Editor

I am one of the deputy chairmen of the Ceredigion Conservative Association and a committee member in Holy Trinity Church, Aberystwyth. In light of Bishop Joanna’s unfortunate tweets about Conservatives, I wrote to the Bishop to express my personal disappointment that one of our church leaders feels so strongly about those of us who are staunch members of the Church in Wales and her brothers and sisters in Christ. Our faith calls upon us to set aside the very obvious political differences for something greater, proclaiming the Gospel of forgiveness and redemption.

The Bishop has very kindly, and swiftly, replied with a message that I hope is a sign of her sincere desire to repent. Though I am aware that this would not have arisen without the Twitter pile-on, and I am keen to not be aligned with anyone being nasty to the Bishop, I feel it is worth emphasising the point that our faith is beyond and above petty political divides.

The clergy should at least try to distance themselves from transient, temporal debates and set an example that there really is more which unites us than divides us.

I am sure that there is a lesson in this for all of us about the dangers of hasty tweets but it is so regrettable that a great many of my co-religionists are now unavoidably aware of the contempt with which we are held by our clergy. That said, I urge us all to show Bishop Joanna the generosity of spirit that we should show all political opponents and work constructively to restore confidences in our church.

Ewan Lawry

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