Tory loathing bishop of St Davids issues apology

The bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy, with Barry Morgan (ABp), Andy John (Bangor) and Richard Pain (Monmouth) in 2017    Source: Anglican Journal 

In 2017 the then archbishop of Wales led the applause after the Church in Wales ordained its first woman bishop, Joanna Penberthy, the best person to be a bishop - in Barry Morgan's opinion!

Penberthy does not care much for views which do not accord with her own. She labels genuinely held opposing views on the ordination of women as discrimination. There is no engagement.  She has described views contrary to her own simply as 'water off a duck's back' to her.

A proud Corbynista, Penberthy has issued a statement of apology following a 'private tweet' on 25 March about Conservative Party supporters in which she tweeted Never never never trust a Tory.

As Adrian Hilton (AKA Archbishop Cranmer) aptly puts it: "The Rt Rev'd @jo_penberthy, Bishop of St David's @ChurchinWales, believes she can say one thing on her 'private' Twitter, and another in her pulpit.

Orthodox Anglicans are well familiar with such tactics. Feminist appeals to neighbourliness soon evaporated after they achieved their goals of women's ordination to the priesthood and to the episcopate.

Looking again at the above 2017 photograph it sums up the disaster the Church in Wales has become. In 2018 bishop Penberthy wrote her 'Dear John' letter dispensing with the services of loyal, elderly male clergy.

The report on the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the early retirement of the former bishop of Monmouth, Richard Pain, is still awaited after being promised within six months in May 2020 while the divorced and re-married bishop of Bangor is in line to be the next archbishop of Wales. 

Having achieved parity on the bench no doubt the three women bishops will be insisting that it is time for a woman to lead the Church in Wales, especially if another woman is elected to fill the Swansea and Brecon vacancy.

Postscript

A slap on the wrist for the bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy in this Church in Wales statement:

“The Church in Wales expects all its clergy to engage robustly in public life. However, they need to do so in a way which is respectful, responsible and fair, acknowledging the breadth and diversity of political opinion within the Church. We do not support intemperate claims or poorly informed commentary and we urge all clergy to recognise that, as public office holders, there should be no expectation that personal views will be regarded as private.

“The Bishop of St Davids’ strong political views are well known. We recognise that she has apologised for causing offence and are pleased she has acknowledged the hurt and damage she has caused and deactivated her personal Twitter account.”

Marriage: Dodgy discipleship?

People will oppress each other-- man against man, neighbour against neighbour. The young will rise up against the old, the nobody against the honored. - Isaiah 3:5

The Spring 2015 issue of Croeso, the Diocese of Llandaff's news sheet, leads with the Archbishop of Wales' latest hobby horse, same-sex marriage dressed up as pastoral care. If marriage is a state instituted and ordained by God for the lifelong relationship between one man as husband and one woman as wife, what is there to discuss? The response of the Church in Wales is the usual, what would Jesus do if He met a gay person in Wales today? 

Actually he does, everyday, for anyone who truly believes that Jesus lives. But what we are being led to believe is that Christ would update His teaching on the street today to embrace modern lifestyles. In political terms, if you keep missing the target, change the target.

The Church in Wales is being guided by their Archbishop into what appears to be his ready acceptance of same-sex marriage. If not, wouldn't it have been much simpler to re-state what Christians have believed for centuries as part of their faith? 

From "A REPORT BY THE STANDING DOCTRINAL COMMISSION OF THE CHURCH IN WALES THE CHURCH IN WALES AND SAME-SEX PARTNERSHIPS":

"In studying Jesus’ initial encounters with strangers in the Gospels we discover repeatedly his compassionate and immediate response to human need. Where he does pose questions, these are invitational rather than testing: ‘Come and see’, or ‘What is it that you seek?’ Instances of doctrinal or moral challenge are usually issued not by Christ himself, but by the person with whom he speaks. [Para. 139]

"If Christ were born in Wales in 2014 and walked our streets aware of the trembling touch of those who dare not express their need, he would doubtless encounter someone whose sense of exclusion or even guilt were bound up with their experience of a sexuality which in their lifetime had met with
condemnation and disgust." [Para. 140]

In England the Dean of St Paul's has weighed in with: "The Church of England is seen by many as 'toxic' and 'oppressive' because of its stance on women and gays, he said. Some gay Christians had even committed suicide because of the pressure of being told they had to be celibate". Calling for the Church of England to consider what accepting same-sex marriage would mean for the future he says, "We need to consider what the acceptance of same-sex marriage in the Church would mean in reality, and how it would be understood in relation to the theology of Christian marriage and the chequered history of that institution, as well as contemporary social practice around sexuality."

To 'love your neighbour' does not require marriage. Labels such as 'toxic', 'oppressive' and the more customary 'homophobic' are designed to make the innocent feel guilty. For many of us our lives would be the poorer without the friendship of gay people but to believe that marriage is the union of one man and woman for life is not being disloyal, toxic or homophobic even if some find it oppressive.

The Church in Wales 'consultation' has the hallmark of a previous consultation on the Code of Practice, to be ignored if the results are not to the Archbishop's liking. Again it looks as if the Governing Body of the Church in Wales will be expected to deliver the result their Archbishop wants. If I am wrong, the faithful would have been better advised to read such as "THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH: RECLAIMING MARRIAGE". 

Near neighbours

"A programme crossing religious and cultural boundaries has been awarded a further £3m by the Government in support of its work. The Near Neighbours programme is a partnership between the Church Urban Fund and the Archbishop's Council that provides small grants to grassroots multi-faith projects" (story here). That's £8 million so far for learning to be good neighbours, something that Christians are familiar with even when not reciprocated.

Sadly this story has links with my previous entry despite the apparent good works. The idea of Near Neighbours "in a nutshell" is to bring people together who are near neighbours in communities that are diverse, so they can get to know each other better, build relationships as people and collaborate together on initiatives that improve the local community they live in. In other words, trying to make multiculturalism work. Archbishop Welby had this to say: "In our Christian belief...one of the biggest characteristics of Jesus was not being frightened about who He talked to. He didn't only sit in His own holy little huddle but He reached out telling us to love our neighbour" quoting the story of the Good Samaritan.

Of the 2,000 visitors to this Blog since my previous entry few bothered to watch "What the West Needs to Know" according to the viewing count. Perhaps they have the same view as the Home Secretary, that presenting the facts spreads hate! If so, and an hour and a half is too much time to learn why 90% of conflict around the world involves Islam, perhaps they can be persuaded to spend just eight minutes here. One of the three points covered is the Islamic principle of Taqiyya where Muslims are allowed to deceive non-Muslims if it helps Islam: There are two forms of lying to non-believers that are permitted under certain circumstances, taqiyya and kitman.  These circumstances are typically those that advance the cause Islam - in some cases by gaining the trust of non-believers in order to draw out their vulnerability and defeat them.  

Archbishop Welby was right when he said that Jesus was not frightened about who He talked to but Jesus' message was clear. He said "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me". Yet some Islamists even claim that Jesus was a Muslim (here)! Jesus also said: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves". Love your neighbour, yes, but also be aware of what your neighbour believes.

Churchill was considered to be “scaremongering” when he spoke in the 1930s of the growing Nazi German threat. This is what he wrote earlier in The River War (1899) about the threat of Islam:

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property‹either as a child, a wife, or a concubine‹must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen; all know how to die; but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science‹the science against which it had vainly struggled‹the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome."