The official Church in Wales statement: No result from the Bishop of Llandaff election.
After a three-day meeting of the Church in Wales’ Electoral College to elect a Bishop of Llandaff, none of the candidates considered received the number of votes required for election – a two-thirds majority.
The business of the College was rooted in prayer, worship and quiet reflection, as well as open and friendly debate and discussion.
Under the terms of the Constitution of the Church in Wales the responsibility of filling the vacancy falls to the Bench of Bishops.
The Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, John Davies, who is President of the Electoral College, said the process leading up to an eventual appointment would include a wide-ranging consultation of both the laity and the clergy from across the Church in Wales.
Harry Farley at Christian Today has a more detailed report: Leading Gay Cleric Jeffrey John Narrowly Rejected As Bishop In Wales.
A leading gay cleric has narrowly missed out on becoming a bishop after his appointment was rejected for the fourth time.
Very Rev Jeffrey John, who has twice been turned down for senior roles over his sexuality, was in the running to be Bishop of Llandaff, Christian Today understands.
But despite winning support from more than half of the nominating body, he just missed on the two-thirds majority required.
Christian Today understands Dr John’s long-term civil partnership with Grant Holmes, another Anglican priest, was a factor in his rejection by traditionalists.
After three days of discussions the electoral body of 47 people, made up of locals from the diocese, bishops and the official nomination committee, failed to agree on any candidate. The final decision will now be down to senior bishops despite Dr John winning strong support among electors in the mainly Anglo-Catholic region of Llandaff.
Neither the Church in Wales nor the Church of England are opposed to clergy being in civil partnerships as long as they vow to remain sexually chaste, which Dr John has done.
Currently Dean of St Albans, Dr John was previously nominated to be Bishop of Reading in 2003 but was forced to withdraw himself under intense pressure from traditionalists.
He was later in the running for Bishop of Bangor in 2008 and then again for Bishop of Southwark in 2010 but was both times turned down with conservatives threatening a split in the Church.
But Dr John’s latest rejection to be Bishop of Llandaff is particularly striking because of the strong support he received among local clergy and parishioners in the largely liberal diocese…
Unjust result, but at least, unlike the two English fiascos, it was decided by free and fair election.
I really hope that one day Jeffrey John will be elected as a bishop; it would be good solid evidence of the ‘radical new inclusivity,’ that the Archbishop of Canterbury has called for in the C of E, which I hope will be an embedded reality in all the Anglican churches in the U.K.
Can someone from Wales confirm or deny whether Harry Farley is correct to assert that priests in Civil Partnerships in Wales have to give a vow to remain sexually chaste?
(I’m presuming he means by that the No Hanky Panky At All definition of chaste rather than the Chaste Unto One Another definition of chaste).
I can’t find anything online about it other than this statement:
http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/faith/believe/bench_civilp/
I’ve not heard about chastity vows in Wales before, only in England.
No such requirement and services of affirmation but not Blessing!
So much for mutual flourishing.
Please don’t let the conspiracy theories run too wild on this one. Jeffrey John was NOT a candidate for the 2008 Bangor electoral college. Electors were told by Dr Barry Morgan that anyone in a civil partnership was disqualified. I should know. I was there. This is just one example of Barry Morgan’s inconsistent and, at times, thoroughly byzantine way of operating. He had the option of appointing Jeffrey John Dean of Llandaff in 2000, but chose to appoint his old college mate John Lewis instead. It is also not correct to describe Llandaff as a ‘liberal’ diocese. It has,… Read more »
David R – would you like to tell us what the sidelined and silenced might have to say? Whom do you think they would be wanting as their new bishop?
@ Commentator, I think the silent and silenced would want to say that there should now be an equal place at the table for those who did not (and do not) go along with the Barry Morgan agenda. In particular, the need to make provision for the episcopal and sacramental ministry to those who cannot accept the ordination of women. I don’t agree with them, by the way; but they are an authentic and valued part of the mission of the church in this diocese. They have had to watch the catholic faith being systematically dismantled over the past 17… Read more »
Thank you David for amplifying your statement. I couldn’t agree more. Jeffrey John would acknowledge the work done by the ‘traditionalist’ clergy in Llandaff. He would minister amongst them and to them.
I understand that it is a convention in the Church in Wales that if all the diocesan electors vote for one candidate, even though that does not give them a 2/3ds majority, that their very clear expression of will is then normally acceeded to by the rest of the College. I am also led to believe that this was the case in the Llandaff election, but that the convention was set aside. I wonder if anyone can confirm either the existence of the convention (which seems a sensible one), and the fact of its being ignored in the case of… Read more »
@Dave Richards
There are many Anglican Catholics who accept that baptism is what admits a person to receive communion – the theological and historical arguments for this are widely accepted across traditions. Removing confirmation as the gateway to communion is not an attempt to dismantle Catholic Anglicanism but is simply facing the consequences of where e.g. the history of initiation leads us.
I don’t have a problem with admitting children to communion before confirmation…but what then is the role of confirmation?and how necessary is it? Of course baptism is the minimal essential rite of entry into the Church but does confirmation have no connection with full initiation..is it an optional extra?
In response to Perry Butler (1 March, 2.12 pm), it is interesting to note the qualifications for entry on the Church Electoral Roll of a parish in the Church of England (under the Church Representation Rules). They are (leaving out the requirements of residence or of habitually attending public worship in the parish) that the person is (i) baptised, (ii) aged 16 or upwards, and (iii) “has signed an application form for enrolment… and declares himself… to be a member of the Church of England or of a Church in communion therewith…” (CRR rule 1(2)). No requirement there for confirmation… Read more »
Thanks David..though I was thinking more in terms of the theology of initiation.The Orthodox pattern seems the most coherent..and presumably the most ancient. Western churches in abandoning that pattern (when did it happen?) seem never quite to have sorted things out.