Hello Again!

11th.cent Roman Catholic Canterbury 

As you will have seen I have been taking an extended holiday from blogging. This has been a period of ongoing preparation and discernment during Lent, Easter and into Pentecost for what the future might hold both personally and for those of us in Wales who hold hard to the traditions within Anglicanism which have nurtured and sustained us so far. No, we have not faded away, nor will we, but our ecclesial life is certainly diminished and made difficult since alternative episcopal care was summarily withdrawn by the bench of Bishops of the Church in Wales. It is worth asking oneself how do you function without  a Bishop whose sacramental and pastoral care one can share in? (C of E readers take note because realistically this will be your destiny too). During this period of standing back and waiting upon God it has become clear to me that we have now moved to a new ground in the ecclesial life of both Wales and England. These past months have seen an enormous change in the life of the church. A significant number have made the move to reunion with Rome individually as 'solo swimmers' to cross the river Tiber to Rome, the home of all Christians. A much larger body than I would have expected in such a short time. Then there are the thousand or so lay congregation members with sixty or so Priests and Deacons whose caravan has been received into reunion with Rome via the Ordinariate promulgated by Pope Benedict, led by the five former Anglican Bishops. Reunited but not subsumed. Now there are gathering others in much larger numbers of those who over the next two or three years are beginning to explore the possibilities of joining those in the first caravan once the destination camp has been made ready and to join in the building of the new city of God which they can name and own and use as a base for mission and proclaiming of the Gospel without having to fight rearguard actions to protect the catholic faith of their Anglican heritage, at the same time answering Christ's call to unity with his church which he entrusted to Peter and his successors, who are at Rome (not Canterbury or Cardiff).
But what of the society of SS.Wilfred and Hilda you may ask? Those who wish to see if some compromise, not on their terms (we know that because those terms have and will continue to be repeatedly refused) will be offered. One wishes them well. In Wales the Society model is not even an option, we already have no Bishop with no jurisdiction! The Society can not nor will be able to operate in Wales despite what some may have thought, it operates in England for as long as General Synod allows it to exist. Everyone has the right to explore and study the possibilities of where they feel God is calling them. Be assured that this is exactly what is happening and expect further developments, movements and growth to further His kingdom within the one holy catholic and apostolic faith; new ground, new horizons, new directions!