How many will fight the good fight?

Former Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, with the Ven Andrew John (right) on his
appointment in 2008 as Bishop of Bangor. Source: BBC

When archbishop Barry Morgan secured the election of his favoured candidate to be bishop of Bangor after the death of bishop Tony Crockett in 2008, the average adult Sunday attendance in the Church in Wales was around 37,000. 

It was predicted then that church attendance in Wales could decline to less than a quarter of that level

and, if proved true, "by 2050 Wales will be home to the smallest church-going population in Britain."

In 2018 the equivalent Sunday attendance figure was 26,110 representing 0.8% of the population of Wales. Extinction of the Church in Wales is predicted by 2040.

Archbishop Barry Morgan is seen by many as the architect of the demise of the Church in Wales, aided as he was by the example of his heretical mentor, US Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori.

The bench of bishops now places Governing Body decisions above biblical teaching, something that enabled bishop Crockett to refer to Church members who followed biblical teaching as heretics.

The heretics in the Church in Wales are not shunned Anglicans who keep the faith but its bishops who have abandoned the faith as received as they press ahead to undermine the sanctity of holy matrimony, the union for life of one man and one woman. 

The Church in Wales bishops made it clear in the September 2021 meeting of the Governing Body where their loyalties lie. For them a vote at GB overrides the Church's Formal statements of faith,

The bench is seeking to make God in their own image as they warn others against keeping the faith.

They wrote to their clergy following the ordination to the episcopacy of the Rev Stuart Bell, the former Rector of the Rectorial Benefice of Aberystwyth, with a warning:

 "A decision by members of the Anglican Convocation in Europe (ACE) to stand apart from the oversight of the bishops of the Church in Wales, and of the Churches of the Anglican Communion in communion with us, means that Church in Wales clergy should stand back from receiving communion at services held under the auspices of the ACE. No ministers affiliated with the Anglican Convocation in Europe should exercise ministry or leadership in a Church in Wales context, unless the explicit written permission of the appropriate Church in Wales diocesan bishop has been given.

ACE bishops responded: 

"Contrary to what Archbishop John and his Bishops have said, it is the the Church in Wales which has placed itself out of communion with the majority of Anglicans worldwide by departing the historic, orthodox, biblical faith. Faithful Anglicans living under such failed oversight need a spiritually safe home and a hope for the future. We are grateful that Gafcon has provided this by authorising ACE as a genuine Anglican jurisdiction."

Church in Wales bishops are leading their congregations into heresy. Church members must stand firm and 'fight the good fight', challenging the Church's departure from the 'historic, orthodox, biblical faith' as witnessed by the vast majority of Anglicans.

Postscript [02.04.2023]

The fightback begins in the Church of England.

Church Times reports: "Ten London clergy launch schismatic deanery chapter over same-sex blessings."

Statement from the Diocese of London:

"The Diocese was first informed a few hours ago that a group of clergy in the City of London is seeking to set up its own parallel, unregulated structures, outside of those of the Diocese of London and the Church of England. This unilateral move would have no legal substance.

"The initiative has been announced publicly, without discussion, at a time when constructive ongoing dialogue continues here in the capital, and across the country, following the House of Bishops’ proposals in response to the six-year Living in Love and Faith process. As a Diocese, we remain committed to working together through our differences, recognising the strength of our shared faith in Christ, and all that brings us together."

Affirming love!

Pride Eucharist. Vicar of Abergavenny with bishop Cherry Vann at St Mary's Priory. Source: Twitter

From the Church Times: "Love knows no boundaries":

"The Rt Revd Anthony Poggo, the newly appointed secretary-general of the Anglican Communion (News, 14 June), preached from the parable of the Good Samaritan, noting how Jesus did not praise either the priest or the Levite in the story, but the foreign outsider.

" 'Love knows no cultural, religious, tribal or national boundary,' Bishop Poggo said, urging those listening to remember the suffering of those in Ukraine, the Congo, and elsewhere. His homeland of South Sudan had seen three rounds of displacement thanks to conflict, he said — he and his family had been among the millions who sought refuge in neighbouring Uganda, their own good Samaritan."

Pride Eucharist        Source: Twitter

In response the bishop of Monmouth, Cherry Vann, tweeted: "Just what we  affirmed and celebrated at Abergavenny Pride". 

That is  a distortion of the truth and an insult to those referred to by Bishop Poggo who are suffering and dying for their faith. 

Abergavenny Pride did not celebrate philia or agape. What the Pride movement celebrates is eros.

All the worse because the majority of Anglicans, particularly in Africa have no truck with the twisted thinking of bishops of the Church in Wales and other Western provinces in which the bible is being interpreted to mean not what has been understood over centuries but to convey a message supportive of a non-biblical lifestyle. 

Both in same sex relationships, the bishop recently rewarded the vicar with a canonry. Few can have done more to help queer the Church in Wales.

They have no shame. Having highjacked the Church the Holy Eucharist is now being used to promote the gay pride movement in what has become a secularised institution, drawing-in innocent children. Indoctrination has become widespread.

They talk about love but no love is shown for faithful Anglicans left with no sacramental and pastoral oversight following the untimely death in 2017 of Bishop David Thomas RIP. Just unsubstantiated accusations of homophobia against anyone who refuses to become complicit by going along with the new order, accepting what the majority of Anglicans know to be wrong based on biblical truths.  

When Bishop David Thomas died in 2017 the best part of the Church in Wales died with him. 

No laughing matter

Archbishop Barry Morgan with Joanna Penberthy at her consecration.                                                                                               Source: ITV/Church in Wales

From ITV 21 January 2017 

Fateful words:

"This is an historic occasion for the Church in Wales, as well as a being hugely significant moment for Canon Joanna. It is marvellous that it is possible for us to appoint women, as well as men, to all three Orders of ministry and to regard that as now being the norm. What matters is not gender, but suitability, character, gifts - and that was why Joanna was elected as Bishop."
Dr Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales

"Suitability, character, gifts - that was why Joanna was elected as Bishop."

Those words must be ringing in the ears of anyone who really cares about the Church in Wales as their spiritual home. It is no longer a laughing matter. 

Once again the 'mushroom method' of management is being employed by the bench. Consequently worshippers remain in the dark regarding events in St Davids diocese as they were in the diocese of Monmouth which led to the departure of bishop Richard Pain. 

In St Davids diocese the bishop should have resigned in June after her position became untenable but there is no indication of an acceptable resolution for those she has offended, just extended sick notes.

In June senior clerics in St Davids diocese issued a statement: "Bishop Joanna is unwell and, on the advice of her doctor, will be away from work for the next month." The period of sick leave has been gradually extended. This time beyond the dates of the diocesan conference. On the advice of her doctor, bishop Joanna Penberthy will be away from work until the middle of October. 

The September 2021 edition of Pobl Dewi has been published without a prayer for the bishop. Perhaps that says something in itself!

A comment on a previous entry indicates that congregations and giving in the diocese are shrinking as a result of bishop Penberthy's tweets which caused offense to so many.

There is now a wider problem for the Church in Wales. In a statement reported in Christian Today, the Evangelical Fellowship in the Church in Wales (EFCW) claimed that there have been and will be "resignations from clergy, lay readers, worship leaders, church wardens, Sunday school teachers and parishioners. A number have withdrawn their regular giving to their churches." 

The EFCW had been consulting their members and were calling for the appointment of a bishop to "give voice" to those who believe in the traditional Christian teaching on marriage and sexual morality. 

Some hope given the treatment of traditionalists who were left with no pastoral or sacramental oversight after archbishop Morgan achieved his revisionist goals.

Offending worshippers appears to be all that the bench of bishops is capable of. 

They have treated loyal worshippers like pew fodder as they rail-rolled their zeitgeist legislation through Governing Body, the latest of which is to permit same-sex blessings.

The consequences are already looking dire.

The New Unchurched

The answer to that question tweeted by the Church of England is, for increasing numbers, None.

As church attendance figures decline, the definition 'not belonging to or connected with a church' has come to embrace increasing numbers of former attendees who have been side-lined by revisionists or who feel unable in all conscience to remain in an organisation that they no longer recognise as the Church they joined. 

Some will have conscientious doubts over the ordination of women or unbiblical episcopal oversight while others have been frustrated by the direction in which their Church has been taken to further liberal causes, redefining scripture as revisionists deem necessary to support their case.  

The unchurched has been defined to mean "an adult (18 or older) who has not attended a Christian church service within the past six months" excluding special services such as Easter, Christmas, weddings or funerals. The Barna Group reported that there were 75 million "unchurched people" in the United States as of 2004.

In the US the Episcopal Church (TEC) is facing a major challenge. Virtue Online reports that TEC faces inevitable collapse with 'collaboration plans afoot in many dioceses'. The report continues: "Financial challenges and membership decline are a common concern across TEC. The language is about 'collaboration'. When things get worse, it is called 'juncturing'. When the diocese eventually dies, it is called merging."

The Church of England is in a flap leading Giles Fraser to write in UnHerd in response to Justin Welby's claim in July 2012 that "We don’t preach morality, we plant churches. We don’t preach therapeutic care, we plant churches": 

"The Church is abandoning its flock. The CofE's great leap forward will cull clergy and abandon parishioners.

"The latest Great Leap Forward for the CofE looks like this. Get rid of all those crumbling churches. Get rid of the clergy. Do away with all that expensive theological education. These are all 'limiting factors'. Instead, focus relentlessly on young people. Growth, Young People, Forwards. Purge the church of all those clapped-out clergy pottering about in their parishes. Forget the Eucharist, or at least, put those who administer it on some sort of zero hours contract. Sell their vicarages. This is what our new shepherds want in their prize sheep: to be young, dumb, and full of evangelistic… zeal."

The Church in Wales had its great leap forward in 2012 following a Review by the former Bishop of Oxford,  Lord Harries of Pentregarth, and others. Little time was lost in the establishment of Ministry Areas (Recommendation VI) but consideration of whether the Church in Wales is best served by six dioceses with three administrative centres or whether it would be more effective to reduce to three dioceses, together with four area bishops is, as far as one can tell, in the long grass.

In a Province the size of some dioceses one has to wonder why the Church in Wales needs so many bishops. Monmouth managed without for months as is St Davids where it emerged that the current holder spent much of her time tweeting to advance her socialist agenda before being signed off on extended sick leave.

Meanwhile the new unchurched are worshipping at home.

Laid bare

Ancient stone carving with apple

 ‘We asked for bread but you gave us stones‘ became a familiar cry from the movement for the ordination of women.

What has been revealed since they achieved their objectives is that they have hearts of stone.

Provisions made for orthodox 'traditionalist' Anglicans to ensure the successful passage of their 'equality' legislation have been gradually eroded.

Alternative episcopal oversight was cruelly withdrawn by archbishop Barry Morgan after bishop David Thomas retired.

The axe is hovering again, waiting to strike the final blow against orthodoxy. A blow by Morgan's hatchet woman that will change the Church in Wales forever, turning it into a feminist sect on the outer fringes of Anglicanism.

Following the Canon to enable the Ordination of Women as Bishops a Code of Practice in relation to the Ministry of Bishops was added.

There was a nod towards the Code of Practice adopted by the Church of England but it was twisted by the Jackson/Wigley amendment to ensure that there would be no similar structure to provide alternative episcopal oversight in Wales:

[4.] "Within the Church in Wales, those who on grounds of theological conviction and conscience are unable to receive the sacramental ministry of women bishops or priests continue to be within the spectrum of teaching and tradition of the Anglican Communion. The Church in Wales therefore remains committed to enabling all its members to flourish within its life and structures as accepted and valued. Appropriate provision for them will be made in a way intended to maintain the highest possible degree of communion and contributes to mutual flourishing across the whole Church in Wales."

Another paragraph was added:

[5.] " Since the Code of Practice needs to be both strong and flexible enough to respond to a changing situation in the future, and since the Governing Body has entrusted the Bench of Bishops with the task of agreeing a Code which commits the Bench to making provisions for all the members of the Church in Wales, the Bench reserves the right to amend the provisions of this Code as may be necessary in the future."

The sting was in the tail. Jackson's strategy is laid bare. Unless it is voted down the final blow will be delivered at the next meeting of the Governing Body (GB) of the Church in Wales.

An alleged "changing situation" private member Motion submitted by Archdeacon Peggy Jackson reveals her original intent. 

It seeks to remove any provision for conscience in the Church in Wales:

"the Bishops should not in future allow conscience provisions to be extended towards anyone who seeks ordination from this point on; nor should they be prepared to consider for ordination in the Church in Wales anyone, who intends from the very outset of their ministry, to restrict the exercise of that ministry, by their reliance upon conscience provisions."

Archdeacon Peggy Jackson's Motion:

"That this Governing Body rejoices that the Church in Wales has now received the consecration of two Bishops who are women, and: 

1. requests that all Bishops, consonant with previous undertakings, agree not to hold in future separate ordination services for any candidates, on the grounds of the candidates’ views on gender. 

2. calls on the Bench of Bishops to resile from paragraph 5 of the Explanatory Note to their 2014 Code of Practice, and cease to ordain those who, refusing the sacramental ministry of women, expect to rely upon the conscience clauses of the Code."

Code of Practice procedures which were designed to allow those who 'on grounds of theological conviction and conscience are unable to receive the sacramental ministry of women bishops or priests' to continue have been gradually eroded. 

In her final blow Jackson seeks to renege on a Church in Wales commitment designed to enable all its members to flourish within its life and structures.

In her explanatory note Jackson writes: 

"The purpose [of the Code of Practice] was to  recognise and honour the long allegiance and service many such people had given to the Church in Wales, and to mitigate as far as possible any feelings of rejection that they might otherwise experience, by the enactment of this doctrinal change. The provisions were never intended to maintain within the Church in Wales a parallel, or alternative, doctrinal tradition to that which had been decided by Governing Body; nor were they intended to uphold, or sustain on behalf of others, different doctrinal traditions belonging to other provinces of the Anglican Communion, with whom the Church in Wales has chosen to disagree."

Her duplicity is clear. Jackson portrays women as victims deserving sympathy despite having no sympathy whatsoever for the many women and men she has successfully shut out from her 'inclusive' Church:

"The Code of Practice set out, as a priority, its intention to promote as far as possible the mutual flourishing of all within the Church in Wales, and made provisions accordingly.  The cost of these provisions has been borne, at times painfully, by many people across the Church in Wales, but most specifically, and constantly, by women who serve the church: women ordinands who have been obliged to train alongside other ordinands who, with impunity, have been allowed to question and deny the validity of their vocations; women clergy who have been made to feel, in the context of some clergy gatherings where shared communion is impaired, that they are the ‘problem’, or who have been asked to tolerate the public  rejection of their ministry by fellow clergy, in the name of ‘tradition’ or ‘conscience’;  women exploring their vocations, who have had to overcome additional hurdles in discernment, over and above their male counterparts, because of a prevailing attitude among some influential people, that their vocations were somehow questionable.  A survey undertaken in 2017 indicated that, four years after the passing of the legislation on women bishops, women were still disproportionately being subject to these experiences."

It is difficult to see why anyone would believe the archdeacon after the lies, distortion and duplicity used by the women's movement when mere differences of opinion are deliberately exaggerated and represented as prejudice.

The women who are suffering are not those exploring their vocations but those with conscientious beliefs who have been shut out of their own Church. 

Conscience is not something to be turned off like a tap however Jackson wraps it up.

When she was a member of the Church of England Jackson is on record as saying that anyone who could not accept the new order would have to make their own arrangements. It is as if she was talking about changing social clubs:

"New individuals with conscientious difficulties over women’s ministry will simply have to make personal decisions and individual choices, to find accommodation as best they can – just as many already have to do over a host of other current issues, some very uncomfortable, where people find themselves representative of a view which is not that sanctioned by the ‘church’ as a whole, and upheld through Synod and Parliament." - Canon Jackson in a GRAS Newsletter.

On the contrary, it is Jackson's view that is "not that sanctioned by the ‘church’ as a whole, and upheld through Synod and Parliament."

  

The Church in Wales is not a world leader in Anglicanism. It is a tiny Province which, thanks to Barry Morgan and Peggy Jackson, chooses to disagree with orthodox doctrinal traditions in the Anglican Communion and beyond. But it still represents the Anglican Communion in Wales. 

Faithful Anglicans who have had unorthodox doctrines imposed on them have no choice but to leave or be accused of hypocrisy. That there is nowhere else to go within the Communion is of no concern to Jackson and those sharing her views. 

Many have left, hence the dramatic fall in attendance leaving mainly elderly people with something to do on a Sunday as the Archbishop of Wales succinctly commented in an ITV interview.  

Average Sunday attendance in 2017 was 27,359 representing 0.8% of the population of Wales. A dismal figure which would cause many to stop and think but not those determined to pursue their own agenda at any cost.

Few elderly people are involved in Church politics. Under their noses the Church in Wales is being changed into a feminist cult using the hash tag #lovewins. It does not. More accurately #sex triumphs, now with the aid of the two women bishop activists glorified by Jackson in her Motion.

This callous disregard of faithful Anglicans by feminist entryists is un-Christian. It lacks even the slightest semblance of fair play. 

The faith held by the overwhelming majority of Christians has served the Church for two thousand years. A late convert, Peggy Jackson's approach to Anglicanism is warped in favour of her personal preferences as if she knows better than the Apostles and even Christ Himself.

She does not represent the majority of Christian women, only a certain type of woman. One standing naked in the garden tempting others with an apple. 

If the bench associate themselves with Jackson's motion they will deserve their share of odium that should be deservedly heaped on the archdeacon for dishonouring the Church with her blatant misandry.

Her Motion has to be rejected if the Church in Wales is to retain any shred of credibility.

Commendable but...

"A Poor Upbringing?"                                                    Source: Church in Wales

Eisteddfod focus on child poverty. A Provincial press release from the Church in Wales draws attention to the issue of child poverty. "Church volunteers are stepping in to provide food and support for struggling families as cuts to public spending impact on child poverty."

All very commendable. - "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." - James 1:27.

Also, "Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2: 15-17.

The latter quote comes after "Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment" in a section headed Favoritism Forbidden.

Another type of poverty has been created in Wales. Spiritual poverty. The process started by Barry and his bench sitters and carried on by Abp Morgan's successor, as they favour the ordained ministry of women and all the LGBT baggage brought with it above traditional, often cradle, Anglicans. 

No mercy has been shown to former and existing Anglicans who who have clung to the catholic faith. No tolerance and no support after the position of Provincial Assistant Bishop was buried by Abp Barry Morgan in indecent haste at the earliest opportunity without discussion. Provincial episcopal visitors as enjoyed in the Church of England are banned from providing sacramental and pastoral oversight in Wales.

Too many career minded clerics 'saw the light' after it became clear that Governing Body decisions were to carry far more weight than scripture, tradition and reason. Wittingly or unwittingly, they have aided the bench of bishops in turning the Church in Wales into a pit of misery, soon to disappear down its own orifice.

Ministry areas are struggling. Clergy are in short supply. So much so that lay people are conducting services, including Communion by Extension where "the sacrament is taken to a church from another church within the benefice, where the Holy Eucharist has previously been celebrated". A measure encouraged to keep the bishops in the style they mistakenly believe they are entitle to.

Further decline seems inevitable.

The bishop of St Davids followed by the bishop of Llandaff lost no time in advancing their secular causes while complaining that they had been discriminated against because people disagreed with them. Holding the view that the ordained ministry is not open to women is not discriminatory, it is the position of the Holy Catholic Church

Feminism and LGBT issues have become so dominant in the Church in Wales that traditional faith is seen as unacceptable, casting former loyal Anglicans into spiritual poverty.

Nobody cares, least of all the "chief pastors or shepherds" despite what is claimed:
 What distinguishes the Church from other communities, at least in its own self-understanding, is that it is a ‘spiritual’ community – a fellowship/community of the Holy Spirit. That is, it claims to participate in the Spirit of God and to be established as the community it essentially is by the Spirit of God. - The Church and its Ministry

Surrender of the C of E to the ‘zeitgeist’

Pride is one of the seven deadly sins - "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall" Proverbs 16:18) yet gay pride is being celebrated by the Anglican Church. Rainbow altar frontals have become commonplace and Cathedrals bless Gay Pride proclaiming “diversity” as the new gospel. 

Gay Deans are in vogue. In the latest instance from the Church of England, Ely Cathedral redefines Christianity; – Anglican Unscripted and the surrender of the C of E to the ‘zeitgeist’.

In Wales it is reported that "MajorPride" has been planned to "celebrate the diversity of the community in Llantwit Major  where the church are "happy to host events"

One wonders what St. Illtud, the founder-abbot and teacher of the divinity school known as Cor Tewdws, located in Llanilltud Fawr (Llantwit Major) would have made of that.

Already steeped in gay pride the first woman bishop in the Church in wales was shoe-horned into St Davids in a political move which caused much dissension while the second woman bishop with similar credentials continues to do her own thing. 

The bishop of Llandaff intends to take all her licensed clergy, Stipendiary and Non-Stipendiary, on a charter flight pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in May 2019. She must be hoping that airline pilots, air traffic controllers and baggage handlers play ball and do not strand all Llandaff diocese clergy in Spain.

Worse still, God forbid, if the plane were lost, this carefully crafted plan would leave the entire diocese without clergy but by then most services may be conducted by the laity anyway.

As the bishops go about the country's business, faithful worshippers continue to be excluded in favour of men who prefer to be thought of as women and vice versa despite their biology, women who want to marry women and men who want to marry men using parcel-post to deliver the means of creation.

What a legacy.