Anglicans unchurched

Readers of this blog will notice an additional link in the right-hand column under the heading 'The Movement for a Renewed Orthodox Anglicanism'.

If you stand with the majority of faithful Anglicans across the globe in prioritising Scripture and the unanimous teaching of the universal Church over secular fashion, you have the opportunity to add your signature to theletter published in the Daily Telegraph on 25 July 2017. It is signed, among others, by the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Rochester, and the Rev Dr Gavin Ashenden, former Chaplain to the Queen.

In the an 'Anglican Unscripted'video discussion (Episode 311), Dr Ashenden urges the unchurched to add their signature to the letter. The reasons why he left the Church of England are explained in the above video. They will be familiar to many who find themselves unchurched with nowhere to go in their locality because most Anglican churches are following the same 'progressive', liberal path.

Gay Anglican clergy have already defied the church's official stance on same-sex marriage. Now the Dean of Southwark Cathedral sends out to those enquiring about the possibility of marking their Civil Partnership in the Cathedral a leaflet which gives the following outline for the marking of a Civil Partnership in the context of a celebration of the Eucharist.

Worrying as this is for orthodox Anglicans in England, the masalah is more acute in Wales where no provision has been made for traditionalists and the bishops have signaled their eagerness to accept same sex marriage.

This is what the the Archdeacon of Llandaff, Peggy Jackson had to say about orthodox Anglicans before Archbishop Barry Morgan elevated her to her current position:

"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."

That coming from an adult convert who ignores the faith of the vast majority of Anglicans worldwide and regards the tiny Province she inhabits as 'the church'. An institution which she and the like-minded manipulate to satisfy their own desires.

'Personal decisions and individual choices' have invariably led to faithful Anglicans becoming unchurched but that does not bother the progressives even when "the boat has taken on so much water as to be on the verge of capsizing" as Pope Benedict XI so aptly put it.

Around 1400 people have added their names to the letter. If you share their concern please add your signature to the letter and encourage others to add theirs.

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Feminizing of the Church in Wales to accelerate?

The launch of MAE Cymru, a 'Charitable Incorporated Organisation' to promote gender equality in the Church in Wales                         Photo: Church in Wales

Mae Cymru's 'charitable' aim along with gender parity and the advancement of all things gay are high on the list of priorities of the first women bishops of Llandaff and ofSt Davids where the Dean of St Davids has announced that he will retire at the Friends Festival on 9th September.

The Canon Residentiary will also be leaving St Davids to become the next Archdeacon of Carmarthen in November leaving two key Cathedral vacancies to be filled with serious implications for attendance on current feminizing trends.

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Prejudice and Pride

The National Trust is said to be facing a membership boycott over their Prejudice and Pride gay campaign.

Reported in the Telegraph: The National Trust is facing a membership crisis over its policy to “out” a country squire and make volunteers at a Norfolk mansion wear the gay pride rainbow symbol. Volunteers at the Jacobean mansion had been told if they refused to wear the gay pride rainbow symbol they would not be allowed to meet and greet visitors to the estate.

The charity has been accused of being excessively politically correct over a high-profile campaign to mark 50 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality.

Scores of Trust members wrote to the Daily Telegraph saying they would either cancel or not renew their membership. A former supporter even said he had removed the charity as a beneficiary in his will.

One long-term volunteer said: "It's very upsetting. We are like a family and this feels like a break up. I don't think Felbrigg will be the same again." She said she did not think the film should have been made because Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer was "a private man".

The question posed at the beginning of the National Trust video is "How do you feel about National Trust promoting the 'Prejudice and Pride' programme? I suspect Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer along with many other homosexuals who just want to lead a quietly normal life would have been horrified by the blatent flaunting of their sexuality.

This blog offers an opportunity to comment on topical news/events with reference to politics, society and religion. Critics rarely, if ever, do so. Instead they comment on the messenger because he refuses to sing from the current LGBT hymn sheet.

It was right that homosexuality was decriminalised but few expected the celebratory consequences with the BBC, the Anglican Church, government ministers and now the National Trust so brazenly advancing the LGBTQI cause.

Updates

[06.08.2017]

'National Trust U-turn over LGBTQ badges at Felbrigg Hall'. Readhere.

[09.08.2017]

'National Trust must return to Core Business'. NT members petition here.

Postscripts

[07.08.2017]

The National Eisteddfod of Wales is an annual Welsh language cultural festival where everyone is welcome, as they are in the church.

Http://www.Bbc.Co.Uk/cymrufyw/40225649

Yesterday on the Feast of the Transfiguration surrounded by impressionable youngsters, "Wales? First woman bishopdanquot; took to the festival stage to deliver a sermon. It was not about poetry or music but LGBTQIA diversity.

Christians in the past have refused to accept lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, etc, she alleged, adding that "we have ignored so many talents and so much talent."

Even if that were so, their numbers in the church render the observation superfluous other than to saturate people with LGBT propaganda in the 'Prejudice and Pride' campaign.

Http://www.Bbc.Co.Uk/cymrufyw/40842360

[09.08.2017]

The Prejudice and Pride assault on the Christian faith continues (H/T Voices for Justice UK).

"In a report of September 2016, Wilton Park (an executive agency of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office) branded religion an enemy of LGBTI rights, and called for state funding to reinterpret the Bible to make it compatible with LGBTI ideology.  It further called for the new belief system to be required teaching in all churches, Sunday schools and theological seminaries, highlighting Evangelical Christians as being especially prejudiced against homosexuality.  It accused them of disseminating hatred and intolerance, seen especially in the pernicious influence of missionaries working in the Global South." Links here and here.

[10.08.2017]

Preschool children targeted. Lesbian behind Disney cartoon pushing LGBT to preschoolers: ?We?Re political?Here.

One of the creators of a Disney cartoon that promoted same-sex "marriagedanquot; to preschoolers has admitted that they specifically aim to promote political messages on the show.

SIGN THE BOYCOTT: Say NO to Disney pushing LGBT agenda to preschoolers here.

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The BBC’s attack on gender puts children at risk

From Coalition for Marriage:

Dear marriage supporter,

It is an ill society which chooses to confuse and worry children in order to appease adults with an extreme agenda. Sadly, our national broadcaster continues to do just this.

This coming Wednesday, August 16th, BBC2 will screen a documentary titled No More Boys And Girls: Can Our Kids Go Gender Free?

In the programme, Dr Javid Abdelmoneim sets out to prove that there are no significant physical or psychological differences between young boys and girls.

To this end a classroom of seven-year-olds is subjected to an experiment in which books with characters “squarely aimed at boys” are thrown away, distinct male and female toilets abolished, and a male make-up artist is brought in to persuade boys to aim for less masculine careers.

Girls vulnerable

The children themselves are horrified at having to share lavatories, with Dr Abdelmoneim admitting that girls feel particularly uncomfortable as a result of the new arrangement.

This is the latest in a series of programmes by the BBC which appear determined to promote transgenderism as a positive, natural development in children.

Last week the Victoria Derbyshire programme renewed its coverage of two pre-pubescent children living as members of the opposite gender.

A nine-year-old boy who uses the name ‘Lily’ is featured along with his friend ‘Jessica’ who is a ten-year-old boy, and ‘Jessica’s’ step-mother who has decided to live as a member of the opposite sex named ‘Alex’.

BBC bias

The BBC’s persistent undermining of children’s natural genders is deeply upsetting for parents and children, as is the claim that gender is a question of feelings and not biology. Without an ability to meaningfully distinguish between man and woman, traditional marriage is greatly undermined.

Under section 6 of its charter, the BBC is required to “provide impartial news and information”. Its editorial guidelines also say:

“When dealing with ‘controversial subjects’, we must ensure a wide range of significant views and perspectives are given due weight and prominence, particularly when the controversy is active. Opinion should be clearly distinguished from fact.”

Raising pre-pubescent children to have no gender or to believe that they are members of the opposite sex is clearly controversial but there is no discernible effort to balance any of the Corporation’s output on the subject.

We believe the BBC’s decision to dispense with editorial impartiality on this issue is a breach of its legal duty. In the coming weeks, the Coalition for Marriage will continue to do all that it can to push the Corporation to demonstrate the balance and neutrality required of it by law.

ENDS

From theMirror:

Star-Cloud being raised as gender fluid                   Source Mirror/Mark Pinder

Family where mum is daddy, dad is mummy and son, 4, is being raised as gender neutral

Star Cloud's mum is Louise, who was born a man but is transitioning to become a woman, while dad is pansexual Nikki, born a woman but who dresses some days as male.

Parents Louise and Nikki Draven are raising Britain’s first gender-fluid family, bringing up their four-year-old son Star Cloud to “not get hung up” on being a boy.

Star’s mum is Louise, who was born a man but having hormone treatment ready to fully transition to a woman. Dad is pansexual Nikki, born a woman but who dresses some days as male and some as female.

Nikki, 30, says: “Neither of us gets hung up on the gender we were born as. “We don’t want our child constrained by that either. We’re just an ordinary family being who we want to be.”

Star is being brought up as gender neutral – told by his parents he is “a person” rather than “a boy”. He is free to wear make-up, paint his nails, pick out boys’ or girls’ clothes and play with dolls.

He will go to school for the first time in September wearing a boy’s uniform – but with pink vest and socks that he has chosen for the occasion.

And the youngster himself says he might grow up to be a man or a woman. But Nikki and Louise’s approach is likely to spark a national debate – on whether the urge not to force his birth gender on Star is projecting their own issues, denying him his true identity.

Full story here.

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Archbishop of Wales

The bishops of St Davids, St Asaph, Llandaff, Swansea & Brecon, Bangor and Monmouth                                                              Source: Church in Wales

One of the bishops in this lineup is destined to become the next Archbishop of Wales when the Electoral College meets in Llandrindod Wells between 5 and 7 September. Many think it a ludicrous title when a mere 0.9% of the population regularly attends Anglicanservices in Wales but it affords its occupier a dignity and status to be milked for all its worth based on the example of the previous office holder.

Given Archbishop Barry Morgan's slavish adherence to the reckless policies of the former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States, I am surprised that he has not suggested that 'Presiding Bishop' would be a more apt title.

Nevertheless, under the Church in WalesConstitution one of the six diocesan bishops is elected Archbishop but not necessarily the one with the biggest hat unless it proves to be Buggins' turn.

Subsequent elections could be a different matter if the bishops ever decide to progress Section 15 of the 2012Harris Report (Dioceses: their number and administration) as eagerly as they have attacked the parish system to introduce Ministry Areas:

"The present number and shape of dioceses may not be ideal. If we were starting again we would have three. However, the present number and configuration works and we think that the Church should continue, at least for the next four years, with the present six dioceses. ... These recommendations should be reviewed after three years, with a view to evaluating the effectiveness of the change."

If there were only three bishops to choose from, the first female Archbishop in Wales would be more likely - or even earlier! Could it be an omen that the latest addition to the bench also carries a crosier?

If it is not to be Buggins' turn I guess there will be another episcopal vacancy next year, possibly two as I also hear that a bishop up North is seeking to escape to England. More women bishops leading to less members on current trends.

After the Llandaff Electoral College farce when the JJ appreciation society attempted to direct proceedings, I hear that lay members of the new College have hatched a nomination plan that would silence the bishops by requiring them to absent themselves from the process before voting.

The former Archbishop launched a review of the role and responsibilities of the "the demanding role", which involves "duties within the church and nationally", mainly of his own making as he carried out his personal, liberal agenda to secularise the Church in Wales.

Whatever the result, the new Archbishop would do well to concentrate on advancing the Kingdom of Heaven instead of an agenda which has resulted in a much reduced membership of 29,000 in the Anglican Church in Wales and falling at a rate of 5% a year out of a population of 3 million souls. A demanding role indeed.

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What a gay day

Source: Twitter

The Gathering is "a safe place for the LGBT+ community in Cardiff to explore the Christian faith". They meet in the "Upper Room" every Sunday evening at the City United Reformed Church in Cardiff.

Added to the list of LGBT highjacking of the rainbow, pride, gay and, more recently, love, it is no surprise to see the Upper Room with its biblical connotations figuring prominently in the latest LGBT+ affirmation by the Church in Wales. A marked contrast with the constant claims of persecution and allegations of not being welcome in the church.

I cannot be alone in having gay friends and acquaintances whom I have met solely through the  church. All are equally appalled at the current media intrusion into their lives.

The music hall humour ofWhat a gay day Larry Grayson in 'Shut that Door' and the like has become open that door with the first woman bishop in the Church in Wales, the so-called 'best person to be a bishop' eager for the LGBT limelight.

What a gay day it promises to be. If the bishops had spent as much time and effort on retaining disillusioned Anglicans as they have promoting LGBTQI they would not have to scour the margins to recruit people who prefer to put their own interpretation on the Bible to support their cause.

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Decision time

The bishops of St Davids, St Asaph, Llandaff, Swansea & Brecon, Bangor and Monmouth                                                                   Source: Church in Wales

The 2012 Church in Wales Review kicked off with two recommendations:

Recommendation I

1) The Governing Body and bishops should make it clear, if

necessary by Constitutional amendment, that motions can come

from parishes, and deaneries (or whatever body might replace

them), to Diocesan Conferences, and from Diocesan Conferences

to the Governing Body, and that such motions would be

welcome.

Recommendation II

Candidates for election to the Governing Body should provide a

short manifesto which would be sent out to all electors by each

diocesan office. All elections in the Church should be conducted

in such a way as to ensure that electors know what the

candidates stand for on the issues of the day.

Looking at the Agenda for the next Governing Body meeting little has changed. However, the spirit of Recommendation I is apparent in the Reverend Harri Williams' Private Members Motion on ‘Admission to Communion’.

From the explanatory note: "Following the publication of the ‘Documents about Admission to Communion’ in September 2016, considerable discussion was held within the Deanery of Roose about the proposed changes. Whilst acknowledging that matters of faith and order are the preserve of the Bench of Bishops, it was recognised that these changes presented significant practical and pastoral considerations, for both clergy and laity, which it was felt had not been fully considered. These discussions voiced concerns which were shared on a wider basis throughout the Diocese."

The background can be read in a March entry, 'Dodgy legal advice leads to Eucharistic free for all'. That was the conclusion of the Rev'd Professor Thomas Glyn Watkin, a former Professor of Law at Cardiff and Bangor and former Legal Assistant to the Governing Body of the Church in Wales.

Professor Watkin wrote: "The interpretation placed upon the rubric by the Legal Sub-Committee not only circumvents the Church's due processes for alteration to rites and discipline. In its consequences, it displays a scant respect for - or an inchoate understanding of - the rule of law in Church affairs."

It will be interesting to see how the bishops respond to genuine concerns expressed in the pews about an enforced alteration to rites and discipline. The bishops were forced to backtrack on their desire to adopt same sex marriage in Church after the pew sitters expressed their concerns illustrating that their liberal agenda is not necessarily shared by members paying the Parish Share which is reflected by a continual fall in regular attendance, down to 28,291 and a reduction in planned giving from £11.4m in 2015 to £11.1m in 2016 - see Membership and Finances 2016 here.

Recommendation II implies openness but that could be used to vet candidates for election to the Governing Body to ensure even more like-mindedness to drive through proposals which do not necessarily reflect the views of the pew sitters. Of the farcical consultations carried out by the Church in Wales the most damaging was the refusal of the bench of bishops to entertain any sort of alternative Episcopal oversight for members who in conscience cannot accept the sacramental ministry of a woman priest. This has become a far greater problem with the appointment of two women bishops.

The bishops of St Davids and Llandaff have clearly stated their liberal agendas with more emphasis on inclusion and parity but with Barry Morgan in retirement, what are the real thoughts of the more senior bishops? Some potted histories are available here but what of their future plans if elected? In the process as described the meeting of the Electoral College will "begin with a discussion on the needs of the Province and a period of prayer and reflection".

They will need to pray about past mistakes and reflect on taking the Morgan line that there would be alternative episcopal oversight over his dead body. Many clergy and lay people have been forced to decide whether they can, in conscience, continue their membership of a church which values only their financial contributions. For many there is no alternative but to stay away. If that sits easily with the collective consciences of the bishops of the Church in Wales they will be seen as wolves rather than shepherds.

The decision must be for a good shepherd who cares for all his sheep.

Updates [06.09.2017]

1. It has been announced that he new Archbishop of Wales is the Rt Rev John Davies, the bishop of Swansea and Brecon. Our prayers must be for the restoration of the Church in Wales, undoing the damage of his predecessor, to ensure that all are welcome with acceptable sacramental and pastoral provision for all those souls neglected for so long.

2. Church in Wales report here.

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