Bishop in name only

Contempt? Bishop of St Davids enthronement          Source: Twitter/Nation Cymru

"THE Bishop of St Davids, Dr Joanna Penberthy, apologised last week for a tweet that she had posted in March, in which she had urged: “Never, never, never trust a Tory.” This was her contribution to a debate in which some Welsh Tories were believed to be subverting the Welsh Assembly: a serious issue, and one on which a responsible bishop could well have an opinion.

"But the opinion here was hardly a measured contribution, merely a repeat of a well-worn banality. It left Tory-voting Anglicans (a majority among the laity) with the impression that she held them in contempt." 

That is the view of the Rev Angela Tilby writing in the Church Times yesterday. She continues: "The public nature of episcopal office has been understood from antiquity. Bishops are meant to be visible, to be seen and known, to be a focus of unity in the Church, and a point of mediation between Christian communities and civic authority. “He must be well-thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace. . .” (1 Timothy 3.7).

Such comments are in marked contrast to the glowing tribute archbishop Barry Morgan paid to Joanna Penberthy when he struggled to justify his manoeuvrings to get her elected as the first woman in the Church in Wales. He said: 

“What is really important to stress is that Joanna wasn’t elected because she was a woman but because she was deemed to be the best person to be a bishop.

“She has considerable gifts – she is an excellent preacher and communicator, can relate to all sections of the community, is a warm, charismatic, caring priest and someone who is full of joy."

Not so. After her appearance in the TV programme 'The Hour' I wrote: "Joanna Penberthy’s contribution was worse than I feared, aligning the Church with a political movement rather than the Kingdom of God. She was unbalanced, dishonest in her claims and blatantly sexist. I doubt that she brought anyone to Christ."

The TV programme was previewed on Twitter. The new bishop complained that, as the 129th successor to St David and the first woman to hold the office, it was 'hard': 

While "all those men in my diocese who don't think that women can be bishops have treated me with respect, and so they accept my authority, they don't accept that I am able to to celebrate the sacraments so they wouldn't receive communion from me or be ordained by me. It's hard to have a group of people in the diocese who see women as that different."

It has been much harder for the many women and men who have been martyred to the political posturing of the Church in Wales, effectively un-churched by a Governing Body resolution that gave Joanna Penberthy the authority she claims but which is not recognised by the vast majority of Anglicans or Christians in other denominations.

According to commentators on another thread, clergy in the diocese of St Davids have received a letter of apology to be read to congregations without comment. It states that bishop Penberthy is taking time off to 'reflect, recuperate and respond appropriately'.

'Recuperate' implies she is staying put. Buying time, hoping the storm clouds will settle but the damage has already been done. 

Bishop Penberthy shows contempt for those who do not agree with her. She is not a source of unity. For the good of the Church she should go and take her party political gospel with her.

Postscript [18.06.2021]

Another apology, no action.

"The Senior Bishop of the Church in Wales has apologised for offence caused by tweets published by the Bishop of St Davids concerning members of the Conservative Party.

In a statement, Bishop Andy John, the Bishop of Bangor, also reassures people of all political persuasion that they welcome in the Church in Wales.

Bishop Andy is the Church’s Senior Bishop following the retirement of the Archbishop of Wales in May."

Full statement here.

Postscript [21.06.2021]

"Church in Wales working to 'restore damaged relationships' after bishop's 'never trust a Tory' tweet" - Christian Today.

As did the former bishop of Monmouth when the going became tough, the bishop of St Davids is reported to be on sick leave, perhaps waiting for the dust to settle. It did not settle in Monmouth where the report on the investigation into the bishop's departure is long overdue. 'We do as we please' could be the motto of the Church in Wales.

Hurt and unnecessary suffering

In their Forward to the Church of England booklet Living in Love and Faith the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell claim that the Church has caused ‘hurt and unnecessary suffering’.

That is not a belated acknowledgement of the misery caused to the thousands of Anglicans un-churched by progressive bishops but further homage to a vocal minority whose purpose is to redefine Christianity so that, for them, it legitimises personal preferences. 

Living with sex and faith would be a more apt title. 

While brotherly love is implied, there is no love in the Church of England House of Bishops for defenders of traditional marriage who strive to uphold the faith as received. Instead the Church of England’s two most senior figures apologise to the comparatively few LGBT+ people for causing them ‘huge damage and hurt’. What of the hurt and damage caused to others? Not a word. Not a care.

It makes no sense. 

Archbishop Justin Welby claims that Living in Love and Faith enables us to "explore God's will for the Church". Most Christians thought that was already clear from scripture and tradition. 

The Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, has been appointed to chair a small “next steps” group of bishops, whose task is to encourage people to use the Living in Love and Faith  material and move the Church towards decisions on key matters to do with sexuality.

If they adhered to biblical teaching there would be nothing to discuss so presumably the bishops have already decided on change. 

The liberal, feminised Church of England is dying but no effort is spared in satisfying the demands of a handful of people who seek same sex marriage in church when in reality there is little demand for such a monumental change.  

The number of opposite-sex couples getting married has fallen to the lowest level in history according to official figures. In 2017, the number of same-sex couples married through religious ceremonies was 43.

Taking a leaf out of the Islamophobia handbook of how to stifle any opinion but their own, gay activist Jayne Ozanne and member of the government’s LGBT Advisory Panel said that while she welcomed the publication of Living in Love and Faith, the Church of England ‘must not excuse or legitimise homophobia in any form’.

Ms Ozanne claims the the Bible's teaching on sexual ethics is homophobic! 

The Christian faith has been all but abandoned by C of E bishops. 

If they had inherited the faith of our forefathers they would not be seeking to abandon scripture and tradition, something the bishops in the Church of Wales did under the former Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan, a policy eagerly continued by his successor who promised more of the same but faster.

Church in Wales bishops, desperate to appear relevant to society, have already decided, contrary to members' wishes, that same sex unions are more important than the Word.

But the Church in Wales is virtually dead. 

The 2019 Annual Report and Accounts identified a number of significant risks in their 2019 risk register including the following 'most significant' Operational Risks:

    a. Falling congregation numbers and increasing age profile leading to an accelerating decline in church attendance;

    b. Falling clergy numbers;

    c. Organisational structure of the Church in Wales no longer appropriate for the needs of the organisation;

Bench parity was achieved in Wales with the appointment of a woman bishop living in a same sex relationship, much to the delight of the LGBT activist bishops of St Davids and Llandaff.

To aid the bishop of Llandaff as she "leads her diocese" and "fulfils her roles in the Church in Wales and beyond" the diocese is currently advertising 'an exciting opportunity' for  an Executive Assistant to the bishop with a salary between £28,694 and £32,465 (Grade D) to 'deliver a variety of operational services to support'.

The duties include 'acting as a first point of contact, co-ordinating and supporting meetings, preparing briefings, processing correspondence and arranging logistics to ensure that the work of the Bishop is efficient, effective and responsive to changing requirements'.

Another factotum to add to the 'Organisational structure of the Church in Wales no longer appropriate for the needs of the organisation'.

Postscript [20.11.2020]

"Churches holding to Bible’s teaching on sexual ethics likened to Holocaust deniers and rapists by LGBT activist Jayne Ozanne." - The Christian Institute

Balderdash!

"Women priests are treated as second-class Christians, suffering from institutionalised sexism and racism within the Church of England, female clergy claim." Well they would claim that, wouldn't they? That is the whole thrust of their argument. What utter balderdash. Even the Church of England, hell-bent on creating women bishops denies that: "The church does treat men and women equally...It is true that a higher proportion of women have tended to serve in self-supporting rather than stipendiary posts.... Decisions are made on the basis of their individual situation and not on the basis of their sex; much depends on their personal circumstances as well as their aptitudes."



But never mind the facts. This shabby campaign has little to do with religion and everything to do with secular feminism with their aim of "achieving equality within its ranks". In a Parliamentary debate on Women in the Church of England yesterday, Diana Johnson MP opened by "[paying] tribute again to the women and men who have been fighting for justice and equality in the Church of England for many years". She spoke about the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Equality Act 2010, international women’s day, the suffragette campaign, and "the legislation in relation to women priests [which] went through in November 1992, but it specifically said that women could not become bishops". 


No impediment there of course, merely the opportunity for another campaign. Contrary to the assertions that women priests are treated as second-class Christians, Ms Johnson stressed that: "There are now 3,000 women priests. The talents and abilities of both women and men are now being recognised and utilised by the Church. There are four female deans of cathedrals and many others in senior roles." Surely Ms Johnson would not mislead the House!


There was no surprise to see Sir Peter Bottomley quipping his way through the debate to make the point: "However, from 1928 to now, we have had arguments over the ordination of women as deacons rather than deaconesses and the decision, eventually, to ordain women as priests. Now we come to the decision—this could have been taken at the same time as the decision to ordain women as priests, but out of kindness to the last ditchers it was deferred —about women being ordained as bishops [my emphasis - Ed].


The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Tony Baldry) made an interesting point: "Leaving nothing to chance, I have already had discussions with my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House of Commons. Using the precedent of what happened in respect of the Measures for ordaining women as deacons and priests, it is deemed to be appropriate to consider this Measure on the Floor of the House, rather than upstairs in Committee. The understanding that I have reached with the Leader of the House is that we will set aside half a day—we hope, some time in November—to approve the Measure in this House. It has to be approved separately in the House of Lords, and I hope that it will do similarly. If the Measure is approved by General Synod in July, it is my ambition to do everything possible to have it pass all its legislative stages before the end of this year. We would therefore hope to see the first women bishops appointed as early as 2014." 


In her opening speech Ms Johnson remarked: "As I said, the draft Measure goes to the House of Bishops in May, and it can amend the reforms as it sees fit. If it does, that would be unacceptable to WATCH [my emphasis -Ed] and most senior women [can't be second-class then], because it would change the episcopacy in ways that would undermine the Church’s integrity and mission, as well as limiting female bishops’ ministry too far."


So it is all laid out. Carefully crafted claims that women bishops will be second-class bishops unless WATCH have their way and exclude all who disagree with them. Ms Johnson spoke of a 'broad church' but not broad enough to accommodate 'yesterday’s people', or Sir Peter's 'last ditchers' as they refer to their fellow Anglicans. Dishonour, deception and outright balderdash is the recipe for change 'to serve the people of today and tomorrow'. It almost makes one glad to be un-churched.