Diocese of Newcastle Bishop Helen-Ann’s Presidential Address to Diocesan Synod
[This address refers to a motion on LLF at Newcastle diocesan synod; the motion is copied below the fold.]
Surviving Church A reply to Anon’s Reflections on the Safeguarding Failures and Delays in the C/E highlighted by the Charity Commission
Mark Clavier Well-Tempered Four Last Things
Motion at Newcastle diocesan synod on 29 November; it was carried by 48 votes to 9, with 3 abstentions.
Progressing Living in Love and Faith
In the light of the announcement by the House of Bishops on 15th October 2025 regarding the future of Living in Love and Faith which did not commit to a timeline for enacting the decisions of General Synod in February and November 2023 (GS2328 and LLF Motion, as amended), I move that this Synod:
1. Laments the further hurt and pain that has been experienced by LGBTQI+ people as a result of the House of Bishops announcement on 15th October 2025, which appears inconsistent with the House of Bishops’ apology issued on 14th February 2023 for the harm that LGBTQI+ people have experienced in the life of the Church and indicates a lack of commitment to a vision of radical Christian inclusion.
2. Calls upon the House of Bishops to:
i) Offer leadership and direction that honours the inclusive majority of the Church of England and truly values LGBTQI+ people as beloved children of God.
ii) Confirm that it would be open to any priest, relying on Canon B.5.2, and on the good will of their Diocesan Bishop, to use a form of standalone service of thanksgiving and prayer for a same sex couple asking for such.
iii) Quantify and publish a risk assessment, taking account of likelihood and impact, of a successful legal challenge to ii) under the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure (EJM), 1963.
iv) Commence the process of authorising standalone services of thanksgiving and prayer for same sex couples under Canon B.2 and in line with the indicative timeline contained in the legal advice received on this matter (GS Misc 1432)
v) As a matter of urgency, introduce the legislative measures that would allow clergy to enter into same sex civil marriage and in line with the timescales set out in the legal advice received.
Well done once again to Bishop Helen-Ann, on such an outstanding talk at Newcastle Diocesan Synod. She is a bright light in a sad and fading church.
It’s a pity she hadn’t been translated to Canterbury.
She’ll be not yet 60 when the Archbishop-designate ages out of the job!
An interesting observation.
But… given the identitarian approach we now take, reflexively, to our understanding of who people most profoundly are:
Will the next ABY need to be male, preferably of colour and LGBT+?
Will the CofE appoint 2 women ABCs in a row?
Well there have been 105 male archbishops in a row, so one could argue that we need to appoint another 104 women to get some balance.
As for LGBTQ+, you would need about 4-5 homosexual archbishops to get some balance, and it is likely that has been achieved, probably more than achieved.
I will leave it to those more qualified to comment on ethnicity and colour.
I couldn’t agree more.
Thank you, Mark Clavier, for your thoughtful Advent reflection and the way you’ve breathed life into the Four Last Things. Even folk who should know better, from the church down the road to BBC Songs of Praise, name the advent themes as joy, peace and love. Bah humbug! That’s Christmas! Advent has death, judgment, heaven and hell – Oh, and the music’s so much better than Christmas too.
I’ve often heard mention of the Advent themes – the Four Last Things – but where do they come from? The Sunday readings don’t seem to be about them. The problem then is there is a confusion of themes – the Advent Candle business, the 4 last things and the themes coming through the authorized readings.
I don’t know the origin of The Four Last Things, except that they’re much older than the Advent Wreath, which I believe began as a domestic ‘count-down’ to Christmas. The C of E soon attached meaning to the wreath: initially Patriarchs, Prophets, the Baptist and the BVM – only to find this didn’t fit the lectionary. Instead of attaching meaning to each candle, which can turn the Eucharist into a learning experience, I like to let the candles speak for themselves in marking Advent’s progress. And as a secondary symbol in a spare season, not allowing the wreath to distract… Read more »
I agree with the latter. I always enjoyed Advent, I would try to fit the music to the theme.
Is there a better hymn than ‘o come o come Emmanuel..’?
Jehan Alain was well suited for voluntaries. I would play the Fantasie for the opening procession, and once played the Trois Dances at the end.
https://youtu.be/kOJ-Q0kzw_0?si=43x4CdvGzq-ru1QS
https://youtu.be/nkKEZzhR5-0?si=Syfk8Xf5N2OZuPZY
Lovely photo on the front of Jehan and his sister Marie-Claire.
Alain Fantasies always seemed to me as cries from the deep.
I should have mentioned that my judgement may have been skewed by the days of singing Away in a manger for the umpteenth time.
If i never have to sing all 52 verses of we three kings ever again i will be happy.
I expect you know that, sadly, Alain was killed in action at age 29, just nine months after the start of WWII. The Germans buried him with full military honours. Marie-Claire was his outstanding advocate and performer of his works. She survived him by 73 years. ‘Litanies’ is another noted piece, possibly his best-known and most frequently performed.
Going from the Alain 2nd Fantasie for the procession to o come o come with full congregation – it fits so well.
Just discovered this:
https://youtu.be/UI0jAxh0kkU?si=oV-UTMhXPEepLrVG
It is very illuminating. Both the hymn and the Alain no doubt have similar historic roots or influences in Gregorian plainchant.
The AI overview which came up is complete tosh.
I agree that glib modern soundbites are not helpful but we should not dismiss the liturgical anticipation of Christmas also traditionally embedded into the season’s penitential character.
Mark Clavier does not do that in his excellent reflections, (as the opening sentence of his final paragraph makes clear).
laudablepractice.blogspot.com spells out that side of the case, albeit polemically at times, but the evidential detail is supportive.
Suspect that your musical comments will find favour though.
Without Christmas, Advent makes no sense. Do we then omit the Gloria to make Advent more penitential, or to make Christmas more glorious? The latter of course. My original post was deliberately polemical so as to draw attention to Mark Clavier’s fine piece which, inexplicably, had attracted no comment. Maybe TA folk were letting it marinate – it is very much that kind of reflection.
It turns out the tune for ‘O come O come’ is for funeral services.
I investigated a bit more. Concerning Jehan Alain’s 2nd fantasie
The opening theme is thought (by Marie-Claire Alain) to be based on the first part of the plainchant antiphon Exultabunt Domino from the Roman Catholic burial service.
I like a lot of laudable practice’s writing, but in this piece I think he’s erected a bit of a straw man. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t think that Advent anticipates Christmas–though I prefer to think of it as anticipating the whole annual journey we make from Christmas to Pentecost. It’s sort of implied in the name of the season. Like Lent, it’s intended as a period of penitential preparation before a season of celebration. In an ideal world, therefore, we shouldn’t anticipate by including elements of Christmas than we would elements of Easter during Lent. But Advent has… Read more »
The ASB sought to get around the encroachment of Christmas by introducing a de facto longer Advent: “the 9 Sundays before Christmas”. CW is less idiosyncratic, although red as the liturgical colour during the Sundays before Advent has no historical precedent and to my mind little merit other than getting more use out the least used set of vestments. I never welcomed having the crib and Christmas tree in church before 17 December (O Sapientia), when the liturgical focus tilts towards Christmas. But school nativities and Christingles made this impractical. An Anglican compromise during Advent Eucharists was to… Read more »
Isn’t the ‘correct’ liturgical colour for Advent violet (or purple)? You will know better than I whether any feasts of martyrs occur during Advent when red (or crimson) would be proper.
Yes, violet for Advent, although many parishes use purple, which saves money but at the cost of making Advent seem a mini-Lent. I was actually referring to red in the Sundays before Advent (did the C of E introduce this innovation as martyrdom has gone somewhat out of fashion?).
As for martyrs themselves, St Andrew fell on Advent 1 this year, so was transferred to the Monday.
I wrote a PS acknowledging that I had misread you: the Sundays before Advent, but the editors clearly realised that your reply to my first effort made the second redundant!
I’ve always disliked the proliferation of liturgical colours as clergy don’t really need an excuse to purchase another set of vestments and altar hangings! So, I’ve always gladly worn purple. But I agree entirely with you on the red. I continue to wear green.
My understanding is that the fashion for blue during Advent, like so-called Celtic Christianity, is based less in historical fact than in some late 19th and early 20th century eccentricities.
More than happy with 4 colours, despite a longing to sashay down the aisle in pink twice a year.
Another problem with pre-Advent red is what to do on the feast of Christ the King. Red indicates continuity, white is fitting on feasts of Our Lord.
The colour blue for advent has become very popular here in Canada.
https://romananglican.blogspot.com/2019/12/blue-for-advent-anglican-tradition.html
https://anglicancompass.com/blue-is-for-beginnings-the-color-of-advent/#:~:text=At%20the%20beginning%20of%20the,of%20the%20people%20of%20God.
The same is true in TEC (except we call it the “color” blue!)
lol. in canada we also call it , la couleur bleue.
Bishop Helen-Ann’s prophetic ministry will be remembered long after the sourpusses numbered amongst her episcopal colleagues have been forgotten.
There is nothing ‘prophetic’ about talking about a ‘crisis of welcome’ and not talking about the disproportionate stranger sexual assaults that they bring with them, covered up by the state (read the Jay report), and then abusing for a triple time when they’re mistakenly released to wander the streets after a month after public pressure forces a prosecution. She said not one word that would offend her friends or upset the powerful. She says ‘I don’t think we should ‘other’ the flag raisers even when we find their views offensive’ but the very phrase is to ‘other’ us and say… Read more »
How much of the bishop’s thinking truly reflects being ‘woven into the granularity of (her) local communities ‘ and how much of it might sound like ‘luxury opinion’ to many of the rooted indigenous locals of Newcastle?
I think she will have a little upset the powerful political interests that are campaigning for the Rochdale Scandal Enquiry to be an expose of criminal tendencies among immigrants/Muslims
But, those political interests aren’t powerful. That’s how the Rochdale child abuse was able to occur; not helped of course by the well-educated, parish system choosing to turn a blind eye to the huge number of victims. The Casey report was forced on the last government – by people who fit far more the Biblical picture of a prophet than the Bishop does – and Casey has forced an enquiry onto this government (the government kicking and screaming and dragging their heels).
I find the example of Peter interesting in this context. Paul openly and publicly rebukes him for back peddling his welcome to Gentiles, and his eating with them, once envoys of James arrive from the Jerusalem church. Barnabas is also caught up in the backward move. Paul is very clear of the implications of this in the Galatian letter and what the Gospel represents and subverts, and the personal challenge to step out of the collective conformity. I suspect an attempt to do likewise today would result in Paul being rebuked for his public action and a committee formed to… Read more »