Condemnation of Woolwich murder

ICN has this report, important in the context of this morning's news that at least one 'far right' group, the BNP  (itself, given its essentially fascist / racialist philosophy,  as inimical to our civic freedoms as militant Islam) is attempting to make political capital out of the Woolwich atrocity:

"Representatives from nine faith groups issued a statement last night, following the attack in Woolwich in which a young soldier was savagely killed in the street by two men.
They said: "We, as representatives of many of London's faith communities,  deplore the terrible attack that has taken place today in Woolwich.
All of our religions exalt the sanctity of human life and no grievance could justify such a barbaric assault that has cost a young man his life. Terrorism has no place on our streets. We pray for the victim of this attack and his family, and call for Londoners to stand together at this time.
We will redouble our efforts to work for peace, love, understanding and hope." [a full report of the statement from the Faiths Forum for London is here]

Whatever our view of the origins and essential character of Islam - and Christians cannot but argue that it is in grave error -  it is in no sane person's interests for murderous Islamist militants and 'Koranic fundamentalists' to succeed in driving a wedge between the peaceful majority of British Muslims and the representative institutions and traditional Christian values of our society, ironically with whose ethos many Muslims are far more in tune than the majority of our secularists and liberals.

C of E House of Bishops Statement on Women in the Episcopate

Latest statement from the House of Bishop, May 2013.
"On May 21 2013 the House of Bishops released the following statement on Women in the Episcopate.
"At its meeting in York the House of Bishops of the Church of England has committed itself to publishing new ways forward to enable women to become bishops.
"In its discussion on the issue of women in the episcopate, the House received and approved for publication the report from the Working Group on Women in the Episcopate which was set up on 11 December to prepare new legislative proposals following the General Synod's rejection of the last legislation on 20 November 2012.
"The report of the Working Group presented four new options as a way forward and proposed that the General Synod should consider those options at its meeting in July. The Working Group also proposed a timetable which would involve the legislation starting its formal stages in the Synod in November and receiving Final Approval in 2015.
"The House of Bishops has agreed that the report of the Working Group should be published with a separate report from the Archbishops on behalf of the House setting out the House's recommendations to the General Synod.  The House has also asked the Business Committee of the General Synod to arrange for a substantial amount of time to be available at the General Synod in July for facilitated conversations in small groups before the Synod comes to a decision on the way forward.
"The House also approved the necessary changes in its standing orders to ensure the attendance of senior women clergy at its meetings. These changes were proposed following the House's decision at its meeting in December to ensure the participation of senior female clergy in its meetings until such time as there are six female members of the house, following the admission of women to the episcopate." [The full statement is here]

At least the long discredited fiction has been dropped that, even where the principle of legislation has been given general approval, 'final' General Synod votes, on the detail of legislation, are somehow guided by the Holy Spirit and express the will of God for the Church. 
Clearly and unambiguously this latest Statement tells us that this issue has already been decided. There can be no turning back. The synodical process is simply there to engineer the ecclesial and, conveniently, the secular, establishment's desired result.  
We have reached, on that,  a certain agreement at last...

Terrorist attack in London

A serving British soldier has been hacked to death in the street this afternoon near Woolwich Barracks in London.  Reports suggest he was attacked in the street by two individuals carrying machetes and invoking the name 'Allah'; they were later shot by police officers.
Government sources are now reporting the murder as a suspected Islamist terrorist incident.
The news in more detail and (warning) some shockingly graphic eyewitness reports  here and here 
It's hard to take in the sickening violence of all this, but our first reaction should be to pray for the family of the soldier and for the repose of his soul, and for all who witnessed this most horrific attack.

Scott Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald is in the news, mainly, of course, because of the commercial hype surrounding a recent film release. 
But The Great Gatsby as the definitive American novel? 
As a novelist, in terms of narrative and the psychological treatment and development of character, or simple readability, Fitzgerald isn't a patch on Henry James or even Edith Wharton, or for that matter Melville, Flannery O'Connor, Willa Cather and a host of others - his concerns are just ... once again ... fashionable...

Oklahoma

Our heartfelt prayers for those injured and whose lives have been shattered, for those who mourn the loss of loved ones and for the souls of those who have died in the Moore, Oklahoma tornado

O God, merciful and compassionate, 
who art ever ready to hear the prayers of those who put their trust in thee; 
Graciously hearken to us who call upon thee, and grant us thy help in this our need; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

A strange regression

We are about to witness a strange development in our history.
For the first time since the conversion of England ( the Romano-Celts in the west, the people of what was to become Wales, already adhered to the faith) under St Augustine of Canterbury and his successors, laws will now be passed defining the nature of all marriages and family relationships, and what will be taught about them coercively * to the nation's children, which will run directly counter to the teachings of the Christian Church.
Welcome back to the wonderful pagan Anglo-Saxon world of Woden and Thor; it's lucky we already have days of the week named after them. 

* There is every reason to suppose that this Canadian scenario will also be our experience in Britain; 'live and let live' doesn't seem to form any part of the philosophy of 'equality' campaigners on either side of the Atlantic.

[On a related point, here is a link to a letter written to a community of Carmelite nuns in Argentina by the then Cardinal Bergoglio, when the same issue came before that country's legislature: it may also serve to dispel a few prevalent myths about the present occupant of the Chair of St Peter ]

Mrs Jefferts-Schori does it again

If only to remind us that her career discipline is oceanography, Katherine Jefferts-Schori puts her foot in it again - big time!
Report from Anglican Ink [full story and comment here if you can face it]

 “We live with the continuing tension between holier impulses that encourage us to see the image of God in all human beings and the reality that some of us choose not to see that glimpse of the divine, and instead use other people as means to an end.  We’re seeing something similar right now in the changing attitudes and laws about same-sex relationships, as many people come to recognize that different is not the same thing as wrong.  For many people, it can be difficult to see God at work in the world around us, particularly if God is doing something unexpected.

There are some remarkable examples of that kind of blindness in the readings we heard this morning, and slavery is wrapped up in a lot of it.  Paul is annoyed at the slave girl who keeps pursuing him, telling the world that he and his companions are slaves of God.  She is quite right.  She’s telling the same truth Paul and others claim for themselves. But Paul is annoyed, perhaps for being put in his place, and he responds by depriving her of her gift of spiritual awareness.  Paul can’t abide something he won’t see as beautiful or holy, so he tries to destroy it.  It gets him thrown in prison.  That’s pretty much where he’s put himself by his own refusal to recognize that she, too, shares in God’s nature, just as much as he does – maybe more so!  The amazing thing is that during that long night in jail he remembers that he might find God there – so he and his cellmates spend the night praying and singing hymns.

An earthquake opens the doors and sets them free, and now Paul and his friends most definitely discern the presence of God.  The jailer doesn’t – he thinks his end is at hand.  This time, Paul remembers who he is and that all his neighbors are reflections of God, and he reaches out to his frightened captor.  This time Paul acts with compassion rather than annoyance, and as a result the company of Jesus’ friends expands to include a whole new household.  It makes me wonder what would have happened to that slave girl if Paul had seen the spirit of God in her..."

Full text [here]

So, a big slap on the wrist for St Paul, then, clearly not signed up sufficiently to the equality and diversity programme as applied to those suffering from demonic possession, not to mention his gross interference with the property rights of those who traffic in slaves and employ forced labour - see, we can all be up-to-date if we try.... even if we don't all make a fetish out of the UN Millennium Development Goals.

As we have come to expect from this particular quarter (this latest address of KJS might even elicit a yawn were it not so execrably theologically illiterate) it's not exactly what one might call an orthodox exegesis ..... setting one's self up as judge over the example and witness of the apostles seldom achieves that end. 
The first rule of homiletics is that if you have to twist a text in order to make it fit your preconceived argument, then choose another text...

Hilariously, the TEC 'Presiding Bishop's' address was given in Curaçao; had she been drinking some beforehand, I wonder? That would be a charitable explanation...
All this, of course,  will help the ecumenical process no end; I would love to be a fly on the wall when they come across reports of her sermon in the Moscow Patriarchate....

But back to Chapter 16 of the Acts of the Apostles: I much prefer this interpretation:; it's a good retelling of the story, and it doesn't do violence to the Scriptural text, or to the Faith itself. 

Ordinary Time: Salve Regina - Peter Philips

To mark the beginning of  'Ordinary Time,'  a setting by the Tudor composer Peter Philips of the traditional Marian anthem for the end of compline.

Sung by The Tudor Consort, directed by Peter Wallis

We've remarked before about the abrupt transition after Pentecost from Eastertide to Ordinary Time in the modern calendars - we have from the Ascension to pray for and anticipate the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church at Pentecost,  but only have a day in which to celebrate and reflect upon it in the liturgy. 
'Fr Hunwicke's' (Tufton Books / Church Union) Ordo suggests a way of recapturing the spirit (sorry) of the old  Octave of Pentecost, at least as regards the daily mass.

The Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham

The Holy House at the Anglican Shrine

An address given at St Vladimir's Seminary, New York by Bishop Keith Ackerman SSC [On a audio link here]
Highly recommended (thanks to Bishop David Chislett's blog, Streams of the River]

There's sensitivity and there's cultural suicide

From the (almost local) Bristol Post:

"The flag of St George will not be flying over Radstock any time soon after town councillors decided it was inappropriate because of its links with campaigns against Islam hundreds of years ago...."Read it all here

Well, if that 's the case, then we should consider a complete ban on the crescent symbol of Islam, if only because of its 'links' with the Muslim campaign to subjugate Western Europe in the eighth century. It puts the (in comparison)  rather feeble later attempts to recapture and then defend the Christian holy places in Palestine into perspective.   
Emir Abd er Rahman's  campaign was only halted by the victory of Charles Martel's Frankish army near the city of Poitiers (actually closer to Tours) in 732 - not that far from Radstock, when one thinks of the distance already covered by the advancing Arabs.
If there is anything worse than a politically correct fool, it's one without any knowledge of history. Given the existence of local elections, I suppose the people of Radstock get what they deserve...

Appropriate sensitivity to the faith of religious minorities is simply part of a charitable Christian concern for their welfare, and of a duty to maintain and defend the essentially tolerant civilisation of the West - something has been learned from the mistakes of the past; however, self-hatred born of ignorance leading to cultural suicide is another matter altogether.

The statue of Charles Martel in the Palace of Versailles

Robert Herrick: Litany to the Holy Spirit

Litany to the Holy Spirit
  
IN the hour of my distress,  
When temptations me oppress,  
And when I my sins confess,  
      Sweet Spirit, comfort me!  

When I lie within my bed,          
Sick in heart and sick in head,  
And with doubts discomforted,  
      Sweet Spirit, comfort me!  

When the house doth sigh and weep,  
And the world is drown'd in sleep,   
Yet mine eyes the watch do keep,  
      Sweet Spirit, comfort me!  

When the passing bell doth toll,  
And the Furies in a shoal  
Come to fright a parting soul,   
      Sweet Spirit, comfort me!  

When the tapers now burn blue,  
And the comforters are few,  
And that number more than true,  
      Sweet Spirit, comfort me!   

When the priest his last hath pray'd,  
And I nod to what is said,  
'Cause my speech is now decay'd,  
      Sweet Spirit, comfort me!  

When, God knows, I'm toss'd about   
Either with despair or doubt;  
Yet before the glass be out,  
      Sweet Spirit, comfort me!  

When the tempter me pursu'th  
With the sins of all my youth,   
And half damns me with untruth,  
      Sweet Spirit, comfort me!  

When the flames and hellish cries  
Fright mine ears and fright mine eyes,  
And all terrors me surprise,   
      Sweet Spirit, comfort me!  

When the Judgment is reveal'd,  
And that open'd which was seal'd,  
When to Thee I have appeal'd,  
      Sweet Spirit, comfort me!   

Robert Herrick (1571 - 1674)


Peter Hurford's setting of Herrick's poem (the first three verses) sung here by the Boys Choir of Southwark Cathedral:




So Eastertide ends ...

'Modernisers' - by definition, those who don't know when to leave things alone...

My apologies for a very slow blogging week; the parish has been busy, not least with two funerals, the last being a packed funeral mass for a retired priest and friend. It's been an emotionally draining few days, one way or another. Are we, as clergy, allowed to admit to that...?

But, today, I couldn't resist linking to this article by Tom Chivers in The Telegraph, illustrative of  the cultural cringe which has become an obligatory reaction from almost every established institution in Britain.

"....I know, it’s startling. But this week a small group of downtrodden aristocracy wrote to The Daily Telegraph, describing the system as “outdated and manifestly unfair”. The laws of succession were recently changed to allow Royal daughters to take the throne ahead of their younger brothers, and, they say, it is time to spread equality of the sexes to the country’s hereditary titles. At the moment, daughters are excluded from inheriting most titles and estates......"
".....Now, it might be odd to claim you’re on the wrong end of the inequality seesaw when you own a decent fraction of Britain solely because your great-great-something-great grandfather killed more Danes in defence of sixth-century Wessex than yours did. The feudal system, after all, was not noted for its concern for gender politics. If you got your job because a divinely appointed monarch tapped your ancestor on the shoulder with a sword, you’re not operating under the same employment laws as the rest of us......"
".....But we shouldn’t mock. There’s something lovely about it, about the great and fantastically ancient institutions of Britain slowly turning, like liveried, velvet-bedecked oil tankers, towards modernity, while trying to keep their ancient character. The Royal family has a Twitter account. The House of Lords has started putting its debates up on YouTube. Even the Telegraph has a website these days, I gather.
Is equality for aristocrats a bridge too far? Perhaps. After all, if you take the “outdated and manifestly unfair” stuff out of nobility, it’s not clear much is left. But too late: the noble revolution has begun. To the barricades, my aristocratic sisters! Liberté, égalité, hérédité!"
The full post is here

This is the just the latest, if most bizarre, example of a trend which has been gathering pace for years - a Church which has bowdlerised its liturgy, jettisoning the numinous, sacral language of the past and sitting lightly to 'outdated' credal formularies and moral theology alike; more recently, a 'Conservative Party' which favours gay marriage and other manifestations of the equality agenda oblivious to the consequences for freedom of speech and belief; and now hereditary peers and 'feudal aristocrats' who seem, somewhat counter-intuitively, determined to 'turn towards modernity' and do away with male primogeniture.

'We shouldn't mock,' Tom Chivers argues. No, actually I think we really should.....

General Synod Elections and beyond

The Conservative Evangelical, The Revd John Richardson has this to say on the subject of the General Synod elections in the dioceses of the Church of England:

"..Certainly, however, it bears out the prognosis of many (and a statement made to me by a leading Anglican theologian) that there has been an agenda: defeat the Anglican Covenant, get women bishops, get LGBT inclusion...." [The full post is here]

That the one should inexorably move on from the other should not be a huge surprise to anyone (as I'm sure it's not for John Richardson himself)  .......  but for goodness' sake, surely by now ......
Is there anyone who still adheres to that myopic view that what happens in the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A. has no relevance on this side of the Atlantic? As they say over there, get real!
Are there still those out there who deny the existence of a liberal agenda? Conspiracy theories on one side, there may not always have been in existence a fully organised liberal agenda (although there certainly is now)  but theological liberalism itself certainly does have a definite agenda to promote. The distinction in terms of the consequences for the life of the Church is ... academic.

The long-term question - and the most interesting one - is what a triumphant 'liberal agenda' will look like when it has completely captured the ecclesial institution and can no longer act as a parasite on the theological orthodoxy of the past... or blame it for present realities. 
Time will tell, and I suspect we will all live to see it. 

.......................

Someone asked a question with regard to yesterday's post (related to the post above in so many ways ...)  concerning the absence of our ecclesiastical leaders when it comes to defending the Christian heritage of the West: no, I certainly hadn't overlooked the prophetic witness of Pope Benedict XVI. 

His address to the assembled worthies in Westminster Hall during his visit to England and Scotland in 2010 bears repeated reading, in that he appears to understand British history far better than our elected representatives and contemporary cultural elite.

The tragedy is that on British soil, all too often in recent years any defence of the Judeo-Christian heritage, and those who adhere to it, has been left to the Chief Rabbi.  He has done a sterling job, but couldn't  someone wearing a mitre give him a hand sometimes?
Today is the Feast of St Matthias...

What does this say about the state of our political culture?

In an interview (reported here in The Telegraph) Sarah Teather, a former education minister in the Coalition Government, speaks of the difficulties of being a Christian in the Liberal Democrats:

“There are an awful lot of people in my party with a strong religious faith, but there is also an aggressively secular strand amongst our activists, typical of any centre-Left party,” the MP tells the Catholic Herald.
“I sometimes describe myself to people as a liberal Catholic and a Catholic liberal. Both can be hard places to inhabit.”

Most worryingly, then,  these are difficulties experienced not by a conservative religious believer or any kind of 'traditionalist' but by someone who is a self-described 'liberal Catholic.' 

If even liberal Roman Catholics are now finding it hard to survive in British politics, in the party once headed by the High Church (Tractarian) Anglican, W.E. Gladstone, what does this say about the direction in which the culture of our public life is heading? 
It is now quite conceivable that in the not-too-distant future no Christian (at least one who is in any way concerned by or uncomfortable with contemporary trends over the increasingly aggressive promotion of abortion, assisted suicide, the State's redefinition of marriage and the attempted marginalisation and exclusion of those who dissent - in other words anyone who adheres to traditional Christian moral theology) will be able in good conscience to serve in any of our (current) major political parties, whether of the left or, due to Mr Cameron's bouleversement, the right. 
As for the LibDems,  trading the moral principles of Mr Gladstone for those of Dr Evan Harris seems a step in the direction of an evident intellectual and moral decline, if not of an utter degeneracy - something which should in itself invite oblivion at the ballot box (which, for other reasons, is a not impossible prospect.)

Again, we are back to the essential problem that the modern 'left' (even, it seems, the centre-left - if that is actually where the LibDems can now be said to reside) has forsaken the imperative of giving priority to policies which aim to improve the social and living conditions of the poorest in society, for the politically far easier, yet much more culturally destructive, option of pursuing the 'social Marxist' politics of sexuality and equality, increasingly the metaphorical day-glo badge of respectability for the affluent politically-aware middle classes. The right, taking its cue from Barack Obama's victory over Mitt Romney in the U.S.A., rather than on any matter of conviction, has evidently decided that the worst of all prospects is to be seen by the Twitterati as being 'on the wrong side of history,' whatever that nebulous phrase happens to mean - it was used in the 1930s to somewhat different effect.

However, one also has to ask, where has the voice of the Church been while this situation has been developing over the last couple of generations? Christians who are prepared to be open about their faith, and serious in their practice of it, are in clear danger, if current trends continue as expected, of being excluded completely from the public square in Britain - and the silence of our leaders, of all traditions, * is deafening .... 
Perhaps one now has to resign  or retire to speak about such things.

[*There are one or two honourable exceptions]

'Liturgical' introductions & all that jazz...

The parish put on a fundraiser last night in the form of a (very enjoyable) jazz concert given by the Paul Sawtell Quintet.
It's interesting  how human beings in virtually any situation need, gravitate towards and, if necessary, come to invent structure, routine, ritualised form and order (even in the relatively - if deceptively - 'free' medium of jazz )  - promoters of informality in worship, clergy who suffer from raging 'game-show host syndrome' and, of course, all budding liturgists, please note
.
One of the well-established  traditions of jazz is the introduction of the performers.
I hope they forgive me, but, I'm afraid I couldn't resist this example (spot the prophetic 'Private Eye' reference to David Cameron) :




And an example of the real thing, a piece by Dave Brubeck, who died at the end of last year, called Forty Days - as recommended by a friend: 
'“Forty Days” was originally composed as a part of Dave Brubeck’s oratorio, though it received its premiere by Brubeck’s quartet on the Columbia LP Time In. Initially recorded as a brisk, extended instrumental, the pianist brings to mind the wandering of Jesus Christ in the desert alone for 40 days...'

Sing We of the Blessed Mother

Sing we of the blessed Mother 
Who received the angel’s word,
And obedient to his summons 
Bore in love the infant Lord;
Sing we of the joys of Mary 
At whose breast that child was fed
Who is Son of God eternal 
And the everlasting Bread.

Sing we, too, of Mary’s sorrows, 
Of the sword that pierced her through,
When beneath the cross of Jesus 
She his weight of suffering knew,
Looked upon her Son and Saviour 
Reigning high on Calvary's tree,
Saw the price of man's redemption 
Paid to set the sinner free.

Sing again the joys of Mary 
When she saw the risen Lord,
And in prayer with Christ’s apostles, 
Waited on his promised word;
From on high the blazing glory 
Of the Spirit’s presence came,
Heavenly breath of God’s own being, 
Manifest through wind and flame.

Sing the chiefest joy of Mary 
When on earth her work was done,
And the Lord of all creation 
Brought her to his heavenly home;
Virgin Mother, Mary blessed, 
Raised on high and crowned with grace,
May your Son, the world’s redeemer, 
Grant us all to see his face.

George B. Timms 1910 - 1997

O Mary,
recall the solemn moment when Jesus,
your divine Son, dying on the Cross,
confided us to your maternal care.

You are our Mother;
we desire ever to remain your devout children.
Let us therefore feel the effects of your powerful intercession with Jesus Christ.
Make your name again glorious in Walsingham,
once renowned throughout our land by your visits,
favours, and many miracles.

Pray, Holy Mother of God,
for the conversion of England,
restoration of the sick,
consolation for the afflicted,
repentance of sinners,
peace to the departed.

O Blessed Mary, Mother of God,
Our Lady of Walsingham,
intercede for us.  Amen.

Almighty Father, giver of life and health: 
Look mercifully, we beseech thee, on the sick and suffering, 
especially those for whom our prayers are desired, 
that by thy blessing upon them and upon those who minister to them, 
they may speedily be restored to health, if it be thy gracious will, 
and give thanks to thee in thy holy Church;
 through Christ our Lord. Amen

After The Third Collect (Eric Milner-White)

The rudeness of trolls

"Is it .... dead? No, I don't think so - just knocked out ..."
from Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone



Live by the sword and die by it, I suppose, but the rudeness of some internet trolls, particularly the anonymous or pseudonymous kind, can sometimes be hard to take, even if we pride ourselves in having developed the hide of a rhinoceros. 
Actually libellous examples of the art of 'trolling' - you know who you are - are, of course, routinely deleted, but it's always up to now been the policy here to allow most anonymous comments simply because there can be occasions when people have a very good reason for not wanting to declare their identities. 
I suppose what I really mean is we should - all - try to be more polite to one another, however sorely provoked we may consider ourselves to be ....  or however indignant we may feel in defence of others. The modern tendency towards vicarious victimhood isn't a sin, as such, but it's incredibly tiresome and leads us only into festering resentments.

There's a passage from Cardinal Seán O'Malley's recent homily after the Boston bombings which should resonate with us all... 

"...Like Christ our Good Shepherd, we who aspire to be Jesus’ disciples and to follow His way of life, we too must work to gather the scattered, to draw people into Christ’s community. It is in His Gospel that we find the answers to the questions of life and the challenging ideals that are part of discipleship; mercy, forgiveness, self sacrifice, service, justice and truth. ..."

If we can't try to build a civilisation of life and love, who else will...?  We can begin that even by the manner in which we - honestly and robustly - disagree

One of 'the best jobs in the country?'

From Country Life [here].... A profound bow, if not a genuflection, in the direction of my famous colleague!
We look forward to reading more about this at All Gas and Gaiters...

Crisis in the Diocese of Llandaff?

The Dean of Llandaff, the Very Revd  Janet Henderson, has resigned after only two months in the post.  
Wales Online reports [here] on the alleged opposition among 'some clergy' to a female dean - one can take that with a certain (very large) pinch of salt, disinformation being the order of the day in some circles, given the regrettable but inevitable politicisation of such appointments in the contemporary Church in Wales, a province increasingly driven by a radical revisionist agenda.

It's not easy to ascertain exactly what has been happening in the Diocese of Llandaff - different people  will tell you different stories -  but it's always far more complicated than anyone is prepared to say ..... after all, there are agendas to be promoted here... and scapegoats to be found...
For instance, what does this extremely naive and at the same time politically loaded journalistic comment imply: "We have seen a blog posting by a clergyman in Wales taking issue with Dean Henderson’s appointment at the time it was announced"?

[Update: as Ancient Briton has pointed out, any attempt to link Dean Henderson's resignation to opposition to a woman holding such a post is undermined by the administrative arrangements set in motion following her resignation. 
Moreover,  as can be seen from this post, at the time of her appointment  traditionalists in Wales (not generally in positions of much influence these days) were far more concerned about the then Archdeacon Henderson's reported attitude towards provision for traditionalists in the continuing women bishops debate than in anything else.]

Whatever our theological point of view may be, this development is extremely sad on a personal level, and we should feel and, far more importantly, pray, for the Archbishop and all those most closely involved, most particularly for the former Dean herself, who - reading between the lines of  the newspaper report above - and other less public comments - has clearly been the recipient of an almost impossible legacy, one which has little or nothing  to do with the fact that she is a woman:

"The Archbishop of Wales has, with enormous sadness, accepted the resignation with immediate effect of the Very Rev’d Janet Henderson as Dean of Llandaff.  He has, in the meantime, asked the Archdeacon of Llandaff, the Venerable Peggy Jackson, as the senior member of the Chapter, to have necessary oversight of the Cathedral on his behalf, until a new Dean is appointed." [here]

New statistics, old narratives

Some news stories following the Bank Holiday weekend.....

Latest Church of England worshipping figures [here]  a 'curate's egg' if ever there was one.  Not wholly negative but, of course, people do like going to church at Christmas - it forms part of that seasonal experience...

"Eastern imperialism" - how the new great power on the block tries to extend it's influence - it's the "economy, stupid!" [here]

From Scotland on Sunday [here] former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, urges  evangelicals in the Church of Scotland not to walk away over the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals to the Kirk's ministry. Is there a Gaelic word for indaba?  Anyway, keep the frog talking until the water boils; it may not always be the intention, but the end result is the same....

Miranda Thelfall-Holmes ties herself in knots over the question of the two-thirds majority requirement for final synodical legislation [here] Horror of horrors, the Anglican Covenant, that doomed experiment in trying to fit brakes to a runaway vehicle, might have succeeded  ....
What about a more radical suggestion?  - Suspend synodical government altogether. To adapt the old BT commercial, it's not always good to talk ... (and its lethal to vote....)

And an interesting exchange about 'modern' traditionalism and (in the pre-reformation sense) 'conciliar Catholicism'  [here] Of appeal to those of us who are essentially  - and desperately unfashionably these days  - 'mass and office' Anglo-Catholics.