ordination of women.

Jackson was supported in her endeavour by the now disgraced bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy, and the bishop of Bangor, Andy John. The two other bishops present, John Davies (Swansea & Brecon) and June Osborne (Landaff), signalled their lack of opposition to the measure by abstaining.

September 2021 saw the Church in Wales risking suspension from the Anglican Communion as its Governing Body voted to accept same-sex blessings. Again putting scripture aside, the decision was based on a lie. 

The Liturgy for the Blessing of a Same-sex Civil Marriage or Civil Partnership was authorised for use from 1 October 2021. It is A wedding in all but name.

In November the troubles at Llandaff Cathedral resurfaced with claims and counter-claims as the bishop and dean continued their battle, dragging the Church through the mire with nobody apparently able or willing to get a grip of the situation.

The Archbishop, the Deanery, the  Archdeacon of Llandaff and a can of worms.

A letter to the Church Times today from a brave member of the clergy claims that there is "a culture of fear in Llandaff diocese. Curates, vicars, ministry-area leaders, and lay diocesan staff tell me that they fear their Bishop. Although many say privately that they have been ignored, reprimanded, moved sideways, paid off, invited to take early retirement, or that their resignation is referred to as a retirement, I imagine they would be too fearful of repercussions from the Bishop to put their signature to this letter."

The Church impotent?

In calmer waters, the appointment of the new bishop of Swansea and Brecon, John Lomas, former Archdeacon of Wrexham  was confirmed at Sacred Synod and Buggins' turn prevailed again to see the bishop of Bangor, Andy John, elected archbishop.

This cleared the way for the Monmouth Enquiry and Review Report dated 13 July 2021 to be published in December. That is when the dung truly hit the fan.

The Report exposes the fragile state of the Church in Wales after decades of manipulation by the bench under the influence of archbishop Barry Morgan. It refers to inadequate clergy disciplinary procedures, a 'prevalence of swearing and an excessive intake of alcohol among bishops and senior clergy' in a culture that was likened to that of an 'old boys' club.

Commenting on the 'Culture' in the Church in Wales the Report states: "However, we were also told that dioceses in the Church in Wales were surprisingly independent of one another and that a monarchical episcopate was still alive in the Province." There is plenty of evidence for that.

Happy New Year!

Holy Matrimony

My previous entry generated quite a lot of heat from commentators but not on my main point, the sanctity of marriage. 

Understandably people have become weary of the same-sex marriage debate. It drags on and on.

Revisionists do not give up. They maintain pressure until all become used to their ideas. They claim that, if approved, same-sex marriage would be accepted just as divorce and re-marriage in Church no longer raises eyebrows.

The protection of Holy Matrimony deserves more. The Church should be protecting marriage as defined,  the lifelong, faithful union between one man and one woman.

Defenders of traditional marriage are accused of homophobia and bigotry. That is unfair. What people  do in private is between them and their maker but that is not good enough for promoters of same-sex unions who expect others to legitimise their unions by redefining marriage. 

Defenders of traditional marriage who have homosexual friends are aware that many are equally upset by demands for same-sex marriage in Church. As one succinctly put it, marriage is for heterosexuals. Same-sex couples have civil partnerships. 

My entry in 2012, To be joined together, included a reference to an article 'The six ways homosexual activists manipulate public opinion' which stated: "Anyone who is concerned about the influence of the homosexual agenda on reshaping traditional values must become intimately familiar with the major tactics that homophiles commonly employ in order to anticipate them and respond in charity and truth. Homophile strategists are very adept at manipulating public opinion with an arsenal of six tactics that are based upon deceptions and half‑truths:

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

"By far the most popular homophile tactic is the claim to victim status, which is a very powerful, almost paralyzing, weapon that gives them a distinct advantage in the public square."

The success of this strategy can be seen at the entrance to 10 Downing street where a pride arch was erected to mark Pride Month 2021. Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a reception to celebrate the achievements of LGBT people.

The Prime Minister said the UK’s first ever global LGBT conference will be about ‘kindness, tolerance and openness’ and will look at what more can be done to promote LGBT equality around the world.

We hear a lot about 'equality'. In the absence of hard theological evidence, secular notion of equality was used to justify the ordination of women. The same argument is being used to allow same-sex couples to marry in Church. 

Woke cajoling has not only enforced acceptance of political correctness. It seeks to legitimise that which defies logic as if black can be white and white, black.

'Female' is defined as "of or denoting the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs, distinguished biologically by the production of gametes (ova) which can be fertilized by male gametes." 'Male' is defined as "of or denoting the sex that produces gametes, especially spermatozoa, with which a female may be fertilized or inseminated to produce offspring."

Woke personal preference permits those inclined not only to choose their own gender but to insist that others recognise their wish by using gender-neutral pronouns, something that Canadian university professor Dr Jordan Peterson challenged and suffered for expressing logical rather than woke opinions.

Demonized by progressives, the Guardian carried this vitriolic piece: 'How dangerous is Jordan B Peterson, the rightwing professor who 'hit a hornets' nest'?'

The selfishness of feminist ideas of equality has changed Great Britain's historic Anglicanism based scripture and tradition replacing it with an attitude of take what you want regardless of scripture and tradition or whoever you hurt. Consequently many have been left un-churched. The forgotten victims.

Holy Matrimony is being attacked under the banner of equality.  

From the Church in Wales web site Holy Matrimony is properly defined:

 

"Drawing on the teaching of the Bible, and of the Church down through the centuries, the Church in Wales Marriage Service talks about marriage as a gift of God. Marriage is described as the lifelong, faithful union between a man and a woman, and married love is compared with the love Jesus has for his people – a love expressed in his willing sacrifice of himself on the cross."

But the current bench of bishops, following their manipulation of the Governing Body, now claim that “it is pastorally unsustainable for the Church to make no formal provision for those in same-gender relationships”. 

The bench have published their proposals to introduce same-sex blessings. In their explanatory memorandum they write:

"The Bench believes that, in the fullness of time, the Governing Body will have to consider whether it wishes to consider a change in the Church’s teaching concerning marriage. This could enable a couple wishing to live in a faithful and mutually committed same-sex relationship to celebrate the rite of marriage in Church." 

Many same-sex couples already live in faithful and mutually committed same-sex relationships. They are accepted in the Church but to pretend under 'equality' rules that same-sex couples are no different to one-man - one-woman marriage defies logic.

The woke culture has become so prevalent that a poll in 2018 found that over half  of our MPs were afraid to speak their mind. The silent majority must speak up. From C4M:

Second best

The Dean of Liverpool Pete Wilcox to be Bishop of Sheffield   Source: Cranmer

As Wales awaits the name of the bishop-elect of Llandaff, news that the Dean of Liverpool is to be the next Bishop of Sheffield after Bishop Philip North withdrew following pressure from Women and the Church. In his blog Cranmer announced Sheffield gets its second best bishop – Pete Wilcox, Dean of Liverpool.

It was unfortunate that the former Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan chose to complement the new bishop of St Davids by referring to her as the best person to be a bishop. Llandaff therefore can also expect the second best, or worse, unless there is a translation.

Ironically the Guardian is carrying a exclusive article claiming that Jeffrey John has been "passed over seven times for promotion to bishop". Had St Davids not been a stitch-up presumably his name would have come up there. But it seems he was expected to get Llandaff.

What the powers to be fail to realise is that many people in the pews are fed up with cries of homophobia when the real issue is that it is same sex marriage in church that is not wanted.