Andrew Watson, the Bishop of Guildford, has published this paper: Living in Love and Faith: Discerning the Mind of the Church.
Tim Wyatt comments on the paper in his weekly newsletter: B2 or not B2, that is the question.
Sam Wells and Lucy Winkett Church Times Separate structures put the Church of England in danger
“To support same-sex relationships or women’s leadership is not to depart from orthodoxy”
Press release from the Prime Minister’s Office. There is more on the Carlisle diocesan website.
Appointment of Bishop of Carlisle: 9 May 2025
The King has approved the nomination of The Right Reverend Robert Saner-Haigh, for election as Bishop of Carlisle
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
Published 9 May 2025
The King has approved the nomination of The Right Reverend Robert Saner-Haigh, Suffragan Bishop of Penrith in the Diocese of Carlisle, for election as Bishop of Carlisle, in succession to The Right Reverend James William Scobie Newcome, following his retirement.
Background
Rob was educated at Birmingham University and trained for ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He served his title at St. Lawrence, Appleby in the Diocese of Carlisle, and was ordained Priest in 2006. He was appointed Diocesan Initial Ministerial Education Officer in 2007 and Diocesan Director of Ordinands in 2008. Alongside both of these roles he served as Bishop’s Chaplain and Assistant Priest at St. Michael’s, Dalston, with Cumdivock, Raughton Head and Wreay. In 2010, he was appointed Priest in Charge of Holy Trinity Kendal and, from 2020, served as Director of Mission and Ministry for the Diocese of Newcastle and Residentiary Canon of Newcastle Cathedral.
In 2022, Rob took up his current role as Suffragan Bishop of Penrith, in the Diocese of Carlisle and, since 2023, he has served as Acting Bishop of Carlisle.
29 CommentsWe reported in March that the Archbishop of Wales had ordered a visitation of Bangor Cathedral. This has now been completed and reports issued. There is a press release from the Church in Wales, which is copied below, with links to the reports at the end. There is also this news item by Madeleine Davies in the Church Times: Visitation identifies ‘weak financial controls’ and ‘inappropriate behaviours’ at Bangor Cathedral.
Bangor Cathedral Visitation Report
Provincial news Posted: 3 May 2025
In October 2024, in response to concerns which had been brought to his attention, the Archbishop of Wales, The Most Revd Andrew John, commissioned a visitation of Bangor Cathedral and a review by Thirtyone:eight, an external body that specialises in safeguarding advice in church settings.
The reporting process is now complete and the following summary reports have now been released publicly, and can be accessed below.
We are grateful to all who contributed to this careful and prayerful process. The reports give details of the next steps which will now be taken.
52 CommentsSusannah Clark ViaMedia.News
Lizzie Taylor Women and the Church When will Bishops let ordinary churchgoers have a say about equality for women in the Church?
138 CommentsAndrew Goddard Psephizo How not to run an election: Canterbury Diocese Vacancy-in-See Elections
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Radically inclusive groups and networks in the Church of England pursuing Mutual Responsibility and Interdependence
83 CommentsMark Clavier Well-Tempered Giving Reform Its Proper Language
A follow-up to ‘Beyond the Scaffolding’
Archdruid Eileen The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley Faculty for the Creation of a Storage Room for all the Things we Can’t Face Raising Faculties For the Removal Of
Jeremy Morris Ad fontes Encountering Pope Francis
26 CommentsA report by the Independent Reviewer, Canon Maggie Swinson, on the process leading to the nomination of the Bishop of Blackburn, Philip North, was published twelve months ago; we linked to it here. The House of Bishops has today issued a formal response to this report and it is copied below the fold.
54 CommentsGiles Fraser UnHerd Happy Easter, losers
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Church of England campaign group attitudes to trans, intersex and non-binary people
Ian Gomersall A Retired Rector’s Reflections Putting Chrism at the centre
Mark Clavier Well-Tempered Beyond the Scaffolding
“What the Church in Wales’s Harries Report Missed and Why It Still Matters”
Ian Gomersall A Retired Rector’s Reflections What do you do with your palm cross?
Martine Oborne Women and the Church Making the pain of our exclusion present
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love What kind of God do we believe in – Supernatural or Metaphysical?
152 CommentsThe Bishop of Brixworth, the Right Reverend John Holbrook, has announced that he will retire on 30 September 2025. Details are on the Peterborough diocesan website.
50 CommentsMichael Hampson ViaMedia.News Common Worship and our Gender-neutral God
Martyn Percy Surviving Church The Church of England in Secular Cycles: A Case of Corporate Long-Covid?
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Rumours of angels and reports of abuse
Andrew Brown The slow deep hover Here Eye goes again
Charlie Bell ViaMedia.News Consensus, Compassion, Truth, and Grace
166 CommentsChurch of England press release
Safeguarding Practice Review commissioned: David Tudor
01/04/2025
A Safeguarding Practice Review (SPR) has been jointly commissioned by the National Safeguarding Team and the dioceses of Chelmsford and Southwark to look at the lessons to be learnt from the Church’s handling of the David Tudor case…
The full text of the press release continues below the fold…
The terms of reference for the SPR are available here.
An SPR is what was formerly known as a lessons learnt review.
22 CommentsAs readers probably already know Justin Welby was interviewed by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on 30 March. You can listen to the interview here, and watch it here. There has been much reporting and comment on the interview; some is below.
Laura Kuenssberg BBC Justin Welby: I failed to act on abuse scandal as scale was ‘overwhelming’
Laura Kuenssberg and Sean Seddon BBC Welby: I forgive serial abuser John Smyth
Laura Kuenssberg BBC After Justin Welby’s failures, obscurity is perhaps not his to choose
Madeleine Davies Church Times Welby looks back at his Smyth decisions and resignation in BBC interview
Harriet Sherwood The Guardian Justin Welby was too ‘overwhelmed’ by scale of abuse in C of E to take action
Ben Quinn and Harriet Sherwood The Guardian Justin Welby says he forgives serial abuser John Smyth
Tim Wyatt The New Statesman The confessions of Justin Welby
Angela Tilby Church Times BBC interview shows tragedy of Welby
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Welby and Kuenssberg
Rebecca Chapman The Spectator What was the point of Justin Welby’s reconciliation interview?
Tim Wyatt The Critical Friend The scandal of grace
Andrew Brown The slow deep hover Here we go again
Douglas LeBlanc The Living Church Welby’s Interview Prompts New Backlash
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Trusting our epiphany experiences
Abigail King Church Times Growing up in a vicarage stays with you
Bosco Peters Liturgy Passion, Palms, Passover, and other Problems
0 CommentsThe Bishop of St Asaph, the Rt Revd Gregory Cameron, will commission the Bishop of Warrington, the Rt Revd Beverley Mason, as an Honorary Assistant Bishop. This will take place at the Chrism Mass in St Asaph Cathedral on Maundy Thursday. This is briefly mentioned in Bishop Gregory’s April ad clerum, which notes that Bishop Bev has a home in his diocese.
The diocese of Liverpool has issued a fuller news item, which is copied below.
10 CommentsBishop Bev is to be Made an Hon Asst Bishop at St Asaph at the Chrism Mass on Maundy Thursday
Bishop Bev has written: “I am humbled and deeply grateful to Bishop Gregory and colleagues in St Asaph for their warm welcome, love and affirmation. St Asaph has opened the door upon a new vista and I look forward with hope to a restored and renewed ministry in the Province of the Church in Wales. The Chrism Mass is a poignant reminder for all in Christian ministry of the very essence of our calling and vocation and of our re-covenanting with the God who has lived among us in our Lord Jesus Christ, who by his Cross and Passion, has redeemed the world. I pray this will be a time of blessing and renewal for all Christ’s Church.
I remain Bishop of Warrington as I continue to wait and push for a proper resolution to my unhappy situation. Today, it is 574 days since I exercised an episcopal ministry. It feels interminable – as I imagine it does for you. Thank you for your kind support, resilience and patience.
Please continue to pray for me – as I pray for you.”
Helen King ViaMedia.News Share and Share Alike? Living in Love and Faith and Funding the Church of England
Rachel Starr ViaMedia.News Behold the Men: Identifying Risks, Reconsidering Relationships
Mark Clavier Well-Tempered Can Something Good Emerge from the Crisis of Clergy Burnout?
Johanna Stiebert ViaMedia.News Marriage and the Bible: It’s Complicated
88 CommentsJo Winn-Smith OneBodyOneFaith Lent
Andrew Goddard Psephizo What is going wrong with the Canterbury appointment process?
Tim Wyatt The Critical Friend Beyond reproach
“The torturously complicated process to choose the new Archbishop of Canterbury is losing the faith of one half of the church”
Mark Clavier Well-Tempered Clergy Burnout and the Cure of Souls
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Is Truth Dead?
152 CommentsThe Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds, has announced that he will retire on 30 November 2025. Further details are on the Leeds diocesan website: Bishop Nick announces his retirement with thanks to all in our diocese.
72 CommentsIan Paul Psephizo Is Church of England ministry sustainable?
Andrew Goddard Psephizo Is there progress on the appointment of a new Archbishop?
John Smith Psephizo The Hidden Limits of Class in the Church
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Living by intuitive, experiential, emotional faith
110 CommentsThe full membership of the Crown Nominations Commission for Canterbury is still not known, but it has been announced that the Bishop of Norwich, Graham Usher, has been elected by the House of Bishops to be a member.
The Bishop of Norwich, Graham Usher, has been elected as a member of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) for the See of Canterbury, following an election by the House of Bishops.
As a Bishop from the Province of Canterbury, Bishop Graham will join the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, as the second Church of England episcopal member of the Canterbury CNC.
The remaining membership will be announced in early April. Once the full membership of the CNC is known, the Commission will convene for its first meeting in May, followed by at least two further meetings – one in July and another in September.
Through these, the Commission will agree the ‘Role Profile’ and ‘Person Specification’ for the next Archbishop of Canterbury, and discern the longlist, to shortlist and to interview candidates.
It is not possible to apply for the role of Archbishop of Canterbury. Instead, individuals will be invited into a careful and prayerful process of discernment.
Elections to the Canterbury diocesan Vacancy-in-See committee are continuing, and once complete, the committee will elect three of its members to the CNC. Additionally the CNC has five representatives from the worldwide Anglican Communion, and these names have also still to be announced.
20 Comments