Following the shockresignation in May 2013 of Landaff's first female Dean, the Very Rev Janet Henderson, the Bishop of Llandaff, Archbishop Barry Morgan decided to run Llandaff Cathedral as acting Dean in addition to his other duties before turning to the Archdeacon of Llandaff, Peggy 'the pilot' Jackson for help by keeping an eye on things for him. Llandaff Cathedral has been in sad decline ever since leaving the new Dean with a can of worms. With its splendid new ?1.5 million Nicholson organ to accompany a severely depleted Cathedral choir (when there is one), a shrinking congregation who are constantly pressed to give more for less and a take it or leave it attitude to members with conscientious difficulties over women?S ministry (see below) things just go from bad to worse. Janet must breath a huge sigh of relief if she keeps an eye on things from afar.
Jackson plays a key role in aiding the Archbishop's mission to fragment the Church in Wales and rupture it from its historical roots by making it unrecognisable as part of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church other than reciting her creeds. Singing from the same sheet as Dr Morgan, Peggy Jackson's views on introducing women priests and bishops contrary to the teaching of the Apostolic church were well known to him. In a GRAS Newsletter written while still a member of the Church of England the then Canon Jackson set out her vision for her church:
"New 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 – just as many already have to do over a host of other current issues, some very uncomfortable, where people find themselves representative of a view which is not that sanctioned by the ‘church’ as a whole, and upheld through Synod and Parliament."
Note the distinct lack of Christian charity in that statement. However, the 'church as a whole' Jackson referred to was not the Body of Christ but the tiny minority she represented, not just in the whole of Christendom but in the Anglican Communion itself. No wonder she appealed to Dr Morgan who believes thatChurch doctrine evolves to meet the demands of culture - report here.
Contrast his view with the view of Pope Francis who saidWe cannot use Church doctrine as we please - report here .
AccordingWikipedia, Pope Francis speaks for Catholicism's 1.2 billion members. Theaverage adult attendance in the Church in Wales for whom Dr Morgan claims to speak is just 31,048.
Of Anglicanism's 85 million members the Church of England accounts for just one million regular worshiping members but that did not stop Canon Jackson from ignoring the views of the majority of Anglicans and of the wider Catholic and Orthodox Churches when writing of the views 'sanctioned by the church'. The Church, East and West, has severely criticised errant Anglicans for their unilateral actions but all pleas have been ignored along with Christ's prayer for unity.
The published figures demonstrate that it is utter deception to representindividuals with conscientious difficulties over women’s ministry as the minority. But that deception is a characteristic of the Morgan-Jackson/Wigley partnership as they guide the Church in Wales along their chosen path with no regard for the souls of the faithful. This is what Jackson wrote in 2009 when involved in the ordination of women campaign in the Church of England:
"What, then, should a Code of Practice do, which does follow the mandate of General Synod last July?
It should:-
- honour and reassure loyal Anglicans that they will not be required either to leave, or to act
individually outside the dictates of personal conscience
- offer special and specific care to those people and parishes, around whom the mind of the Church on this issue has changed. The intention of this care is that they would not be lightly brought to a position of feeling that there is no continuing place for them in the Church. It could not, however, be allowed structurally to undermine the very decision itself."
The sting is in the tail.To appear charitable to one's opponentswhile deliberately setting out unacceptable conditions is a clear act of deception in my book. Dr Morgan used the same tactics while suggesting that he had looked at other Provinces for guidance in drawing up a Code of Practice for the Church in Wales. He didn't spend much time looking at the arrangements being made in the Church of England to 'honour and reassure loyal Anglicans'. The Church of England is following an honourable path to reach an acceptable settlement. Not so the Church in Wales where 'winner' takes all in Barry's book.
The other half of the Jackson/Wigley partnership is the Area Dean of Llandaff, Canon Wigley. This introduces the Methodist dimension in Dr Morgan's plan to turn the Church in Wales into a nonconformist organisation while still claiming to belong to the Apostolic Church.
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| The Archbishop of Wales and Canon Wigley, Peggy Jackson's GB accomplice |
Canon Wigley's husband is the Rev Dr Stephen Wigley, Chair of the Wales Synod of the Methodist Church which is involved in theChurch Uniting in Wales (CUW) scheme, a set up which, along with the Church in Wales Review, appears designed to ensure the future of the bishops of the Church in Wales in a new nonconformist organisation. Dr Wigley is well placed to become the first Methodist 'bishop' of CUW so he could be interchangeable with the CinW diocesan bishops and offered to loyal Anglicanswith conscientious difficulties over women’s ministry! But for now, to the Deanery -
Announcing his former Chaplain's surprise elevation, Dr Morgan said "he has been a great help to me and I know he will bring those gifts of tact, strength and commitment to what will be a demanding new role for him" giving rise to suspicions that the new Dean would not be his own man. Compared with other Deans he was not an obvious candidate but many wished him well for taking on the challenge when others steered well clear of the post after Janet Henderson's resignation two months into the job. Dean Capon has not had an easy time and has come in for some criticism. One commentator on this blog suggested that the Dean reads what is written here and has been upset by some comments. I regret that but people in public life are accountable for their actions because of the effect they have on others. I can assure him that no personal criticism is intended and that only those comments which have a genuine bearing on the topic in hand are published here. I am sorry if some comments appear to be insensitive and would therefore urge commentators to be careful to avoid causing unnecessary offence while making salient points.
That being said, what matters most to the author of this blog is Mother Church and the faith of loyal Anglicans who have been cheated out of their inheritance for a feminist ideology which fought under the banner of equality only to bin it in Wales as soon as Barry and his pitiless bunch achieved their goal. For many Anglicans their faith is all. I have witnessed many sad cases where women have felt ostracized for 'keeping the faith'. To deny them the opportunity to worship as they wish is far crueler than any perceived offence to anyone who would seek to deny them what was promised when the ordination of women became a cause. The source of this distress points to Dr Morgan and his appointees.
Not to be ignored in that regard is Barry's propaganda tool the Ass Bishop of Llandaff who believes that women's ordination is "a much needed countersign to a world where women are brutalised in war zones, where gays fear for their very lives in Uganda. Otherwise a homophobic theology encourages homophobic violence; misogynistic theology encourages misogynistic violence". From what is happening in the world, the reverse could be said to be true.
As Christianity is influenced more and more by secular trends a religious vacuum is being exploited by Islam which according to some estimates will, in a generation, become the dominant religion in what is supposed to be a Christian country. Christian values of fairness, justice and charity are ignored by Church leaders at their peril. The ordination of women has not prevented women from being brutalised in war zones. In fact we now constantly read about women being buried alive or raped and sold into slavery.
Meanwhile the Church in Wales continues on its downward spiral mirroring the fate of the Episcopal Church of the United States which the Archbishop tries to emulate and members of the Llandaff diocesan conference play snakes and ladders. A sad end to true Anglicanism in Wales.
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| Photo: Church in Wales |
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