Womyn Bishops Are So Awesome

Perhaps you think womyn bishops are really great and awesome. Do you remember Jane Dixon? She was pretty awesome.

And what about the good looking Bishop of Gloucester. Paranormal experts say that diocese is under an ancient curse.

Or Mary Glasspool, another high-flier who broke through the stained glass ceiling. Was she the first ever lesbian bishop?

But don't forget Jefferts Schori, the one womyn bishop to rule them all. How much did the Episcopal Church decline under her overwomynship? By something like 200,000 people on any given Sunday, of which 50,000 left in 2013-14 alone. Good looking out, Schori.

Surely there's some mistake here. Weren't womyn bishops going to make the church relevant again and bring everyone back to church, filling all those empty pews? Well that really happened, didn't it. The Church of England's busy trying the experiment, too. Let's see how well that works out.

Good Luck, CofE

In the meanwhile, over the last 10 years, the Orthodox have been building or opening 1000 churches a year, in Russia. But that's a different story.

Vivat,

LSP

The Curse of the Diocese of Gloucester

The Diocese of Gloucester labours under an ancient curse, a curse that some say goes back to Gloucester cathedral's ill-fated Dean, William Laud, in the seventeenth century. However, though centuries old, the curse is apparently active today and seems to be claiming a new victim, bishop figure Rachel Treweek.

About to be installed as a member of England's ruling elite aristocracy in the House of Lords, Treweek told the public that she no longer prays to God as "he," although she sometimes forgets.

According to the UK's Guardian, "She personally prefers to say neither 'he' nor 'she', but 'God'. 'Sometimes I lapse, but I try not to.'"

Well that's great. Mawkish forgetfulness aside, God is a perfect spirit and therefore beyond gender; like time itself, God transcends it. But here's the thing, Christianity believes that this transcendent Being, the perfect, necessary source of all being, is revealed in masculine terms. 

Jesus, the eternal Word made Flesh, is notoriously a man, who teaches his followers to pray to God as Father. The Church, for St. Paul, echoing the Old Testament, is the Bride of Christ. 

Mary Domus Aurea

In brief, God, for Christians, reveals himself in masculine terms. Take it or leave it, hate it or love it, that's Christianity.

Welcome to Goof Squad

Rachel, who has been promoted to one of the declining Church of England's top jobs, albeit cursed, has chosen to leave it, at least as far as God's revelation of himself is concerned. Where does this leave her?

Note Killing Rod Through Backs of Children

Hint, not praying to the being revealed by Christ as Father. And remember, it's all a larf until the horned god claims its own.

LSP

Church of England Gets Another Woman Bishop!

The Church of England has promoted another woman to one of its most important jobs, the Bishop of Gloucester.

Rachel Treweek was just an Archdeacon in Hackney, when she got the go-ahead from the CofE's Top Brass to become the first ever woman Bishop of Gloucester. She takes over from bishop Michael Pelham, who was accused of sexual misconduct and resigned from his post.

According to the BBC, Treweek is a "natural leader" and has "a voice that speaks up for those who are marginalised; and a compassionate voice that speaks into lives and places which are hurting."

I think that's beautiful.

Maybe Treweek will reverse the church of England's implosion into risible irrelevancy.

LSP