An ideology that permits the behaviour described above has no place in civilised society yet its adherents are courted by politicians to gain their support. Even supposedly Christian leaders fall into the same trap.
The goal of Islam is to take over the entire world because they believe that Muslims have a right given by their God, Allah, to "take over the lands of the inferior non-Muslim nations where infidels do not believe in Islam and refuse to worship Allah."
The fate of the West in Muslim eyes has already been made clear.
How can anyone who enjoys their freedom vote for supporters of such an ideology?
As 'Jolly June' Osborne prepares to sail off into the sunset on retirement she leaves behind a trail of discontent. There will be few tears spilt over her departure but many on the wreckage she leaves behind.
Thumbing her nose to scripture and tradition she has already set the scene for her successor by hastily installing a dean of her choice rather than letting the new bishop make the appointment. The new dean is a priest living openly in a same-sex partnership who was involved in some discontent over his involvement in the Percy affair during his time at Oxford.
He should fit in well, not only in the diocese but in the province which is foundering on the rocks of secularism following a string of political appointments.
In her long running battle with the former dean the bishop was forced to face allegations of bullying after it was decided that she had a case to answer. The allegations were subsequently withdrawn.
Meanwhile the Revd Vicki Burrows, the Garth Ministry Area Leader, wrote of a "culture of fear" in the diocese in the Church Times (Letters, 17/24 December) and called for the suspension of the Rt Rev June Osborne, after the bishop was accused of "bullying and harassment".
The vicar resigned saying that she “can no longer minister with any sense of integrity in Llandaff”.
Bishop Osborne's response was to appoint the Rev'd Ian Yemm, "who is married to Bernhard, an NHS doctor", in what appears to be another attempt to pre-empt a decision by the Church in Wales.
No doubt the bishop of Llandaff with the again absent bishop of St Davids were influential in the appointment of the first lesbian bishop, the bishop of Monmouth, who also lives with her same sex partner giving the impression that their ministries have more to do with the promotion of homosexuality than the sanctity of Christian marriage.
What of the bishop of St Davids? The original announcement in August of Joanna Penberthy's latest sick leave promised updates as they became available. I can no longer find that notice, perhaps because there have been no updates which is typical of the mushroom method of management in the Church in Wales.
Former giants of the Church in Wales before bishops were replaced by 'prefects'. Five held Oxford Firsts in Theology. Source: Anglican Misfit
But whatever the cause, the latest Church Growth Modelling is bad news for the Church in Wales as well as other denominations as wokeness replaces holiness:
"The Church in Wales contains a mixture of churchmanships, and for many years all were on the conservative side. However, in the last 25 years, it has become increasingly liberal. In common with most historic UK Christian denominations, it has steadily declined since 1960. This analysis investigates the likelihood of decline leading to denominational extinction.
"The Church in Wales is forecast to be extinct by 2038."
The author writes, "Churches do not grow by becoming like society and attracting people, but by becoming like Jesus and converting people."
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby Source: Rebel Priest
From The Jerusalem Post: The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the Anglican Church should reconsider its portrayal of Jesus as a white man.
It is not clear for whom he was speaking when he expressed his belief that Anglicans thought of the Son of God as a white man. The archbishop and most of his trendy episcopal colleagues long since abandoned the faith as orthodox Anglicans along with the Church in Wales and the Episcopal Church of the United States (TEC), both of which have become irrelevant as Churches for the faithful.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Justin Welby said that in light of the Black Lives Matter protests, the West needed to question whether the traditional portrayal of Jesus as a white man by Western churches was the correct approach to take.
The archbishop added, “Jesus is portrayed in as many ways as there are cultures, languages and understandings." He did not think that "throwing out everything we’ve got in the past is the way to do it" but thought "that’s not the Jesus who exists, that’s not who we worship. It is a reminder of the universality of the God who became fully human.”
Commenting on the Black Lives Matter campaign to remove statues to figures deemed controversial, he said that people should forgive the 'trespasses' of those who were being commemorated, rather than remove statues, but added that the church would be reviewing the monuments it holds.
When asked if people should forgive the trespasses of those immortalised in the form of statues, rather than tearing them down, Welby said: "Some will have to come down. We can only do that if we've got justice, which means the statue needs to be put in context.
"Some names will have to change. The church, goodness me you know, you just go around Canterbury Cathedral, there are monuments everywhere or Westminster Abbey, and we're looking at all that, and some will have to come down."
Described as the Woke Archbishop the Archbishop of Canterbury, Welby is “ashamed of our history” and of his supposed advantages as a straight white male.
He has become leader of the self loathing brigade, apologising for anything and everything in the past that is questioned in the woke culture.
He preaches the gospel of woke and slanders his own flock. With no supporting evidence he asserted "There is no doubt," that "when we look at our own Church we are still deeply institutionally racist."
Bending the knee to the latest trend is not leadership. It is capitulation.
Source: BBC/LORNA MAY WADSWORTH
It encourages gestures such as that in St Albans Cathedral where a copy of a picture of the Last Supper showing a black Jesus was placed at an altar "in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement" presumably without knowing what the BLM movement stands for.
According to BBC News the artist used a Jamaican-born model for the basis of her interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci's 15th Century work because she wanted "to make people question the Western myth that [Jesus Christ] had fair hair and blue eyes".
One aspect lost in the controversy about the suitability of artwork is the effort put into producing the work and possible motivations behind it. It may represent an interpretation by the artist or sponsor or result from a specific commission.
If someone in a free society objects to a work they are at liberty to criticise it. Once gone the opportunity for criticism is lost, along with the hard won freedoms which allow extremist pressure groups to behave as they do.
The example of ISIS destroying artefacts they disliked should be a warning of the destructive power now being unleashed, something religious leaders should be speaking against, not for.
Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew born in Bethlehem of Judea. He would have been neither black nor white but somewhere in between - see So what colour was Jesus?
Victor Sylvester and partner Photo Credit: Photo Agency/Fanpix
The BBC's much anticipated Strictly Come Dancing spectacular climaxed on Saturday night.
By public vote the winner was ex-Emmerdale soap opera star Kelvin Fletcher and his partner Oti Mabuse.
For those of us long enough in the tooth to remember Victor Sylvester and the BBC Television Dancing Club, Kelvin's samba was a million miles away from ballroom dancing of old but re-captured by Emma Barton with her partner Anton Du Beke in their Viennese Waltz.
Representatives of the Women's Ordination Conference stage a protest in front of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Tuesday, June 8, 2010. Source: Washington post Photo by Pier Paolo Cito
"Amongst a lot of social change, we too continue to see the loss of Sunday churchgoing. And this can feel as if we’re in terminal decline. Add to that the loss of connectedness many once had with the church – now more than half our neighbours happily describe themselves as having ‘no religion’. And then add the lost trust in what the church stands for - ask anyone under 30 what they make of the Church and they’ll pretty soon mention our unhealthy preoccupations with gender and sexuality. Those multiple losses feel really significant for those who love the Church and all it stands for."
The words of the bishop of Llandaff, June Osborne, delivered in her Presidential Address at the Llandaff Diocesan Conference 2019 following her observation that churches in the Gwent Valleys had suffered 'a 37% loss of membership within just the last few years'.
Despite similar evidence from other Anglican Provinces that have ordained women, the Roman Catholic Church appears oblivious to the dangers of creating a female diaconate. It is clear from experience in the Anglican Communion that ordaining women deacons provided them with a stepping-stone in a planned progression from women deacons to women bishops resulting in exclusion for many and indifference to their plight.
Once women deacons established a toehold in the Anglican Church, equality of opportunity, not theology, took hold. The rest is history. People who rarely if ever set foot in a church have become arbiters of what is or is not acceptable in Anglicanism as liberal leaning bishops strain to be evermore relevant to society.
In 2010 the US Washington Times reported the results of a Poll that showed 80% of Catholics were 'comfortable' with the idea of women priests but it is worth remembering that the US Episcopal Church started the Anglican rot which spread to England and Wales resulting in many faithful Anglicans finding themselves effectively unchurched.
Other Catholics claimed that the Catholic Church would never ordain women but within a decade of that poll Pope Francis appears open to reversing claims made by Pope John Paul II that the Church had no authority to ordain women (1994) and those who continued discussing women’s ordination were effectively excommunicating themselves (1998).
One Catholic bishop, Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, has claimed that the Amazon Synod was being used as a “tool” to change the Church and create “a new kind of religion", a situation familiar to orthodox Anglicans who find themselves excluded by newcomers.
Speaking after the conclusion of Rome’s Amazon Synod which approved a document calling for further discussion on allowing women deacons, the former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, described a male-only priesthood as "codology dressed up as theology".
It is difficult to take such women seriously when their interests appear to be more about feminine power than spreading the Gospel. True they use the Gospel but for their own ends. They talk of love and inclusion but are content to see women and men who do not share their views excluded, leaving them with no church to attend and no pastoral care.
Continuing her presidential address at the 2019 Llandaff diocesan conference June Osborne said "So many want to tell me how church life enriches their existence and is precious to them."
Church life did that for many others before they were excluded but the breed of woman that seeks power in the Church couldn't care less who is hurt on their march to the top. Instead they complain of discrimination and misogyny if anyone dares to disagree with them as they look to society for support.
Osborne started her address by referring to the September Electoral College which chose a new Bishop of Monmouth. She described the decision as excellent saying, "I know Archdeacon Cherry Vann will be an outstanding bishop for our friends in Monmouth."
There have been rumours that Cherry Vann was not the choice of Monmouth diocese and that their candidate was rejected which suggests yet another stitch up by the Church in Wales establishment in pursuit of their liberal agenda.
In her first interview following her election the bishop-elect said: “I am also aware that the church is struggling to be relevant in people’s lives. I want to work with people to find ways of communicating, what is essentially, a message of love and hope to people who find the institutional church difficult or inaccessible."
St Paul spoke of love in action. He also said: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
The movement for ordaining women to the priesthood peddles a false concept of equality in defiance of the message received through scripture and tradition which have been followed by generations in a broad Church. All has changed.
After women were ordained deacons in the Anglican Church demands for priesting quickly followed employing claims of discrimination and misogyny if they were denied what they claimed was the next logical step. They claimed that it did not mean that women wanted to be bishops, until they were priests.
After women were admitted to the priesthood, it was the 'stained glass' ceiling and promises of mutual flourishing if women were allowed to become bishops. Another false promise.
Now that there are women bishops parity is demanded using the usual slogans of discrimination and inequality. Parity has already been achieved in the Church in Wales following the 'election' of Cherry Vann.
In her presidential address Osborne referred to the "lost trust in what the church stands for" adding: "ask anyone under 30 what they make of the Church and they’ll pretty soon mention our unhealthy preoccupations with gender and sexuality".
That preoccupation has been manifested most prominently in female bishops. Presumably they haven't finished yet.
Ven Cherry Vann, bishop elect of Monmouth Source: Church in Wales
From a Diocese of Monmouth job advert appearing in the Church Times:
"Do you want local churches to flourish?
"Monmouth Ministry Area is looking for 2 Ministry Area Leaders to share Ministry Area Leadership for the whole area and each to be incumbent of a group of parishes within it. One incumbency has a more urban base.
"The whole area has18 churches (6 looked after by House for Duty priests) A team of 13 active retired priests and a Reader Focal Ministers in most churches."
There are some sad average Sunday attendance figures in the Monmouth Ministry Area Profile which no doubt account for the advert headline. Granted they serve many small rural communities but with ageing congregations it is difficult to see how these churches are to flourish.
The average Sunday attendance figures are:
The Monmouth Town Group: Mitchel Troy 18, Monmouth Priory Church 51,Overmonnow 46, Rockfield 8, Wonastow 6.
The Llandogo and Tintern Group: Llandogo with Whitebrook 42, Tintern 7 (Estimated)
The problem extends beyond the Church in Wales. The Mail Online reports that a typical Anglican congregation in England numbered just 27 worshippers last year. "Over a decade congregations fell by 15 per cent, church marriages by a third, and fewer than one in ten babies were baptised."
Churchgoing is becoming increasingly unpopular. Why?
Responding (@18.27) to a LBC questioner in my previous entry Justin Welby said he was "deeply, deeply sorry" that "the Church has historically been deeply intolerant, with society as a whole, but the Church has no excuse. Jesus said to someone caught, someone dragged up in front of Him, 'those without sin cast the first stone' and we shouldn't be throwing stones" as if to imply that Jesus condoned sin.
The Christian message would have been much clearer if Welby had quoted Jesus when asked by the woman caught in adultery: "Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Now go and sin no more.”
Biblical teaching has become so selective that for many people sin has been abolished so there is no need for redemption.
Welby also said: "People have to realise the reality of people's lives. The reason he is a Christian is because God came into the middle of the complexity, he didn't simplify it, he embraced it. It's what we need to do".
Hate the sin but love the sinner has become love the sinner so never mind the sin implying that Christ died on the Cross in vain.
Churches cannot be expected to flourish by surrendering the faith of Christ crucified to a 'do-as-you-please' society.
Rowan Williams preaches at Eucharist during a Sept. 24 clergy day in the Diocese of Los Angeles. Source: Diocese of Los Angeles/Janet Kawamoto
Addressing a gathering of clergy and laity in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said the Anglican communion is "fractured but still a family":
“I am saying ‘Anglican family’ rather than ‘Anglican Communion’ because we’re a very fractured communion but we’re still family – like so many families, quarreling till the cows come home. What gives us our family solidarity is, of course, that dependence on God’s call, God’s welcome. We are, at the moment, in the middle of a period of colossal uncertainty in the life of our Anglican family. There is uncertainty, division, a measure of suspicion still and a sense that our conventional and inherited ways of being Anglicans together across the world have come under almost unmanageable strain."
In fewer words, we are no longer a body of Christians with a common faith and discipline. Our Anglican family is dysfunctional. It is dominated by expressions of intolerance and vengefulness. As the Archdeacon of Llandaff bluntly put it, anyone who could not accept the new order would have to make their own arrangements.
Wikipedia describes Anglicanism as "a Western Christian tradition which has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation."
In recent times the Church of England, instead of leading by example, has followed the 'madness' of the Episcopal Church of the United States ((ECUSA) endeavouring to make the Church more relevant to society's perceived needs, liberalism has replaced tradition as described in my previous entry.
Abp Williams acknowledged that as Archbishop of Canterbury he had to make 'uncomfortable adjustments at both ends of the spectrum, liberal and conservative, north and south' to keep everyone at the table but he believes a problem-solving-by-committee approach no longer effectively addresses current challenges.
Too late anyway. The damage has been done. Self governing Provinces like the Church in Wales have voted for disunity. Family members who, in common with the vast majority of Christians, strive to remain loyal to the faith of the Anglican Church as received have been marginalised or excluded, divorced from the Church they lovingly cared for before it was ripped from them.
The bride of Christ has been torn apart by those who would stand in the person of the Bridegroom. Rowan is right when he compares Western Anglicans to families, quarreling till the cows come home. But the quarreling is now amongst the liberal rump deciding how far the revisionists can go.
There are parallels with society. The nuclear conjugal family traditionally comprised a family group consisting of a (female) mother, a (male) father and their children. As a consequence of formalising same sex relationships and the acceptance of genders differing from the biological sexes of male and female primary school children are to be taught that some children have two mothers or two fathers.
This has gone so far as to compel a transgender man who gave birth with the help of fertility treatment to attempt to register himself as the child's father. Although he lost his court battle the ruling was attacked by campaigners and lawyers including the judge as a blow to the rights of trans parents and their children with calls for legislative reform.
An NHS A&E doctor for 26 years, he was forced out of his job working for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) after refusing to identify clients by their chosen gender instead of their biological sex as explained in this video:
One might have thought that the Church would stand for truth but Western Anglicanism has confounded the truth by supporting divergence. The family is fractured.
Not content with fracturing our own family, feminists are intent on fracturing the Roman Catholic Church to advance their political agenda.
The Llandaff Diocese of the Church in Wales is embarking on an 'ambitious Year of Pilgrimage' to reinvigorate its work and worship as part of the Church’s 2020 centenary celebrations. Traditionally the Cathedral Church of St David in Pembrokeshire has been a place of pilgrimage but it has been turned into a feminist enclave making it difficult for orthodox pilgrims to participate fully.
This WomensOrdinationConf tweet was 'liked' by St Davids Cathedral staff:
"They don't just want a seat at the table. They want to rearrange the seating, in sense, by reducing clerical privilege, by focusing on ordination as more a call to serve than a pathway to power". The Women's Ordination Conference describes itself as "A voice for women's equality in the Catholic Church".
Mutual flourishing in the Church goes out of the window after women take power. The Bridegroom and His bride become tools for revisionists to help overturn convention no matter who is hurt.
When mutual flourishing is allowed the results can be remarkable as illustrated by a tweet following a recent Confirmation service at Llandaff Cathedral presided over by the Bishop of Burnley, Philip North: "Standing room only in the Cathedral for a Diocesan Confirmation @LlandaffDio and the most candidates I think I have ever seen. What utter joy. Thank you @BishopJuno and @BpBurnley. God is good!"
Rowan Williams is reported to have said that as it is the Church in Wales has no future. The Church of England is not far behind.
Dr Mackereth says he lost his job doing assessments for the DWP because he believed using transgendered pronouns were against his conscience (Picture: Christian Concern/BPM Media)
It has been widely reported that a Christian doctor was ‘sacked’ for refusing ‘to call any 6ft bearded man madam’:
"Dr David Mackereth, 56, claims the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) discriminated against his religious beliefs because he would not use pronouns relating to people’s ‘chosen’ sex.
"The disability claim assessor has taken his case to an employment tribunal after allegedly being suspended from his post following a conversation with a manager at Birmingham’s Fiveways assessment centre in June 2018.
"‘In truth, the argument between us arose not because of any realistic concerns over the rights and sensitivities of transgender individuals, but because of my refusal to make an abstract ideological pledge to call any six-feet tall bearded man “madam” on his whim,’ Dr Mackereth said in a statement."
There are no “male/female” or “man/woman” pronouns. All pronouns can be used for any gender and are gender neutral.
We also do not use “preferred pronouns” due to people generally not having a pronoun “preference” but simply having “pronouns.” Using “preferred” can accidentally insinuate that using the correct pronouns for someone is optional.
[image description: a chart of some gender pronouns by Trans Student Educational Resources. The columns are the “subjective, objective, possessive, and reflexive” part of each pronoun set and an example.
The first pronoun set is she, her, hers, and herself. The examples are “she is speaking. I listened to her. The backpack is hers.”
The second set is he, him, his, himself. The examples are “he is speaking. I listening to him. The backpack is his.”
The third set is (singular) they, them, theirs, themself. The examples are “they are speaking. I listened to them. The backpack is theirs.”
The fourth set is ze, hir or zir, hirs or zirs, hirself or zirself. If used it would be ze/hir/hirs/hirself or ze/zir/zirs/zirself. The graphic happened to combine them into one row. The examples included “ze is speaking. I listened to hir. The backpack is zirs.”
A note at the top reads “Please note these are not the only pronouns. There are an infinite number of pronouns as new ones emerge in our language. Always ask someone for their pronouns.
Got that?
If not you are likely to be labelled phobic for not lapping up the latest trend even if the evidence before your eyes contradicts what you are instructed to believe.
The situation has become so confusing that school pupils in Brighton were given pronoun stickers to "help" transgender children.
Concern is now being expressed over the "rocketing number" of children seeking to change sex. It has become a national scandal according to a powerful coalition of whistleblowers, academics and medical experts'.
Source: Daily Mail
The experts' concerns are laid bare in a forthcoming book of essays entitled Inventing Transgender Children And Young People. It challenges what it calls the 'dangerous' transgender ideology promoted in schools, universities, the NHS and other public institutions.
"Heather Brunskell-Evans, a former research fellow at King's College London, who co-edited the book, said that 30 years ago the thought of a child being born in the wrong body would have made no sense to the public.
"She added: 'Now the idea, which was invented by specialists in gender medicine and transgender activists, has become universally accepted.
"'But we are collectively arguing that this unquestioning acceptance poses a serious threat to children's well-being and safety. We hope through this book to bring the world's attention to the public scandal of transgendering children.'"
Next up, 'normalising paedophilia right in front of our eyes':
"Follow the trajectory and it is not hard to see where we go next. Ten years ago, there was no such thing as "drag kids" or drag queen story hours. Leftists would have called you a paranoid lunatic had you predicted that such things would come to pass. Now both are utterly commonplace, yet leftists will insist that even though grown men in dresses like to hang out with little children at libraries, and adults like to go to gay bars to watch boys dance around in skirts and high heels, there is nothing sexual about any of it. Ten years from now, or maybe sooner, they will admit that it is sexual but insist that there is nothing wrong with a young boy and a grown man getting together, so long as it is consensual. You do not need to be Nostradamus to see this next step. It is right in front of us, clear as day." [H/T Anglican Mainstream]
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
— Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa
Postscript [17.07.2019]
Mail Online: Branded a 'bigot' for standing up for his Christian beliefs, Dr Mackereth who refused to call a 6ft bearded man 'madam' take it as a 'badge of honour'.
Postscript [21.07.2019]
Bishop Gavin Ashenden: "Have a look at what is actually taught in LGBT lessons in UK primary schools. Take the time to watch this so that you know what is really happening. It’s not what they said. It’s not what you thought."
Archbishop of Wales, John Davies Source: Brecon & Radnor Express
From the Brecon & Radnor Express: "In his message for St David’s Day, the Archbishop of Wales, John Davies urged his followers to follow the example of St David to make our society strong, robust and caring."
A comment which sums up what has gone wrong with Anglicanism.
Followers of the former Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, now lead the Church in Wales.
Followers of Christ have been left to fall by the wayside.
In his St David's Day message the archbishop talks of society, not the Kingdom of Heaven.
Following the example of the bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy, John Davies quotes from the life of St David:
"Community, commitment and concern are things that can make our society strong, robust and caring, and that an ability to live in harmony alongside those with whom we might have significant differences mark us out as decent, honourable, people."
The archbishop has overlooked the fact that the bench of bishops would be ruled out of being "decent, honourable, people" since they have no time for anyone who follows Christ not them.
The bishops of Bangor, St Davids, Monmouth, Swansea & Brecon (Archbishop), St Asaph and Llandaff . Source: Church in Wales
As the Monmouth diocese saga drags on, the position of the bench
of bishops and the bishop of Monmouth in particular is becoming increasingly
untenable.
‘Show people the power of our faith’ said the Archbishop of Wales at his enthronement (pictured)
when he challenged churches to rehabilitate and refresh how they explained
the Gospel message. But being a Christian, he said, was not about just going to church.
According to the archbishop, "young people would high-five
the prophet Job and queue for selfies with Jesus if they properly understood
Christianity".
Referring to the witness of young people he observed: "They are keenly aware of the need for social and economic justice, the stewardship of creation, and equality of opportunity; they are equally aware of the need for a society free from
any form of prejudice rooted in anything which is part of the individual
identity, gender, race, origin, religion or orientation of anyone."
The 'progressives' gospel.
Generally young people no longer go to church. Consequently the average age in dwindling congregations is often around 70 with few if any families left to provide continuity. The Church has become irrelevant to society.
The message reaching the people is not one of faith
but one of impotence.
The article appeared in the Argus after "Parishioners" raised "serious concerns about what is going on within the Diocese of Monmouth."
Bishop Pain's supporters want him to be reinstated in apparent ignorance of the nature of the complaints made against him.
Contrary to the views of sources who have remained silent,
the bishop has been eulogised with threats by his supporters to
withhold funds due to the diocese unless the bishop returns to duties, thus prejudging the outcome of a mediation process.
Of one thing we can be sure. The departure of the bench of bishops
from the true Gospel
message has rendered their position as ambassadors for Christ completely untenable.
PIC FROM CATERS NEWS – A lesbian couple have had a DIY baby after
using a syringe full of their gay best friends sperm to get pregnant.
At last, some sense from bishops. Not from the Church of England and certainly not from the completely secularised bishops of the Church in Wales but from bishops in France.
From a report in Crux: The French bishops said "proposals to extend fertility treatments to lesbian couples and single women would harm society by removing fatherhood from the lives of children.
"In an eight-page statement published Sept. 20, the bishops predicted that liberalization of the law also would lead to the social acceptance of surrogacy, the rise of eugenics and the notion that children were commodities to please adults.
"Could we collectively accept that man is considered a mere supplier of genetic materials and that human procreation is thus akin to manufacturing? it asked."
Male influence is on the wane. Primary education is dominated by female teachers. Your GP is increasingly likely to be female. Since the ordination of women the parish priest is likely to be female with an increasing number of female bishops, many of whom enthusiastically wave the rainbow flag.
The victims are fatherless children who are purposefully denied the wholeness of human creation.
Anglican bishops take note. Do not be conformed to this self-centred view of the world.
The Most Rev Justin Welby announced sanctions against the Scottish Episcopal Church at a news conference in Canterbury. Source: BBC
"A major row is erupting in the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) with half the paid clergy in one region rebelling over the appointment of their new bishop" reports Christian Today. This follows the appointment of Canon Anne Dyer to be the first female bishop in the SEC. Canon Dyer is "strongly in favour" of gay marriage.
The protest follows the failure of the normal nomination process where church members within the largely conservative Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney failed to name the required minimum of three candidates. The SEC bishops then took over the process and nominated former business/systems analyst Canon Dyer but without first consulting clergy or churchgoers in the diocese according to the report.
The Archbishop of Canterbury said last October that the SEC would be excluded from ecumenical and leadership roles in the Anglican Communion following the decision of the SEC to begin marrying same-sex couples.
The first same-sex Anglican church wedding in the UK took place in Edinburgh in September 2017 after the SEC voted in June to amend canon law and allow same-sex couples to be married in church.
Following the vote the Most Rev David Chillingworth, then Primus of the SEC, said: "A new chapter opens up and inclusion takes a particular form. This new canon affirms there are different understandings of marriage in our church. We affirm we are a church of diversity and difference bound together by our unity in Christ."
Bound in unity in Christ they may be but that is no excuse for deviancy. There is only one understanding of marriage. Marriage is between a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others and for life.
Chillingworth retired at the end of July 2017. His successor the Rt Rev Mark Strange said in response to the sanctions imposed on the SEC: "We will continue to play our part in the Anglican Communion we helped to establish, and I will do all I can to rebuild relationships, but that will be done from the position our Church has now reached in accordance with its synodical processes and in the belief that love means love."
Love means love in many forms. That the English language uses one word to convey different meanings of love is too convenient for those pushing same sex marriage.
Another ploy is to suggest that people will become accustomed to same sex marriage in time as they have to re-marriage of divorced people', a false analogy because divorce is about the absence of love, complicated by issues of annulment, consummation and the effects on offspring.
Carrying on regardless, the Anglican church is striving to reflect rather than inform society. Empty pews are the result but the new bishop of London was not bothered in her response to the problem in 2015 when the former nurse and midwife was appointed bishop of Crediton - hence her ascendancy in today's Anglican church no doubt.
Her attitude echoed that of Jan McFarlane, former Speech and Language Therapist, now Bishop of Repton. In response to the revelation that Norwich was the most godless city in England, the then Archdeacon of Norwich said that people were "doing their churchgoing differently" - staying away!
The Primus would be better employed examining his own conscience after seeking to justify same sex marriage using the simplistic slogan "love is love".
He now says. “Whilst, it would not be appropriate to disclose the internal discussions which took place among the bishops, suffice it to say, that the bishops fully believe and trust that they have been led by the Holy Spirit in their election of Canon Dyer."
So the Primus stamps the SEC's gay marriage agenda with the approval of the Holy Spirit. The Church of England and the Church in Wales have been there before. If the Holy Spirit were to motivate anyone the signatories to the open letter would be more likely candidates having been informed by Holy Scripture rather than fashionable secular trends.
Australian Labor MP Linda Burney jumps into the arms of Liberal MP Warren Enstch after parliament passed legislation to allow same-sex marriage in Australia. Michael Masters/Getty
This was the scene when Australia overwhelmingly voted to legalise same-sex marriage on Thursday. More pictures here.
There was considerable drama. An emotional Liberal MP fought back tears to propose to his long-term partner in the House of Representatives shortly after the same-sex marriage bill was introduced to the Lower House.
The vote was "greeted with applause from all sides of politics and the public gallery" (here). Spectators in the public gallery began singing “I Am Australian” (here) but such enthusiasm was disproportionate and inappropriate.
The reality has been exposed in Great Britain by the Coalition for Marriage. Quoting a study by academics at the University of York: "There are around 40,000 places of worship in Britain in which a traditional marriage may be solemnised. Only 182 of these are registered to conduct same-sex weddings. Half of those which responded to the researchers had never done so.
The study showed that "the total number of same-sex marriages that have been solemnized in the
places of worship comprising the sample is 83. Over half of the places of worship that have
solemnized a same-sex marriage have done so on only one occasion. 19 places of worship report that they have solemnized one same-sex marriage, eight report that they have solemnized two same-sex marriages, and four report that they have solemnized three same-sex marriages. Only five places of worship have solemnized four or more same-sex marriages, with the highest number of same-sex marriages solemnized in any place of worship reported as 10".
The gay marriage plebiscite in Australia was estimated to cost Australia $525 million but a poll suggests that the millions of dollars spent on television advertising by the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ sides during the same-sex marriage campaign had little impact on voting intentions.
The population of Great Britain in 2016 was around 66 million compared with 24 million in Australia so in the unlikely event of exceptional demand the number of same sex marriages in Australia compared with the 118,401 marriages registered should be tiny.
The enthusiasm for gay marriage when compared with this reality is baffling. There are so many deserving causes which could benefit from money wasted on providing self-satisfaction for a few people with little or no regard for the sanctity of marriage as generally understood which is the union between one man and one woman for the procreation of children, without whom civilization would cease.
They talk of love and equality with no apparent understanding of either. Civil partnerships granted equality whether couples loved one another or not.
Same sex 'marriage' has over-egged a wrong which was put right at considerable cost with no benefit whatever to society.
It has been egged on by the media, often portraying the church as out of touch yet only a week after his enthronement in Brecon Cathedral the Archbishop of Wales John Davies is referred to in his local newspaper as the 'Archbishop of Brecon'. The Most Rev John Davies is also the diocesan bishop of Swansea and Brecon.
Twitter advises that the Archbishop of Wales will be discussing the role of the church in Welsh life on BBC Radio Wales Sunday Supplement this Sunday at 8am. Clearly he has much to do. On its own web site, the Church in Wales regularly refers to its clergy as, for example, Rev Smith instead of the Rev John Smith or the Rev Mr Smith.
Given the record of the bench of bishops in the Church in Wales, no doubt 'Right Rev John' as he was referred to in a BBC news article will be thrilled for the people of Australia in another giant leap for secularism.
Postscript [10.12.2017]
Readers who tuned in to listen to the Archbishop of Wales talking about the role of the church in Welsh life will have been disappointed if they expected any hint of the Great Commission. In his first presidential address to the Governing Body of the Church in Wales, bishop John Davies urged, "Put evangelism at heart of ministry".
There was little evidence of putting his words into practice. Instead we had the political face of a progressive church which, allegedly, "respects the consciences of people who feel differently" while providing their own answer to the Archbishop's question: "What would Jesus do?"
Ignoring what Jesus actually did when appointing His apostles and using 'love' as justification for departing from scripture and tradition, the Archbishop misleadingly pointed to the Governing Body as being representative of congregations when we all know from experience that it has become a tool to be used or ignored by the bench of bishops as have parish soundings and expensive diocesan consultations.
But the pièce de résistance came with the Archbishop's closing comments when he cited the Church of England's traditionalist bishop Philip North as an example of the church's concern for the poor.
Philip North is the bishop who was denounced by WATCH stooge, Martyn Percy, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. He urged Philip North to either renounce his membership of the Society, a C of E organisation that rejects female priests, or decline his nomination as Bishop of Sheffield.
Perhaps we should not be surprised. The new archbishop "signalled that the Province will continue to develop the vision begun by his predecessor, Dr Barry Morgan" but he hoped to "increase the tempo of change".
The Bishop of Llandaff, June Osborne delivering her first presidential address to members of the Llandaff Diocesan Conference. Source: Church in Wales
"As someone whose first love was sociology I’m fascinated by how people draw the various maps of their world so one of my earliest requests to help me understand the diocesan landscape was that we should have a large map in the office showing the physical shape of the diocese. It arrived last week and already I stand in front of it with colleagues getting them to explain to me how things work."
The Rt Rev June Osborne, Bishop of Llandaff
The new bishop of Llandaff's first presidential address at a Llandaff diocesan conference makes informative reading. Strong on sociology but weak on theology and spirituality she should sit easily on a bench of bishops devoid of such talents. Formerly five of the bishops in Wales held Oxford Firsts in Theology.
Bishop Osborne said, "I will go on studying and using my map of the Llandaff Diocese but there’s another map going on which I’ve begun to study and that is the map of the diocese which we each carry in our heads. We’ve been doing some exploring of it today: and as I visit all the Deaneries in these next months I’ll be listening carefully to what you think ought to be our priorities because they’re writ large on your maps of how church should work."
This is far removed from the hype about the Dean of Salisbury beginning to transform Llandaff as soon as she crossed the Llys Esgob threshold. With parity high on her agenda her first move was to appoint a woman Chaplain as she began fishing for ideas on how to proceed in her new role.
Presumably the Archbishop of Wales had such imports in mind when he referred to the "huge range of talent, skill and faith" that the Church in Wales has among its people, both lay and ordained. 'Had' rather than has would have been more accurate.
Archbishop Davies has promised ‘more of the same’— but faster. In a pre- Primates’ 2017 conference video the Archbishop looked forward to learning from other provinces, ideas on new styles and new ways of delivering ministry, "something which we are seeking to do" in Wales he said. More of the same but faster can only mean accelerated decline.
Consultation is a bench favourite to be ignored at will so the new bishop outlined how she was inviting clergy and lay people to help her draw up a common map of the diocese by pinpointing where they saw themselves and the part they played in it.
Sadly many of the most able clergy now see themselves in England while lay people play no part after the Church in Wales left them.
Celebrity vicars like the Reverend Richard Coles and the Reverend Kate Bottley have "made the church more accessible" according to the Rt Revd Jan McFarlane, bishop of Repton. She also highlighted the BBC's 'Broken' and 'Rev' as good media portrayals of the clergy.
Perhaps she was not aware of the BBC series about church in Wales ordinands 'Why we’re all represented in the Vicar Academy'.
The report shows a "ten-year high" in trainee clergy with more women than men starting training as priests for the first time in sixteen years. One of the ordinands, a journalist aged 33 and mother-of-three, says she has been encouraged by moves to make the priesthood more inclusive to women, such as part-time curacies and courses that fit around childcare.
Another sociology job option of relevance to society.
"One supermarket chain buyer apparently asked the company that supplies the eggs what Easter had to do with the Church"
The caption under the cross is a quote from an article by Caroline Wyatt, the BBC's new religious affairs correspondent in which she poses the question: "Is Easter still about religion for most?" She writes: "A large, feathery Easter egg stands in the middle of a small street in a shopping area in north London. Beneath it is an Easter message: 'This egg is to remind people to shop at independent retailers'. I had thought that it might be to remind people of the other message of Easter - the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, for example, which churches across the country will be marking on Sunday.
... For many years now, leading church figures have bemoaned the fact that in a country that is still officially Christian, with almost 60% of people identifying themselves as such in the 2011 census (although far fewer actually attend church services, or believe in God), the religious message of Easter has been drowned out by the secular festival of chocolate and shopping being celebrated at supermarkets across the country." To which I might add relevance to society.
I was more encouraged by the BBC's headline coverage of Caroline Wyatt's news report: "Easter services to denounce killing of Christians" or, as The Australian put it: Holy Thursday massacre prompts Easter reflections.
The Archbishop of Canterbury's Easter message paid tribute to persecuted Christians while the Pope prayed for "killed Kenyan students [and] decries persecution". All credit then to Metropolitan Hilarion who said it as it is: "There is the genocide of Christians in the Middle East".
Muslims are not exempt if they don't toe the line. Just two of the latest examples here and here. Despite all the carnage and misery it has been reported that "Islam is set to rival Christianity for global adherence by 2050". This is not a time to cast doubt on the Resurrection. We are an Easter people "and if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith".
Anglicans in particular have paid a heavy price for being more 'relevant to society' than to the faith of the Church, few more so than in the Church in Wales where their Archbishop parodied Je suis Charlie when when he claimed "Nous sommes Jesus" in his Chrism Mass sermon. He then delivered his Easter message claiming: "while we may not be able to prove the existence of God or that Christ rose from the dead, Resurrection moments are part of daily life." Given his record that is taken to mean softening up his flock to accept same-sex marriage in the same way that he manipulated the Governing Body to accept women bishops before reneging on promises made to members of his flock who remain faithful to the Apostolic faith. His priorities are wrong.
Humanity is facing a grave crisis in the face of creeping Islamisation but there is a choice. Murder, rape and servitude under Islam or Christian faith, hope and charity. This is not a time to cast doubt on the Resurrection. It is a time for conversion
"Marriage is the bedrock of our society and now irrespective of sexuality everyone in British society can make that commitment. It is a wonderful achievement and whilst this legislation may be about marriage, its impact is so much wider. Making marriage available to all couples demonstrates our society’s respect for all individuals regardless of their sexuality. It demonstrates the importance we attach to being able to live freely. It says so much about the society that we are and the society that we want to live in."
In my mind's eye I can still see her at the dispatch box, brazenly lecturing the Britain people on how we should order our lives when in reality she was pressing the case of an unrepresentative minority for political purposes, creating a law which required numerous subsequent amendments to avoid, for example, a gay King’s ‘husband’ from becoming Queen!
It is now clear why Mrs Miller was so positive about "being able to live freely" in "the society that we want to live in." She had experience of living freely at the expense of the tax-payer.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards found that the Culture Minister had over-claimed by £45,000 for expenses towards mortgage interest payments and council tax but the Commons Standards Committee ruled that Mrs Miller should repay only £5,800 and apologise to parliament for her "attitude".
The Prime Minister regards that as reasonable for an 'honest mistake'. He said, "It was found she had made mistakes, she accepted that, repaid the money, she apologised unreservedly to the House of Commons, so I think we should leave it there." His comments will make 'the hard working people of this country' wonder why there is one law for the privileged and another for the rest of us. As one MP remarked, "If one of my constituents had claimed £6,000 of taxpayers' money for, say, housing benefit and then tried to claim that it was an oversight, that she hadn't realised that she wasn't entitled to this money, the book would be thrown at my constituent, rightly."
Having made a terse, inadequate 'apology' to the House, Mrs Miller keeps her job despite being regarded as a mediocre minister who is "out of her depth". Perhaps she feels secure as one of the few women in Team Cameron happy to act as his trumpet. A successful grammar school girl keen to make good she has been used by a privileged elite to undermine the institution of marriage in a squalid vote chasing exercise.
The Telegraph suggests that the 'apology' was used as an occasion to bury bad news but that is no surprise these days when everything seems designed to gain votes at any expense. That is evidenced by Dave looking to the Muslim vote by claiming that "halal meat will be protected as long as he Prime Minister". Perhaps that is why he prefers to shop at Waitrose with customers who are "more engaged than those who shop elsewhere". Somewhere he can rely on getting halal meats.
Nothing it seems is too difficult for us to swallow!
