Lowlights: GB September 2023

Governing Body voting                                              Source: Church in Wales

The Church in Wales goes green is the main message to come out of the meeting of the Governing Body (GB) earlier this month.

Attendance may be in crisis but was not mentioned, apart from a brief reference to decline in one of the reports. That is despite the GB's guiding notes which state:

"Every year, a report on the current membership and finance statistics of the Church in Wales is presented to the meeting. This covers key information such as: church attendance, the level of financial giving towards the work of the church, details of what parishes are spending their money on."

Session Three was about 'Priorities, Growth and Resilience'. One of the items covered in discussion groups was "What stops us from growing?"

The Church in Wales, like the Church of England, The Episcopal Church in the US and others have become self-centred rather than God centred, using the name of Jesus as a passport to earthly desires. - Jesus loves me, therefore I do as I please.

The secularisation of the Church in Wales was made obvious by the archbishop of Wales when he commented on the recently announced 'historic appointments of Canons at Bangor Cathedral'. 

He said, "It is a real joy to be able to announce the appointment of eight new Canons to the Cathedral, five Honorary Canons and three Foundation Canons. .... Together they bring with them an enormous breadth of skills and experience to their new roles, enabling the Cathedral’s common life and witness to be a place where all can come and experience faith, hope and love. Each of these new Canons has been invited in recognition of the significant contribution they have made, and continue to make, within their field of expertise, and I invite you to join with me in praying for them as they take up their new positions and responsibilities."

The Canon Preacher's experience of the Anglican Church is short. He was ordained Deacon in 2021 after becoming an Anglican in 2020 but more importantly for the archbishop he becomes the "first gay, black Canon to serve in a Church in Wales Cathedral, a pioneering moment that highlights its commitment to diversity and inclusivity." 

Just the sort of experience the Church Wales has come to value above all else. But there is more.

'Glastonbury priest'         Sourcee: CinW

A new priest welcomed to the diocese of St Asaph by bishop Gregory is "part way through a professional doctorate exploring better ways for neo-Pagans and Christians to have open conversations about faith." 

 She should receive a good welcome from the Peace Mala while the Church in Wales struggles with its identity.

As the decline of the Church continues more senior executives are hired. The latest is a Director of Mission and Strategy on a salary of up to £70,000 p.a.

On the plus side, perhaps the archbishop of Wales feels better able to cope with his workload having sanctioned all these appointments. 

Last year he felt the need for someone to share the leadership of his Bangor diocese with while serving as Archbishop of Wales as if that were an onerous task. He appointed an assistant bishop who has since been appointed bishop of Llandaff with no replacement assistant bishop. Perhaps he discovered that he is not that busy after all being responsible for the souls of less than 1% of the population of Wales.

What about the souls of Anglicans in Wales? Pew sitters have been led astray by their bishops while others have simply been abandoned in the shift to secularism.

A timely reminder of the dire situation Anglicans in the Church in Wales find themselves comes from Bishop Stuart Bell a former Church in Wales priest who was ordained as an Assistant Bishop in The Anglican Convocation in Europe in March after serving in the Church in Wales for 51 years.

In an interview with Dr Tony Rucinski of Coalition for Marriage (C4M), Bishop Bell said the Church in Wales’ 2021 decision to bless same-sex partnerships was "hugely significant". He told Dr Rucinski that "substantial" numbers have left the Church in Wales, following its decision to turn its back on the Bible and go with contemporary culture.

He rebuffed claims the Church’s move was compassionate, saying: "Justice and compassion are not rootless, they are rooted within truth and they are rooted within Christ and they are rooted within an authority that is completely unchanging."

The Bishop warned that we are being seriously misled by people whose hearts are set on "anarchy and nihilism". That voice is growing stronger by the day and is being promoted at government level and  by the media, he said.

He urged Christians and traditional marriage supporters to be absolutely resolute in the face of LGBT activists’ attempts to push the country into a state of "total gender confusion and sexual confusion".

Full details of the Christian Institute interview can be found here. 

The response of the Church in Wales was: Clergy told to keep breakaway bishop at arm’s length. "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."

That came as little surprise to the many Anglicans abandoned by the handful of heretic bishops in the Church in Wales for keeping the faith as received in common with millions of Anglicans around the world.

This is the legacy handed on by a former bishop of Bangor, later archbishop, Barry Morgan who decreed after the retirement of Bishop David Thomas that there would be further alternative Episcopal oversight 'over his dead body'.

Now in comfortable retirement Morgan's legacy lives on. He continues to meddle in Church affairs showing no shame for leaving so many faithful Anglicans who had been in his care in a spiritual desert, a situation perpetuated by the bench of bishops to this day to their utter shame.

 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

Apology of an Archbishop

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby                                                                 Source: Huff Post

Justin Welby, the forever apologising Archbishop of Canterbury, is ashamed. Ashamed that the Church of England is ‘deeply institutionally racist’.

A somewhat sweeping statement not fully supported by the BBC's recent Panorama programme which highlighted a few, probably the worst, cases of racism found in the C of E. 

The Archbishop of York  told the interviewer that BAME people were under represented in the structures of the Church but he did not believe that the Church was full of racists.

Some does not mean all but this has become a familiar pitch used by feminists and the gay lobby to gain more influence in the Anglican Church leading to secularisation.

Two recent entries on Twitter highlight differing perceptions. 

The Rev Jodie Stowell (Vicar @StMikesHarrow. Chair House of Clergy London. Feminist. Occasional Broadcaster. Unplaceable accent. Badly behaved. Challenging status quo since 1975) tweeted "Ask any woman, gay person, disabled person, any people who intersect across these personhoods will have no trouble recognising and believing what is being reported here about racism in the CofE @BBCPanorama  #IstheChurchRacist.

By contrast, Political adviser and Commentator Calvin Robinson tweeted "The Church is not institutionally racist. Many in its leadership are woke and out of touch, but it’s not a racist institution. 
Theology is the study of God. There is no 'Black Theology'. We don’t have a different God for each identity. Not in Christianity, anyway."

Precisely.

Clive Myrie, Panorama's presenter, complained that only 10% of those in training for the priesthood were from ethnic backgrounds ignoring the fact that 10% is broadly in line with their representation in the population.

But never mind the facts. Responding to the report From Lament to Action from the anti-racism taskforce set up by the archbishops of Canterbury and York following the death of George Floyd it has been decided that the Church of England must include at least one candidate from a minority ethnic background on shortlists for bishops and other senior roles in a drive to rid the church of “racial sin” and all governing bodies within the church, including parish councils, should have at least 15% of minority ethnic representation by 2030.

Myrie rounded off his criticism by quoting 'the Church':
"The Bible teaches that we're all made in God's image and all one in Christ so all God's people are welcome and can flourish in the Church."

The Rev Shirley Murphy who was born in Chennai and "the first priest of Indian origin to be chaplain to the bishop of St Davids" said that "she was pleasantly surprised at not facing any racism in Wales, considering she had in London."

With feminists firmly embedded, same sex couples about to be rewarded with same sex relationship blessings to compensate for their alleged persecution, and fast track privileges for clergy of colour regardless of merit, the only Anglicans not welcome in the Church appear to be those who strive to keep the faith as received, particularly in Wales. 

Building bridges

               Source: Church in Wales/ClipArtMag  

Following the Pride Cymru extravaganza which attracted a number of clerics from the Church in Wales, there has been more pride from 'The team' on Twitter:

St Augustine's @AugustineRumney 3 Sep 2018
We’re proud to be hosting @StTeilos for their inset day. Former pupil @rjmaidment presided @frjrconnell preached @David_T_Morris concelebrated at Mass with great singing from staff. @SchoolsLlandaff #teamteilo

Pride is an odd association for the church given that pride is one of the seven deadly sins. Perhaps 'The team' is so busy secularizing the church that sin is no longer a problem for them.

St Teilo's Church in Wales High School is in a Cardiff suburb at the heart of the Cyncoed Mission Area in the diocese of Monmouth. Described by the head teacher as an 'inclusive' school, their link with St Augustine's in Rumney, another Cardiff suburb, implies a degree of inclusivity beyond their normal school disability equality duty.

Its links with the 'inclusive' church of St Augustine's, Rumney give the appearance more of spreading the word as discerned by the gospel according to LGBT.

In a postscript to my entry The big lie, I reported that Bob Woods who was listed No. 36 of 46 on the The Pinc List 2018: The 40 most influential LGBT+ people in Wales had been promoting respect for difference:

"Bob has been a lifelong LGBT+ activist in both his personal and professional life....He has played a key voluntary role at St Teilo’s Church in Wales School in Llanedeyrn, promoting respect for difference. He has been an inspirational role model for young people which has given them the confidence to be frank about their sexuality and the confidence to say so in public and amongst their friends and family."

There is nothing new in children having same sex feeling and childhood crushes. Teachers should be able to deal with that without bringing in adults of a particular persuasion to give children "the confidence to be frank about their sexuality and the confidence to say so in public and amongst their friends and family". Where does such 'expertise' end?

Churches and schools may have had the best of intentions but the results have become dire.

So successful has the LGBT campaign been that LGB has become mainstream as witnessed by the rainbow flag flying over public buildings and even Anglican cathedrals. The 'T' part has become the latest 'oppressed minority' to claim persecution as transgender takes centre stage.

The LGBT promoting bishop of Llandaff has already done her bit by appointing the first transgender priest in the Church of England to be the priest in charge of St John's, Cardiff's civic church,

A recent BMJ article posed the question 'Why has there been a 240% increase in referrals to gender dysphoria clinics over the past five years?'

"Gender dysphoria, a condition described as 'strong, persistent feelings of identification with the opposite gender and discomfort with one's own assigned sex,' is quite common in young people today.

"The causes of gender dysphoria are 'complex' and 'not fully clear.' While many medical sites say gender dysphoria is caused by hormonal imbalances, some scholars believe the rise in gender fluidity is primarily a cultural phenomenon.

"'I think it’s become a fashion', Camille Paglia said during a recent public interview. 'The transgender definition has become a convenient label for young people who may simply feel alienated culturally for other reasons'.

"Paglia, a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and one of the world’s foremost intellectuals, went on to suggest that gender fluidity is simply the new face of the counter-culture.

"'In the 1950s they might have become a beatnik', she said. 'In the 1960s they might have become a hippie and taken mind-expanding drugs'."

Paglia claims that "anyone who collaborates in an intrusion into a developing child's body and mind is guilty of child abuse, a crime against humanity because that child is not prepared to make such a decision."

From Outbreak: On Transgender Teens and Psychic Epidemics "a young person's coming out as transgender is often preceded by increased social media use and/or having one or more peers also come out as transgender. These factors suggest that social contagion may be contributing to the significant rise in the number of young people seeking treatment for gender dysphoria."

There is a world of difference in tolerance and what can be interpreted as promoting difference, something that previously was regarded simply as a passing phase.

The fear of being branded homophobic has muted discussion resulting in an explosion of 'inclusion' with devastating results. Read Is the Queer Reckoning upon Us? for an account of how countless people have lost their jobs, families, public reputation, homes, or incomes because they chose to defend God's design for sexuality rather than submit to the LGBT movement's demands.

The latest tweet from the inclusive church of St Augustine, Rumney promotes the diocesan Evangelism Fund Bid #lovewithoutlimit. That is the £10m fund to inspire new Welsh revival, a misnomer if ever there was one. Grants of between £250,000 and £3m will be available for diocesan projects which crucially, will focus on people rather than buildings. To be presented at the forthcoming meeting of the Governing Body of the Church in Wales: 'Inclusive church – promoting an open and welcoming church at Rumney, Cardiff'.

Manna from heaven for the bench of bishops as bridges are built to aid them in their one-sided campaign for same sex marriage in church.

In his background paper on the subject the archbishop writes:

"As part of discharging our responsibility to lead the whole church in ways that are just, compassionate and caring, seeking to ensure that none suffers through our neglect, we have invited Bishop Mark to come and address the Governing Body about the process developed and adopted in Scotland. He will first address the Governing Body and, after lunch (during which informal discussion among members can take place), he will answer questions about that process and the current situation in Scotland. Bishop Mark will not debate the rightness or otherwise of same gender relationships, those relationships being blessed, or same-gender marriages being solemnised, but all comments from members will be noted.

"In the light of what takes place, members of Governing Body will then be asked to indicate whether they would support the Bishops in undertaking further work on the subject of same-gender relationships and how the Church in Wales could or should provide for them.  The Governing Body will participate in a private ballot, in which members will be asked to agree or not with the statement: “It is pastorally unsustainable for the Church to make no formal provision for those in same-gender relationships.”

"This is not a motion.  It will bind neither the Bench of Bishops nor the wider Church in Wales.  It will not change the doctrine and practice of the Church in Wales on marriage.  However, it will provide an important steer for the Bench in determining where to go next in exercising their ministry of leadership and pastoral care."

If the GB supports the statement the bench will have the all-clear to proceed full steam ahead to allow same sex marriage in church putting many clergy in an invidious position. If the statement is not supported the bench will come back until they get their way. That rouse has become a habit which needs to be addressed by GB.

The bishops of the  Church in Wales have no need to promote same sex marriage, particularly in church. As readers have commented under previous entries, homosexual members of the church have been quietly getting on with their lives for years without hindrance. Many still do while others insist on banging the drum demanding to be affirmed.

In 1967 the law was changed to allow two men to be in a relationship together without the fear of being arrested. Civil partnership legislation followed to ensure that un-married couples enjoyed the same protection as married couples. They can now be legally married.

That is the law. Faith is different. It is based on scripture and tradition. Sadly people whose faith does not in conscience permit them to accept secularisation of the church have been forced out leaving activists in control. Consequently we have bishops who show no understanding of the consequences of their actions driving the church to extinction while putting children in danger.

Children with no concept of gender are paraded in rainbow colours at Pride events as if they have made a conscious decision to support the LGBT campaign. Even babies are not exempt implying a predetermined lifestyle.

The bishops of the Church in Wales are participating in propaganda which is putting our children at risk. They must be stopped.

The Governing Body must wake up to what is being done in their name and return from politics to faith.

Postscript [12.09.2018]

From REPORT OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE – SEPTEMBER 2018

Governing Body Worship Coordinator

"This meeting will be the last, as Worship Coordinator, for the Venerable Paul Mackness, Archdeacon of St Davids, who has resigned owing to his new responsibilities in the diocese....

"On the advice of the Bench of Bishops, the Committee appointed the Reverend John Connell for an initial three year period. He will operate the guidelines that have been agreed by the Committee, consulting with others as necessary, to develop a proactive way of delivering liturgical arrangements, working to achieve a balance of participants and language from across the dioceses."

Another bridge!

The perils of organised religion

In March this year the Guardian carried an article 'Christianity as default is gone': the rise of a non-Christian Europe.

It showed that "In the UK, only 7% of young adults identify as Anglican, fewer than the 10% who categorise themselves as Catholic. Young Muslims, at 6%, are on the brink of overtaking those who consider themselves part of the country’s established church."

The figures are published in a report, Europe’s Young Adults and Religion, by Stephen Bullivant, a professor of theology and the sociology of religion at St Mary’s University in London. They are based on data from the European social survey 2014-16.

"According to Bullivant, many young Europeans 'will have been baptised and then never darken the door of a church again. Cultural religious identities just aren’t being passed on from parents to children. It just washes straight off them'.

"The figures for the UK were partly explained by high immigration, he added. 'One in five Catholics in the UK were not born in the UK'.

"And we know the Muslim birthrate is higher than the general population, and they have much higher [religious] retention rates.

"In Ireland, there has been a significant decline in religiosity over the past 30 years, 'but compared to anywhere else in western Europe, it still looks pretty religious', Bullivant said.

“The new default setting is ‘no religion’, and the few who are religious see themselves as 'swimming against the tide', he said."

The BBC recently highlighted a ComRes survey for the Asian Network. It revealed that "On religion, over half of 18-34 year olds in the general population said it wasn't important to them "at all". Just 8% of young British Asians said the same.

"Overall, 46% of British Asians said it was "very important" to them - compared to 12% of the general population."

Christianity is shrinking while Islam expands.

In Anglicanism the reasons are clear. As physical education activities are reduced in schools, sports replace religion on Sundays. Consequently few families attend church.

Also, the Anglican Church which provided the means of expressing one's faith in a structured way in fellowship with others has has been secularized, again resulting in falling attendances as gender politics have replaced spirituality.

Sadly nobody in the church cares about the disaffected. It is good riddance to worshippers who were valued only for their giving.

In Wales, what felt comfortable and familiar is being replaced by an alien structure reminiscent of nonconformity as the bishops tinker with the structure and employ more 'experts' to keep themselves in employment.

Anglican congregations are increasingly identified as elderly. The absence of families means the absence of children needed to maintain continuity. Without young people the church which nurtured past generations is dying.

So the routine ends.

For those whose lives revolved around the church, taking a step back from organised religion results in a significant change in their social lives as well as their spiritual lives.

After supporting the unsupportable for so long, former worshippers no longer have to accept what is served up week by week, often by manipulative clerics with a vested interest in what they preach. Faults projected onto submissive congregations, making them feel guilty and in need of forgiveness.

The problem with organised religion is that congregations are expected to obey the rules regardless of the examples set by those who seek change. Consequently views such as 'the Vicar knows best' or 'I just keep my head down' prevail implying acceptance.

Over the years much has been accepted in silence. Now stories of abuse abound.

Accounts of cruel treatment handed down by the Christian Brothers were accepted with resignation. The so-called care by nuns of "fallen women" in Magdalene laundries amounted to outright cruel exploitation.

That has changed. The Irish no longer fear the Roman Catholic Church as they did in the past.

Many RCs 'escaped' the authoritarianism by becoming 'middle road' Anglicans (catholic and reformed). They find themselves thrust into another quandary now that the Anglican church has departed from the catholic faith.

One Catholic priest who became an Anglican because he could not cope with a vow of celibacy appears to have accepted the whole 'do as you please' secular package. He has been forced to quit after it was discovered that he was having an affair with his married curate. Reminiscent of a former bishop of St Davids and his chaplain, the temptation of mixing with female colleagues can become too much.

"Lead us not into temptation" has clearly become more difficult for some clerics following the ordination of women, even when married.

Where celibacy is the rule temptation is more widespread. In the US state of Pennsylvania it is reported that more than 1,000 children were abused for decades by hundreds of priests and systemically covered up by church officials.

Stories of abuse are rife. They encourage critics to point the finger but it is not the Church. It is the people in it.

Guilt and the forgiveness of sins play a prominent part in organised religion. So much so that young children make up 'sins' so that they have something to confess. Meanwhile the most appalling abuse has been covered up by bishops fearing that the Church would be seen in a poor light!

Abuse is not confined to the clergy.

It was the 'purging of sins' which resulted in an alleged victim of a deceased former Christian charity leader being beaten by him 3,000 times in the shed of the perpetrator's home and at the camps he ran in Dorset for young evangelical Christians.

A confidential report seen by Channel 4 News in 2017 described what it called the “beatings” of 22 young men:

“The scale and severity of the practice was horrific…8 received about 14 thousand strokes: 2 of them having some 8000 strokes over three years,” the document, written in 1982, noted.

"Despite the findings of the report, the Iwerne Trust did not inform the police. Instead, a senior figure in the Iwerne Trust wrote to John Smyth, telling him to leave the country. He went on to live in Zimbabwe, and then South Africa."

Yet another cover up. The reports mount up.

For many Anglicans, supporting the unsupportable is no longer an option so there is a dilemma. For the architects of the dilemma, those who engineered the ordination of women, the answer is simple, go to Rome.

That suggestion shows a total lack of understanding of faith. Many who suggest it are late entrants who 'came to faith' when they saw a convenient opportunity for expanding the feminist movement. That has had dire consequences for the Anglican Church.

It is not a simple process of crossing one's fingers and saying what is necessary. Consequently people of conscience are stuck.

For them the 'catholic and reformed' Anglican Church is their church of choice. It says much about the bishops and those who are responsible for outlawing faithful worshippers that they couldn't care less about those who, effectively, have been excommunicated.

Christianity is under attack. Unless organised religion adapts to accommodate the few remaining Christians 'swimming against the tide' the outlook is bleak.

Predictions indicate that Western Anglicanism has no future. Secularizing the church has been an abysmal failure, surrendering the church to feminism and all the liberal baggage that comes with it.

True Anglicans have been thrown overboard, in Wales without a lifeboat. The mutineers are heading for the rocks.

While Anglican patrimony has been carried over to the Ordinariate, membership is confined to those who promise to accept the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. That is a big ask for anyone with a questioning mind as illustrated by the revelations detailed above.

Catholics who found that they could not in conscience continue to accept all the teaching of their church and who have become Anglicans along with Anglicans who can no longer accept the teaching of the Anglican Church are left in limbo.

Meanwhile the decline continues. Something has to give.

Bishops' rank hypocrisy

Getting married in the Church in Wales

The introduction to the Church in Wales Marriage Service describes marriage as a gift from God.  The Bible teaches that marriage is a life-long, faithful union between a man and a woman, and compares married love with the love Jesus has for his people – a love expressed in his willing sacrifice of himself on the cross.

 Compare the above introduction taken from the Church in Wales web site under the heading Marriage with the same-sex marriage Press Release in which the bishops of the Church in Wales draw attention to a joint pastoral letter issued in response to consultations and debates on same-sex marriage across the Church in Wales last year, as well as to a statement from the Primates of the Anglican Communion in January. It contains this grovelling apology for alleged mistreatment:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

We recognise that you have often been persecuted and ostracized by the Church for your sexuality, that you have been mistreated by the Church, and forced into secrecy and dissimulation by the attitudes of prejudice which you have faced.  We deplore such hostility, and welcome and affirm the words of the Primates that condemn homophobic prejudice and violence.  We too commit ourselves to offering you the same loving service and pastoral care to which all humanity is entitled, and we commit ourselves to acting to provide a safe space within the Church and within our communities in which you can be honest and open, respected and affirmed.

While as a Church we remain unable to bless the committed partnerships you form in marriage or in civil partnership, yet we commit ourselves as bishops to work for a Church in which you can be fully affirmed as equal disciples of Jesus Christ or seekers after truth.  We will pray with you and for you, that together we may seek God’s blessing on our lives, and for faithful discipleship.”

This has Llandaff written all over it. If we consider two former bishops of Llandaff, both were loved by many but received entirely different treatment. One resigned after being accused of indecency. He was not "persecuted and ostracized". I recall numerous diocesan occasions when the bishop was present. He later returned to pastoral and episcopal work. The other bishop was not in favour of the ordination of women. His life was made hell.

The Press Statement continues - In the letter, the bishops acknowledge that while the consultations showed that the Church is not yet ready to allow or bless same-sex marriage, the debate is not over. They commit to working for a Church in which gay and lesbian people are “fully affirmed as equal disciples” and to praying with and for them. They also apologise to gay and lesbian people for the persecution and mistreatment they have endured at the hands of the Church and they commit themselves to providing a safe place within the Church for all gay and lesbian people. [My emphasis - Ed.]

The bishops "apologise to gay and lesbian people for the persecution and mistreatment they have endured at the hands of the Church" but where is the evidence? If gay people want to wear their sexuality on their sleeves we are entitled to ask for some facts. What persecution and mistreatment and directed at whom, clergy and/or laity? What proportions of the clergy are gay, lesbian or transgender? And what about heterosexual couples "living in sin"? Are they not worthy of an apology?

In my previous entry I drew attention to the claim that bullying played a part in persuading women to leave the Church and that many victims "vote with their feet, and leave the organisation. 

The bishops are encouraging the same strategy as was highlighted in the ordination of women campaign. Exploit the "victim" status, slander and stereotype (substitute homophobic for misogynist) and intimidation.

Before they go any further the bishops should consider who the real victims are of their secularisation of the Church in Wales.

Augustina of Canterbury

The Cathedra Augustini           From Wikipedia

Concluding his interview on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show (here) before the vote on women bishops was taken at York Synod, the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, claimed that he would be "delighted to see a female successor on the Chair of St Augustine in his lifetime". 

Canterbury Cathedral is the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

From Canterbury Cathedral history: "St Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, arrived on the coast of Kent as a missionary to England in 597 AD. He came from Rome, sent by Pope Gregory the Great. It is said that Gregory had been struck by the beauty of Angle slaves he saw for sale in the city market and despatched Augustine and some monks to convert them to Christianity. 

Augustine was given a church at Canterbury (St Martin’s, after St Martin of Tours, still standing today) by the local King, Ethelbert whose Queen, Bertha, a French Princess, was already a Christian. This building had been a place of worship during the Roman occupation of Britain and is the oldest church in England still in use. Augustine had been consecrated a bishop in France and was later made an archbishop by the Pope. He established his seat within the Roman city walls (the word cathedral is derived from the the Latin word for a chair ‘cathedra’, which is itself taken from the Greek ‘kathedra’ meaning seat.) and built the first cathedral there, becoming the first Archbishop of Canterbury".

Move on 1400 years. From 'yourcanterbury' 2014 (here). The italics are mine: "The Rev Kes Grant is school chaplain at St Augustine Academy in Maidstone. She admits when the Synod rejected the proposal 20 months ago, it shook her faith in the Church. Speaking to KoS this week, she said: “It’s bloody fantastic. It’s been a long time coming.” 

The Church ordained its first two women priests in 1994, She added: “When that vote didn’t go through in 2012 I was absolutely gutted - even though in hindsight it was right because the legislation wasn’t right. “That morning I didn’t even know if I wanted to be in the Church of England anymore when it couldn’t even come into the 20th century, let alone the 21st.

“When you visit your doctor, you don’t stop to ask if they are gay or married or a woman. You just see someone because they are qualified for the job. No one bats an eyelid about women in senior jobs in any other section of society. “The Church really needed to get a grip. Telling people they are not welcome is not what the love of God is all about. When they do things like that I don’t recognise the Jesus of the Bible.” The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has been a supporter of the proposals and described the vote as “an adventure in faith and hope”."

An adventure for some; the secularation of the Church of England for others. As for faith, there have been numerous threats that women would leave the Church if they didn't get their own way while those of faith rather than fancy have had to battle against the odds on being told that they are not wanted in this Church.

One has to wonder what 'Augustina' of Canterbury will believe when she occupies the Chair of St Augustine but we already have a pretty good idea from existing trends and from the example of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States here. It beggars belief that bishops of the Church of England have done this.