Pete Wilcox A Response to Richard Moy’s ‘Dear Deans’ challenge
Michael Sadgrove ‘Dear Deans’: a response from the north
Michael Nazir-Ali The Telegraph We need to embrace our history and reach out to the “spiritual” if we want to halt declining Anglican numbers
Canon J John Huffington Post An Open Letter to Britain
Joel J Miller Why Bonhoeffer made the sign of the cross
Re: Canon J John’s open letter: People and their institutions are complex. As the Christian scriptures (New Testament) note, we all fall short of the glory of God. So, too our institutions. So, too, Christianity in England. Christianity has united the English people, but also divided them. Religion was used to discriminate and marginalize Roman Catholic believers in England itself for centuries. And, there was more than one cause of the animosity between the Irish and the English peoples, for example, but religious differences between Christian beliefs was certainly one of those. And, for four hundred years, Christians barred Jews… Read more »
Years ago I read a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. At the time there were two biographies on offer. (I think I read the less “academic” one). I’m now thinking I should read some of Bonhoeffer’s work. Joel Miller’s article is an encouragement.
If you lob a grenade into a cathedral close you might reasonably expect a reaction, if only the attendance of the local fire brigade. Richard Moy (in his Dear Deans open blog of June 3) is known to me from my former time on General Synod. His ministry is infectious. We need more priests, male and female, who have his passion for the gospel and the re-evangelisation of England. I think he is starting a period of study leave (per his Facebook posts) so may have been feeling demob happy when he decided inter alia to trail round the country… Read more »
I wonder which cathedral will be the first to be subject to an HTB Church Plant and be overseen by the Bishop of Islington? Please God that it won’t be Durham.
“We need more priests, male and female, who have his passion for the gospel and the re-evangelisation of England…the ways in which all can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?” At THIS time, many if not most people CANNOT “have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ”: the history and experience of people who DO *claim* that relationship, is TOO TOXIC for people who don’t. …which is exactly why the cathedrals should NOT have that purpose. If they can exist, in their beauty and mystery, merely to give a space for people to see (hear/touch/taste/smell) a side of Jesus which… Read more »
Anthony Archer is fond of kicking cathedrals and imposing his rather myopic take on what constitutes mission and evangelism in these distinctive churches. Richard Moy’s blog was a rather crude report of an equally crude survey of midweek worship in less than half a dozen cathedrals. As an HTB-type Evangelical, he appears not to realise that there are an infinite number of levels at which ‘the Gospel is preached’ – and simplified, lowest-common-denominator Christianity is not always the best way to do it. Cathedral worship with its commitment to intelligence, beauty, wonder and humanity is equally compelling and effective as… Read more »
I am reminded of the incident way back in 1969 when the (then) recently revived West Riding Cathedrals Festival – Sheffield, Wakefield, Bradford – was held in Bradford.
There were AA signs leading to the Cathedral. A canon complained “the AA don’t ever put up signs when I’m preaching”. The riposte from one of the cathedral organists was “that tells you everything”.
Of course, the Festival had had to pay for the signs to go up.
It’s not correct that only the deans of Durham and Liverpool cathedral have responded. Others also responded in the comments to Richard Moy’s article.