In response to the reported agreement between the Church of England and the Church of Scotland, David Chillingworth, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane, and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, has written two articles, which need to be read together:
The Columba Declaration – ecumenical relationships in Scotland
…But the aspect of the Columba Declaration which will cause most concern to the Scottish Episcopal Church is the potential involvement of the Church of England in the ecclesiastical life of Scotland. The Church of England is not a Scottish Church nor does it have any jurisdiction in Scotland. The Anglican way is to recognise the territorial integrity of each province – they are autonomous but inter-dependent, The important question is whether, within that understanding of the relationship between provinces of the Anglican Communion, it is proper for the Church of England to enter into this agreement about ministry and ecclesiastical order in Scotland.. That is a matter which will have to be explored in future dialogue between the Scottish Episcopal Church and both the Church of Scotland and the Church of England.
Columba Declaration – time for a rethink
34 Comments…The question here is not whether the development of ecumenical relationships is desirable – for of course it is. The question is about whether that development can take place respectfully and in good order. The Scottish Episcopal Church now seems to be faced with the possibility that Church of England clergy will minister in Scotland under the authorisation of the Church of Scotland and without reference to the Scottish Episcopal Church. Yet the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church are partner members of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Communion in Scotland is expressed in the life of the Scottish Episcopal Church.
The Church of Scotland and the Church of England seem to have decided that their commonality as National Churches justifies them in setting aside other ecumenical relationships and etiquette. What would really help this situation – mitigating the damage already done to long-established relationships and avoiding further damage – would be for the two churches to decide to delay publication of the full document to allow time for consultation.
I appeal to them to do so…
Harriet Sherwood has another major article today. In The Guardian Saturday interview she writes about Married gay priest Jeremy Davies: ‘The bishops say we’re not modelling teachings of the church. Yes we are’.
This is a long article, but do read all of it.
59 CommentsThis is the lead story on the front page of tomorrow’s The Guardian.
Harriet Sherwood C of E to fast-track minority ethnic clergy into senior roles
10 CommentsThe Church of England is to fast-track black and ethnic minority clergy into senior positions amid accusations of institutional racism.
A “talent pool” of specifically black, Asian and minority ethnic (Bame) potential leaders will be identified in 2016 for training and mentoring with the aim of increasing representation among bishops, deans and archdeacons…
Updated Thursday evening to add statement from the Scottish Episcopal Church
Press release from the Church of England and the Church of Scotland this morning
The Church of Scotland and the Church of England reach an historic agreement
24 December 2015
The Church of Scotland and the Church of England have reached an historic agreement that recognises their longstanding ecumenical partnership and lays the groundwork for future joint projects.
The agreement called The Columba Declaration is set out in a 15-page report by the Joint Study Group “Growth in Communion, Partnership in Mission”.
Rev Dr John McPake, co-chair of the study group and one of the authors of the report, said
“The Columba Declaration recognises the strong partnership that already exists and will help encourage and support new initiatives.
“We believe that approval of the Columba Declaration by our two churches will represent a significant step in the long history of their relationship, one that affirms the place we have come to and opens up new possibilities for the future.”
Arranged into four chapters, the report sets out the history of partnership between the two churches and the shared beliefs that allow for close cooperation between the churches, before exploring how the partnership could grow.
This year the churches established the Churches’ Mutual Credit Union as a response to concerns that low-income families needed access to low -cost banking and loans. And that’s just one of the areas where the two churches already are collaborating.
The Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council and the Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs talk regularly about everything from poverty to refugees. As well as recognising one another’s ministers, the churches exchange views on ministry and come together for example on initiatives such as Fresh Expressions. The Church of Scotland also sends a representative to the General Synod while the Church of England sends a representative to the General Assembly.
In a joint statement prefacing the report, joint study group co-chairs Rev Dr John McPake and Rt Rev Peter Forster, Bishop of Chester write:
“Our hope is that joint affirmation by our two churches of the Columba Declaration would:
Affirm and strengthen our relationship at a time when it is likely to be particularly critical in the life of the United Kingdom;
Provide an effective framework for coordinating present partnership activities and for fostering new initiatives;
Enable us to speak and act together more effectively in the face of the missionary challenges of our generation.”
The report emphasises that joint ecumenical work should also include other churches and especially the Episcopal Church of Scotland [sic] and the United Reformed Church. At the same time it acknowledges the “distinctive partnership in the gospel to which our two Churches are called within the United Kingdom, rooted in our shared history and in our parallel and overlapping roles as the churches of our respective nations.”
The report will now go to the Church of England’s Synod in February and by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in May for approval. A debate is scheduled at the Synod on Feb 16, 2016.
Here’s the full text from the report of the Columba Declaration
THE COLUMBA DECLARATION
38. In the light of our common mission and context (chapter 1), our agreement in faith (chapter 2) and our significant opportunities for growing in partnership in mission (chapter 3), we recommend that our churches make the following Declaration.
We, the Church of Scotland and the Church of England, make the following acknowledgements and commitments, which are interrelated.
a) Acknowledgements
(i) We acknowledge one another’s churches as churches belonging to the One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ and truly participating in the apostolic ministry and mission of the whole people of God.
(ii) We acknowledge that in both our churches the word of God is truly preached, and the sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Communion are rightly administered.
(iii) We acknowledge that both our churches share in the common confession of the apostolic faith.
(iv) We acknowledge that one another’s ordained ministries of word and sacraments are given by God as instruments of grace and we look forward to a time when growth in communion can be expressed in fuller unity that makes possible the interchangeability of ministers.
(v) We acknowledge that personal, collegial and communal oversight (episkope) is embodied and exercised in our churches in a variety of forms, as a visible sign expressing and serving the Church’s unity and continuity in apostolic life, mission and ministry.
b) Commitments
We commit ourselves to grow together in communion and to strengthen our partnership in mission. Through this commitment, we hope to enrich our continuing relationships with other churches in the United Kingdom and around the world. We will welcome opportunities to draw other churches into the activities and initiatives that we share.
As part of that commitment, we will continue to:
(i) pray for and with one another;
(ii) welcome one another’s members to each other’s worship as guests and receive one another’s members into the congregational life of each other’s churches where that is their desire;
(iii) explore opportunities for congregational partnership, formal as well as informal, in those cases where there are churches in close geographical proximity;
(iv) enable ordained ministers from one of our churches to exercise ministry in the other church, in accordance with the discipline of each church;
(vi) identify theological issues that arise from growth towards fuller communion and be prepared to allocate resources to addressing them;
(vii) work together on social, political and ethical issues that arise from our participation in public life and be prepared to allocate resources to joint initiatives for addressing them.
In order to assist our churches in living out the acknowledgements and commitments of the Columba Declaration, we will appoint Co-Chairs and members of a Church of Scotland – Church of England Contact Group, whose purpose will be to coordinate the different activities that make up our rich relationship and develop new initiatives where these may be needed. The Contact Group will meet at least annually and will report annually to the Council for Christian Unity in the Church of England and the Committee on Ecumenical Relations in the Church of Scotland.
[This text is copied from the Church of England website (which has no hyperlinks) with links taken from the Church of Scotland website. – editor]
———
Some press reports
John Bingham Telegraph Church of England and Church of Scotland forge pact
BBC News Churches of Scotland and England reach first formal pact
———
Update
The Scottish Episcopal Church issued this statement today:
35 CommentsResponse to Columba Declaration
December 24, 2015A spokesperson for the Scottish Episcopal Church says “We have noted the announcement today about the Columba Declaration agreed between the Church of Scotland and the Church of England.
“We welcome the opportunity for the further ecumenical discussion referred to in today’s press statement and look forward to being able to consider the full text of the report when we receive this. We fully understand the desire of the Church of Scotland and the Church of England as national churches to discuss and explore matters of common concern. However certain aspects of the report which appear to go beyond the relationship of the two churches as national institutions cause us concern. The Scottish Episcopal Church, as a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, represents Anglicanism in Scotland, and we will therefore look forward to exploring the suggestions within the report more fully in due course.”
Updated Thursday
Following the publication last week of his essay – Sex, Sense and Non-Sense for Anglicans – the Dean of Christ Church, the Very Revd Professor Martyn Percy, and a Vice President of Modern Church, appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme…
For more details of this interview, and another one on BBC Radio Wiltshire, dealing mainly with the case of Canon Jeremy Davies, see Modern Church vice president responds to unchallenged homophobia on Radio 4 Sunday programme.
Thursday Update
Following the Radio 4 broadcast, there were numerous complaints to the BBC about what one of the participants had said, and the failure of the interviewer to challenge him on it. Those who complained have all received the following response from the BBC:
Many thanks for getting in touch with us about an item on BBC Radio 4’s “Sunday” programme on 20 December. Recognising your unhappiness, we have reviewed the programme and have discussed listener feedback personally with the senior editorial team responsible at Radio 4.
To explain, the discussion in question was broadcast in response to an essay written by the Very Revd Prof Martyn Percy, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, on the debate within the Anglican Communion about the treatment of LGBT Christians.
“Sunday” is a live programme and, regrettably, this discussion ran out of time before it was possible to clarify some of the views expressed. As a result, some listeners may have gained the impression that Canon Dr Chris Sugden equated homosexual behaviour with child grooming.
We have spoken with Dr Sugden subsequently, and he has assured us that this is not the case and that he was actually conveying what he believes to be one African perspective on the churches’ and the states’ attitudes to homosexual behaviour, based on his conversations with senior religious leaders from different African countries.
We apologise for any offence caused by a lack of clarity on this point during the live broadcast. As was explained in the programme, “Sunday” will be returning to the issue when the leaders of the Anglican Communion meet in January, and exploring it in more detail.
Thanks again for getting in touch and allowing us to clarify.
Kind Regards
BBC Complaints
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints
Another article on Anglican Mainstream from Chris Sugden, published on the same day as the broadcast, also deals with this matter: Background to the Uganda Bill on aggravated homosexuality
43 CommentsIt is becoming clear that in the lead up to the Anglican Primates’ gathering, further pressure will be brought to bear on African churches and nations on the subject of their laws on sexuality. Both President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron have made direct threats from their positions of enormous power to African states that funds for their education and health budgets will be removed if the laws are not changed. To this call is now being added calls from the Episcopal Church, the Church of Canada, the Dean of Christ Church and lobby groups.
At this Christmas season, where would Jesus be found – in the courts of the rich and powerful intimidating and bullying the poor for whom their families and children are their security in countries with no welfare systems, or in the slums of Kabare in Kenya and Kampala in Uganda? Pope Francis has made clear where he stands.
There are many myths and misunderstandings on this topic to which this article addresses itself…
The outline timetable for the February General Synod of the Church of England has been published today, and is copied below. The full agenda and other papers will be published on Friday 22 January 2016.
GENERAL SYNOD: FEBRUARY 2016 GROUP OF SESSIONS
Timetable
Monday 15 February
2.30 pm – 7.15 pm
2.30 pm Opening Worship
Presentation of officers (Prolocutors of the Convocations of Canterbury and York, Chair and Vice-Chair of the House of Laity)
Report by the Business Committee
Presidential Address by the Archbishop of Canterbury
Legislative Business
Enactment of Amending Canon No 34
Mission and Pastoral etc (Amendment) Measure – First Consideration
Initial presentation on the Shared Conversations followed by Q&A
*5.45 pm Questions
7.00 pm Evening worship
Tuesday 16 February
9.15 am – 1.00 pm
9.15 am Worship in small groups followed by Group Work on Evangelism
11.30 am Presentation from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Chair of the Evangelism Task Group, followed by a ‘take note’ debate on a Report from the Evangelism Task Group
2.30 pm – 7.15 pm
2.30 pm Presentation from the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Debate on the Report of the Church of England – Church of Scotland Joint Study Group
Diocesan Synod Motion: Parochial Fees
*5.30 pm Motion on the proposed Enabling Measure
7.00 pm Evening worship
Wednesday 17 February
9.15 am – 1.00 pm
9.15 am Holy Communion
10.45 am Diocesan Synod Motion: Impact of Sanctions on Benefit Claimants
Update on Renewal and Reform – (Presentation by Task Group Leads followed by Q&A)
2.30 pm – 5.00 pm
2.30 pm Renewal and Reform:
Resourcing Ministerial Education: debate on a motion from the Archbishops’ Council
Renewal and Reform:
Resourcing the Future: ‘take note’ debate on a Report from the Archbishops’ Council
5.00 pm Farewells
*5.15 pm Prorogation
Contingency Business:
Diocesan Synod Motion: Blood and Organ Donation
In June I reported here on a consultation on the operation of the Resolution of Disputes Procedure that is part of the House of Bishops’ Declaration on the Ministry of Bishop and Priests. I also linked here to David Pocklington’s review of the consultation paper for Law & Religion UK.
This week the Church of England has published these two documents on the Operation of the procedure.
Notes on the Operation of the Resolution of Disputes Procedure: Response to the Consultation
Independent Reviewer: Notes on the Operation of the Resolution of Disputes Procedure (December 2015)
David Pocklington has written about both for Law & Religion UK here: CofE: Resolution of Disputes Procedure.
0 CommentsPress release from Number 10
Dean of Durham: Andrew Tremlett
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
First published: 17 December 2015The Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Andrew Tremlett to be appointed Dean of Durham.
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Andrew Tremlett, MA, MPhil, PGCCE, Canon of Westminster, to be appointed to the Deanery of the Cathedral Church of Durham, on the resignation of the Very Reverend Michael Sadgrove, MA, on 31 December 2015.
Notes for editors
The Venerable Canon Andrew Tremlett (aged 51) was Curate at Torquay, St Matthias, St Mark and Holy Trinity in the diocese of Exeter, from 1989 to 1992. From 1992 to 1994 he was Chaplain to the Mission to Seafarers, and Assistant Chaplain in Rotterdam, in the diocese of Europe, and from 1994 to 1995 he was Chaplain. From 1995 to 1998 he was Team Vicar at Fareham Holy Trinity with St Columba in Portsmouth diocese. From 1998 to 2003 he was Chaplain to the Bishop of Portsmouth, and also a Parliamentary Research Assistant and Secretary to the Church of England’s Doctrine Commission. From 2003 to 2008 he was Vicar of Goring-by-Sea in Chichester diocese. From 2008 to 2010 he was Canon Residentiary and Keeper of the Fabric at Bristol Cathedral; from June 2009 to May 2010 he was Acting Dean of the Cathedral.
Since 2010 he has been Canon Residentiary and Rector of St Margaret’s Church at Westminster Abbey. He has been responsible for the Abbey’s relationships with Parliament, Whitehall and other faith communities, and in 2012 established the Westminster Abbey Institute which works with Public Service Institutions around Parliament Square to support ethics in public life. In June 2014 he became Archdeacon of Westminster and Sub-Dean of the Abbey. Since 2013 he has been Chairman of the Field Lane Foundation, a charitable housing association working particularly with adults with complex needs, and in 2015 became a Trustee of the Mission to Seafarers.
Andrew Tremlett is married to Ali, a teacher and trained painter and decorator. They have a daughter and 2 sons. Andrew Tremlett enjoys languages and has been studying Arabic at SOAS as well as on sabbatical in Jerusalem in 2014. He is a keen photographer and long-distant runner.
Durham diocesan website: Andrew Tremlett named as next Dean of Durham
12 CommentsThere have been a lot of people writing letters to the Bishop of Winchester to complain about his refusal to issue a Permission to Officiate to the retired priest, Jeremy Davies.
Three of the most thoughtful articles about this matter are these:
Rachel Mann An Open Christmas Letter to Bishop Tim Dakin. Do read it all the way through. Here’s the last bit:
I pray to God that your decision was not an easy one. (Although, if it was, I hope you have pause to ask ‘Why?’ in the weeks to come. Surely any decision that can have costly emotional and personal fallout for others should not be taken from the safety of ‘due process’ and ‘best legal advice’.) I also think that these might be quite difficult weeks ahead for you. Even with the most robust sense of self, negative press is wearing.
I know it’s tempting in such circumstances to attempt to rework this emotional distress into a kind of positive; that is, into an opportunity to participate in Christ’s woundedness and sufferings. To ‘play’ a part that saves us from moral culpability or villainy. You may well do this and I’m hardly in a position to argue you shouldn’t do that. We all work out our salvation in fear and trembling.
But – I hope you can forgive my boldness – may I commend another aspect to consider? In those distressing moments I think you will have (my constructed version of you, my hopeful version of you, thinks you will have them) I ask you to pause and pray. To think of Jeremy and Simon. To not lose sight of their human being and their particularity and their distress. And though (I admit my limitation here) I don’t think your distress is exactly commensurate (you being a bishop with all the privilege that goes with that etc.) I hope there may be a conversion to ‘the other’ in the mysteries of prayer and distress. The theatre of Tragedy, after all, reminds us that there is some knowledge that only comes through pain and wounds. And the Christian story reminds us that tragedy is very close to comedy; to the possibility of a world in which wounds are bound and the falsely imprisoned set free.
Forgive me. I get carried away. Especially at Christmas. Christmas is so very cheesy, but it can still startle me in the most extraordinary way. The Christ-child always reminds me that God comes among us not with clever arguments or theological constructions, but as that most fragile and defenceless thing, a baby. His only power is to elicit love. The encounter we make with God in the Christ-child is beyond the obvious delights of reason. It is in our shared humanity and holy simplicity. A thousand theological and political arguments come crashing down in Bethlehem on that Holy Night.
So may you have a blessed Christmas, Tim. But also, – along with Canon Jeremy, his husband Simon, me, and everyone who is simply trying to get on with being faithful and hopeful – a disrupting one. Where the Saviour without Safety pulls down the walls between us and we can never be the same again.
Beth Routledge The Appalling Silence of the Good. Here are some extracts (but again do read the whole thing from the beginning):
…The silence from the hierarchy of the Church of England has been deafening.
Senior figures of the Church have either been living under a rock since Saturday, or else they are all keeping their heads down and hoping that if they stay quiet then this will all go away…
…I still struggle to find any love or common sense in the response of a Church that chooses to punish someone for marrying the person they love. I’ve witnessed it from inside the process — on this matter, the Scottish Episcopal Church cannot claim any moral high ground — as well as watching from the outside when something like this happens in England. I find anger and hurt and pain. I rarely find any sense of pastoral response or responsibility. I cannot believe I am seeing what God wants.
And three days after this story broke, still that deafening sound of nothing from everyone associated with the Church of England.
That is a strategy that isn’t acceptable and never worked anyway, and speaking for myself I find that I’m no longer able to pretend to respect individuals who are supportive of me just so long as I never expect them to say it out loud or in public or when it might matter.
Because here’s the thing:
Either people in the Church think that LGBT people are made in the image and likeness and love of God, and recognise that LGBT people are in and of the Church, and want the Church to value and cherish the hopes and dreams of its LGBT clergy, or they don’t.
The more we hear of stories like this one and the more senior figures in the Church of England avoid talking about them, the louder I hear their answer.
Christina Rees The Church has banned a gay priest – here’s what you can do about it
39 Comments…At some point, the Church of England is bound to change its legal position on same -sex marriage too. But changing some people’s hearts and minds on the issue will take much longer.
If you don’t like what’s happened to Jeremy Davies and others in similar positions, then you have some choices. Write to the bishops and let them know what you think. Stand for deanery, diocesan or General Synod – although you’ll have to wait nearly five years for the next elections.
Join a group like Changing Attitude, Inclusive Church, LGCM or Accepting Evangelicals and support the work they’re doing, both within and outside the synodical structures of the Church of England.
One of the most valuable characteristics of Anglicanism is its commitment to being a broad church, where people of differing views – even sharply differing views – can continue to worship, discuss and debate together.
General Synod’s wheels may turn slowly, but at least we have somewhere that lay, clerical and episcopal voices can be heard and where each member’s vote holds equal weight.
So whatever else you do, don’t just sit around getting angry or depressed.
Press release from Number 10
Suffragan Bishop of Dunwich: Michael Robert Harrison
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
First published: 16 December 2015The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Michael Robert Harrison to the Suffragan See of Dunwich in the diocese of St Edmundsbury.
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Michael Robert Harrison, MA, PhD, Director of Ministry and Mission, in the diocese of Leicester, to the Suffragan See of Dunwich in the diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich in succession to the Right Reverend Clive Young, BA, on his resignation on 31 May 2013.
Notes for editors
The Reverend Canon Mike Harrison (age 52) is at present Director of Mission and Ministry in the Leicester diocese and also Honorary Canon of Leicester Cathedral. His undergraduate studies were in mathematics and statistics at Selwyn College, Cambridge. Following on from this Mike worked as both a management consultant and a social worker in London. He trained for the ministry at Oxford. After ordination Mike served as Assistant Curate at St Anne and All Saints, South Lambeth for 4 years. During this time he studied for a PhD in doctrine at King’s College, London University. From 1994 to 1998 he was Chaplain at Bradford University and Bradford and Ilkley Community College, where he was also Diocesan World Development Advisor and completed an MA in international development studies at Bradford University. From 1998 he was Vicar of Holy Trinity, Eltham in the diocese of Southwark and from 2005 he was also Rural Dean of Eltham and Mottingham. He moved to Leicester diocese in 2006, and since then has been involved in growing the mission of local parishes as well as developing missional leadership, pioneer ministry and fresh expressions of church.
Mike writes:
“It has been a huge privilege to be involved in the development of mission and evangelism in the Leicester diocese over the last decade and to serve as Director of Mission and Ministry. I am delighted that this new role will enable me to continue to work in this area while taking on wider responsibilities as Bishop of Dunwich in the diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich.”
Mike is married to Rachel, an occupational therapist and they have 4 children, aged 13 to 21. For many years Mike has enjoyed running, completing a number of marathons, as well as keeping fit through swimming, cycling and the gym. He is a passionate supporter of Bolton Wanderers (having been born in Bolton) and (not unrelated) has an interest in live comedy.
St Edmundsbury and Ipswich diocesan website: The next Bishop of Dunwich announced
Leicester diocesan website: Mike Harrison appointed next Bishop of Dunwich
Press release from Number 10
Bishop of Leicester: Martyn James Snow
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
First published: 15 December 2015The Queen has approved the nomination of Right Reverend Martyn Snow for election as Bishop of Leicester.
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Right Reverend Martyn James Snow, BSc, BTh, MA Suffragan Bishop of Tewkesbury, in the diocese of Gloucester, for election as Bishop of Leicester in succession to the Right Reverend Timothy John Stevens, MA, on his resignation on 31 August 2015.
Notes for editors
The Right Reverend Martyn Snow (aged 47), studied at Sheffield University and then trained for the ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He served his first curacy at Brinsworth with Catcliffe and Treeton in the diocese of Sheffield from 1995 to 1997. He worked for the Church Mission Society in Guinea, West Africa from 1998 to 2001.
From 2001 to 2010 he was vicar at Christ Church, Pitsmoor, in the diocese of Sheffield. From 2007 to 2010 he was also Area Dean of Ecclesfield. From 2010 to 2013 he was Archdeacon of Sheffield and Rotherham. Since 2013 he has been Suffragan Bishop of Tewkesbury.
The Right Reverend Martyn Snow is married to Dr Lynn Snow, a paediatrician and they have 3 children (aged 14, 12 and 10). Alongside his enjoyment of travel and engaging with other cultures, his interests include sport, music and kayaking.
Leicester diocesan website Welcome to the New Bishop of Leicester
Gloucester diocesan website Bishop Martyn to become next Bishop of Leicester
This week the Church Times carries a long article by Professor Julie Macfarlane of the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada about her experiences as a survivor of sexual abuse by a priest in England.
Today the BBC Sunday programme carried an interview with her. You can hear it in the last 9.5 minutes of the programme, here, from 34.5 minutes onwards.
This includes the reading out of a statement issued by the Church of England in response. There is also a discussion of the legal issues with Joshua Rozenberg.
4 CommentsThe Equalities and Human Rights Commission issued the following statement on 11 December:
Statement on Freedom of Expression and the Lord’s Prayer
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has today announced that the issues raised by Digital Cinema Media’s (DCM) decision not to show a Church of England advert about the Lord’s Prayer in cinemas, will be examined as part of a major Commission report.
This report, examining the adequacy of the law protecting freedom of religion or belief, will be published early next year. The DCM decision has generated significant public concern about freedom of speech.
The Commission, the national expert in equality and human rights law, has also offered its legal expertise for the purpose of intervening in the case should the Church take legal proceedings against DCM.
The Commission has written to DCM to highlight the importance of Britain’s long tradition of freedom of expression and to reiterate its concerns about the justification for not showing the advertisement being that it risked offending audiences. There is no right in Britain not to be offended, and respect for people’s right to express beliefs with which others might disagree is the mark of a democratic society.
Chief Executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Rebecca Hilsenrath, said:
“We strongly disagree with the decision not to show the adverts on the grounds they might ‘offend’ people.
“There is no right not to be offended in the UK; what is offensive is very subjective and this is a slippery slope towards increasing censorship.”
“We also understand why people were confused that a commercial Christmas can be advertised but the central Christian prayer cannot. We will therefore examine the issues raised by this case as part of our major review into the law protecting freedom of religion or belief, and publish our findings in the new year.”
Earlier, on 23 November, the Commission had issued this statement: Commission comments on Christian advert being banned from cinemas
10 CommentsCommenting in response to a Christian advert being banned from being shown in the cinema, a Commission spokesperson, said:
“Freedom to hold a religion and freedom to express ideas are essential British values. We are concerned by any blanket ban on adverts by all religious groups.
“Digital Cinema Media have said an advert could cause offence to those of differing faiths or without belief. There is no right not to be offended in the UK; what is offensive is very subjective and lies in the eye of the beholder.
“This does not mean groups or individuals are free to express themselves without restriction. Freedom of expression can be and is restricted but only in order to prevent violence, abuse or discrimination for example. There is nothing in law that prevents Christian organisations promoting their faith through adverts.”
Updated Sunday evening
Canon Jeremy Davies, the retired precentor of Salisbury Cathedral has been denied Permission to Officiate in the Diocese of Winchester.
Salisbury canon banned from preaching in Winchester over gay marriage
A CLERGYMAN from Salisbury has been banned from taking services in Winchester because he married his gay partner last year.
Canon Jeremy Davies, who served as Canon Precentor at Salisbury Cathedral for more than 25 years, has been told he cannot preach in the Winchester Diocese because he married opera singer Simon McEnery.
Winchester Cathedral had recently asked Canon Davies to take a number of services in the future, which he will now not be allowed to carry out.
The Diocese of Winchester objected to the fact that a year ago, Canon Davies married his partner of nearly thirty years.
Since the wedding, Jeremy has taken more than half a dozen services in Winchester Cathedral, with no objections.
In fact, Jeremy has been much in demand since his retirement, preaching and lecturing regularly both in the UK and the United States.
A spokesman for the Winchester Diocese said: “Canon Jeremy Davies made an application earlier this year for permission to officiate in the Diocese of Winchester.
“Due to the Church of England’s position on same sex marriage, as set out in the House of Bishops’ Pastoral Guidance, Canon Jeremy Davies has been informed that his application has been unsuccessful.”
Updates
This story has now been reported in the Telegraph, the Guardian, the Mail, the Sun, the Mirror, and on the BBC.
62 CommentsUpdated Monday afternoon and evening, Tuesday evening, Friday evening
The Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life has published its report this morning: Living with Difference: community, diversity and the common good. The report is 104 pages long, but there is a three-page executive summary at the beginning.
The Commission was convened by the Woolf Institute, Cambridge, to:
a) consider the place and role of religion and belief in contemporary Britain, and the significance of emerging trends and identities
b) examine how ideas of Britishness and national identity may be inclusive of a range of religions and beliefs, and may in turn influence peoples self-understanding
c) explore how shared understandings of the common good may contribute to greater levels of mutual trust and collective action, and to a more harmonious society
d) make recommendations for public life and policy.
Press Release from the Commission: UK needs ‘New Settlement’ for religion & belief says Butler-Sloss
Ed Kessler, founder and director of the Woolf Institute, writes for The Huffington post UK about Living With Difference.
press reports
BBC News Call for fewer Church of England bishops in House of Lords
Jonathan Owen Independent Britain is no longer just a Christian country, says major report
Harriet Sherwood The Observer Top judge leads calls to scrap mandatory daily Christian worship in UK schools
The Guardian Coronation of next monarch should reflect ‘less Christian’ Britain, report says
John Bingham and Steven Swinford The Telegraph Britain is no longer a Christian country and should stop acting as if it is, says judge
reactions to the report
Church of England Response to report from Commission on Religion & Belief in British Public Life
[copied below the fold]
National Secular Society Woolf Commission’s multifaithism ‘completely at odds with the religious indifference that permeates British society’
Updates
Angus Ritchie and Shana Cohen (who are two members of the Commission) The Guardian Don’t be suspicious of faith-based charities – let us speak truth to power
Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith Catholic Herald The Corab report is grossly unfair to Catholic schools
Caroline Wyatt BBC News We should do God, says report into religion in public life
John Dickens Schools Week Religion should have the same importance as English and maths, new study claims
Charles Moore The Telegraph We need more religion in our schools, not less
Chloe Farand Independent Mandatory Christian prayers in schools ‘should be axed’
Eliza Filby The Telegraph Faith integration is bad enough in Britain; reducing the role of the Church will only make it worse
Tim Wyatt and Margaret Holness Church Times ‘New settlement needed to overhaul public life’
[updated article and link]
The Guardian editorial The Guardian view on religion in public life: education may be the answer
Andrew Lightbown Some issues with Butler-Sloss
Frank Cranmer Law & Religion UK The CORAB report: Living with Difference
Richard Harries Church Times Faith now is more about food than beliefs
32 CommentsPatrick Strudwick writes for BuzzFeed News: This Is What It’s Like To Sue The Church Of England For Discrimination.
“Canon Jeremy Pemberton was the first British clergyman to marry another man. What happened next sparked a landmark legal battle. He tells BuzzFeed News how the fight for equality became a fight for his sanity, career, and reputation.”
The article begins:
28 CommentsThere is a hand-stitched cushion cover that sits, unfinished, in Jeremy Pemberton’s house. He began sewing the design when he could not get out of bed, when he had sunk so far into despair that focusing on each tiny stitch was the only way to stay sane.
The story of how he sank, off work and resisting thoughts of suicide, reaches far beyond the walls of the home he shares with the man he loves. It is the story of what happens when you take on the Church of England. And it is one that Pemberton has never revealed in full – until now.
The case of Canon Jeremy Pemberton, daubed across newspapers and television channels, has been reported so widely that many already know what happened to the first British clergyman to marry someone of the same sex: that he was stripped of his powers as a priest, unable to conduct official duties, and then barred from a job as an NHS hospital chaplain. As a result, he took the Church of England to an employment tribunal on a charge of discrimination.
But what has gone untold is the inner story behind the landmark case, and, remarkably, the household name that was backing him…
The official record of Business Done
Electronic Voting Results for the motion on the migrant crisis
There are a number of videos of Synod business here.
The December issue of InReview includes reports from Synod.
Election addresses for the Election of Chair, Vice-Chair and Two Members of the Archbishops’ Council by the House of Laity
[Read the Covering Document to see who is standing for what.]
press reports
Tim Wyatt Church Times UK is castigated for weak response to Syrian migration
The Garstang Courier Vicar made chaplain of church’s highest governing body
some blogs
Stephen Lynas
Her Majesty’s a very nice girl
Negotiations and love songs
Anderson Jeremiah
How the Church of England is trying to make itself relevant again
The Church of England’s vote to effectively back military action is a shocking mistake
Updated on Friday to add questions 36 and 37 and their answer below the fold
In the Questions session at this week’s General Synod the Secretary General was asked about turnout in the recent elections to Synod. In reply he gave these figures, together with those from 2010 for comparison.
| percentages | 2015 | 2010 | ||
| Canterbury | ||||
| Average overall | 51.88 | 51.32 | ||
| Average clergy | 56.86 | 55.91 | ||
| Average laity | 46.91 | 46.74 | ||
| Highest turnout clergy | 67.96 | (Birmingham) | 75.00 | (Ely) |
| Lowest turnout clergy | 45.60 | (Hereford) | 43.20 | (Bristol) |
| Highest turnout laity | 72.10 | (Guildford) | 64.13 | (Chelmsford) |
| Lowest turnout laity | 29.82 | (Hereford) | 37.83 | (Lincoln) |
| York | ||||
| Average overall | 48.18 | 50.35 | ||
| Average clergy | 52.49 | 57.23 | ||
| Average laity | 43.87 | 43.48 | ||
| Highest turnout clergy | 69.00 | (Sodor & Man) | 73.90 | (Sodor & Man) |
| Lowest turnout clergy | 39.86 | (Liverpool) | 46.50 | (Liverpool) |
| Highest turnout laity | 56.96 | (Chester) | 54.70 | (Sodor & Man) |
| Lowest turnout laity | 34.74 | (Liverpool) | 36.30 | (Liverpool) |
Suffragan Bishop of Sherborne: Karen Marisa Gorham
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
First published: 26 November 2015The Queen has approved the nomination of Venerable Karen Marisa Gorham to the Suffragan See of Sherborne in the diocese of Salisbury.
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Karen Marisa Gorham, BA, Archdeacon of Buckingham in the diocese of Oxford, to the Suffragan See of Sherborne in the diocese of Salisbury in succession to the Right Reverend Graham Ralph Kings MA PhD, on his resignation on the 15 July 2015.
Notes for editors
The Venerable Karen Gorham (age 51) holds a BA from the University of Bristol and trained for the ministry at Trinity College, Bristol. Prior to ordination she worked as an administrator with BTEC and the Royal Society of Arts and as a Pastoral Assistant in Essex and Hull. She served her title at Northallerton with Kirby Sigston in the diocese of York from 1995 to 1999. She was ordained priest in 1996 and in 1999 went on to become Priest-in-Charge of St Paul’s, Maidstone in the diocese of Canterbury. During this time she was also Assistant Director of Ordinands and Area Dean of Maidstone.
In 2006 she became an Honorary Canon of Canterbury Cathedral. She took up her current role as Archdeacon of Buckingham in 2007. Karen has been a member of the Church of England General Synod for 12 years, and for the last 2 has served as a member of the Panel of Chairs.
Her interests include travel and walking, the coast and Celtic spirituality. She enjoys days out with friends and an occasional visit to a good restaurant to sample the taster menu. Fxopen was not too famous or popular broker. Now it’s one of the biggest companies on forex markets. At these days broker offers different bonuses without deposit or only after deposit for old clients. You may not make the money deposit if you want to get the fxopen welcome bonus for new clients, which registered the trading accounts at the broker platform. To pass the verification of docs at Fx open site, you should upload copy of your passport and copy of utility bill wth your name on it. These will be enough for verification. If you have own forex strategy, then all ok. Karen has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts since 2012.
The Salisbury diocesan website has this: Karen Gorham to be New Bishop of Sherborne, and Oxford has this: Archdeacon Karen to be Bishop of Sherborne.
The new bishop will be consecrated on 24 February 2016.
Updated Thursday morning
Business on Wednesday 25 November
Church of England press releases
Concern for the planet is not a Christian ‘add-on’, Archbishop of York tells Synod
General Synod backs work to help vulnerable refugees [See below the fold for the text of this press release]
Synod agrees to cut red tape to secure future for vulnerable churches
Official brief summaries of the day’s business
General Synod November 2015 – Wednesday AM
General Synod November 2015 – Wednesday PM
Archbishop of York’s Climate Change Presentation at Synod
Press reports
Harriet Sherwood The Guardian Justin Welby says UK military action in Syria ‘almost inevitable’
Antony Bushfield Premier Synod votes to back “military force” to create safe route for refugees
Florence Taylor Christian Today Justin Welby endorses use of force in Syria
Independent Catholic News Coptic Bishop speaks on migration crisis during CofE Synod
Ruth Gledhill Christian Today Churches launch call to prayer to reverse negative views of Jesus and Christianity
John Bingham The Telegraph Rural vicars ‘drowning’ amid battle to keep empty churches open
8 Comments