Ministry of Chaos and Complacency: Update

Mr Hammond has suddenly become aware of someone else's problem (watch the clip) and is now determined to find out what has gone wrong so that he can learn lessons and apportion blame. People understand that bad weather has caused enormous difficulties; what they don't understand is why they are kept in the dark. For example, is it beyond the wit of someone on a salary of ?825,000 a year plus insentif of up to ?1.65m to organise a public address system to keep stranded passengers updated instead of having to twitter? The British people are treated like fodder by people on huge bonuses for jobs allegedly well done. Banker is a word that springs readily to mind.

Read More

"Archbishop Barry Morgan throws his mitre into the ring for Canterbury appointment."

The news in the Telegraph that Twitter users are "invited to help choose the new Archbishop of Canterbury" has already produced this interesting response from an alert member of the Church in Wales where their Archbishop has long since been keen to advance his Arch-Liberal credentials:

Timothy William Ivor Thomas reports a conversation recently overheard at Eglwys Dewi Sant, Cardiff. A friend of the assistant bishop has it on very good authority from a personage close to the archbishop?S press office that His Grace intends to make two controversial announcements in his presidential address at next month?S Governing Body meeting. (The same credible source was responsible for the story about His Grace?S desperate but alas, unsuccessful, attempt to persuade the Occupy Cardiff protest to set up camp in his cathedral.)

His Grace intends to put the considerable weight of his Bench of Bishops behind support for gay marriage. All Welsh churches are to be made available for gay marriage ceremonies. So as not to be seen as introducing this measure by the back door, the Bench has already drawn up a gay marriage service for Wales.

David Cameron?S cousin, Bishop Gregory, has hinted that if His Grace is seen by the Prime Minister to be actively promoting in Wales Conservative Big Society policy, his reward may come in a well-placed nomination for a certain job going in Canterbury at the end of the year. That will clear the path for Gregory?S translation to head bishop in Wales. However, not to miss out on a sniff of promotion to the top job in Wales, John Swansea and Brecon

has been doing his bit to champion gay marriage in Wales. ?I can?T see what the all the fuss is about,? Commented Bishop John. He continued, ?A careful reading of scripture clearly shows that Jesus supported gay marriage. In fact his water into wine stunt was actually performed at a gay wedding. If you look at the text in the original Greek, it doesn?T say ?Bride and groom?, but rather ?Bridey and Groom?. Bridey is a clear reference to the far distant relative of Lord Brideshead. Groom was an ancestor of Simon Groom of Blue Peter fame. So Jesus was at the wedding of two chaps Bridey and Groom. What?S the dilema? If Jesus is OK with gay marriage, then so am I.?

Secondly His Grace will introduce the idea of lay presidency in Wales. The recent Harries Commission has noted that across the whole of Wales on average only about 30 people attend each church for about an hour on each Sunday. That means in a given week for six days and twenty-three hours the buildings are empty. Lord Harries noted, "The concept of the priesthood is not founded on Biblical tradition. The New Testament describes the role of the bishop and deacon, but nowhere does it mention priests. So do we really need them now? When the church is strapped for cash we must ask whether we can justify employing someone in the role of priest for one hour per week to behave like a Tesco?S check out girl dispensing the ?Lucky Jesus wafers?? We have to ask ourselves whether all this couldn?T be done by someone from the laity.? The archbishop hopes that by making lay presidency appointments in the parishes it will free up more opportunities for his priests to sit on a number of new diocesan and provincial commissions which will look at why fewer people are attending church these days.

Further support for Archbishop Barry?S campaign to move to Lambeth Palace has come from Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow. Continuing the ?Kaleidoscope country? Theme he developed in his loyal address to the Queen as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Speaker Bercow said, ?Barry Morgan is a kaleidoscope archbishop of a kaleidoscope church in a kaleidoscope country. His kaleidoscope credentials are inclusively impeccable, and he would be the ideal candidate to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury. I look forward to welcoming him to the palace of Westminster when he takes his seat in the House of Lords.?

Read More

Barry's sexist agenda.

The Bunch of 'Bishops'

Charged with drawing up the Code of Practice required to accompany the authorising of women bishops in the Church in Wales, the Archbishop and his bench sitters have, true to form, produced something sexist to provide for the type of woman Barry has encouraged and who will feel comfortable with the result despite the implied intention to make provision for Church members who cannot accept the ordination of women on grounds of conscience. On this occasion he has managed to make all his bench sitters culpable.

Appalled by the deviousness of his Presidential Address I shall confine myself, for now anyway, to commenting on some tweeted remarks from Governing Body which I found interesting:

"What will you do during this Governing Body to build up our church in the body of Christ?' asks Sion in his Bible reflection". - Sounds like a good start!

"The Archbishop begins his Presidential Address and says this time it is a joint address from the Bench of Bishops". - Dire warning; all are culpable.

"Christ's was an inclusive, not exclusive ministry, says the Archbishop. But sometimes the Church has been exclusive,causing schisms" - Barry should know better than most!

"Crucial question is how do we respect difference and diversity within the Church, says the Archbishop" - Listen to those for whom the Code of Practice was supposedly intended?

"Bishops undertook an extensive listening process across the Province as they drew up the Code of Practice" - but turned a deaf ear to anything they did not want to hear.

"The Code of Practice for women bishops is for every single member of the church, not for just one group, says the Archbishop" - One tweeter grasped the point that under the inclusive code, a woman must be able to demand a woman bishop. Belief apparently is irrelevant. Only sex matters.

"We, as your bishops, see Christ at work in all our members, married or single, gay or straight, old or young.' - Archbishop" - Always provided that they are an acceptable minority who do not follow the teaching of the Holy Catholic Church.

"We perceive the call of God in women to all orders, and we are respectful of the faith of those who cannot receive such ministry" - You could have fooled me Archbishop.

"In these issues, as in others, we invite the Church to unite in the greater task of proclaiming the Gospel" - But only as Barry sees it.

The BBC report (here) is as sexist as is the Archbishop's approach to the Code. There is nothing to suggest that objections on grounds of conscience are because the bishops' beliefs differ from those held by the Holy Catholic Church of which we claim to belong.

Postscript:

WALES: The Washed Up World of the Anglican Church of Wales

From Virtueonline here

Read More

What a gay couple of days!

Bishop of Llandaff is surrounded by senior staff                                                      Source: Twitter

A nice little jolly for senior staff in the diocese of Llandaff has been highlighted on Twitter: "The Llandaff Senior Staff are enjoying the hospitality of Mill House Retreat Centre for a couple of days of team building including our new Archdeacon! Down to work!"

No dingy church hall for them. Compare the lifestyle at the top with Ministry Areas struggling to make ends meet and it is clear where priorities lie in the Church in Wales.

Archbishop John Davies was right in his presidentialaddress to members at the recent meeting of the Governing Body when he acknowledged that the church was facing ‘confusing and challenging times’. He urged members to follow the example of people in the Bible by putting their faith in God and acting confidently to make change happen.

There has been a flurry of archdeacon appointments lately. The appointment of the Archdeacon of Margam follows the appointment of an additional Archdeacon in Monmouth to jolly along the switch to Ministry Areas with more advertised in the expectation that they will improve a dire situation.

From 'Ministry Share: A Guide' issued by the diocese of St Davids: "Put simply, it is the financial cost of spreading the Gospel and maintaining ministry in our diocese, shared among all the parishes of St Davids. It is a commitment of our faith, rather than a tax or imposition, which finds its beginnings in the earliest days of the church and a very similar financial pool of funds is described in Acts.

It is more about spreading the load than spreading the Gospel. The widows' mites funding life at the top.

The current position is unsustainable. The guide explains that the funds required for the pool are calculated each year in the diocesan budget. The Bishop and senior staff have to calculate the number of clergy required and this is the biggest single item in the budget.

A commentator pointed out under a previous thread, Taking stock,  "Meanwhile....Cwmbran has gone from 5 full time clergy to a ministry area with no paid clergy since August....a roaring success hey? 5 churches and a CiW school.......but the parish share has remained at over £120K per year.......But at least the governing body will be debating politics soon, that will really help this crisis and grow the Church!

Not all change is for the better it seems.

Postscript [24.04.2018]

Emergency food bank supplies increase in Wales

The number of emergency food bank supplies given to families in crisis in Wales increased by 3% in the past year, figures show. The Trussell Trust food bank network said 98,350 three-day food bags were given out from April 2017 to March 2018 - 35,403 of which were to children.  BBC News report here.

Read More