Alan Rusbridger Prospect The Church of England is still treating gay people as second-class citizens
Chantal Noppen ViaMedia.News The Cost of Calling: Then and Now
11 CommentsThe 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.
Mark Clavier Well-Tempered Formation in Faith (6): Learning to See Again
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church The Financial and Reputational Cost to the Church of England of Safeguarding Scandals
2 CommentsUpdated Monday 23 February
The Diocese of Lincoln published the statement below today, 20 February”
Diocesan Statement Regarding the Status of The Bishop of Lincoln
20th February, 2026The Bishop of Lincoln, The Rt Revd Stephen Conway, has been suspended from ministry while a complaint made to the National Safeguarding Team is responded to according to House of Bishops Code of Practice. This includes referral to the appropriate statutory authorities.
The Bishop of Grantham, The Rt Revd Dr Nicholas Chamberlain, will be performing the function of the Diocesan Bishop during this period.
Support is in place for those affected and there will be no further comment while the process is ongoing.
We understand that this will be a deeply unsettling time. The Diocesan Safeguarding Team is available for anyone who wishes to contact them. They can be contacted via email: safeguarding@lincoln.anglican.org or by phone: 01522 504070.
Alternatively, Safe Spaces is an independent and confidential support advocacy service. Contact their free helpline: 0300 303 1056.
And there is also support from ThirtyOneEight, a safeguarding support line. Their number is 0303 003 1111.
The BBC has subsequently reported that the bishop has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault.
Update Monday 23 February
23 Comments
The Prime Minister’s Office issued the following press release this morning. There is more on the Durham diocesan website.
Appointment of the Bishop of Durham:
19 February 2026
The King has approved the nomination of The Venerable Richard Simpson, for election as Bishop of Durham.
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
Published 19 February 2026
The King has approved the nomination of The Venerable Richard (Rick) Simpson, Archdeacon of Auckland in the Diocese of Durham, for election as Bishop of Durham, in succession to The Right Reverend Paul Roger Butler, following his retirement.
Background
Rick was educated at Keble College, Oxford, and trained for ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He served his title at St. Gabriel’s Heaton, in the Diocese of Newcastle, and was ordained Priest in 1994.
From 1997, Rick served as Priest-in-Charge, and then Vicar, Holy Trinity, Jesmond, and St. Barnabas and St. Jude, Sandyford, in the Diocese of Newcastle. In 2006, he was appointed IME 2 lead for the Dioceses of Durham and Newcastle, supporting curates and training incumbents, and Priest-in-Charge, St. Brandon’s, Brancepeth, in the Diocese of Durham.
In 2018, Rick took up his current role as Archdeacon of Auckland.
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Jo Stobart Like the Lorries… Ribbons – General Synod (February 2026)
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20 CommentsMark Clavier Well-Tempered Formation for Faithfulness (5): Obstacles and Opportunities for Renewal
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Colin Coward Unadulterated Love
This post will be updated as the meeting proceeds.
The Church of England’s General Synod is meeting this week. The timetable is here, the agenda is here and the papers are here.
Live video etc
All sessions are streamed live on YouTube and remain available to view afterwards. Links have been provided in advance.
There is an official X/Twitter account.
Order papers
Notice papers
Business Done
Official press releases
Press reports and comment etc
Church Times
Tim Wyatt The Critical Friend
The Guardian
Religion News Service
BBC News
Gavin Drake Church Abuse
Guarding The Flock Misogyny Is Real, But It Cannot Be Used to Deflect Attention From Safeguarding Failures
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Thirsty for Hope – LLF and LGBTQIA+ diocesan pastors and chaplains and life in God’s field hospital
Mark Clavier Well-Tempered Formed for Faithfulness (4): When We Lost Our Story
Christopher Landau Church Times Time to review the Church of England’s digital communications
51 CommentsThe House of Laity of the General Synod, and the two Convocations will meet on Monday afternoon (9 February) before the start of next week’s meeting of the Synod. Here are the papers.
House of Laity
Convocation of Canterbury
Convocation of York
The 258 Questions (and answers) for next week’s meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod were issued today. They can be found online here:
There are two sessions scheduled for Questions: on Monday afternoon (not later than 6.00 pm) and Tuesday afternoon (not later than 5.30 pm). Afternoon sessions finish at 7.00 pm, so this allocates a minimum of two and a half hours to Questions.
7 CommentsThe Bishop of Chichester, the Rt Revd Martin Warner, has announced that he will retire at the end of May 2026. Details are here.
44 CommentsGavin Drake Church Abuse Delay and control: the problems with the Archbishops’ Council’s safeguarding plans
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Robert Thompson’s Homily at the launch of Together London
13 CommentsMark Clavier Well-Tempered Formed for Faithfulness (3): Anglicanism’s Long Retreat from Power
Robert Thompson ViaMedia.News Marriage, Sabbath, Creation and Resurrection: A Response to Martin Davie on Marriage, Creation, and Fulfilment
Andrew Brown Church Times When everything is ‘safeguarding’ no one is safe
56 CommentsHelen King sharedconversations Concluding without ending: what happens next with Living in Love and Faith?
Alice Goodman Prospect Clerical life: Jesus isn’t manly enough for the far right
Michelle Burns Guarding the Flock I Was a Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser: When a PR Firm Controls the Narrative, Truth Becomes Optional
91 CommentsMark Clavier Well-Tempered Formed for Faithfulness 2: The Turn Toward Managed Renewal
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Brave Deans and (mostly ) silent Bishops – Living in Love and Faith – time to find our voices and courage
Neil Patterson ViaMedia.News What is Anglican Sex Anyway?
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The Church of England’s General Synod will meet in London from 9 to 13 February. The agenda and papers for the meeting were released today.
There are links to the papers below the fold, grouped by the day on which they are due to be debated. There are also a number of GS Misc papers and items of deemed and contingency business.
21 CommentsThe Church of England’s General Synod will meet in London next month. The papers were released today along with the following press release. I will publish a detailed list of papers later today.
Poverty, the care crisis and mental health – Synod to discuss challenges facing 21st Century Britain
21/01/2026
Call for renewed commitment to listening to and acting to support people living in poverty among motions set to be debated at February Synod.
A call for a renewed commitment to listening to and acting to support people living in poverty is among a number of motions set to be debated at the upcoming meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod.
The debate, marking 40 years since the landmark Faith in the City report, is among a series of key social challenges set for discussion, alongside the care system and the nation’s mental health in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, at the gathering in London from February 9 to 13.
The incoming Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally – who formally takes office next week – will deliver her first Presidential Address to Synod on Tuesday, February 10.
Later that day Archbishop Sarah will lead a debate on care for older and disabled people. In a debate the following day Synod will explore how the Church can respond to people’s mental health needs.
Key items on the agenda during the February group of sessions include discussion on progress in establishing independent oversight of Church Safeguarding and next steps after the Living in Love and faith process – which explores the Church’s approach to identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage – comes to a conclusion this year.
Robert Thompson ViaMedia.News Marriage, Sabbath, Creation and Jesus’s Embodiment of Justice
Mark Clavier Well-Tempered Formed for Faithfulness: Recovering the Anglican Way of Life
Ian Gomersall A Retired Rector’s Reflections Asses and Bishops
Theo Hobson Me, a priest?
138 CommentsMichael Nazir-Ali The Catholic Herald My Journey to Full Communion with the See of Peter
Andrew Goddard Psephizo Running on empty in the PLF journey?
Gavin Drake Church Abuse Why are clergy discipline tribunals still exempt from the Freedom of Information Act?
18 Comments