AN INTERIM Bishop of Bangor is to be appointed for as much as two years, to advance reform and supply a “healing presence”, the Governing Body of the Church in Wales decided in its extraordinary meeting on Tuesday.
Members voted by 75 to 4 (with seven abstentions) in favour of the proposal from the Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd Cherry Vann. It follows the announcement last month that the Electoral College in Bangor, after considering names, had not felt in a position to shortlist candidates for a latest diocesan.
The motion suspends the method for the election until — at the most recent — one calendar month after the primary meeting of the Governing Body in 2028, and authorises the Archbishop to bestow the title “Interim Bishop of Bangor” on a bishop, who must come from outside the Church in Wales.
The appointee, the Archbishop said, would offer “leadership and direction for a diocese that has undergone a substantial amount of trauma, not only by way of what has happened, but due to opposed publicity that the diocese has attracted consequently”.
Many speeches from Bangor representatives praised the plan. The Archdeacon of Meirionnydd, the Ven. Robert Townsend, said that the diocese had checked out media reports in regards to the cathedral “with the identical bemusement and horror as everyone”, and that the diocese mustn’t be judged by these. “Good things are happening, and the Holy Spirit continues to be very much at work in our diocese.”
The “real reason” for the day’s meeting had happened within the yr preceding Archbishop John’s retirement. “A desire from one person for nearly total control is rarely healthy, and it might grow to be a theme in our diocese. If you desire to control something, allow chaos to reign underneath you and make sure the only method to get a solution is thru yourself.”
The appointment of a cathedral Sub-dean who was also the diocesan secretary had “created many conflicts of interest . . . You rightly ask, ‘Why didn’t anybody do anything about this?’ People did try. But if you ask an issue and later discover that the response was economical with the reality, it’s very difficult. . . People did attempt to thrust back, but you made yourself very unpopular if you happen to did.” He expressed gratitude to those that had blown whistles.
The most important challenge to the motion got here from Chris Dearden, a lay member for Bangor, who said that the diocese — which looked as if it would have taken “dysfunctionality to latest levels” — “needs experienced leadership now. . . The light of Christian witness continues to be flickering away within the darkness in Bangor diocese. But the night may be very black.”
Sue Henley, a lay representative for St Davids, also raised concerns, including questions on appointing someone from outside the Church in Wales, who, she said, might lack an in depth knowledge of the culture and structure; whose arrival might “disrupt” the work already under way; and whose own work could be modified again after two years. The Bench of Bishops needed “some consistency and continuity”, she said.
Dr Barney Hawthorne, a lay member for Llandaff, was in favour of the motion but felt it “deeply ironic that, during the last 18 months or so, while a variety of what has been happening has been very evident, we now have been encouraged to take time and spent probably a variety of money taking a look at the issue of water pollution within the rivers in Wales, and yet nothing has been done in regards to the dirty washing which has been pushed under the carpet in our own Church in Wales”.
Responding to the talk, Archbishop Vann emphasised that the appointment of the Interim Bishop wouldn’t just be her decision, but done “in conversation and consultation with the Bangor electors” — starting with a gathering the following day — and with the Bench.
Some of the names already recommend were retired bishops within the Church of England, the Scottish Episcopal Church, and the Church of Ireland. Others were suffragan bishops within the C of E. Whoever was appointed would have the ability to do “whatever radical work is required”, including “cutting our cloth” in Bangor.
