Answerable to Parliament 2
An earlier post reported on this topic.
Sir Stuart Bell has this explanation of the role of the Church Commissioners on his own website. TheyWorkForYou.com has this explanation of why he answers questions in the House of Commons.
Here is a new batch of his Written Answers.
0 CommentsTelegraph editor admits mistake
Update
This story has now also been reported in both The Times and the Guardian:
Telegraph takes blame for Archbishop’s loss of faith by Andrew Pierce
Editor says sorry to archbishop by Stephen Bates
not to mention a further report by Ekklesia
Sunday Telegraph fails to correct misrepresentation of Archbishop.
It had also been covered by Andrew Brown in his weekly Church Times press columns on 7 January, Archbishop’s Doubt
and again on 14 January, Telegraph proles.
—-
Ekklesia reports that Dominic Lawson the editor of the Sunday Telegraph has admitted his paper made a mistake.
Paper admits it misrepresented Archbishop of Canterbury. In summary form:
0 CommentsThe editor of a major newspaper, the Sunday Telegraph in the UK, has admitted that his paper misrepresented the opinions of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, by falsely claiming that the tsunami disaster had made the Archbishop doubt whether God exists.
…Ekklesia associate Simon Barrow wrote to the editor, saying “Your headline… makes me question not Dr Williams’ faith … but the capacities of your headline writer and sub-editor.”
He continued: “Did they choose simply not to read the Archbishop’s article, which nowhere states what they attribute to him? Or do they and you now regard news reporting as the creative art of sidestepping facts in order to produce a more sensational story?”
The Sunday Telegraph chose not to apologise editorially last week, though it published letters critical of the headline, and also critical of Dr Williams’ article. Its weekday sister paper, The Daily Telegraph, also published a leader excusing the mistake and accusing the Archbishop of being unclear.
This is evidently not a viewpoint shared by Dominic Lawson. Replying to Simon Barrow, he wrote: “I share your sentiments… It grieves me that we should let down our readers who have the right to expect the highest standards.”
In his personal letter to the Archbishop, Mr Lawson straightforwardly recognises that the headline, “apart from misrepresenting the nature of your argument, was also theologically obtuse.”
CofE statistics: more
The Church Times today has an article about the church statistics previously mentioned here and on which some comments here are overdue.
Church sees an increase in its attendances
Two tables from the report are rendered as graphics:
The Church of England Newspaper also has a report:
More people now going to church
David Hope interviewed
The Yorkshire Post today has a splendid interview of David Hope by its Religious Affairs Correspondent Michael Brown.
Faith, Hope and lots of charity
A quite ordinary – but to some surprising – thing happens to His Grace the Lord Archbishop of York, Primate of England and Metropolitan, as he walks down the long gravel drive of his palace at Bishopthorpe and into the village street. A cyclist chummily calls out, “Hello, David”.
Such matey familiarity has happened a lot to David Hope since he became Archbishop of York 10 years ago. It even happens in the village’s Co-op supermarket where he frequently does his smaller shop, and in Tesco’s at Dringhouses, the venue for his more occasional bigger trolley-pushing exercise.
Not only does he never mind, he quietly enjoys the chumminess. David Hope has never been one to expect in his clergy what the 19th-century divine, Sydney Smith, called a dropping-down deadness of manner. He would certainly not welcome any display of obsequiousness by lay people, and would doubtless be embarrassed if fawning were shown by chaps on bicycles or by girls at supermarket check-outs.
It gets better, read it all.
0 CommentsWindsor Report: CofE bishops
The Church of England Newspaper reports that Bishops give Williams mandate for Windsor
2 CommentsThe Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, received the full backing of his House of Bishops this week to ensure that the recommendations of the Windsor Report are implemented.
Bishops were united in drawing up a motion to be put to next month’s General Synod, which endorses the work of the Lambeth Commission, and urges that the process of the Report’s reception in the Anglican Communion should be enabled to begin.
The row over the Jeffrey John affair had caused strong divisions amongst the House of Bishops, but they have rallied together to give Dr Williams a strong mandate ahead of the Primates meeting, which also convenes next month.
“We wanted Rowan to go knowing we endorse the position taken by the report,” one bishop said. “We want to be genuinely backing him.”
Another bishop said that the show of unity was vital. “It is critical the Archbishop goes to the Primates meeting with the support of his own house. If he’d gone with criticism and a lack of support, it would undermine his ability to do anything. The Windsor Report could be terrific if it’s given teeth.”
They said that the bishops were keen to see action on the recommendations. In particular, bishops stressed the need for the American Church to express regret and to respect the moratoriums on the promotion of gays as bishops and same-sex blessings.
Work should begin on establishing the various instruments, such as the Council of Advice, suggested in the Report, the bishops agreed.
A briefing paper by the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, Chair of the House’s Theology Group, and the Rt Rev John Hind, Chair of the Faith and Order Group, was distributed amongst the bishops. It was regarded as “an encouragement” to Dr Williams as it is very sympathetic towards the Windsor Report, upholding the calls for regret and reconciliation.
Church Times review of the year
In the issue dated 31 December 2004, the Church Times carried its usual clutch of Review of the Year articles.
Andrew Brown contributed this review of the Press: Religion needs to be understood
This is relevant to the more recent RW/Telegraph spat.
I WANT to propose an interpretation of the year which will strike attentive readers of the British and American press as ridiculous: the important religious story of 2004 had nothing whatever to do with the mating habits of Christians.
Graham Cray wrote Mission-shaped Church — start of something new?
Those of us who wrote the report are absolutely delighted by the response it has received — and, if we are honest, a little surprised.
Paul Handley contributed The American emperor has no new clothes
A WEEK into the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Dr Rowan Williams wrote: “We must not be caught naked of ideas and clear commitments when a ceasefire arrives” ( The Times, 25 March 2003). Since then, the American emperor’s lack of clothing has been disguised only by the suspicion that, despite his confident assertions, the ceasefire is yet to arrive.
and also Standing at the same table
THE Anglican Communion began and ended 2004 intact. That was all, really, that could be said for it.
And the staff reporters summarised 2004 the year in review
0 CommentsCofE attendance statistics for 2003
New Church of England attendance figures, for 2003, were released today:
Attendance figures for 2003 published
and the statistics themselves can be downloaded in PDF format here.
The tables contain various comparisons of 2003 with 2002 and 2001. Unfortunately the pdf file does not permit any content extraction so I cannot easily quote additional details here. I will nevertheless publish further impartial 🙂 comments on the numbers after a detailed review of them.
For reference, the previous yearly press release, for 2002, is here and the 2002 tables are in PDF format here.
Update Saturday
British press coverage of this topic:
Guardian Stephen Bates Church sees rise in Sunday worship
Telegraph Jonathan Petre Rise in numbers going to church
The Times Ruth Gledhill Churches’ faith in public restored as attendance rises
Who did the baptism?
Just before Christmas, there was international press coverage of an alleged baptism in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire.
See for example this report Next on Entertainment Tonight: Celebrity sacraments.
However, the Irish bishop Paul Colton mentioned in these reports, who had married the couple involved (he was at the time, the rector of the parish in Ireland where the wedding took place) completely denied having had any part in this event. See BISHOP OF CORK CRITICISES INACCURATE JOURNALISM.
Nor had the incumbent of Sawbridgeworth had any involvement. The Bishop of St Albans knew nothing about it either.
The mystery remained until The Tablet this weekend published an item about it in its Notebook column which, after reporting the events so far, continues:
2 CommentsA spokesman for the Beckhams’ agents tells us it was a woman priest in the Church of England but at the request of the couple would give no further details.
“They consider the matter private. It was a Church of England ceremony with additions and readings chosen by the family,” he said. He added that the woman priest had also consecrated the chapel which the Beckhams had renovated, rather than built themselves. It was not used regularly for worship.
Rowan Williams in the Telegraph
Final Update Friday
An even more ridiculous attack on RW’s article by TE Utley in the Telegraph
Simple English for the Church of England
Update Thursday
The Guardian has published this attack on the Telegraph for what they did:
The bishop who believed. An extract:
The sensational headline was simply a lie. The story beneath it, though clumsy, was not blatantly false. Of course – Dr Williams was quoted as saying – terrible events like these shook people’s faith. But Christians must face the challenge, and focus on a passionate engagement with the lives that were left. Nowhere at any point did the story suggest that Dr Williams was questioning God’s existence. Inside, for those who cared to look for it, was the text of what the archbishop had actually written. I cannot see how any literate person reading this piece could honestly have drawn the conclusion that the Sunday Telegraph headline did.
…The Daily Telegraph here was asking us to accept not just that the headline writer honestly thought the sentence about upsetting faith could be equated with Dr Williams doubting the existence of God, but that various higher editors, culminating in whoever was in charge of the paper, were dozy enough to share the same delusion. (And you don’t need to read the archbishop’s piece “several times over” to notice the difference. A single swift reading will do.)
Update Monday
The Daily Telegraph carries this editorial leader concerning the matter reported below:
Faith in plain language. An extract:
We have some sympathy with the archbishop. Those who had time on their hands to read his article several times over will realise that he was not in fact doubting the existence of God. The headline writer had clearly been misled by the sentence: “Every single random, accidental death is something that should upset a faith bound up with comfort and ready answers.”
The archbishop’s purpose here, it now appears, was to say that the Christian faith should not be upset by natural disasters, because it is a faith that is not “bound up with comfort and ready answers”. But what a convoluted way of putting it.
If Dr Williams was indeed misrepresented by our sister paper’s headline, he himself must accept much of the blame. His prose is so obscure, his thought processes so hard to follow, that his message is often unclear.
The Sunday Telegraph carried an article by Rowan Williams and a news story about it.
The article was published under the headline:
Of course this makes us doubt God’s existence
and the news story was headed
Archbishop of Canterbury admits: This makes me doubt the existence of God
Lambeth Palace issued the following release concerning this at 11 pm on Saturday evening:
1st January 2005
For immediate use
Lambeth Palace has issued the following statement in response to the Sunday Telegraph’s first edition story with the headline ‘Archbishop of Canterbury admits: this makes me doubt the existence of God.’
“Whilst the Archbishop’s article itself has been transcribed faithfully, the headline reporting it is a misrepresentation of the Archbishop’s views.
“As any reading of the text makes instantly clear, the Archbishop nowhere says that the tsunami causes him to question or doubt the existence of God; rather that the Christian faith does not invite simplistic answers to the problem of human suffering”.
“It is extremely disappointing that what is a thoughtful response to the challenge posed by events of these kinds to the mind and heart of the believer has suffered in the search for a headline.”
ENDS
6 CommentsSunday news reports
Stories related to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s sermon are here.
The Telegraph reports that churchgoers live longer. The secret of long life… go to church.
The Sunday Times says that David Stancliffe says that Prince Charles should consider a Register Office wedding (middle part of the page).
There was further positive news for him this weekend as a senior figure in the Church of England raised the possibility of a resolution to his marital status by proposing a register office wedding.
David Stancliffe, Bishop of Salisbury, said: “If the Prince of Wales and Mrs Parker Bowles expressed a wish to marry, the proper pastoral approach should be to advise them to seek a civil ceremony which may be followed by prayers of dedication in church.”
This suggestion, which he said was supported by the majority of the episcopate, marks a significant development from the position taken a year ago by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Williams indicated that the couple might not meet the criteria for a remarriage in church.
According to Stancliffe, the church’s expert on liturgy, the dedication ceremony would be appropriate for a future supreme governor of the Church of England. “That can be a solemn and splendid affirmation of their new marriage.”
An act of parliament would be required because at present there is no provision for the royal family to marry in a register office.
And the BBC today reports on one of its own programmes:
Gay cleric attacks bullying. You can read the entire sermon here and judge for yourself whether this is a balanced report of the sermon as a whole.
Update Monday
Other news reports of this event:
The Times Challenge thugs, says gay dean
Guardian Gay cleric accuses church of giving in to bullies
Sunday radio reports
The BBC radio programme Sunday comes this week from York Minster and is entirely about York. All the items are worthwhile but the following is the most interesting.
David Hope is interviewed at length: this is in two parts. Part 1 is here (3 minutes). Part 2 is “hidden” inside this part which starts with a discussion of the history of Christianity in York. The interview begins about 6 minutes 50 seconds into the feed, and lasts for 10 minutes, and this contains his comments on several current issues.
Strongly recommended (Real Audio required).
Sunday Worship from St Albans
The BBC programme Sunday Worship came this morning from the Cathedral and Abbey Church of Saint Alban.
You can hear the entire programme with Real Audio here
or read a transcript here
Update: Maggi Dawn has posted about this sermon: you can read what she says, and also the comments of her readers, here.
Further Update So has Kendall Harmon: see here.
News reports of this event are here.
0 CommentsChristmas religious attendance
Several newspapers are reporting this story:
Cathedral city prays while the rest of Britain plays
Residents of Hereford are Britain’s most devoted churchgoers
Manchester comes top of the godless league
Christmas cancelled due to lack of interest
Cities ‘shun church at Christmas’
but only the BBC links to the data on which the reports are based.
More from Jayne Ozanne
Update Friday
The Church Times has this article
Archbishops’ Council distanced from ‘self-destruct’ prophecy
and also a link to Jayne Ozanne’s own website:
http://www.jayneozanne.com/
where the full text of the article is also available, together with a brief biography.
The Church Times article says in part:
A CHURCH OF ENGLAND spokesman has distanced the Archbishops’ Council from the views of a retiring member who has predicted that the Church of England will “continue to implode and self-destruct”…
…The paper was circulated at an Archbishops’ Council meeting this month, but not discussed.
The C of E spokesman said that one of the Council’s strengths was “the wide range of perspectives offered by its members. Jayne Ozanne is setting out her personal view, as she is clearly free to express it. The Church of England encourages a lively exchange of views at every level.”
Speaking on Tuesday, Ms Ozanne said that it was not a case of her against the Council. She said she had received positive responses. “I really care about what is happening. There are some deep-rooted issues that we do not like to talk about while we focus on the presenting issues.”
Ms Ozanne said that her document was “not exactly” good news for the Church of England, but was good news for the Church in England. Although she would be happy to discuss it with the Archbishops, there had not been an opportunity to do this so far, she said.
The CEN this week has published Is this the end of the Church of England as we know it? which sets out Jayne Ozanne’s views in full. This puts her previously quoted remarks into context.
The CEN also has a news report which refers to the earlier stories about her document:
Church leaders ponder the future
Earlier TA articles here and here.
9 CommentsCathedrals Count
English Heritage today published a new report, Heritage Counts 2004. (The report has its own comprehensive and accessible website, but be warned that the main English Heritage website is unfriendly to many browsers.)
This report, which covers the entire range of historic monuments, includes new research on English cathedrals. The English Heritage announcement says:
New data on cathedrals are a social and economic asset
Heritage Counts 2004 contains the first comprehensive data showing the social and economic benefits that cathedrals have been able to deliver to surrounding communities. The research, based on a questionnaire sent to all 42 English Anglican cathedrals, demonstrates that cathedrals are directly responsible for generating local spending of £91 million a year. When indirect economic effects are considered, such as the amount spent by cathedrals to procure local services, the total annual economic impact rises to £150 million. This supports 5,500 permanent full time jobs.
The Heritage Counts website contains the entire text of the report (as a series of PDF files), and also the research reports to which reference is made. These include The Economic and Social Impacts of Cathedrals (report by Ecotec for English Heritage and the Association of English Cathedrals) which can be downloaded as a Microsoft Word file here (the document is 70 pages of A4, about 20,000 words).
The Church of England has today published a press release entitled Cathedrals Count. Here is the beginning of it.
CATHEDRALS COUNT
– Thought-provoking new research reveals the economic and social value of England’s Anglican cathedrals –
New research has revealed that nearly nine million people visited England’s Anglican cathedrals in 2003 – two million more than visited Blackpool Pleasure Beach, five million more than went on the London Eye and almost twice as many as visited the British Museum in the same year. This is just one of many compelling findings in a report on the value of England’s cathedrals which is launched today (15 December 2004) as part of Heritage Counts, an annual audit of the historic environment carried out by English Heritage on behalf of the sector.
The research, which was commissioned jointly by English Heritage and the Association of English Cathedrals, provides the first comprehensive evidence of the substantial economic and social contribution made by cathedrals in their local communities. Cathedrals are first and foremost places of worship, and well recognised as places of great spirituality and beauty, but until now little consideration has been given to the boost that their presence gives to the local economy and the range of opportunities they offer for education, events and volunteering.
Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, said: “Our cathedrals are at the very heart of England’s heritage and, as this new study shows, their contribution reaches far beyond bricks and mortar. In an increasingly complex world, these great edifices are vital forces for social cohesion and focal points for both celebration and mourning, not just in their cities, but in the large areas they serve.”
The Very Revd Colin Slee, Dean of Southwark and a member of the Association of English Cathedrals Executive, said: “We welcome this report which is published during our busiest time of the year! It underlines the key role played by England’s 42 Anglican cathedrals in the nation’s life. It shows the enormous economic benefit that English cathedrals provide for society – in addition to their vital spiritual and community role.
“In fact, more detailed research by the Church of England – which includes, for example, Westminster Abbey – indicates that across all the cathedrals in England the number of visits in 2003 was as high as 12.5 million.”
Some additional data not included in the press release itself is below the fold.
0 CommentsRecent Official Publications
Bishops’ office and working costs for the year ended 31 December 2003
This was published on 10 December 2004. It is online as a 172 kB pdf file here.
In Review
This replacement for the glossy Year in Review was published as a four-page pull-out in the Church of England Newspaper and the Church Times at the beginning of December. It will be published twice a year. The December issue includes
Mission takes shape
Building potential
What’s my line?
Top class
Together for justice
‘Realising the vision’
Church of many colours
Mental health check
February Synod
Retirement homes modernised
Missionary ordinands wanted
Website gets makeover
Youth council
Useful links
and is online here.
0 CommentsDavid Hope television interview
David Hope the Archbishop of York, was interviewed this morning on the BBC television programme Breakfast with Frost.
The transcript of the interview is here.
A newspaper report in today’s Sunday Times published in advance of the public transmission is here:
Britain can’t be called Christian, says archbishop
Jayne Ozanne radio interview
Jayne Ozanne, the author of the document reported on yesterday was interviewed this morning on the BBC Radio programme Sunday together with Bishop John Gladwin.
Listen here with Real Player. The interview lasts about 6 minutes.
BBC blurb:
0 CommentsNow if you are a Christian prepare to have your timbers shivered. This is your future, according to a senior Anglican.
“I see a time of great persecution coming, which will drive Christianity all but underground in the West. I believe this will primarily take the form of social and economic persecution, where Christians will be ridiculed for their faith and pressurised into making it a purely private matter. Meanwhile the established Church will continue to implode and self destruct”.
It’s a bleak picture- but there is a ray of light. The writer sees a new church arising – which will “fast become an underground resistance movement”.
The author of this vision is Jayne Ozanne who has just finished a 6 year stint on the Anglican Church’s Archbishops’ Council. Also speaking is the Bishop of Chelmsford, John Gladwin who is still a member of the Archbishops’ Council.
apocalypse when?
The Times has chosen to devote considerable space today to a confidential document leaked to them, addressed to the Archbishops’ Council, and written by Jayne Ozanne, who is completing a six-year stint as an appointed member of the Council.
Church faces implosion and life underground, says senior adviser
There is also a background note on the author:
Brilliant career of evangelist marketing expert
Ms Ozanne attends this parish in the Diocese of London.
and more significantly a leader article:
Lost souls – An apocalyptic warning from within the Church of England
Extracts from both the news article and the leader column below the fold.
10 CommentsAnswerable to Parliament
Sir Stuart Bell is the Second Church Estates Commissioner. The work of the Church Commissioners as a whole is described here. As part of the Commissioners’ accountability to Parliament, MPs may ask the Commissioners questions in the House of Commons. This task is performed by the Second Church Estates Commissioner, who is an elected Member of the House of Commons.
There is a new website, still in beta, TheyWorkForYou.com, which makes reading Hansard much easier. Recent entries for the Second Church Estates Commissioner in the House of Commons look like this:
6 December 2004
Written answers: Church Commissioners
This system would be even more useful if it were to be applied to the speeches of bishops in the House of Lords.
0 Comments