Another Church in Wales senior appointment

The Archbishop of Wales at the window in HQ which affords distant views of the Salvation Army

DHQ and the Church of St Mary's The Virgin in Butetown .  Source: Church in Wales

Hot on the heels of the Church in Wales advertisement for a Director of Welsh Language and Bilingual Mission (Grade F – £36,225 to £40,986 per annum) comes another bishops' adviser senior appointment. This time for a Director of Education Policy (Grade G – £42,692 to £48,302 per annum).

According to the job description the post holder will be responsible to the Bench of Bishops and the Standing Committee of the Governing Body of the Church in Wales through the Bishop holding the Education portfolio (currently the Bishop of Llandaff) for the content of work. The post-holder will be a senior advisor to the Bishops and will be responsible for ensuring that they are kept well briefed and well-informed about developments in the areas of work covered by this role.

With a bloated bench of  six diocesan bishops for a province the size of a Church of England diocese and no sign of reducing the bureaucracy as recommended in the Harries Review (Section 15), one has to wonder how the bishops spend their time with advisers assisting them with the briefs. Perhaps that is why they are so out of touch, spending time indulging their LGBTI/same-sex marriage obsessions.

In a previous entry, 'The cost of change', I noted that the  bishop of Llandaff, the holder of the Education portfolio, had said, "You can talk about it as a story of decline but actually what it is about is change." So there we have it. More bureaucracy.

While the peasants at the bottom of the pile are urged to dig deeper there is no shortage of money for the lord bishops' advisers.

There is a salutary tale from the US on the decline of the Episcopal Church (here) but the bench continues to look to TEC for support. Their ex-Presiding Bishop is mentoring ♀June and ♀Joanna.

Female bishop mentoring                                 Source: Twitter

Since we were led to expect so much from women bishops it is a bit of a mystery why they need mentoring:

“People were delighted in my appointment because it was fairly unexpected that in a single year the Church in Wales went from having six men as its bishops to a third being women. I can’t tell you the amount of pleasure and delight it causes people. It’s now what we expect, we don’t expect there to be barriers for women. That is as true for spiritual leadership and the church as for medicine or journalism or the boardroom.” - June Osborne.

Not without substantial help apparently. Who is paying the mentoring bill and why choose a woman who has beenexposed for her non-Christian theology?

If there is so much money about might I suggest another senior appointment? Someone who can advise the bench how to get back on track after being derailed by the former archbishop and his heretical mentor. That would be money well spent.

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Church in Wales money tree

New Education Director                                                Source: Church in Wales

According to a Provincial press release the new Education Director will advise the bishops on education policy and support the team of diocesan directors of education in their work with local authorities.

She joins a growing band of additional archdeacons and advisers, freeing the bench to devote even more time to spending other peoples money with the odd jolly thrown in.

Mrs Thomas is currently Head of Bassaleg School, Newport where archbishop John Davies spent his formative years but that can't be held against her. She arrived as Deputy Head in 2004.

Perhaps she could make a start by educating the bench.

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St Asaph Cathedral's turn to face the music

St Asaph Cathedral                                                                                        Source: Church in Wales

The Dean and Chapter of St Asaph Cathedral have released a statement regarding their financial position.

It says “Following a reduction in the budget, which has been under financial pressure for some time, we have had to review our financial position...We can however give our assurances that arrangements will be put in place to ensure that the Cathedral continues to provide the same high standards of music and worship for principal cathedral and diocesan services.”

According to a BBC report the job losses will affect part-time employees, including the cathedral's director of music and his assistant. It is understood the redundancies will not affect any members of the clergy.

No surprise there.

Back in June the Bishop of St Asaphannounced a new line up to the diocesan leadership team:

"Announcing the new team, Bishop Gregory said: 'The retirement of two Archdeacons this year gives us the opportunity to change the role and responsibilities of Archdeacons.  Originally conceived as the bishop’s fixers, we want our archdeacons to lead the renewal of the Church, and to mentor and lead Mission Areas towards growth'."

Growth has been most evident at the top in the Church in Wales with the appointment of extra archdeacons and advisers to assist a bench of bishops busily trying to satisfy the desires of the flesh rather than the needs of the spirit.

One thing the bishops show no inclination to fix is the top-heavy structure as recommended in the Harries Review [15. Dioceses: their number and administration].

From an entry Welsh bishops relegate unity:

Empire building in a declining church appears to be high on the list of priorities for the bench of bishops even though the Church in Wales Review recommended a reduction in the number of dioceses and the associated administrative costs.

From Section 15 of the Review:

"...there is a widespread sense across the church that the Church in Wales is top heavy, with too many committees and too much time spent on simply keeping the institution going as it is."

No change there then.

The bishops of St Davids, St Asaph, Llandaff, Swansea and Brecon (archbishop), Bangor, and Monmouth having a laugh          Source: Premier Christian Radio

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