From Divinity to Deviancy

Mary Stallard the new bishop of Llandaff follows Delyth Liddell, Methodist University Chaplain

and LGBTQI+ Gathering church leader at the Pride Cymru parade.    Source: Twitter

Celebrating diversity at Pride Cymru, the new bishop of Llandaff lost no time in identifying with her LGBTQ+ promoting sister bishops, the former bishop of Llandaff, June Osborne, the retiring bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy, and the bishop of Monmouth, Cherry Vann, patron of Open Table. 

Diversity has become a euphemism for deviancy.

As the time approaches for appointing the next bishop of St Davids the Church in Wales needs to rethink its priorities.

From St Davids Diocese: 

"An Extraordinary Diocesan Conference is to be held on Saturday July 22nd., following the announcement that Bishop Joanna Penberthy is to retire on health grounds. The half-day conference will be chaired by the Archbishop of Wales, Andrew John, and will take place at Newcastle Emlyn Rugby Club when conference representatives will have the opportunity to discuss the future of the diocese and what they would like from their new bishop when he/she is elected in October."

Much has changed in the sixty + years since Church in Wales bishops held Oxford Firsts in Theology.

A return from deviancy to divinity is essential to restore any credibility to the Church in Wales if it wants to avoid being characterised as the queer church. 

Announcing the retirement of the bishop of St Davids, the Archbishop of Wales said "I want to thank Bishop Joanna for her ministry in the diocese and province. She has contributed significantly to areas of church life in particular on environmental matters and with our Social Responsibility network." Quite! 

Environmental matters and social responsibility are important but faith and worship still matter.

The Church needs bishops who win souls in a spirit of true equality and diversity.

BBC Sounds recently broadcast on the All Things Considered series  a programme titled 'Gender and Identity'. University chaplain Delyth Liddell was joined by bishop Mary Stallard and Sarah Jones, a transgender Anglican priest and vicar of St. John's in central Cardiff.

From the programme notes:
"... Pride is not just a celebration, it's also about protest, designed to get people thinking about acceptance, equality and deeper matters about identity. Today, we turn our attention to that very matter, considering gender. What does it mean on its most fundamental level? What did God intend? How does it make us who we are to ourselves and each other? And what of the interplay between biology, psychology and faith? Big topics and ones which can stir confusion, concern, and generate challenging questions."

Personally I have never encountered non-acceptance or unequal treatment in race, colour or sexuality in decades of church life. Quite the reverse, yet comments are often received from protestors. But that is all they do, protest and abuse others. There is no supporting evidence. No engagement or acknowledgement of other commentators' desire to protect the sacrament of holy matrimony. Difference of opinion is simply dismissed as phobia to silence any opposition.  

After 2,000 years of scholarship and witness Anglicans are expected to believe that interpreting scripture to please oneself is the way to salvation. I think not.

This is the result: "I believe in a non-binary God whose pronouns are plural."

Next stop polyamory!

Postscripts 

[29.06.2023]

From the US:

The Queering of the Episcopal Church by David W. Virtue DD

Why is America tolerating indecent exposure at Pride events? by Family Policy Institute of Washington

[30.06.2023]

From C4M: PRIDE: THE ANTI-MARRIAGE PLATFORM

[11.07.2023]

Lesbian Methodist Minister and chaplain at Cardiff University, Delyth Liddell, says that "visible gay role models are key to changing attitudes about the LGBT+ community in churches".
On 'All Things Considered' the bishop of St Asaph, Gregory Cameron, is to share his thoughts with the chaplain on his vision for an "inclusive Church".

That is selective inclusion of course because the bishops have decided that there is no place in the Church in Wales for Anglicans who keep the faith.

Six green bishops sitting on the bench

Church in Wales bishops 2022 from left: Bishop John Lomas, Bishop June Osborne, Bishop Gregory Cameron, Archbishop Andrew John, 
Bishop Joanna Penberthy, Bishop Cherry Vann and Bishop Mary Stallard.                Source: Church in Wales

According to the 2021 census for Wales, 46.5% of the 3,063,456 population have no religion. Christians represent 43.6% while 6.3% declined to answer the 'Religion' question.

From Wikipedia, three Roman catholic dioceses, the Archdiocese of Cardiff, the Diocese of Menevia and the Diocese of Wrexham care for 209,451 Catholic souls (nearly 70,000 per bishop).

The (Anglican) Church in Wales with six dioceses has become rather shy in publishing statistics. In 2018 the adult average Sunday attendance was 26,110 giving a figure of 4,352 souls per bishop. Today the attendance figures must be very much lower.

Illustrated above are the seven Church in Wales bishops who were to attend the 2022 Lambeth Conference giving them "a chance to 'speak and act for the good of our world'." Sadly their view of the world is no longer in step with the majority of Anglicans.

Assistant bishop Mary Stallard was appointed by the archbishop to assist him in the management of Bangor diocese because he was said to be too busy in his capacity as archbishop. Stallard has since replaced the bishop of Llandaff, June Osborne who retired amid allegations of bullying.

The diocese of St Davids has had to manage without a bishop as a result of Joanna Penberthy's long periods of sick leave documented in Church Times suggetsing that they are not that busy after the long absence of the former bishop of Monmouth.

From published sources it appears that the archbishop's 'busy schedule' is mainly political with a spot of PR beach cleaning thrown in. 

He would have more credibility as archbishop if he turned his attention to the spiritual life of the Church in Wales. Instead he chose to promote the Energy Footprint Tool in his presidential address to the Last meeting of the church's Governing Body. 

He also announced that "the Church would hold an Environmental Summit next year to bring together key stakeholders with the aim of making Wales 'an exemplar of good practice'." - Unlike their position in the Anglican Communion, part of the 15% criticised for 'dragging the Church into apostasy'. 

The archbishop has since been invited to join the Gorsedd by accepting the Honorary Druid Order, the Blue Dress, which is for Service to the Nation!

It is expected that a new bishop of St Davids will be elected in October following Joanna Penberthy's retirement at the end of July. So no more politics please. 

Joanna in St Davids and June Llandaff fulfilled an agenda which has seen the first partnered lesbian bishop in Great Britain being installed in the diocese of Monmouth.

The rot has deepened. A Christian teacher was dismissed from The Bishop of Llandaff Church in Wales School, Cardiff, after sharing his beliefs on marriage at a staff training seminar. He had been urged to talk about his beliefs on marriage but was sacked the next day for 'hate speech'.

The teacher called his dismissal an "attack on Christianity" and “an affront to freedom of speech and freedom of thought".

He is not alone in his views. Many souls have been lost to the Church because there is no room in the Church in Wales for Anglicans who maintain their traditional Christian beliefs.

A revival is needed to regain them and slow the Church's decline. That will require a holy man of God, not an apostate.

The Church in Wales can not afford to fluff the election of the next Bishop of St Davids, The motto of the patron saint of Wales was 'Keep the faith' not abandon it.

"What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?"

Never, never, never trust a bishop!

Binding together                                                                                                                                            Source: FaceBook

'Never, never, never trust a Tory' was the infamous tweet from the bishop of St Davids. 

The bishop, Joanna Penberthy, issued an apology after a torrent of complaints: "On March 25th, 2021 I put out a private tweet about Conservative Party supporters which has caused offence and for which I sincerely apologise."

She later went on extended sick leave and has again been signed off. Readers will not wish the bishop ill but why did she not do the honourable thing and resign having offended just about everyone in her diocese and beyond who were not of her party political persuasion?

Archbishop Cranmer wrote in his blog, "The apology issued by the Bishop of St Davids (of the Church in Wales) in the wake of her ‘Never never never trust a Tory‘ tweet is disingenuous. It is expediently sly. In short, it is a lie."

The archbishop of Canterbury was 'deeply embarrassed,' but not Andy John, the future archbishop of Wales, who as the senior bishop issued this statement:

  “I think the question whether Bishop Joanna resigns is done and dusted”, Bishop Andy states. “She made clear that she regretted what she had to say… I think if we cannot provide a way in which people can acknowledge wrongdoing, learn from their mistakes, and come back, then it begs questions about whether we believe people can change. Whether or not we think the Christian faith is about second chances. To me, fundamentally, it’s about that. And those who are baying and frothing at the mouth seem to me to be part of what I think is quite pernicious in society: which is that we dress up in virtue – or in the language of virtue – a kind-of campaign to persecute.”

In a previous blog I wrote, "Having found 'Biblical support for church gay marriages' the divorced and re-married bishop of Bangor can no doubt justify anything he fancies."

The whole bench is committed to gay marriage. Some just cannot wait. 

The above photo has a caption from the Revd Sarah Hildreth-Osborn, leader of the chaplaincy service for the LGBTQIA+ community in the diocese of St Asaph where Gregory Cameron is bishop:

 "A huge thank you to Gregory K Cameron for conducting such a beautiful and life giving service for us at St Grwsts at lunchtime today, the blessing of our marriage. A reminder to all that it is only love that sets us free!!! Thank you so much Bishop Gregory 💕"

 As one correspondent put it, "If that isn’t mimicking a wedding, I don’t what does . . . binding with his stole and presumably saying, "Those whom God hath joined . . ."

The Rt Revd Gregory Cameron  received the Religious Leader Award 'for his leadership within the Church in Wales in bringing them to a point of enabling same-sex blessings'.

A news item issued by St Asaph diocese in December 2021 described the award as "Bishop Gregory honoured for his outstanding contribution to the lives of LGBT+ people of faith."

The bench has jumped the gun before. They could not wait to see a woman bishop celebrate the Eucharist so imported a converted Jewish, Episcopalian woman bishop from the United States before women bishops were legal in the Church in Wales.

These actions typify the current bench of bishops. 

What of others 'of faith' in the Church in Wales? They count for nothing. The Church in Wales has become obsessed with promoting just about anything LGBT+ . 

The bishop of Monmouth is the first same sex partnered bishop. The bishop of Llandaff, June Osborne appointed the first transgender priest and has recently appointed a same sex partnered dean of Llandaff, thus perpetuating their main mission as she retires. 

Osborne has long been associated with rumours of bullying tactics with a disciplinary panel finding she had a case to answer. 

The Vicar of Radyr submitted her resignation saying that she could no longer, with integrity, knowing the many things she knew, serve in the diocese where she believed a 'culture of fear' exists. A diocesan survey conducted after her initial exposure 'brought up the same results'.

Today it has been reported that the vicar of Aberporth has "quit his post after revealing a lengthy battle with mental health he says brought him to the brink of a nervous breakdown.

"In announcing his intention to leave the Anglican Church In Wales he also had harsh words for Bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy."

The Rev Christopher Frost said: "Earlier this week I tendered my resignation as vicar which was accepted by the Archbishop of Wales in the absence of Bishop Joanna."

The bench does as it pleases. They have no regard for the Christian message as received and delivered by others. Instead they distort it, a pretence intended to validate their own opinions while deceiving others.

The bench has become a self perpetuating clique leading others to perdition. Honour escapes them.

 

It leads one to believe never, never, never trust an Anglican bishop in Wales.

Postscript [27.09.2022]

Leaving the Church in Wales...but not the church in Wales. A broken vicar's story. God bless him.

  

"Bishops in our Church have too much power and far too little accountability which has the tendency to make a little chaos in our diocese particularly. When the bishop is installed, who is pleasant to be with in person, but who makes very divisive and unwise decisions that bring the whole Church into disrepute while also having a catastrophic effect on clergy morale is a problem being keenly felt in our diocese today. Also over the past five years or so, the teaching of the Church in Wales has been pulled very hard into what I consider to be a wildly liberal theological direction, one that no longer really represents truly the teachings of Jesus Christ on a number of key moral issues that are facing our society today. So the banner of the Church in Wales, the Anglican Church in Wales, is becoming one which is becoming just a bit too difficult for me in good conscience to work under any more." - Rev Christopher Frost in a video posted to YouTube.

Beyond belief

Church in Wales bishops, from left: Bishop John Lomas, Bishop June Osborne, Bishop Gregory Cameron, Archbishop Andrew John, Bishop Joanna Penberthy,
 Bishop Cherry Vann and Bishop Mary Stallard. Source: Church in Wales

The apparently not-at-all-busy archbishop of Wales who needs an assistant to help him do next to nothing has surfaced to make what he regards is an important announcement along with other like-minded Anglicans who are promoting same sex marriage. 

Marching off to Lambeth, not with the cross of Jesus, but with the LGBT banner going on before, the most reverend Andrew John, bishop of Bangor and archbishop of Wales proclaims: "The draft Lambeth Call on human dignity “undermines and subverts" LGBT+ people...the bishops pledge to work to amend the passage “to reflect more adequately our understanding of their equal place in the Church".

 That is a distortion of the facts.

LGBT+ people already have more than an equal place in the Church. Gay bishops, LGBT chaplains, same-sex blessings, pride eucharists. All are welcomed and affirmed.

By contrast, Anglicans who, in conscience, are unable to accept the new order, the ordained ministry of women and the liberal agenda that has come with it are cast aside without a thought. There is no longer even a pretence of any place for them in the Church. That evaporated as soon as the movement for the ordination of women achieved their goal.

The female dominated bench of bishops shows no desire to provide an equal place for Anglicans who have not swallowed their propaganda.

That is a battle lost but the baggage that has come with it continues. For many Anglicans the institution of marriage is sacred. As the official policy of the Church in Wales states:

"Drawing on the teaching of the Bible, and of the Church down through the centuries, the Church in Wales Marriage Service talks about marriage as a gift of God. Marriage is described as the lifelong, faithful union between a man and a woman, and married love is compared with the love Jesus has for his people – a love expressed in his willing sacrifice of himself on the cross."

To uphold this officially stated view is being characterised as homophobic while the bishops openly campaign to allow same sex marriage in Church, the archbishop of Wales' first expressed wish after his enthronement. 

For the women's movement, first they demanded equality based on secular standards, then parity, already surpassed but the female dominated bench shows no desire to provide an equal place for Anglicans who have not succumbed to their falsehoods.

The bishops of the Church in Wales have become a joke outside their own province. Why should anyone at Lambeth listen to them when their message is anathema to the vast majority of Anglicans and other Christians around the world.

Ironically the lead author in the Lambeth Conference drafting process for The Lambeth Call on Christian Unity is bishop Gregory Cameron - see pages 5 and 44 of the link to LAMBETH CALLS: GUIDANCE AND STUDY DOCUMENTS. The section begins:

"We are committed to the work of unity. We confess we are not united and for Christians that is a scandal and a cause of shame. We urge all our sisters and brothers to commit to work for unity and we call especially on our ecumenical partners to help us, work with us and enable us to move closer to one another."

Yes, it is a scandal. Trendy Anglican bishops are renouncing the faith and dragging down others with them instead of saving their souls. 

Postscripts 

[27/07/2022] Motion of no confidence threat for Justin Welby over the Lambeth Calls surrender

[28/07/2022] From Christian Today: "Bishops who deny the Gospel 'should be removed from their positions'."

[29.07.2022] ORTHODOX bishops at the Lambeth Conference - representing 75% of the Anglican Communion - announced today (29JUL) that they will be tabling their own ‘Lambeth Resolution (Call)’.

[02.08.2022] Orthodox bishops reveal text of resolution reaffirming ‘Lambeth 1.10’ as the Anglican Communion teaching on marriage and sexuality

The writing on the wall

Writing on the wall - with apologies to Rembrandt

                             

                                    MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.

                                    TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.

                                    PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

Interviewed on the TV programme The Hour in April 2018 the first woman to be made bishop in Wales, Joanna Penberthy, branded anyone who disagrees with her as prejudiced. No debate. No theology. Just unsubstantiated accusations of prejudice.

There is much to question. For a start, on the validity of her orders Joanna Penberthy simply dismisses the question. She remarked, such 'prejudice' is 'water off a duck's back to her', probably because the Church in Wales has no defence for going their own way in defiance of the overwhelming majority of Christians in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. 

The ordination of women is a political tool used by feminists to further their own selfish interests. They are not interested in the welfare of the church. They care even less for the many cradle Anglicans who have found themselves excluded. Pleas not to go their separate ways were water off a ducks back to them.

They base their case on false notions of equality, distorting the meaning of Christ's redeeming love while appealing for secular support to undermine the faith of the Church. So successful has this strategy been in the Anglican Communion that feminists are now using similar tactics to attack the Roman Catholic Church.

Feminists used to claim that the Anglican Church should set an example to the secular world by breaking the stained glass ceiling as if there was no difference between the sacred and the secular. That argument is now being reversed in the Roman Catholic Church: There are female presidents and CEOs. Why are we still asking if women can lead in the church? 

Our children and grandchildren are having to cope with the fallout of the new order. There are fewer male role models for boys to identify with. Women dominate primary education. Three quarters of secondary school teachers are women. The GP and the dentist are likely to be female along with the parish priest. 

Girls and boys are forced to ignore their birth assigned sexual identity and cope with unnecessary problems of self identifying genders coupled with imposing the use of preferred pronouns. Then there is distress that can be caused following the imposition of unisex toilets and the presence of intending but not yet transgendered pupils in girls changing rooms, all of which defies logic and panders to wokery .

Anglican experience has shown that feminists are not to be trusted. They have inched their way forward with false promises to achieve their objective before undermining any agreements as they seek to get rid of any opposition.

The Church in Wales is a typical example. It prides itself as being a leader in diversity. Not in spreading the Gospel but falsely using the Gospel to achieve its ends by interpreting scripture to suit themselves. 

The bishop of Monmouth uses her patronage, enthusiastically supported by the rest of the bench, in promoting LGBT minorities, while the 'first transgender priest' wasted no time in using the Church in Wales to spread transgender propaganda, an utter distortion of the Great Commission.

The bishop of St Davids has been busy spreading party political propaganda with her motto, “Never, never, never trust a Tory”. As Dominic Lawson commented in the Mail Online "With Tory-hating political bishops like this, the church hasn't got a prayer".

This is not the first time the bishop of St Davids has brought her office into disrepute. Her Dear John letter caused great offence to elderly clergy, raising suspicions that it was her way of getting rid of faithful traditionalist clergy. She busily backpedalled after adverse publicity

According to commentators responding to a previous entry That was the Church that was, it's over, let it go?, undeterred, Joanna has been meeting clergy and lay people to explain her position. 

There is nothing more to explain. Joanna's extended absence looks increasingly like a cooling off device, hoping that her flock would forget so that she could return to duty as if nothing had happened. 

Others viewed her behaviour differently.

Angela Tilby wrote in the Church Times, Bishops have to sacrifice privacy: "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).

 

The writing was on the wall from the start. Penberthy's was a political appointment engineered by archbishop Barry Morgan. Others have followed. 

The rot deepens but the writing was on the wall from the start.

Fateful words

The bishops of Llandaff (left) and St Davids (right) with their TEC mentor Katharine Jefferts Schori
Source: Twitter

It came as no surprise that archbishop Barry Morgan described his chosen candidate, Canon Joanna Penberthy, as 'the best person to be a bishop' after she was elected bishop of St Davids.

Subsequent events have illustrated the irony of that description.

Likewise, Morgan's successor must rue the day when he welcomed the appointment as bishop of Llandaff of 'Pioneer English woman priest', June Osborne. 

The then Church in Wales' senior bishop, John Davies said, “In June Osborne, both the Church in Wales and the Diocese of Llandaff will find themselves to be richly blessed. June’s track record admirably demonstrates her passion for Christian ministry modelled on the Gospel imperatives of love, justice, inclusivity and openness. All of these are qualities which I and my fellow bishops warmly support and welcome. She is known as a leader with clear vision, a pastoral heart and a strategic mind.”

In 2019 June Osborne's 'clear vision' led her to charter an aircraft to fly all active diocesan clergy to a clergy school in Santiago de Compostela during Christian Aid Week leaving others to get on with charitable work. Mercifully the plane did not ended up in the sea. Had it done so the diocese would have been left with a few retired clergy who could not afford to subsidise the cost of the flight or had better things to do than pay to go on one June's extravagant jollies.

June has also demonstrated her idea of love, justice, inclusivity and openness when she sacrificed faithful parishioners in another initiative. 

From the Save St Teilo's - Save Our Community petition:

"In March 2019 the members of St Teilo’s church have been informed that a decision has been made by the Bishop of Llandaff, June Osborne, to give their church away to an evangelical church called Holy Trinity Brompton. The decision was made with no consultation with the clergy or members of the congregation and wider community and she says the decision is final."

I doubt that many of the St Teilo's congregation have found themselves to be richly blessed by their bishop but, then, her first love was sociology.

Featuring regularly of late in the columns of the Church Times and in the Western Mail there appears to be a never ending feud between the bishop of Llandaff and her dean which is constantly dragging the Church in Wales through the mire.

Another article in the Church Times today refers to alleged bullying and harassment by the bishop of Llandaff but, like her colleague in St Davids no doubt she will continue to regard any criticism of female behaviour as discrimination and carry on regardless. 

Postscript [08.01 22]

For a devastating assessment of the current state of the dioceses of the Church in Wales and their diocesan bishops from across the pond go to Anglican Unscripted 709 starting at position 21.10.

Church impotent

Archbishop of Wales Andy John                                                                                       Source: BBC

The impotency of the Church in Wales became a little clearer on Sunday in an interview with the new archbishop of Wales, Andy John. 

Questioned on the BBC radio programme All Things Considered the divorced father of four admitted his failure and 'messing up' as he put it.

 So concerned was he with his failure that he had considered applying for a HGV licence or taking up teaching but some 'good friends' persuaded him to use his failure as a lesson for others. It would make him a 'better priest'.

This convinced him that there had to be 'a way back', something he has clearly applied to his own ministry and that of the bishop of St Davids in his comments on Joanna Penberthy's behaviour. 

Archbishop John went on to say "that compassion has no boundaries, that compassion is a good thing. It is restoring. It is not that the Church shouldn't have proper boundaries. It should have standards and we should hold each other accountable. However, there has got to be a way back. Then if you never give people a way back into faith then you drive people into a cul-de-sac and you drive people out of the Church and that's true for people whether they have been divorced, re-married or people who are gay. Whether it is people who are trans or what-have-you. 

"If you say there is no place for you in the Church I think you've done something truly dreadful and we must remember that Jesus called each and every part of society to come and to follow Him."

Asked about his stance on 'the gay issue' the archbishop said it was a bit of a shock to him to encounter gay Christians who displayed all the signs of goodness and godliness and kindness and righteousness that he thought was impossible. It made no sense. It created a kind of crisis in his theology. Here were all the fruits of the Spirit in these lives and yet the scriptures spoke against this.

That caused him to go back and ask serious questions about the extent to which moral theology can be undertaken purely on the basis of what was revealed and understood to be appropriate. An appropriate ordering of life in the first century after our Lord's death and whether or not we need to introduce other questions as well to have us form a way of ordering our lives, managing our affairs in a way that is appropriate and good but doesn't lock us into a kind of first century lifestyle or expectations which he didn't believe could be sustained in the 21st Century.   

Challenged on what he had said Abp John acknowledged that he had had 'robust' conversations particularly with evangelicals who do not see things as he had described them but the Church had changed its position on a number of things whether it is divorce or the role of women. The arguments about that were very, very fierce indeed and we came to realise, not just because of scripture but we saw women exercising good and godly leadership and we realised that this was the clincher. This was what made sense when they saw it in action  and when the Church in relation to the same sex issues sees that there are good people who are engaged and mutually belong to each other and the sky doesn't fall down we will move on and we will no longer have an issue to wrestle with.

Question on what he could do about two dioceses where senior staff have been at odds with one another Andy John admitted it had been "Challenging". There were two things that we have to bear in mind when dealing with such difficulties. First, in the Church in Wales like many Churches, we had not been very good or accustomed to dealing with things like job descriptions, competencies, the way in which grievances, complaints and so forth are managed and tended to rely on the relational aspect of life so we just expect to get along with people and it is a rude shock when all of a sudden you don't and people complain and they have grievances and they are really quite serious. We haven't been good at providing for ourselves, a way of managing our conflicts. He thought we were now suffering the consequences of that but the mistake was to think that you could run from this.

The archbishop said he was committed to changing the culture, running towards the challenges or conflicts, not away from them. His task was to make sure that culture shift takes place within the Church, making sure we have the proper protocols, the Rules and Regs that control our life, but that the culture of the Church is one in which we are both a safe, healthy, mindful organisation where ultimately, because we do believe totally in reconciliation. If we can't get this right, if we can't learn what it means to forgive and move on it undermines our witness. He was confident that the Church in Wales does believe in those things and it just needs to bring more energy and resolve to making sure that we don't 'duck the issues' but get them right.

So, getting things right means that discipline is for underlings in 'monarchical' bishoprics while errant bishops are to be shown compassion and forgiveness. 

That the archbishop should point to women in the Church exercising good and godly leadership given the mess in St Davids and in Llandaff serves only to emphasise the impotence of the Church in Wales and its discredited leadership.

The archbishop says that compassion should be shown to those who break the rules, providing them with a 'way back' but, as the bench has hypocritically demonstrated over many years, there is no way back for Anglicans who keep the faith by sharing the beliefs of the majority of Christians in the wider Church. It is the cul-de-sac for them.

It seems to me as far as the archbishop is concerned, Nothing really matters... as zoroastrian Freddie Mercury used to sing.

The Church in Wales 2021

 

Bangor wedding                                               Source: Facebook

My first blog entry featuring the Church in Wales in 2021 posed the question, The next Archbishop of Wales? 

The entry led with a Facebook photograph showing a divorced father of four with his new bride, one of his female priests. The groom was, of course, the bishop of Bangor, the Rt Rev Andrew John, who would be the most senior bishop in the Church in Wales following the retirement of archbishop John Davies.

If, for some, 1 Timothy 3 came to mind, no matter. The Church in Wales had already decided to put the Bible to one side and do things their way, something that was to become a habit.

In 2004 'fury' and 'anger' surrounded the appointment of Britain's first divorced bishop in North Wales when the Archdeacon of Carmarthen was declared the unanimous choice of the church's Bench of Bishops after the electoral college failed to agree on the most suitable candidate. This procedure has since become a habit resulting in of a self-perpetuating clique.

The Daily Post, North Wales Live reported at the time that a member of the original secret electoral college said the appointment was a shock and unexpected: "There may be controversy over this," he said. "My own view is that the scripture does say that a bishop has to be married to one wife."

Responding to criticism from within the diocese of Bangor, the then archbishop, Barry Morgan, said that the appointment was "in accord with the Church's view on divorce."

Moving on to June 2021, the only woman bishop not to be appointed by the bench is proud Corbynista Joanna Penberthy, bishop of St Davids. 

She caused uproar following a 'private tweet' about Conservative Party supporters in which she said Never never never trust a Tory. Many commentators thought that was the end of the road for Barry Morgan's chosen one but showing no shame she simply carries on after a few months off work. 

Mentored along with the bishop of Llandaff by TEC's former presiding bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, it appears that no embarrassment for the Church is too great to shift her as she remains doggedly stuck to her throne.  

On the plus side the Church in Wales bade farewell to another of Barry Morgan's Church of England rejects, Peggy (the pilot) Jackson, Archdeacon of Llandaff. If she had had her way this spiteful woman would have barred from ordination anyone who objected, on grounds of conscience, to women clergy thus making a mockery of the promises made to allow the ordination of women.

Jackson was supported in her endeavour by the now disgraced bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy, and the bishop of Bangor, Andy John. The two other bishops present, John Davies (Swansea & Brecon) and June Osborne (Landaff), signalled their lack of opposition to the measure by abstaining.

September 2021 saw the Church in Wales risking suspension from the Anglican Communion as its Governing Body voted to accept same-sex blessings. Again putting scripture aside, the decision was based on a lie. 

The Liturgy for the Blessing of a Same-sex Civil Marriage or Civil Partnership was authorised for use from 1 October 2021. It is A wedding in all but name.

In November the troubles at Llandaff Cathedral resurfaced with claims and counter-claims as the bishop and dean continued their battle, dragging the Church through the mire with nobody apparently able or willing to get a grip of the situation.

The Archbishop, the Deanery, the  Archdeacon of Llandaff and a can of worms.

A letter to the Church Times today from a brave member of the clergy claims that there is "a culture of fear in Llandaff diocese. Curates, vicars, ministry-area leaders, and lay diocesan staff tell me that they fear their Bishop. Although many say privately that they have been ignored, reprimanded, moved sideways, paid off, invited to take early retirement, or that their resignation is referred to as a retirement, I imagine they would be too fearful of repercussions from the Bishop to put their signature to this letter."

The Church impotent?

In calmer waters, the appointment of the new bishop of Swansea and Brecon, John Lomas, former Archdeacon of Wrexham  was confirmed at Sacred Synod and Buggins' turn prevailed again to see the bishop of Bangor, Andy John, elected archbishop.

This cleared the way for the Monmouth Enquiry and Review Report dated 13 July 2021 to be published in December. That is when the dung truly hit the fan.

The Report exposes the fragile state of the Church in Wales after decades of manipulation by the bench under the influence of archbishop Barry Morgan. It refers to inadequate clergy disciplinary procedures, a 'prevalence of swearing and an excessive intake of alcohol among bishops and senior clergy' in a culture that was likened to that of an 'old boys' club.

Commenting on the 'Culture' in the Church in Wales the Report states: "However, we were also told that dioceses in the Church in Wales were surprisingly independent of one another and that a monarchical episcopate was still alive in the Province." There is plenty of evidence for that.

Happy New Year!

Joanna Penberthy creeps back

Source: Church in Wales

 

From Church in Wales Diocesan news:  Join Wales' Christingle service and help Faith in Families led by the Bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy.

Nothing it seems prevents bishops of the Church in Wales from continuing as they please. 

In a previous entry, The future of the Church in Wales from the Archbishop in waiting? I quoted  Andy John's statement:

“I think the question whether Bishop Joanna resigns is done and dusted”, Bishop Andy states. “She made clear that she regretted what she had to say… I think if we cannot provide a way in which people can acknowledge wrongdoing, learn from their mistakes, and come back, then it begs questions about whether we believe people can change. Whether or not we think the Christian faith is about second chances. To me, fundamentally, it’s about that. And those who are baying and frothing at the mouth seem to me to be part of what I think is quite pernicious in society: which is that we dress up in virtue – or in the language of virtue – a kind-of campaign to persecute.”

This may explain some of the facial expressions when the statement of Bishop Andy’s election as Archbishop of Wales was read out. Joanna Penberthy can be seen beaming but not quite as ecstatically as June Osborne who could not wait to signal her approval of the 'wonderful news'.

Looking markedly less thrilled were the bishop of St Asaph and his compatriot in the GB gay blessings saga, the bishop of Monmouth. Following their 'success' at GB perhaps they believed the Pink News article headline, "Cherry Vann, the Bishop of Monmouth, is in the running to be elected the Church in Wales’ first lesbian archbishop." 

Cherry may have been led to believe that her election would be another Church in Wales stitch up, a foregone conclusion as apparently was the GB same sex blessings vote when she arranged a victory dinner in advance of the debate. 

No doubt from his statements the "bullying" bishop of Llandaff and bishop of St Davids will feel more secure under archbishop Andy than they would have under their junior, Cherry Vann, but Andy could surprise everyone now he actually holds the reins of power, such as it is. 

Next though should be the long awaited Bishop Graham Jones report of the investigation into the departure of the former bishop of Monmouth. 

An August update claimed the bench expected "to make progress quickly over the summer period" and to complete their work "in the autumn". Presumably 2021!

Postscript [10.12.2021]

Something fishy again?

I see the fulsome acclamation of the election to archbishop of the bishop of Bangor by the 'bullying' bishop of Llandaff has been rewarded with a personal archiepiscopal tweet to the diocese. 

Perhaps June will now feel as secure as Joanna appears to despite their behaviour.

Church in Wales election farce

The Bench of Bishops. From left: Bishop June Osborne, Bishop Joanna Penberthy, Bishop John Lomas, Bishop Andy
John, Bishop Gregory Cameron and Bishop Cherry .  Source: Church in Wales

 

Following the return to work from sick leave on 1 November of the bishop of St Davids and the confirmation in Sacred Synod on 22 November of the Archdeacon of Wrexham, John Lomas, as bishop of Swansea and Brecon, the Church in Wales moves to the next scene of their ecclesiastical farce, the election of the next archbishop of Wales followed by the early retirement of the bishop of St Davids if any semblance of decency remains in the Church in Wales.

What a choice! Apart from the new bishop of Swansea and Brecon none of the candidates would normally have a chance of being elected Archbishop based on performance and beliefs. 

But this is the Church in Wales. Assuming there are no skeletons in the cupboard bishop Lomas may be the only bishop untainted by secularism. 

However, the bench are frequently quoted as being of a 'single mind' on important issues so presumably the bishops have satisfied themselves that they can count on the support of the latest addition, thus perpetuating the rot.

In October 2010 I wrote in Deception in the church: 'Ali Bari and his band are out to rob traditionalists of their heritage'. Faithful Anglicans have simply been dumped. Deprived of fellowship and spiritual wellbeing. Instead their bishops promote secular causes under the mantra, Jesus loves me. 

Around the same time WalesOnline reported: "Between 2011 and 2012, the number of adults attending Church in Wales Sunday services fell by 5%, from 33,783 to 32,171."

In 2004 the figure was 41,771. By 2018 that figure had dropped to 26,110 with a predicted extinction date for the Church in Wales around 2040.

All tarred with the same brush, the new archbishop might as well be appointed using a silver bodkin in a blindfold pricking ceremony saving the electoral college much time and money.

Fallout

Katharine Jefferts Schori, former presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church (TEC) acting as mentor 
 to bishop June and bishop Joanna. Source: Twitter

How did (s)he get to be a bishop is a question that has been in many people's minds lately. 

The answer may be found in the death at age 90 of bishop John Shelby Spong, a  'maverick author' and  key leader on the left of The Episcopal Church (TEC) which has moved in a 'liberal/progressive direction'.

Anglican Ink reports that Spong led his followers to embrace emerging social movements and not to trust the Bible: "He never could quite grasp that Christians could believe the Bible. According to Spong the gospels were fabricated."

That will be familiar to the mainly former members of Church in Wales which has moved in the same direction. 

In their latest move to bless same-sex civil partnerships and marriages the bishops have now alienated evangelicals. As Christian Today put it, "This is good news for liberals and progressives who dominate the Church in Wales, but not good news for evangelicals and others who continue to represent the majority Christian position found among most Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and others."

Even clerics who have gone along with change in the hope of getting on have seen their hopes dashed as the bench prefers to look to England for like minded liberal progressives to fill vacancies as if there were no talent in Wales.

Archbishop Barry Morgan bears much responsibility for the sorry state of the Church in Wales. He lauded TEC's presiding bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori despite her dreadful unchristian record. She was subsequently to mentor June Osborne, bishop of Llandaff and Joanna Penberthy, bishop of St Davids, neither of whom has brought any credit to the Church - see Dysfunctional Church.

The fallout from treading Spong's path is also strongly in evidence in the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) which has already leapt ahead of Wales in the same-sex marriage stakes. 

In appointing  Canon Anne Dyer to the post of bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney, the Scottish House of bishops ignored the conservative profile of the diocese and appointed another of their own thinking, a female gay marriage supporter who focused on fighting for social justice and sexual equality. Sounds familiar!

The bishops have become badly unstuck with allegations of bullying leading to a review by Prof Ian Torrance, a former moderator of the Church of Scotland. He found that the bishop's management style led to a culture of "systemic dysfunction".

Concluding his Report Prof Torrance posed the question: "Does the bishop have the personal capacity to bring about healing and reconciliation in the diocese?"

He said it was 'a matter of trust and confidence' in recommending that, for the good of the diocese, the bishop be granted a period of sabbatical leave and step back permanently from the diocese. 

One commentator responded, "If this woman had any sense of the office that she bears, she would have stepped aside for the good of the Church."

Another parallel with the Church in Wales.

Postscript [18.09.2021]

'Heartbroken' Welsh evangelicals reach out to Gafcon - Christian Today

The future of the Church in Wales from the Archbishop in waiting?

Archbishop in waiting? the Bishop of Bangor. Picture: Church in Wales. Source: The National Wales

The future of the Church in Wales, or, more accurately, the future of the Church in Wales according to Andy John, Bishop of Bangor, is predicted in an 'exclusive' interview with The National Wales. 

Others insist the Church in Wales has no future. Not surprising given the mess created by the bench of bishops with their secular obsessions. 

In 2015 the Church Growth Modelling blog forecast that attendance figures for the Church in Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Church of the USA (TEC), indicated extinction dates around 2040. 

Aged 57, if Buggins' turn prevails, Andy John will be the penultimate Archbishop of Wales leaving another to do the final sweeping up. Gregory Cameron, the next most senior bishop after Andy John is 62 so he is likely to miss out as is the Tory loathing bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy who is 61.

At 68 the bishop of Llandaff, June Osborne, will soon be drawing her pension leaving only Cherry Vann, Bishop of Monmouth, who is 62.

Depending on his/her age the next bishop of Swansea and Brecon could also be the last Archbishop of Wales.

The new Bishop of Swansea and Brecon is to be elected this month* leaving the way for the election of the new Archbishop but if St Davids were to become vacant there would be a further delay. 

That may account for Andy John's extraordinary statement:

“I think the question whether Bishop Joanna resigns is done and dusted”, Bishop Andy states. “She made clear that she regretted what she had to say… I think if we cannot provide a way in which people can acknowledge wrongdoing, learn from their mistakes, and come back, then it begs questions about whether we believe people can change. Whether or not we think the Christian faith is about second chances. To me, fundamentally, it’s about that. And those who are baying and frothing at the mouth seem to me to be part of what I think is quite pernicious in society: which is that we dress up in virtue – or in the language of virtue – a kind-of campaign to persecute.”

Having found ''Biblical support for church gay marriages" the divorced and re-married bishop of Bangor can no doubt justify anything he fancies. 

In his interview for The National, Andy John was asked about the draft Bill which had been outlined at Governing Body (GB) in December. If passed by a two-thirds majority it would allow a five-year trial period for priests who would like to hold a service to bless a same-sex couple after their marriage or civil partnership.

Did the bishop of Bangor hope the motion will be approved? "Very much so", he replied before adding, "I think this will make us a more generous Church, which will make us a Church that provides space for people who demonstrate by their lives that they can be wonderful disciples of Jesus Christ when they want to live in love with a person of the same sex. I fail to understand… I fail to really understand why that is problematic.

Building up the pressure before the next meeting of GB, the former archbishop of Wales John Davies told ITV that it would be  a "slap in the face" for gay Christians if the church does not consider introducing services of blessing for same-sex couples.

"Simply to say", explained the archbishop, "that because it's always been so it must never change I think is a slap in the face to an awful lot of people who see something valuable in the church, but to some extent still feel rejected by the church."

That simply does not hold water. 

No generosity has been shown by the bench to an 'awful lot of people' who have been slapped in the face by a myopic bench of bishops, eager to impose their own liberal agenda at the expense of faithful Anglicans un-churched by the Church in Wales. 

As the recently retired Archdeacon of Llandaff, Peggy Jackson, a late convert to Anglicanism, put it with all the charity she could muster, "individuals with conscientious difficulties over women’s ministry will simply have to make personal decisions and individual choices, to find accommodation as best they can." (The naked truth).

There have been no 'second chances' for traditionalists who remain outside in the cold in what the bishop of Bangor refers to as 'a kind-of campaign to persecute'. It is clear why. The Church in Wales is at odds with the vast majority of Anglicans, let alone Christians. Anglicans in the Church in Wales who seek to practice their faith in common with the majority of Anglicans are an embarrassment to a bench of bishops preoccupied with fleeting secular fads and fancies.

As bishop Andy told his interviewer: "The pandemic has reminded the Church of its purpose: to serve. “Our job is to argue for a more humane, compassionate, loving society, and to be unafraid and to be unapologetic about that." His colleagues have “done remarkably well” during Covid-19 too. And it is hard to disagree. Even more so considering that – in his words – that the Church in Wales is “a bit like an oil tanker: it takes ages to turn us around”.

In a nutshell. The Church in Wales has set its course - to extinction.

The interview ends with: "A very confident and unapologetic message from a bishop who is very confident and unapologetic. With the possibility of him at the helm, perhaps this Welsh oil tanker will chart the right course, after all."

The interview started with the interviewer's confession: "I don't generally do God, I tell Andy John." Exactly the sort of people the bench look to for support and justification.

If ever the Church in Wales needed a transfiguration it is now.

* Correction: Election of new Bishop of Swansea and Brecon
 The election is to be held in September.
https://www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/news-and-events/election-new-bishop-swansea-and-brecon/

Church in Wales abandonment

 

An upbeat Archbishop Barry Morgan in 2013 with his Ass bishop and then Dean, Janet Henderson
before her shock resignation. It's been downhill for Llandaff ever since.          Photo: Church Times

Few if any people have sympathy for a mother who abandons her children. 

In 'Mother' Church in Wales under Barry Morgan that is exactly what happened to Anglicans who remained true to the faith of the Holy Catholic Church, something the Church in Wales claims to do but patently does not as it becomes more and more secularised.

Reading about the new structure set up in Australia by GAFCON to help conservatives in dioceses that bless same-sex marriages re-opens old wounds for 'traditionalists' in Wales.

A new Diocese will "operate in parallel with any Diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia. It will have a Bishop, and the normal structure of an Anglican diocese such as a synod (church parliament and a standing committee)", something that Morgan and his cronies refused to do. Society bishops are banned from ministering in Wales.

Other Provinces have made provision for those who, in conscience, are unable to accept progressive ideas contrary to scripture and tradition. In Wales, after an initial nod to ensure the success of bills to allow women to be ordained, traditionalists have been abandoned without thought or consideration from bishops charged with caring for all. 

Other Provinces have not been so heartless so why have Anglican bishops in Wales been so cruel? 

One obvious answer is that traditionalists are a thorn in the flesh in a Church in which matters of the flesh and sexual preference are considered more important than one's faith.

Archbishop Morgan was determined that there would be no long term alternative pastoral or sacramental provision for those who did not share his secularised vision of the church.

Seeing himself as a 'progressive' bishop, Morgan followed the secular, feminist agenda of admitting women to the priesthood and to the episcopate regardless of scripture and tradition while liberalising sexual attitudes to permit same sex marriages in Church. He showed no consideration for those he regarded as opponents once the measures were approved.

Morgan even promoted his his own interpretation of the Bible to advance his cause and was promptly shot down.

The archbishop imported ambitious clergy from England to aid his cause leaving him with egg on his face. Most spectacularly following the resignation of the Very Rev Janet Henderson from her position as Dean of Llandaff after only a few weeks in post. That led to all manner of speculation and rumours of a non-disclosure agreement. 

More recently Morgan's manoeuvrings which led to the 'election' of  Joanna Penberthy as bishop of St Davids came badly unstuck. He had promoted Penberthy as 'the best person to be a bishop'. Experience suggests the reverse was true.   

Another of Morgan's casualties, Ass bishop David Wilbourne, complained of a "sustained campaign forcing him to quit". He often reminded anyone prepared to listen, or not, that he knew John Habgood, not the best acquaintance for some. It has been claimed Habgood 's intervention was responsible for the Church of England's acceptance of the ordination of women. 

The Rev Peter Mullin wrote in The Telegraph (£), 06 Feb 2012:  "This stinking fish has been a long time on the slab. Back in 1992, the church voted to admit women to the priesthood, but this was only agreed upon the intervention of the then Archbishop of York, Dr John Habgood, who insisted that there were “two integrities” within the church: the one that could accept women priests and the other that could not. Room must be made for both. If Dr Habgood’s agreeable compromise had not been accepted then there would not have been a majority in favour of the ordination of women".

The Church in Wales and the Church of England now ordain women. While the Church of England maintains the two integrities, traditionalists in Wales have been abandoned.

Initially bishop David Thomas was appointed Provincial Assistant Bishop but archbishop Morgan made it abundantly clear that there would not be another when Bishop Thomas retired in 2008. 

Another of Morgan's imports from the Church of England, Peggy Jackson used her position as Archdeacon of Llandaff to do all that she could to get rid of traditionalists, leaving them "to make personal decisions and individual choices, to find accommodation as best they can".

 She, in turn was to be humiliated when Governing Body rejected her mean private members motion which called on the bench of bishops to "cease to ordain those who, refusing the sacramental ministry of women, expect to rely upon the conscience clauses of the Code". 

Nevertheless, the process of abandonment in Wales continues. After Barry Morgan's retirement, the new Archbishop of Wales signalled no change in policy. There would be more of the same - but faster.

Barry Morgan made no secret of the fact that he would not oppose the appointment of a gay bishop. A strong contender to replace him was Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans.

From Llandaff stalemate: After three days of deliberations (note the link comes under 'Politics'), the Electoral College of the Church in Wales failed to produce a bishop-elect or, as the Rev Peter Ould tweeted, the Church in Wales "couldn't quite bring itself to elect Jeffrey John as Bishop of Llandaff".

While some argued that the appointment of Jeffrey John would attract too much attention for the wrong reason, others suggested that he was just too bright for the rest of the bench who feared they would be overshadowed.

The Church in Wales has two more imports from England sitting on the bench. A partnered lesbian elected bishop of Monmouth and an LGBT+ banner-waving sociologist who was appointed to Llandaff where she enjoys experimenting in her diocese regardless of the effect on existing congregations.

In Llandaff the continued absence of Barry Morgan's placement, Dean Gerwyn Capon remains a puzzle, as does the cause of the swift departure of his predecessor, Janet Henderson but given the mire Janet no doubt found herself in I would guess that she told Barry Morgan what he could do with his scheming. 

It says much about an archbishop who prides himself on his Welshness that, save for the one exception who escaped back over the border, he imported failures from England to do his bidding.

So faithful Anglicans across Wales have been abandoned, as Peggy Jackson directed, to find accommodation as best they can.

Some will have found an accommodation in the Church in Wales, presumably with fingers firmly crossed, while others will have advanced their careers, putting their souls in peril in the process. Others just have their memories.

Wales must be among the worst provinces in the Anglican Communion but who cares? 

Certainly not its bishops.