The Church of England Labour Party

The Church of England has issued a pastoral letter – a euphemism for thinly disguised propaganda designed to nudge the unwary into trendy ecclesiastical green socialism – to guide the British public on which party to vote for in the forthcoming election.

As this article notes, the letter is ‘a combination of the policies of the Greens, SNP and the Labour Party.”

Even more damaging is this:

In a particularly cutting remark former Tory minister Lord Tebbit, after describing the Bishops as “mostly wrong” said, “In my experience, when people are not doing very well in their own job, they become very much better at telling other people how to do theirs.”

Tebbit is correct. The Church of England bishops have made such a calamitous mess of the Church of England that it is astonishing that they have the chutzpah to think that anyone would listen to their recipe for creating a better society.

Even worse, a non-Christian who reads this letter and does not share the bishops’ leftist bias – who thinks they are “mostly wrong” – has no reason to listen to anything else the bishops might say: the message of the Gospel, for example, a smattering of which is contained in the letter. By playing at politics, the bishops are jeopardising the souls of those to whom they should be offering the apolitical salvation of Jesus Christ.

Much of what is in the letter is twaddle. The social cohesion the bishops would like to see flourish cannot be achieved through politics. When it existed, it was a result of a common understanding that the moral foundation the society was Christianity. The Church should have defended this with all its might; instead, it pandered to the false gods of diversity, inclusion, equality, eco-justice, multiculturalism and inter-faith nonsense.

Politics alone cannot correct this and, sadly, on the spiritual side of the battle the church has already capitulated to the enemy.

What it takes to be a heroic vicar in the Church of England

According to Giles Fraser, a fellow – albeit rather strange – vicar, all it takes is to be “married” to another man and admit to meeting interesting people while dogging. For the sheltered few who are unacquainted with the unappetising term dogging, it’s something most self-respecting dogs would have little interest in:

the practice of carrying out or watching sexual activities in semi-secluded locations such as parks or car parks, often arranged by e-mail or text messages.

From here:

Heroes of 2014: Richard Coles

A happily partnered gay vicar, former pop star and cool radio presenter, Richard Coles is the patron saint of psychological integration.

Most trendy pop stars don’t ask for a new washer-dryer when being signed by their record label. Most Anglican vicars don’t admit to having met the most delightful people out dogging. How does Richard Coles get away with it, with being so many things at he same time?

Pop star and vicar. Lanky, awkward country bumpkin crossed with politically engaged boy-about-town. Confidently high and low brow. Both Radio 4 and Magic FM. A happily partnered gay man in a still deeply homophobic institution. Beneath the effortless exterior of radio-presenter cool must lie a plate spinner of Olympic talent.

Or maybe that should be past tense, because his national treasure status is partly built on the ability to integrate a set of comedy polarities into one quirky and glorious whole. Which means there is always hope for the rest of us. And not just fellow vicars – but everyone who thinks and feels several different and often seemingly contradictory things at the same time: ie everyone. He has become the patron saint of psychological integration.

What excites Giles Fraser’s imagination – well, other than dogging of course – is our hero’s capacity for living with inner conflict, the only virtue left for liberal Anglicans whose chief delight lies in embracing the anarchy of professing one set of beliefs while living by the light of their opposites: anti-existential Anglicanism.

Former Bishop of Oxford wants the Koran read at the next coronation

It’s uncommon for an Anglican bishop to say something clear. When one does, my conviction that most Western Anglican bishops are working hard to hasten the demise of the religion they have vowed to defend is rarely disabused.

From here:

The former Bishop of Oxford, Lord Harries of Pentregarth, has said readings from the Koran should feature in the next Coronation, when Prince Charles succeeds to the Throne.

Here is the interview:

One in 50 Church of England clergy don’t believe in God

In what can only be understood as a latent death wish, the Church of England employs vicars who are atheists, don’t believe God is personal, don’t believe God can be known and don’t believe Jesus is the only way to the Father.

At the same time, the church, obstinately blind to the obvious, is bewildered by the dramatic decline in Sunday attendance: a recent report states, ‘there is no single recipe for growth; there are no simple solutions to decline.’

From here:

One in 50 Anglican clergy in the UK believes God is merely a human construct, according to a new survey today.

Just eight in ten believe there is a personal God and a further three in 100 believe there is some spirit or life force.

And in spite of two millennia of Church doctrine based on determining the mind of God through the Scriptures, nearly one in ten believes: “No-one can know what God is like.”

The YouGov survey of more than 1,500 Anglican clergy commissioned by the Westminster Faith Debates for the current series on the future of the Church of England shows growing acceptance for other faiths, with more than four in ten believing that while Christianity is the “best path” to God, other religions may offer paths as well.

I wish someone would run a similar survey for the Anglican Church of Canada.

Bishop of Gloucester, Michael Perham under investigation for sexual assault

From the BBC:

The Bishop of Gloucester has been interviewed by police investigating two allegations of indecent assault.

The Right Reverend Michael Perham announced on Friday he was to “step-back” from his duties with immediate effect.

A 66-year-old man attended a police station in Gloucester on Tuesday but was not arrested, police said.

The Diocese of Gloucester said as it was a police matter it would not be commenting further.

The Church of England, demonstrating that it really can move quickly when it has the proper motivation, has changed the web page for the Bishop of Gloucester to say this:

Perham after

Until very recently the page looked like this:

Perham before

In case anyone is tempted to jump rashly to the wrong conclusion, the Church of England categorically denies that its bishops are carefully selected from a genetic pool known for its involuntary, excessive, prurient, lascivious and frequently deviant interest in sex, one that is matched only by overpaid celebrities and Catholic bishops. Stop laughing.

Justin Welby hopes women bishops won’t be an ecumenical stumbling block

From here:

In a letter sent to Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said he hopes the vote to allow the ordination of women bishops would not prove a stumbling block to future “full communion” between the Anglican and Catholic churches.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the Most Rev Justin Welby admitted in the letter that the vote at the General Synod earlier this month to allow women bishops was a “further difficulty” as far unity is concerned.

In the letter to Francis and other church leaders from around the world, the Archbishop said: “We are aware that our other ecumenical partners may find this a further difficulty on the journey towards full communion.

“There is, however, much that unites us, and I pray that the bonds of friendship will continue to be strengthened and that our understanding of each other’s traditions will grow. It is clear to me that whilst our theological dialogue will face new challenges, there is nonetheless so much troubling our world today that our common witness to the Gospel is of more importance than ever.”

I’m sure Justin Welby is correct in saying that a unified witness to the Gospel is needed now more than ever. It seems to me, though, that when the Church of England voted in favour of women bishops, they were setting their own parochial agenda above the unified witness to the Gospel to which they claim to be so committed. Justin Welby was not ignorant of the fact that ordaining women bishops would further fracture Christian unity: women bishops were more important that a common witness to the Gospel and, in that sense, more important than the Gospel itself.

I agree with Peter Tatchell

This once.

Peter Tatchell has threatened to expose Church of England bishops who have same-sex partners themselves yet discipline clergy who do the same. Not a bad idea providing it doesn’t become gay bishop McCarthyism.

From here:

Gay rights activist Peter Tatchell has put together a list of Anglican bishops he believes are in same-sex relationships and is threatening to out them publicly if they discipline homosexual clergy for marrying their partners.

The warning comes after hospital chaplain Jeremy Pemberton had his license to preach revoked last month by the acting Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham Richard Inwood after marrying his partner Laurence Cunningham earlier this year.

Mr Tatchell’s decision to compile a dossier of evidence echoes the tactic his campaign group OutRage! carried out 20 years ago when it exposed 10 Anglican bishops as being gay at the 1994 General Synod. He said his aim now, as it was then, is “self-defence” and that he wants to expose church hypocrisy and defend the homosexual community against bishops who endorse anti-gay discrimination.

Although he has not decided whether to reveal his evidence, the veteran campaigner is preparing the groundwork.

“There are names on the list already,” Mr Tatchell told The Independent  on Friday.

Church of England is underpaying its employees

The Church of England is keen to point out to employers that they should pay their employees a living wage:

The Living Wage is a voluntary undertaking by employers to pay their lowest paid staff more than the statutory minimum wage, which is currently £6.19 per hour for workers aged 21 and over. This covers contracted and sub-contracted workers, as well as directly employed staff.

The current Living Wage is £8.55 per hour in Greater London and £7.45 per hour in the rest of the UK.

It is much less keen to follow its own advice, though:

The Church of England, is paying more than 70 of its own workers less than the living wage – despite lecturing employers about their duty to pay higher salaries.

The care and cleaning staff, employed running sheltered housing schemes for retired clergy, earn less than the ‘living wage’ which the Church urges all companies to pay.

The living wage is supposed to ensure that families can afford food, clothes and rent.

What is more, the CofE believes that executives who are too well paid are threatening to disrupt societal harmony:

The church, which has £8bn invested in some of the world’s biggest companies, said executive pay had become so excessive it was a risk to maintaining a harmonious society.

If the executive in question works for the Church, then the rules the church would like to sanctimoniously foist upon secular capitalists don’t apply:

The CofE’s highest paid staff member is General Synod Secretary-General William Fittall, who is on over £150,000 a year, more than the Prime Minister. Since the Church is a charity, this salary puts Mr Fittall among the very best rewarded charity executives.

There is no hypocrisy so grossly conspicuous as religious hypocrisy; in spite of all its other bumbling, the Church of England is doing at least this one thing well.

The reason the Church of England will have women bishops

It has nothing to do with theology, God, revealed truth, what the Holy Spirit is saying, justice, what the Bible says or what the rest of the Anglican Communion thinks.

It is very simple: the Church of England will have women bishops because it has caved in to the Spirit of the Age. What is more, it wants to make conspicuous its obeisance to the zeitgeist by observing the fashionable pieties of equality, inclusion and feminism with maniacal enthusiasm.

Whatever the theological rightness or otherwise of women bishops, the CofE has decided in favour of them for the wrong reason. Next, for the same wrong reason, will come openly same-sex partnered bishops, followed by redefining marriage to include same-sex couples, accelerated decline and final oblivion. RIP CofE.

UK: An Anglican Church with its own post office

In the UK, post offices and churches are both in decline. St. James in West Hamstead has decided – not unlike Canadian Anglican and Lutheran denominations – to pool its decline with the post office’s so they can wither away together.

St. James is an inclusive church:

We are Inclusive Churches welcoming all regardless of age, gender, background, ethnicity, disability or sexuality. We take pride in being progressive in our support for the inclusion of all people in the Church of God – gay or straight, male or female, black or white, old or young.

Now it even includes a post office.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKXpKQqnAr4

If the church used this as a method of spreading the good news of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, it could be a good thing. As it is, the vicar seems to be more interested in meetings, gatherings, social events and debt counselling.

Interestingly, the vicar is Rev Andrew Cain who recently married an atheist – an atheist who also happens to be a man. The good news for him is, if his bishop fires him, he can always work in the post office.