Church in Wales attendance down 5% 2014-2015

Source: The Church in Wales Membership and Finances 2015

The average Sunday attendance of worshippers over 18 in the Church in Wales dropped another 5% between 2014 and 2015 according to the latest figures published in The Church in Wales Membership and Finances 2015. That represents just 0.9% of the population of Wales.

British Religion in Numbers (BRIN) puts the duduk perkara of declining numbers into perspective. In 2004 the Over 18 average attendance on Sundays was 41,771 making the 2015 figure of 29,019 all the more startling, a fall of 12,752 on the 2004 figure (-31%), but the Church in Wales simply carries on regardless continuing its "Gadarene slide" as VirtueOnline puts it in Viewpoints.

Attempts to bolster numbers by adding 'Non-traditional Acts of Worship' such as Animal blessings, Caf? Churches, Teenscreen clubs and Interfaith engagement have served only to emphasis the decline: "Overall, it would seem that just over 30,000 people in total participate in some form of nontraditional worship, compared with 36,000 in 2014danquot;.

The Membership and Finance Report (pdf) is way down the Agenda at item 19 for the next meeting of the Governing Body of the Church in Wales to be held 14 - 15 September 2016. There will be a Motion: That the Governing Body do take note of this report.

Given the seriousness of the situation one would have thought that 'taking note' of the Report is somewhat short of the mark but with "Evangelism" coming last on the agenda it puts the current state of the Church in Wales in context.

The Report follows "Admission to Holy Communion ? Pastoral Letter " [item 18]. There is no clue as to what surprises the bishops have in store in their Pastoral Letter which is to be "distributed at the time", a device favoured by the bench sitters to avoid anyone with an enquiring mind being forewarned.

This is reminiscent of the same sex marriage manoeuvring and of the women bishops saga which provided a worthless code of practice for anyone who holds their faith in conscience making the forthcomingConference to "preserve the breadth of Anglicanism in Wales" all the more confusing. Dr Morgan has remained true to his word that there would be alternative Episcopal oversight in Wales 'over his dead body'. He retires as Archbishop of Wales in January 2017 so is there to be new life? Simply to carry on as before would make nonsense of the conference.

The un-Christian Jackson/Wigley Amendment to the women bishops legislation established that unlike other Anglican provinces 'provisions for conscience should not be included in the body of  formal legislation' and that 'legislation should not include structural provision to accommodate dissent' thus removing the prospect of any meaningful sacramental and pastoral provision for church members who in conscience could not accept the ministry of women bishops.

It would be absurd to have a male assistant to a woman bishop on whose authority he would act so given that there will be no "structural provision to accommodate dissent" in Wales the way forward must be to allow Society bishops to minister in Wales. The Welsh bishops have alreadyinvited US women bishops to celebrate the Eucharist in the Church in Wales and I see from Item 20 on the GB agenda, "Evangelism ? Report from the Evangelism Conferencedanquot;, that Bishop Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford, was able to lead 2 key sessions. To refuse loyal Anglicans access to Society bishops would not just be uncharitable, it would be hypocritical.

As the Church in Wales continues to decline in numbers the Ordinariate is increasing and is gaining more priests. In this month's edition of New Directions, the Chairman of Credo Cymru (FiF Wales) quotes the previous Archbishop of Wales Rowan Williams who stressed the value of promoting internal ecumenism. By allowing bishops from outside Wales to minister to 'traditionalists' the bench would regain some much needed credibility and provide a reason for worshippers to remain in the Church in Wales.

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Bullying is back on the Agenda

Photo: Church in Wales

Bullying, or 'alleged' bullying, rears its ugly head at the forthcoming meeting of the Governing Body of the Church in Wales.

InQuestion time (Item 16) on Day 2 the Archdeacon of Llandaff continues her campaigning. She demands to know:

"What steps have been taken by the Standing Committee and dioceses to

circulate the (Todd) ?Report on the Representation of Women in the

Church in Wales 2015? To deaneries and parishes, and what actions have

been taken in response to the recommendations?"

This late entrant to the Church seems more intent on advancing the role of women in the Church regardless of merit than proclaiming the Gospel message as received.

The Todd Report was debated at GB last April. Here is a flavour.

Dr Gill Todd (Swansea & Brecon):

"The proposals in the report, she said, were designed to "achieve change and embed gender equality unequivocally in the Church in Wales for ever; and, secondly, to make the Church in Wales recognise the joy that comes from men and women working together in God's name; and the pain that comes from continued discrimination and bullying. A failure to recognise the gifts, calling, and vocation of others is a failure to demonstrate Christlike behaviour."

The Archdeacon also adds her name along the Rev Jan Gould of Llandaff to the question:

"In the light of the final communiqué from the Primates of the Anglican

Communion after their meeting in January, can the Bishops outline how

they propose to respond now to continuing calls by the LGBT members of

the Church in Wales and their supporters for full and equal inclusion and

acceptance?

That anyone from Llandaff could add their names to such a question seems ridiculous from what I hear and read about Llandaff. Granted some commentators complain of not being accepted although no evidence has been produced and I do not know anyone who has experienced it. The question alleges that there is not "full and equal inclusion and acceptance" in which one has to ask, how do all the gay clergy manage to perform their ministry?

On a practical level, if the questioners have the laity in mind, what do they propose? Stewards and welcomers asking, "Excuse me, are you gay?" so that they can give them an affirming hug? When it comes to worship a person's sexuality is irrelevant so why would anyone see the need to flag it?

Such questions are bullying in themselves. They present statements as factual then demand action regardless of proof but it is this statement by Dr Todd which takes the prize for double standards:

"Bullying also played a part in persuading women to leave the Church, she said. Many victims "vote with their feet, and leave the organisation. Unfortunately, they also leave the bully to make the next person's life a misery." [My emphasis -Ed.]

Considering how many worshippers have left the Church, including many devout women, over the ordination of women and the bullying which took place at all levels in order to secure the vote, such statements would be laughable if they were not so pathetic, especially when the prime bully continues to pursue his agenda against the real victims when it is he who is out of step with the teaching of the wider Church.

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Mission Llandaff

Source: Twitter #speakingthegospelintoourcontext

Many of the comments received following my blog entries are centred on the diocese of Llandaff, its Cathedral and its personnel from clerical top to lowly bottom.

The situation in Llandaff is dire. In the Cathedral church there are complaints about poor accounting practices, a lack of openness and bullying tactics being used to counter honestly held opinions expressed for the good of the Cathedral church. Whatever the financial situation it has not prevented the clergy from enjoying four days in Oxford at the expense of Llandaff's pewsters.

Had the discussions in Oxford been about the parlous state of the Church in Wales, especially Llandaff Cathedral, or of the mission of the Church in general, the jolly in Oxford may have been understandable but Mission Llandaff has more to do with the missionary position than mission itself with topics such as "faith gender sex".

After a session on "Every age should look to its own context for our expression of faith" Prof. Diarmaid MacCulloch posed the question: "Is there a theology of sex and marriage?" A popular broadcaster, Prof. MacCulloch was ordained as a deacon in the Church of England but declined ordination to the priesthood because of the church's attitude to his homosexuality, unlike manyclergy today, including bishops, who brazenly flout the rules, putting their own desires before the well-being of the Church.

Following on from the bishops' failed bid to persuade the Governing Body of the Church in Wales to adopt theirstrategy of permitting same sex marriage in church, Mission Llandaff looks nothing more than a blatant attempt to ensure that the Bench's carefully crafted 'not blessing' prayers are used in Llandaff diocese churches, contrary to the decision of worshippers while they are pressed to give more money to support policies they don't agree with.

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