Misuse of the altar

Altar frontal!                                                                                                                                                     Source: Twitter

  

The main focus in a church is the altar where the eucharist is celebrated.

The altar frontal should be of the colour of the day, offering no distraction from Christ's sacrificial death.

Substituting a Progress Pride flag as the altar frontal diverts attention away from Christ's sacrifice to a form of political activism, in this case advancing the cause of a particular group engaged in activities contrary to biblical teaching. 

The Progress Pride flag differs from the gay pride in that it includes the Intersex community. What next one wonders?

Described as a "beautiful altar frontal in a friend's church" this is the second time I have seen it on Twitter of late. 

Presumably the 'friend' is @RevdJacquiT whose original tweet is no longer visible to all because the account owner has since limited access to approved followers. However, some of the responses to her original tweet are still visible here, including "God knew exactly what she was doing in calling you"!

We have been here before - see The big lie. Misuse of the sacred leads to indifference and loss of mystery, the 'otherness' that set the church apart.

Joanna's US training jolly

Joanne with TEC friends of St Davids                                                            Source: Church in Wales

Another episcopal jolly, again to the United States where Joanna, bishop of St Davids, attended the Living our Vows conference in Richmond, Virginia as part of a three-year programme for newly appointed bishops, run and sponsored by the Episcopal Church of America (TEC). - From Pobl Dewi, September 2019.

Why?

TEC is a failed institution. Dominated by feminized men then by presiding bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Barry Morgan's heretical mentor, under the current presiding bishop, Michael Curry, it is all about love, a euphemism for liberality.

Despite TEC's record of failure, the Church in Wales and the Church of England continue to look to TEC for inspiration as if they have a death wish.

Decline continues apace as the Anglican Church here and in the US insists on making itself relevant to society, abandoning 'otherness' in the process when society couldn't give a fig for the Church.

Joanna and June need no lessons in becoming relevant to society.

Already leaders in promoting fashionable causes one wonders what TEC could possibly teach them other than fulfilling their archbishop's promise of 'more of the same - but faster'.

Katharine Jefferts Schori, former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church
(TEC), acting as mentor to @BishopJuno and Bishop Joanna.      Source: Twitter

'Gif of God'

Orthodox worship                                                                                                                          Source: La France Orthodoxe

Latin worship                                                                                                                                          Source: CatholicEnfield

Anglican (CofE) worship                                                                                                                                  Source: Telegraph

These three photographs illustrate what, in part, has gone wrong with Anglicanism. Mystery and awe have given way to liberal secularism aided by technology.

The Church of England is encouraging clergy to embrace social media as it strives to make the church more relevant to society. In doing so it has lost its sense of otherness.

In church the focus of attention should be on the altar. In this example, which involves a presentation the Church of England's Learning Labs Road Show, a screen becomes the focus, not for spreading the gospel but for 'practical advice on using social media'.

Information is spread at the touch of a button but frequently it is not the Christian message.

Justin Welby has been enthusiastic about his 'pilgrimage' to India but it is all about politics. His performance is serverley put into context in the latest edition of Anglican Unscripted starting @28.50.

Liberal evangelist Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes recently shared the news on her Twitter account that she "Deleted slightly facetious last tweet. Read manifestos. Joined the Greens. Resigned from Labour. Let’s get changing the system not just tinkering with it, it’s the system that’s broken not just the individuals running it - unsurprising that they play the system. People do."

For others it is not so much politics but pride that matters as illustrated by this tweet about a visit to a neighbouring parish and the shared welcoming video.

Anglican clergy regularly tell us how 'very excited', 'thrilled' and 'proud' they are to share their daily experiences on Twitter as here:
"Very excited to be doing a placement at @ChesterCath as part of my curacy! So far I've met lovely people, seen parts of the cathedral that I didn't know existed  (and probably won't find again) and had some really interesting chats... And been to two services and held an owl!" - Wow!

Ex-Communard, the Rev Richard Coles, who has a habit of popping up everywhere recently shared this experience on Twitter:
"In a fit of conscience I told my host that I had to pee in his jug because I was trapped in my room this morning (due to his poor maintenance of the door handle). He now wants the jug destroyed rather than just thoroughly washed. I think this is an over reaction." He might have been advised to micturate elsewhere!

This passion for spreading personal experiences is part of the Gif of God initiative reported in the Telegraph in 2016:

"In the age of instant communications, when some people are thought more likely to venture into their parish church in search of Pokémon than pilgrimage, clergy are being advised - gently but firmly - to keep up with the tide.

The Church of England has issued new guidance to clerics and congregations to help them navigate the seemingly bewildering array of new apps and sites to incorporate into church life...

...clerics with time on their hands after visiting the sick, conducting services and writing sermons are encouraged to make their own Gifs – animated images – to spread the Christian message online."

Spreading the Christian message online would be a novelty.

#CofERoadshow                                                                                                            Source: Twitter

A call to repentance

Jacob tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth, and wails deeply.  He is beside himself in grief
and no-one can comfort him.    Source: Free Bible images

1st March 2017 is Ash Wednesday. Many Christians will receive the sign of the cross made from the ash of palm crosses blessed and distributed on Palm Sunday in 2016. Many will not. Not because they do not believe but because their Church has left them.   

Jacob was beside himself in grief at the loss of his son Joseph. No-one could comfort him. There are many former members of the Church in Wales (CinW), and, indeed, of the Church of England (CofE) who feel like that. Their Church has been their life with everything revolving around worship and friendships. Suddenly their lives are changed. Sustained quietly by their faith, they have not had the shrill voice of vocal campaigners. They simply kept their heads down praying that God would understand. Then snap. They feel alone as their Church loses its mystery for secular mores. In desperation they leave, finding themselves, like Joseph, alone in the desert pit.

Some may decide to join other churches but many will not because of their conscientious beliefs. These are the people bishops need to be concerned about as shepherds. They are not expected physically to tear their clothes but they should be wailing deeply for those cast into the pit by their brothers and sisters.

In addition to errant bishops there are many clergy who should be wailing in grief at their actions. Barry Morgan's social experiments have resulted in too many 'do as you please' vicars manipulating their malleable, 'vicar knows best' congregations. Sexual licence has been used to engineer personal preference leading congregations into error, accepting minority standards which are contrary to the teaching and tradition of the Church. In fact there are some clergy in my experience who really do need to tear their clothes and return to Christ.

The current shambles in the diocese of Llandaff inherited from Barry Morgan well illustrates the mess his experimentation has bequeathed the bench. Rumours suggest that the candidate with the most votes for Bishop of Llandaff was the Very Rev Dr Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans but he was short of the two thirds majority needed. We cannot be sure of what took place in secrecy behind locked doors but I understand that his strong showing was a desperate ploy by the gay wing to avoid the election of a woman bishop.

Having their cake        Source; Inclusive Church

It was the withdrawal of Dr John's nomination as Bishop of Reading in 2003 after it became publicly known that he was in a long-term same-sex relationship which inspired the initiation of Inclusive Church. Fourteen years later the headlines continue causing further distractions.

One would have thought that anyone with half a brain would have considered the experience of Anglicans in the US after the appointment of the openly gay bishop Gene Robinson to be followed by the appointment of the openly lesbian bishop Mary Glasspool before doing the same. They did not so the decline of the CinW and the CofE has matched the fate the US Episcopal Church.

It is no coincidence that LGBT+ issues go hand in hand with the feminist inspired movement for the ordination of women. Not content with having achieved their original goal Women and the Church (WATCH) are busy trying to feminise the liturgy and undo the agreement reached which resulted in women bishops in England, often aided by clergy spouses.

In Wales, practices more akin to pagan rituals are in vogue with the WATCH sister organisation, MAE Cymru boasting the 'history making' bishop of St Davids among their members, unfortunately for the wrong reasons. 

The true mission of the Church is obscured when modern-day missionaries such as the founder of Diverse Church and "future bishop", the Rev Sally Hitchiner, is seen as the face of the Anglican Church.  Co-ordinating Anglican Chaplain and Inter Faith Advisor at Brunel University she is not alone in providing a strong LGBTQ influence in many universities.

Non-investigative journalism is driven by perception and press releases so it is not surprising that worship and theology are secondary to secular 'equality' issues of  women's rights, gay rights, transgender rights, etc. Nor is it a surprise that press releases from the CinW appear under 'Politics' in its main mouth piece, Wales Online, because under Barry Morgan, the CinW has been turned into a political machine. Given all that is wrong in the CinW one has to wonder why sycophantic praise tops investigative journalism when it should be clear to all that the Church in Wales is in crisis. 

Unity has been the hope for the Church for generations but it was tossed out of the window with the liberal 'enlightenment'. This Lent provides time to follow the rule of St Benedict, "Always we begin again" in genuine repentance.

The problems facing the Diocese of Llandaff are mirrored throughout the CinW. The absence of unity is obvious,  largely created by factions insisting on candidates for higher office of their own choosing to boost their own cause. The bench of bishops has been corrupted into accepting secular ideas instead of remaining faithful to the Gospel.

Repentance must start as Lent begins. The bench must make amends, rejecting secularism with the appointment to Llandaff of a deeply spiritual man capable of reviving the mysteries of the church. The 'otherness' that society lacks.

Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return.

Bazzer's world

Ed Thornton for the Church Times has produced a summary of what our Archbishops and a few bishops had to say in their Christmas messages about social division but it was this reference that had me digging deeper: The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, preaching in Llandaff Cathedral, said that the Occupy protesters had “reminded us that in Jesus, the view of God as a holy, set-apart God has been shattered for ever”.


Dr Morgan started his Christmas day sermon with a reference to the Occupy protesters. Clearly disappointed that they didn't give him another publicity opportunity by choosing his cathedral for their protest he had some harsh words for St Paul's cathedral clergy when he seemed to be likening them to the Pharisees. Not cleanliness next to Godliness but, rather, filth is more holy appears to be the new message. I can see what he is trying to say but he misses the point that in removing the 'otherness' of God everything is removed with it as witnessed by people voting with their feet and emptying churches. 


The Archbishop's true agenda appears in a follow-up interview for the Western Mail when he said that he was 'holding on to the hope that the church will accept women bishops before he steps down'. This is to be his legacy regardless of the divisions caused and the example of his US counterpart. He said: “The thing about Wales is we haven’t got extreme views and it’s quite a small church and you know one another individually and therefore you are able to talk to one another. Certainly, I haven’t felt any rancour from those who hold a different position.” [Apparently he ignores them - Ed.]


It might be 'quite a small church' to him but for others it is part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in which the overwhelming majority of Christians hold true to the faith, dwarfing the three-vote margin that so disappoints the Archbishop. If he is so interested in the wishes of the majority, why does he not look to the whole church rather than just his own little world becoming a symbol of dis-unity in the process? His Christmas day sermon is full of references to Jesus breaking down barriers and the prominence He gave to women but sadly for Bazzer, not as apostles. Christ set us a different example, an example the wider church is content to follow without putting a personal spin on it. The leader of the Church in Wales would be better served doing the same instead of looking to Christ only if it suits his argument.