Easter message

The bishops of the Church in Wales,                                                                                                                                                             Source: Church in Wales

The first of the Church in Wales bench of bishops to issue her Easter message was ♀Joanna. Her opening paragraph was straight out of the feminists handbook:

"Women, weeping and numb,  came to the tomb determined to do the last thing they could for the teacher and Rabbi they loved and revered and in whom they had put their hope for renewal and change, justice and hope."

The women did what women did. That was that. A completely different interpretation to Joanna's from a Catholic woman's point of view can be read on the Les Femmes - The Truth blog here.

Jesus did what He did, not what feminists today think He should have done for renewal and change, justice and hope.

The Easter messages from June and Gregory suggest that the other half of the bench will have nothing better to offer the spiritually assassinated. Those poor souls robbed of the very core of their being. Women who have given a lifetime of service to the church only to find that the renewal, change, justice and hope spoken of by Joanna is not for them. It is for those who regard the Resurrection is an opportunity for political advancement.

Update

At last, bishop Andy's Easter message puts Christ firmly at the centre with no frills, no modern comparisons, no do-gooders.  Very well done.

Anglicans unchurched

Readers of this blog will notice an additional link in the right-hand column under the heading 'The Movement for a Renewed Orthodox Anglicanism'. 

If you stand with the majority of faithful Anglicans across the globe in prioritising Scripture and the unanimous teaching of the universal Church over secular fashion, you have the opportunity to add your signature to the letter published in the Daily Telegraph on 25 July 2017. It is signed, among others, by the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Rochester, and the Rev Dr Gavin Ashenden, former Chaplain to the Queen.

In the an 'Anglican Unscripted' video discussion (Episode 311), Dr Ashenden urges the unchurched to add their signature to the letter. The reasons why he left the Church of England are explained in the above video. They will be familiar to many who find themselves unchurched with nowhere to go in their locality because most Anglican churches are following the same 'progressive', liberal path.

Gay Anglican clergy have already defied the church's official stance on same-sex marriage. Now the Dean of Southwark Cathedral sends out to those enquiring about the possibility of marking their Civil Partnership in the Cathedral a leaflet which gives the following outline for the marking of a Civil Partnership in the context of a celebration of the Eucharist.

Worrying as this is for orthodox Anglicans in England, the problem is more acute in Wales where no provision has been made for traditionalists and the bishops have signaled their eagerness to accept same sex marriage.

This is what the the Archdeacon of Llandaff, Peggy Jackson had to say about orthodox Anglicans before Archbishop Barry Morgan elevated her to her current position:
 "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."

That coming from an adult convert who ignores the faith of the vast majority of Anglicans worldwide and regards the tiny Province she inhabits as 'the church'. An institution which she and the like-minded manipulate to satisfy their own desires.

'Personal decisions and individual choices' have invariably led to faithful Anglicans becoming unchurched but that does not bother the progressives even when "the boat has taken on so much water as to be on the verge of capsizing" as Pope Benedict XI so aptly put it.  

Around 1400 people have added their names to the letter. If you share their concern please add your signature to the letter and encourage others to add theirs.

The Pied Piper of Llandaff's Wedding Tune

Members of the Church needed to be “transformed as persons so that people can see in us
some transformation so that they too will want to be drawn into that kind of life.”

- Dr Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales in 2005 

In 2005 the Church in Wales (CinW) issued a new teaching pack, The Rule of Life, to encourage members to engage more with 'a spiritual life in the Church'. Based loosely on the Rule of St Benedict it was designed to cover "prayer, study, service and community life". The "transformation" is a far cry from the Rule of St Benedict. Prayer, study and service have become politics, revision and despotism.

In 2015 the focus of the CinW is on being more relevant to society than engaging in a spiritual life. As the number of worshippers has declined 'community life' has become largely devoid of traditional religious spirituality. Today people talk of 'being spiritual' not in the religious sense but because they appreciate nature, crystals and joss  sticks. People living in communities where tragedy has struck now leave bunches of flowers to rot against railings while local vicars indulge in massive candle lighting exercises to provide temporary comfort for the grief stricken who no longer have any concept of eternal life.

The CinW Handbook "Parochial Administration" explains members' expectations of a spiritual life in the Anglican Province of Wales: "Everyone lives in a parish although the form that a parish takes varies from one area to another. The parish is probably best defined generally as: "…an area under the spiritual care of a cleric (the ‘Incumbent’ or, in the correct meaning of the word, the ‘curate’) to whose religious ministrations all its inhabitants are entitled” this is sometimes known as the ‘Cure of Souls’." [My emphasis - Ed.] The 'Cure of Souls' has become almost meaningless now that spiritual care is governed by political correctness and conscience is allowed to rest only with the bench of bishops.

For many cradle Anglicans their spiritual life has become a question of 'how far can they stretch credibility in the face of increasing secularism in the Church'. Having established women's rights as the main objective of the Church in Wales, the bench now turns its attention to the destruction of Holy Matrimony under the guise of equality.

In September 2014 the Church in Wales announced a consultation to consider its position on same-sex marriages. It is clear from his closing remarks in an interview here which way Dr Morgan is facing: "These are complex issues, but the conversations in April clearly point to the fact that Governing Body members wanted to deal with the issue with greater pastoral sensitivity than for the re-marriage of divorcees." Dr Morgan added: "In the light of the results of this consultation, the Bishops intend to bring the matter back to the Governing Body with proposals for a way ahead." In other words it doesn't really matter what the consultations produce. The bishops will decide after ensuring that there are enough members of the Governing Body to dance to Barry Morgan's tune.

True, the re-marriage of divorcees has caused problems for the Church but re-marriage is not comparable with the union of same-sex couples. To be trapped for life in a loveless marriage does not obey God's commandment to love one another. While the privileged few escaped through annulment the majority suffered for their mistake until life's end. Much is made of the fact that same sex-couples love each other but it does not follow that Holy Matrimony should be bent to validate their desires. Civil partnerships were designed to ensure that same-sex couples living together enjoyed the same civil rights as heterosexual couples but activists are determined to substitute sameness instead of celebrating difference.

The moulding process has been evident in the media for some time, most graphically in the current series 'Sex and the Church' for BBC2 where Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch parades his personal preference for same-sex relationships as he "explores" how "Christianity has shaped western attitudes to sex, gender and sexuality throughout history".

In Wales the softening-up process saw the Standing Doctrinal Commission of the Church in Wales hark back to the past to justify Barry's stance and provide ammunition for  his acolytes to use in the so-called consultations. The only thing missing is a return to the ducking stool for recalcitrant worshippers.

The results of consultations are used as evidence only when they are favourable to the bench. Personal preference is put before the good of all the church while others wait to see which way the wind blows before voting to keep in favour with Barry and his bench sitters.

The duplicity of the bench of bishops is evidenced by the following two paragraphs from the Doctrinal Commission's Report:

148. The results of the Lancet’s Survey on Sexual Attitude and Behaviour
published in 2013 underline this sense that what is taking place currently is a
significant departure and is not simply the next step in greater permissiveness
in relation to sexual practice. Whereas in 1991 less than 50% of men, and
53% of women, felt that ‘Adultery in marriage is always wrong’ the present
study shows these percentages to have increased to 66% and 70%
respectively. It also shows that, while in 1991 25% of people thought that
there was nothing wrong at all with same sex relationships, this figure has
increased to approximately 57% today.

149. Pastoral accommodation hints that we offer an unconditional hospitality to
those with whose practice or prohibition we might instinctively disagree.
Those who promote this approach would argue that it would define a new
arena in which it becomes possible to listen more deeply for the voice of the
Holy Spirit, ‘not only in the thoughts, words and lives of those with whom one
agrees but in the contributions of those one believes to be wrong’.

Note "Pastoral accommodation hints that we offer an unconditional hospitality to those with whose practice or prohibition we might instinctively disagree" and reflect on the treatment of cradle Anglicans who have not replaced faith with secularism. Why is it more acceptable in the Church in Wales to be homosexual than to be a traditional Anglican?

No matter whether the gay community represents 1.5% of the population or 10%. A relative few will want to avail themselves of any opportunity for a church wedding. It may be the first and last time they attend church apart from gay clergy seeking approval of their circumstances. Set against the number of Anglicans for whom this could be the last straw, the Church in Wales is certain to be the loser. By the time Dr Morgan retires he will have effectively killed off Anglicanism in Wales while playing his politically correct tune. As for The rule of St. Benedict:

"Always we begin again."

It is never too late Barry.