For some time, I have worried that many places of worship worldwide and of different faiths, and not only the Church of England, have lost their way.
I was confirmed in a small Welsh church linked to my primary school. Although technically independent from the Church of England, the doctrine, teaching, and practice of the Church in Wales revolves around the life, death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Welsh churches were originally part of the Church of England. It was a legal anomaly in the Welsh Church Act of 1914 that resulted in the difference in the names.
The doctrines and practices of the Church of England and the Church in Wales are basically the same.
The two Churches believe that Jesus Christ lived on Earth in human form, died and was resurrected as a God. (God in 3 persons, the blessed trinity of God the Farther, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit). He is the way to eternal life for true believers.
They accept that the old and new testaments were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and that the books of the Apocrypha are used in Christian worship but do not form part of Doctrine. That the most important sacraments are Holy Baptism and the Eucharist.
Confirmation, Holy Orders, Matrimony, the reconciliation of sinners, and the anointing of the sick are also seen as sacraments.
We believe in heaven, hell, and the second coming of Our Lord.
The doctrines and practices of the Church of England and the Church in Wales are basically the same.
The two Churches believe that Jesus Christ lived on Earth in human form, died and was resurrected as a God. (God in 3 persons, the blessed trinity of God the Farther, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit). He is the way to eternal life for true believers.
They accept that the old and new testaments were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and that the books of the Apocrypha are used in Christian worship but do not form part of Doctrine. That the most important sacraments are Holy Baptism and the Eucharist.
Confirmation, Holy Orders, Matrimony, the reconciliation of sinners, and the anointing of the sick are also seen as sacraments.
We believe in heaven, hell, and the second coming of Our Lord.
I saw this anonymous comment on the internet this morning.
I think it sums up the topic well, and also mentions the UK Post Office Scandal. I give below the Video link together with an accurate Wikipedia article on Paula Vennells, the disgraced CEO of the Post Office. She has now resigned from all her directorships. And King Charles, on 29 February 2024, revoked her CBE on the grounds that, “it brings the honours system into disrepute”. She has resigned from all her church appointments, but remains an inactive ordained priest.
“The church has sinned. Like all sinners the church needs to repent and mend its ways. If we think that the whole idea of the Anglican Church was to be a purer form of Christianity than the Catholics it replaced, since the Catholics were seen to be straying from the path of righteousness, then it needs to go back to basics. The first thing it needs to do as a Christian church is to follow the example of Jesus. If we think what Jesus is famous for, it was the way he helped the ones at the bottom of the heap, as in those who were suffering. So, looking at the post office scandal, there was one person who above all others saved the day. Mr Bates needs to be the new vicar, and when looking for other vicars, these are the ones you want. You can’t preach it if you don’t do it yourself, because that is hypocrisy.”
Our Lord overturning the money-lending tables.
In the second coming, would our Lord metaphorically turn the tables over in some of the world’s places of religion when he sees how they are not following God’s will.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_Vennells
One is nearer God’s heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth.
My own faith confirms this as a one on one “relationship” with God. (More on how I found my faith in a later article). During the Eucharist, I believe I am in communion with God. It matters not that the formalities of the rites administered by clergy are different from what I was used to.
The quote in the headline above is from Dorothy Frances Blomfield Gurney. (4 October 1858 – 15 June 1932). Her father and husband were Anglican priests but they both converted to Roman Catholicism when Gurney was 61 years old. Disillusioned with the Church of England?
Please leave a reply. My readers would love to see your comments.