David Torrance House of Commons Library What is the Ecclesiastical Committee?
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love The Evolution or Regression of the Church of England
Scarlet Cassock “All the money’s gone — must be the choir’s fault”
[This is part 2; part 1 was published in July.]
Bishop of Oxford An Open Letter to Nigel Farage
30 CommentsThe minutes of the May 2025 meeting of the Church of England’s House of Bishops are now available.
Although they are dated 18 June at the end, the internal file attributes have today’s date (1 Sept 2025).
There was a meeting in July, with an agenda and a press release, but, as yet, no minutes. The next meeting of the House is scheduled for 6-8 October.
Earlier minutes are online here.
14 CommentsColin Coward Unadulterated Love Are Charismatic Evangelical Anglican churches becoming more welcoming and open to LGBTQIA+ people?
Jonathan Surviving Church Three Years On after a NDA: Lessons Learnt
Archdruid Eileen The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley Re-envisioning the Midsomer Benefice
78 CommentsThe Church of England has released its Cathedral Statistics 2024. There is an accompanying press release which is copied below. Statistics for earlier years may be found here.
Cathedral statistics show continued growth in 2024
28/08/2025
The Church of England’s latest cathedral statistics show continued growth in 2024, with weekly attendance rising to 31,900, an increase of eleven per cent compared to 2023. The rise was driven particularly by midweek services, which saw a 15 per cent increase in adult attendance and a 16 per cent increase in child attendance, although still lower than the pre-pandemic figure. (more…)
5 CommentsIan Gomersall A Retired Rector’s Reflections Church of England’s major data breach
The Church Mouse The Quiet Revival under the microscope
Chine McDonald Theos Is this the end of Theology in Higher Education?
20 CommentsStephen Parsons Surviving Church False Allegations, Rumours and Assumptions
20 CommentsAugustine Tanner-Ihm ViaMedia.News Bleeding While Leading: A Theological and Leadership Reflection
Martin Sewell Surviving Church Parting Shots
60 CommentsMost of the electronic voting lists from last month’s meeting of General Synod were published online some weeks ago, and I linked to them here. These contain the names of voting members and how they voted.
The lists for two procedural motions were omitted, but they are now available. Both were motions ‘That the Synod do pass to the Next Business’ and both were carried. The effect of such a motion is that the substantive motion lapses, and the same (or a similar) question cannot be reconsidered in the remaining lifetime of the Synod without the permission of the Business Committee and the general consent of the Synod.
The first was during the debate on item 13 as amended by item 33 (see Order Paper III for Saturday afternoon).
That this Synod noting the wider discussions about the culture and governance of the House of Bishops
a) welcome the decision to undertake an independently led review as proposed in GS Misc 1412 and the importance in the proposed Terms of Reference of the section on Culture and Ways of Working and
b) request that the Report of the Review be published in full and that the cost of the Review be met by the Archbishops’ Council.”.
The second was at the end of Sunday’s debate on the Archbishops’ Council Annual Report. This prevented a debate on Martin Sewell’s following motion on the working of the Audit Committee (see item 35 on Order Paper V).
6 CommentsMartin Sewell Surviving Church Resigning from General Synod
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love The Church of England’s absurd position on sex and marriage
Martyn Percy Meander Barnaclization in the Church of England
Helen King ViaMedia.News In the Beginning: Sex, AIDS, Judgment and the Church of England, 1986-1991
58 CommentsJarel Robinson-Brown Modern Church Theologians in Real Life
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Russell T. Davies says Trump and Reform UK threaten gay rights
Marcus Walker The Critic First signs of an Anglican spring
75 CommentsSarah Coakley Church Times Bring theology back to the parishes
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Full equality in ministry and relationships for LGBTQIA+ people — Unadulterated Love
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Gratification and Power – A Problem for the Church
Helen King Premier Christianity I’m celebrating the UK’s first female archbishop. I don’t care that she is in a civil partnership
109 CommentsColin Coward Unadulterated Love Questions for Christianity and the Church of England
Savitri (Savi) Hensman ViaVedia.News Sexuality Issues and the Church’s Theology Problem
6 CommentsTim Wyatt The Critical Friend Made in Sheffield
Also in this week’s newsletter is a piece on the Church in Wales and its new archbishop: Cleaning House
Theo Hobson What do liberal Anglicans want?
Ian Gomersall A Retired Rector’s Reflections Division at ordination
David Torrance House of Commons Library The relationship between church and state in the United Kingdom
A briefing paper on the relationship between church and state in the United Kingdom
David Voas The Conversation Is there really a religious revival in England? Why I’m sceptical of a new report
Mark Clavier Well-Tempered What the Heck Are Bishops For?
Michael Hampson ViaMedia.News No First Reading – Four Circumcisions Instead
9 CommentsFrancis Young Election of the 12th Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love The Pearl of Great Price
Archdruid Eileen The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley Archdruid Eileen’s Sermon on AI
Anon Surviving Church Who is my Neighbour?
155 CommentsUpdated on 19 August to add two procedural motions
The electronic voting results from this month’s meeting of General Synod are now available online. These contain the names of voting members and how they voted.
The full text of motions can be found in the official record of Business Done.
The House of Bishops yesterday agreed to replace Issues in Human Sexuality in the process of discerning new candidates for ordination with a requirement for candidates to live in line with the Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy. Details are in a Church of England press release which is copied below.
Bishops confirm replacement of ‘Issues in Human Sexuality’ in discernment process
23/07/2025
The House of Bishops has agreed to replace the outdated document Issues in Human Sexuality in the process of discerning new candidates for ordination with a requirement for candidates to live in line with the Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy.
The change does not alter the Church’s doctrine or canonical requirements, which remain in place, but is intended to ensure the discernment process is both theologically robust and pastorally sensitive.
The decision, at an online meeting of the House of Bishops this morning, follows a near-unanimous vote at the General Synod in York last week, and is an interim step while a longer-term approach is developed.
Synod supported an amended private member’s motion calling on the House to remove any requirements relating to Issues – as it was widely known – from the process and replace it with the interim requirement relating to the Guidelines.
When it was first published in 1991, Issues aimed to be sensitive, but the tone, language, and some of the assumptions are now considered inappropriate and offensive to many people.
Originally intended as a teaching document, Issues had assumed a more definitive role within the Church’s discernment and vocations process with candidates required to confirm that they would shape their lives within the boundaries outlined within it.
Bishops also agreed to remove the document from the House of Bishops website.
Work is now getting under way to update materials used in the discernment process such as online forms which reference Issues and documents used in the Candidates Panel. All existing guidance documents for Candidates, Diocesan Directors of Ordinands and Bishops’ Advisers will be reviewed and changed where necessary and new guidance will be issued. The Ministry Development Team, in collaboration with the Ministry Development Board, will report back to the House in October on this process.
This interim procedure will remain in place while the Church continues its work on the broader package of proposals for the Living and Love and Faith process. This work is ongoing, with the aspiration that proposals will be brought to the House of Bishops in the autumn and then to the February 2026 General Synod.
The House heard a presentation on the work undertaken so far on a review of regulations for Reader Ministry and the findings of the second Anglican Giving Survey carried out earlier this year.
The survey found that over 75 per cent of Anglicans had been thanked for their giving in the last six months, up from less than a third five years ago.
It also highlighted the generosity of givers, with average giving exceeding inflation over the last five years, and suggested that more than two thirds of Anglicans had heard a sermon on giving in the last year, with 60 per cent of those saying the sermon changed their thinking on giving.
The meeting closed in prayer.
Notes
Helen King ViaMedia.News Jagged Edges: Where Safeguarding Overlaps with the Trust Deficit
Martin Gorick The Observer By reforming its position on sexuality of clergy, Church of England welcomes everyone
Richard Scorer Surviving Church The Matt Drapper Settlement. Damages awarded to plaintiff in ‘exorcism’ case.
Helen King ViaMedia.News July 2025 General Synod: money talks
38 CommentsThe Church in Wales has announced the timetable for the election of its next Archbishop. The press release is copied below.
Election of the Archbishop of Wales
Provincial news Posted: 22 July 2025
The Electoral College will meet at St Pierre Church and Hotel in Chepstow on the 29th of July to choose the 15th Archbishop of Wales. The College can take up to three days to elect an Archbishop.
This election follows the retirement of the Bishop of Bangor, Andrew John, who held the office of Archbishop of Wales for three and a half years. His successor will be chosen from among the serving Welsh diocesan bishops – the Bishop of St Asaph, Gregory Cameron, the Bishop of Monmouth, Cherry Vann, Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, John Lomas, the Bishop of Llandaff, Mary Stallard, and the Bishop of St Davids, Dorrien Davies.
Those making the decision represent churches across Wales. Each of the six dioceses elects three clerics and three lay people onto the College and the bishops are also members. The College President is the Senior Bishop, Bishop Gregory Cameron.
The meeting will begin with Holy Communion at St Peter’s Church, which is on the St Pierre estate. Following that, college members will meet for confidential discussions.
After a discussion on the needs of the Province and a period of prayer and reflection, the President will call for nominations. The bishops nominated then withdraw from the discussion, only returning to vote. A nominee must achieve two-thirds of the votes of the college in order to be elected Archbishop. If after a vote is taken no candidate receives the necessary votes, the process begins again with fresh nominations, which may or may not include those who had been nominated in the previous round.
Once the Archbishop is elected, an announcement is made. The normal practice is for the bishop to confirm his or her election immediately. The new Archbishop will be enthroned in his or her home cathedral at a later date.
If The College fails to elect an Archbishop within three days, the decision passes to the Bench of Bishops.
34 CommentsMartin Sewell and Linda Billenness Surviving Church Synod ignores Audit Warnings
Martine Oborne Women and the Church The Church of England’s fifty-year journey from open sexism to concealed sexism
75 Comments