Bangor farce moves to Monmouth diocese

Church in Wales bishops                                                                                                                   Source: Church in Wales

1 Timothy 3

"Now a bishop must be above reproach, married only once, temperate, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and not a lover of money."

On 29th of July the Church in Wales Bangor charade moves to the diocese of Monmouth, the see of the second most senior bishop after the bishop of St Asaph, for the election of the 15th Archbishop of Wales.

Concerns have been expressed over the venue for the election but that the pantomime takes place in Monmouth appears curiously appropriate give the obsession of the bench with sex and same sex marriage and firsts. The bishop of Monmouth is a partnered lesbian who uses the Holy Eucharist to promote her sexual preference under the banner Beware! Our God welcomes all.

All, that is, who share the views of the bench. Believers in biblical orthodoxy are not welcome. There is no longer a pretense of twin integrities. Those promises were broken years ago.  

Despite the elaborate electoral college procedure, Buggins' turn usually prevails but given the advancing age of the three most senior bishops who knows.

The choice beyond Buggins' turn is lamentable. It could have been avoided had the bishop of Bangor not delayed his retirement until after the new archbishop is appointed but there is no transparency, only rumour and speculation indicating self interest rather than the interests of the Church. 

Given their penchant for 'firsts', the second most senior bishop, the bishop of Monmouth, would as archbishop give the bench two more firsts but a very long way from those of the past when firsts were in Theology,

Postscript 29.07.2025

 

New Archbishop of Wales to be chosen amid cathedral concerns BBC News

Monmouth review. All has been revealed!

The Bishop of Monmouth, Richard Pain, celebrating Petertide 2018 ordinations in the unaccustomed manner                                         Source: Monmouth DCO

Yes, all has been revealed in the long awaited report of the independent panel set up to review events surrounding the retirement of the former Bishop of Monmouth, Richard Pain.

In December 2018 news broke on the five months silence over the invisibility of the Rt Rev Richard Pain, Bishop of Monmouth. As I wrote at the time, the absence of requests for prayers for the bishop and his family after missed engagements without explanation have been the cause of much speculation and rumours coming on the heels of staff movements and reports that the bishop was not sick.

Martin Shipton stirred up a hornets' nest when he published his article in the Western Mail, Unholy row in Diocese of Monmouth. It was short on facts so readers were left in the dark about the cause of the row but that has not prevented people from taking their chosen side.

Save for the select few observers are still in the dark:

From Provincial News:
"The Bench of Bishops and the Representative Body, which commissioned the Monmouth Enquiry and Review, thanked the panel for their work and said a period of consultation was now underway which was expected to take until the autumn.

"The panel, which began its work in May 2020, was chaired by Bishop Graham James and the other members were Lucinda Herklots and Patricia Russell. Bishop Richard retired in May 2019 due to ill health. He had been Bishop of Monmouth since 2013."

 The following statement was added:

"Dear Friends,

We are writing to inform you that the Reviewers, commissioned by the Bench of Bishops and Representative Body to consider the matters which occurred prior to Bishop Richard Pain’s retirement, have now completed their work. Mr James Turner, Chairman of the Representative Body and I are immensely grateful to them for their meticulous work and considered judgements.

It is important that we now agree the next steps and we are therefore consulting those most closely associated with these events in order to determine what these should be. We expect to make progress quickly over the summer period and to complete our work in the autumn. We are grateful to Bishop Cherry with whom we are working closely and continue to hold the diocese in our prayers following its recent sadness and bereavement.

+Andrew Bangor, on behalf of the Bench of Bishops

Mr James Turner, chair of the Representative Body " 

Taking the flack at the time were the Dean of Monmouth, the Archdeacon of Monmouth and the Archdeacon of Newport. Following retirements, including that of archbishop John Davies, only the Archdeacon of Newport remains in post.

 The Review panel made 'considered judgements' after 'meticulous work'. Now it seems the reviewers' judgements are to be reviewed in consultation with those most closely associated with the events, conveniently kicking the issue into the long grass until after the 'gay blessings' meeting of the Governing Body while prompting further speculation that there is something to hide.

Election of a new Bishop of Monmouth announced

It has been reported in the South Wales Argus that the process to elect a new Bishop of Monmouth will commence in September, 2019.

Members of the Electoral College will meet from Tuesday, September 17 to elect a new bishop.

In an email sent out by the Diocese of Monmouth, the Archbishop of Wales, John Davies, said: "The Electoral College for electing a successor to Bishop Richard will begin to meet in the cathedral from Tuesday, September 17.

The Argus reporter adds: "In January parishioners spoke to us about what they said were their serious concerns about what was going on within the Diocese of Monmouth after Bishop Pain had been absent from work since July 2018.

"In March some parishioners warned that they were planning to withhold parish shares until their concerns were answered and added their belief that those who raised the grievances had 'refused' meditation."

Other sources suggested that such stories were part of a campaign by the bishop's supporters against those who had raised legitimate grievances under normal Church in Wales procedures.

The length of the bishop's absence resulted in factions developing to the detriment of the diocese.

The Archbishop of Wales was aware of the issues and was actively engaged in a formal process of mediation to resolve them. He said, “For reasons of confidentiality, and out of respect for those concerned in the ongoing mediation process, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time."

This served only to add to speculation and encourage the spread of rumours and innuendo implied in press coverage.

The diocese needs to move on from this unhappy event without recriminations.

God forbid that another decision passes to the bench of bishops.