To win influence, the Church must first win arguments, writes Stephen Plant in The Times.
Wake up to how people really see the C of E, said Mark Hope-Urwin in last week’s Church Times.
Finding a crucifix on a rubbish heap was a timely reminder of God’s enduring love, says Andrew Clitherow in the Guardian.
Earlier in the week, Giles Fraser wrote in the Guardian: Religion thrives in Africa and the Middle East. So is the argument that clever people don’t believe in God racist? See Intelligent, divine.
His Church Times column this week is titled When mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
Riazat Butt wrote at Comment is free about a conference in Saudi Arabia, see Between a rock and jihad place?
Christopher Howse wrote about Wittgenstein in Jeeves and the idea of human sacrifice.
1 CommentThe 2008 meeting of the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church had its third, and final, day of business today.
Reports on today’s business on the Church’s website.
Written report
General Synod 2008 – Saturday 14 June
Verbal report
Update from General Synod 2008 12pm 14 June 2008
0 CommentsThe Bishop of California, Bishop Marc Andrus has issued a pastoral letter to his diocese. Read it in full at Pastoral Letter Regarding Same-sex Marriage.
Naturally, he is responding to the recent California legal judgement, and to subsequent reactions to that. But the most distinctive feature of his recommendations is this:
I urge you to encourage all couples, regardless of orientation, to follow the pattern of first being married in a secular service and then being blessed in The Episcopal Church. I will publicly urge all couples to follow this pattern.
This pattern is of course normal (and unavoidable) in many parts of Western Europe (though not the UK) and some other countries. Nevertheless Bishop Andrus has been criticised for proposing it in California.
Some news reports of this:
ENS California bishop urges all couples to seek civil union first, then church blessing
Living Church Bishop Andrus Plans Ad Campaign to Attract Same-Sex Couples
San Jose Mercury Episcopal bishop praises ‘fundamental right of all people to marry’
17 CommentsThe 2008 meeting of the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church had its second day of business today.
Reports on today’s business on the Church’s website.
Written report
General Synod 2008 – Friday 13 June
Verbal reports (about five minutes each) on the morning and afternoon sessions
Synod 2008 Audio Update – 12pm 13 June 2008
Synod 2008 Audio Update – 5pm 13 June 2008
[updated Saturday morning to reflect correction of report title on SEC website]
Kelvin Holdsworth, Provost of St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow, and a member of synod, is blogging from the floor of synod.
0 CommentsSimon Barrow wrote about it on Comment is free at Compass points.
Alan Wilson responded to this journalism with Middle Class whining from Dystopolis.
Today, the Church Times has this news report by Ed Beavan C of E volunteers ‘add civic value’ to the nation, and this leader: A patchwork cannot give blanket cover.
The Tablet has an article by a report author, Francis Davis titled ‘Damned if you do …’.
Unfortunately, two further articles, one in the Church Times by Bishop Stephen Lowe and one in the Tablet by Frank Field are both behind paywalls for another week.
Stephen Morgan has a review of the report here at Thinking Faith.
And, at Wardman Wire Simon Barrow writes again, in Churches and public service – Thinking Aloud. Matt Wardman writes:
0 CommentsOver the next several weeks, we will be publishing a number of articles from a range of viewpoints – aiming to get beyond the initial reactions which many commentators have felt obliged to publish without reading the document itself. Most of these initial reactions seem to be attempts to create narratives supporting existing positions. That is a criticism that I would extend to all over-rapid reactions – including those I agree with who have indulged themselves.
There is much there relevant to the policy research and formation process with respect to the Third Sector, as well as the position of Christian churches in the UK, and their relation to government. I’m hoping to obtain a very wide range of perspectives in this second “online symposium” (our first one back in February was about MP Pay and Expenses).
We start off with an overview from Simon Barrow…
The Church of England Newspaper has this week published an article by Graham Kings. This is at Religious Intelligence under the title Reading and Reshaping the Anglican Communion.
This is a shorter version of a paper on the Fulcrum website, the long version can be found here.
The article has two parts: a “Reading” which involves a diagram.
The Religious Intelligence copy has an illegible version of this. Go here for a large version.
The other part is a “Reshaping” proposal, which may provoke some interesting discussion.
12 CommentsFollowing on from this development, it is now announced that the “expressed threat of deposition of the Diocesan Bishop at a September meeting of the House of Bishops” is the justification for changing the date of the diocesan convention.
6 Comments9th June, A.D. 2008
St. Columba’s DayTO ALL CLERGY AND LAY DEPUTIES TO THE 143RD ANNUAL CONVENTION:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,After extensive consultation, and with the consent of the Standing Committee, I am moving the time and place of the 143rd Annual Convention of the Diocese to Saturday, October 4th, 2008, at St. Martin’s Church, Monroeville.
Registration of clerical and lay deputies will be from 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. The Convention Eucharist will begin at 8:30 a.m. The business session of Convention will begin immediately following the Eucharist. Lunch will be served at midday. It is anticipated that all matters required to come before the Annual Convention will be complete during the afternoon, with adjournment at the completion of said business.
The date and place of the Annual Convention having been previously set, I am announcing this change under the provisions of Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution of the Diocese. The expressed threat of deposition of the Diocesan Bishop at a September meeting of the House of Bishops is the “sufficient cause.”
The election and certification of all lay deputies is required by June 30th.
Pre-Convention materials will be distributed as required by the Rules of Order. Pre-Convention Hearings will be scheduled in three regions of the Diocese, with dates already set as:
Sunday, September 21, 3 p.m. at Christ Church, Greensburg
Wednesday September 24, 7 p.m. at St. Martin’s, Monroeville
Monday, September 29, 7 p.m., St. Stephen’s, SewickleyThe original convention dates for 7-8 November are being held for a “Consultation on Moving Forward in Mission.” This will be an important first opportunity for shaping our corporate life as we move beyond October’s realignment vote.
Please keep every aspect of this momentous Convention in your prayers.
Faithfully in Christ,
+Bob Pittsburgh
The 2008 meeting of the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church opened today. The afternoon session included a debate on the Anglican Covenant. The main motion (number 3) before synod was
That this Synod affirm an ‘in principle’ commitment to the Covenant process at this time (without committing itself to the details of any text).
This was amended to
That this Synod affirm an ‘in principle’ commitment to continue to participate actively in discussions regarding the future shape of the Anglican Communion at this time (without necessarily committing itself to the concept of a convenant).
The amended motion was carried (65 votes for; 56 against).
There are a number of reports on the day’s business on the Church’s website.
Written reports
General Synod 2008 – Thursday 12 June – contains the text of the Primus’s charge to the synod
General Synod 2008 – Thursday 12 June – day’s proceedings
Verbal reports (about five minutes each) on the morning and afternoon sessions
Synod Update 2008 Noon 12 June 2008
Synod Update 2008 5pm 12 June 2008
A note to General Synod members, GS Misc 889, announces the latest appointments that the Government has made in relation to this area of activity. Here’s what it says:
Crown Appointments
1. In February the General Synod decided that the Government should be invited to agree that there should be a continuing and not merely formal, role for a senior civil servant, at the heart of Government in the selection processes for senior Crown appointments in the Church of England. The Synod also decided that it wanted the Government to continue to provide the necessary staff-work to support the Crown’s (including the Lord Chancellor’s) parochial patronage responsibilities.
2. Following discussions with the Archbishops the Prime Minister has invited Mr Paul Britton to be his Appointments Secretary for senior ecclesiastical appointments and his adviser within the senior Civil Service on Church/State relations. Mr Britton, who is an Anglican and lives in the diocese of Rochester, will remain Director General, Domestic Policy Group, Cabinet Office and Head of the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat. He will work with the Archbishops’ Appointments Secretary on the consultations for diocesan bishop appointments and will attend meetings of the Crown Nominations Commission. In relation to Crown appointments to cathedrals he will be assisted by Ms Emma Boggis, another senior civil servant in the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat, who is also an Anglican and will take part in the selection processes for the Crown deaneries. Work on parochial appointments will remain with Mr Nick Wheeler.
3. The Archbishops have welcomed these new arrangements.
William Fittall
Secretary General
Church House
Westminster SW1P 3AZ
June 2008
1 CommentThis one is in Time and is shared with another bishop. Read Gay Bishop vs. Straight Bishop by David Van Biema.
The other interview can be found here.
0 CommentsThe Sydney Morning Herald carries a report by David Marr titled The archbishop says No. It starts out:
The Anglican Church faces a modern Great Schism, with gay-tolerant Christians on one side and radical “Bible-believers” on the other. And at the forefront of the hardliners is Australia’s outspoken evangelist Peter Jensen.
Pilgrims to the mount of olives late this month may be startled to see a couple of hundred Anglican divines kitted out in purple toiling up the slope. Most of the faces will be black. Back home these men are princes of the church; their followers run into tens of millions. But somewhere among the bishops, dressed incongruously in civvies, will be the humble, smiling face of Peter Jensen, the Archbishop of Sydney.
What’s afoot in Jerusalem is the destruction of the Anglican Communion, the worldwide church loosely aligned to the Archbishop of Canterbury. It spread with the empire and has so far survived, despite all its contradictions, for about 450 years, guided by the tart good sense of its founding monarch, Elizabeth I: “There is only one Jesus Christ and all the rest is a dispute over trifles…”
And it ends with this:
…The Sydney bishops had still not made up their minds to boycott Lambeth after four weeks of “agonising and struggle” – the words of Jensen’s media officer Russell Powell – when Akinola announced their decision for them in far-off Lagos, telling a press conference he was not going to Lambeth – and nor were the bishops of Uganda, Rwanda and Sydney.
Jensen scrambled. He rang the Archbishop of Canterbury’s office to say the Sydney bishops were not coming. At some point the letter was signed and sent. Then Jensen made the decision public. But senior sources in the church say two bishops remain deeply troubled: “They were told to like it or lump it.” My calls to those men were flick-passed to Jensen’s office. Powell informed me that everyone, including Jensen, was upset not to be going. “But the bishops are gladly united in the decision that has been taken.”
Jensen drove all these big decisions. Only when they were signed and sealed did he take them to the Standing Committee of his synod – the parliament of his diocese – where they were rubber-stamped by the clergy and laity. Was that the right way round? “Some would think it a failure of leadership to do it any other way,” answers Powell. The Standing Committee gave its support and “thanks to God for the unreserved commitment to biblical teaching of the Archbishop and his Bishops.”
Jensen speaks of the old Anglican Communion in the past tense. As far as he’s concerned, it’s finished. Lambeth can go on quarrelling about homosexuality, but the Archbishop of Sydney expects the subject will hardly be mentioned at GAFCON. That’s in the past. It is, after all, a bond between them. “To my mind we are just living in a new age. We’re in a different sort of organisation. Now it’s exploring the possibilities of this different organisation that is now before us.” All the way from Westminster Abbey comes the sound of Queen Elizabeth I spinning in her tomb.
The article is very long but well worth reading in full.
31 CommentsThe Scottish Episcopal Church is holding the annual meeting of its General Synod from Thursday to Saturday this week (12 to 14 June) in Edinburgh.
There are several items on the Church’s website about the meeting.
Agenda and Papers
General Information
Preview
For an overview of the synod’s activities see here.
On Thursday afternoon the synod will debate these three motions on the proposed Anglican Covenant.
Motion 3: That this Synod affirm an ‘in principle’ commitment to the Covenant process at this time (without committing itself to the details of any text).
Motion 4: That this Synod ask the Faith and Order Board to respond to the ‘three questions’ in the letter from the Joint Standing Committee, incorporating this Synod’s response to Question 1.
Motion 5: That this Synod:
a) note the St Andrew’s draft Covenant, and ask dioceses to discuss it and submit comments to the Faith and Order Board by 31 December 2008;
b) ask the Faith and Order Board to prepare a response to the Anglican Communion on the draft Covenant, taking due cognisance of the views of this Synod and of dioceses.
The three questions referred to in motion 4 are:
1. Is the Province able to give an “in principle” commitment to the Covenant process at this time (without committing itself to the details of any text)?
2. Is it possible to give some indication of any synodical process which would have to be undertaken in order to adopt the Covenant in the fullness of time?
3. In considering the St Andrew’s Draft for an Anglican Covenant, are there any elements which would need extensive change in order to make the process of synodical adoption viable?
For links to the St Andrew’s draft and related documents see here.
7 CommentsThe Prime Minister’s Spokesman said:
Asked if the Prime Minister accepted that the Church of England had been marginalised in the last few years, and that it had not been listened to perhaps as much as voices from other faiths, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would not accept that at all. The Prime Minister was obviously keen on engaging with all of the major religious groups in this country to ensure that their views were properly aired. We had worked very closely with the Church of England and other religious groups on a number of important policy issues such as the campaign on global debt reduction, which was very much lead by the Church, and which the Government responded to in a very significant way.
Francis Davis one of the report’s authors wrote this: ‘Moral, But No Compass’ – a challenge to every politician.
A Telegraph leader says: The Church of England sees sense.
And George Pitcher writes Labour has bungled religion.
The Times has David Aaronovitch saying The Church of England should drop its martyred tone.
And the letters page has several who disagree with the report: A grown-up Church should not need the State.
At Ekklesia Simon Barrow has written about A wonky church and welfare debate.
And there is a further news report at Church and welfare debate continues as new report is published.
And here’s a speech on the same topic, given last week by the Archbishop of York to the Institute of Jewish Policy Research: Archbishop’s Speech on The Role Of Religion In Politics.
1 CommentStephen Sackur of the BBC interviewed Bishop Martyn Minns for Hardtalk.
Watch the full interview here.
Read a summary of the interview at Episcopal Café.
78 CommentsUpdated Tuesday evening
The Church of Ireland has issued two press releases arising from what the Bishop of Cork, the Rt Revd Paul Colton, said at his diocesan synod on Saturday.
Bishop Colton: Anglican Covenant Raises Issues Of Canon Law
Speaking to members of the Church of Ireland in Cork, Cloyne and Ross at their annual Diocesan Synod on Saturday 7th June, the Bishop of Cork, the Rt Revd Paul Colton, said that the proposed Anglican Covenant which will be debated at next month’s Lambeth Conference raises some major issues for the Church of Ireland.
The Bishop said ‘… the proposed Anglican Covenant, if progressed through the central Anglican structures, the so-called Instruments of Unity, and if it is to be binding on the Church of Ireland, will have to come to the General Synod for ratification and incorporation into the law of the Church of Ireland.’
However, he said: ‘We already have our Preamble and Declaration. It too is a solemn document and covenantal in character: a covenant with and between ourselves formulated at a cathartic time of crisis. Drawn up in 1870 in anticipation of the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland, it is for us one of our title deeds…
Bishop Colton Encourages A New Approach To Canterbury Appointment
…The Bishop warned that the proposed Anglican Covenant gives the Archbishop of Canterbury significant new powers outside of the Church of England and within other Churches. Bishop Colton said that in spite of the Covenant’s protestations to the contrary, “… agreeing to it would result in compromising the autonomy of the Church of Ireland and other parts of the Anglican Communion.”
Bishop Colton said that while what was being proposed may be necessary to preserve the unity of Anglicanism, the proposal to enhance the powers of the Archbishop of Canterbury represented a partial move “…towards universal primacy at the expense of local conciliarity.”
He argued, therefore, that if this is to happen there would have to be a new approach to the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
He said: “If the Covenant proposals and the framework for resolution of conflict are to be adopted internationally, a new approach to the appointment of future Archbishops of Canterbury will be needed as well as international involvement in those appointments. At a minimum this international involvement should involve a new process of formal and transparent consultation throughout Anglicanism.
“I realise that this will compromise the autonomy of the Church of England and raise issues of leadership, authority as well as constitutional concerns for establishment in the English context, which would in turn have to be addressed; but, equally, not to address this matter will raise ecclesial constitutional concerns throughout much of the rest of Anglicanism.”
Update
The full text of his remarks is available as a PDF file here.
6 CommentsUpdated Monday 16 June and Monday 23 June
Papers for next month’s meeting of General Synod are starting to appear online. Links will be added to the list below as they become available.
Agenda
Friday 4 July
Saturday 5 July
Sunday 6 July
Monday 7 July
Tuesday 8 July
Special Agenda I – Legislative Business
Notice Paper 1
Notice Paper 2
Notice Paper 4
Synod Papers
The scheduled day for debate is appended. Starred items will only be debated if a member requests a debate.
GS 1637B Draft Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure [Saturday]
GS 1637Z report by the Steering Committee
GS 1682A Draft Church of England Pensions (Amendment) Measure [Saturday]
GS 1683A Draft Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure [Saturday]
GS 1683Y report by the Revision Committee
GS 1685 Women Bishops: Report Of The Women Bishops Legislative Drafting Group [Saturday and Monday]
GS 1685A Report From The House Of Bishops [Monday]
GS 1685B Note from the Secretary General and revised Annex G
GS 1686 Appointment Of Chair Of The Church Of England Pensions Board [Sunday]
GS 1688 Report by the Business Committee [Friday]
GS 1689 Reader Ministry: Report From The Ministry Division Of The Archbishops’ Council [Saturday]
GS 1690 Annual Report Of The Audit Committee [Sunday]
GS 1691 Anglican/Methodist Covenant [Monday]
GS 1692 Draft Vacancies in Suffragan Sees and Other Ecclesiastical Offices Measure [Saturday]
GS 1692X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1693 Draft Crown Benefices (Parish Representatives) Measure [Saturday]
GS 1693X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1694 Vacancy in See Committees (Amendment) Regulation 2008 [Saturday]
GS 1694X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1695 Payments to the Churches Conservation Trust Order 2008 [Sunday]
GS 1695X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1696 Legal Officers (Annual Fees) Order 2008 [Monday *]
GS 1697 Ecclesiastical Judges, Legal Officers and Others (Fees) Order 2008 [Monday *]
GS 1696-7X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1698 Parochial Fees Order 2008 [Monday *]
GS 1698X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1699 Forty-Third Report Of The Standing Orders Committee [Monday]
GS 1700 Archbishops’ Council’s Draft Budget For 2009 [Tuesday]
GS 1701 Annual Report Of The Archbishops’ Council [Sunday *]
GS 1703 Supplementary Report From The Deployment, Remuneration And Conditions Of Service Committee to GS Misc 877 Parochial Fees: Four Funerals and a Wedding
GS 1704 Appointment Of Archbishops’ Council’s Auditors [Sunday]
GS 1705 Climate Change And Human Security: Challenging An Environment Of Injustice: A Report By The Mission And Public Affairs Council [Sunday]
GS 1706 The Church Of The Triune God: The Cyprus Agreed Statement Of The International Commission For Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue Briefing Paper From Faith And Order Advisory Group [Friday]
GS Misc 887 A and B and Annex B Private Member’s Motion: Church Tourism [Sunday]
GS Misc 890 A and B Diocesan Synod Motion: Faith, Work And Economic Life [Monday]
GS Misc 891 A and B Diocesan Synod Motion: Anglican Governance [Tuesday]
GS Misc 898 Diocesan Synod Motion: Voice of the Church in Public Life [contingency business]
Other Papers circulated to synod members
GS Misc 888 Apportionment Limited Review and Annexes 5a, 5b, 6 & 7
GS Misc 889 Crown Appointments
GS Misc 892 Mission Development Funding
GS Misc 893 Annual Report of the Clergy Discipline Commission
GS Misc 894 Into the New Quinquennium: 2nd Progress Report
GS Misc 895 A note from the Secretary General on Moral, But No Compass
GS Misc 896 Activities of the Archbishops’ Council
GS Misc 897 Presence and Engagement: An Update
The agenda for the July group of sessions of the General Synod is now available; an outline version follows.
July Group of Sessions 2008
Outline Agenda
Usual sitting hours: 9.30 am to 1 pm; 2.30 pm to 6.15 pm; 8.30 pm to 10 pm
Friday 4 July
[2.30-3.30 pm Provision for meetings of the Convocations and House of Laity if required]
4.00 pm Welcomes, introductions, message on behalf of ecumenical guests
Business Committee report
Address by Metropolitan John Zizioulas
Anglican/Orthodox relations, The Church of the Triune God
8.20 pm Introduction to group work by the Bishop of Manchester
Questions
Saturday 5 July
[9.30 am Group work]
11.00 am Women Bishops: take-note debate
2.30 pm Presidential Address by the Archbishop of York
Legislative Business:
– Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure: Final Drafting and Final Approval
– Church of England (Pensions) Amendment) Measure: Revision Stage, Final Drafting and Final Approval
Crown Appointments Legislation:
– Vacancies in Suffragan Sees and Other Ecclesiastical Offices Measure: First Consideration
– Crown Benefices (Parish Representatives) Measure: First Consideration
– Vacancy in See Committees (Amendment) Regulation
– Miscellaneous Provisions Measure:Revision Stage
8.30 pm Reader Ministry
Sunday 6 July
2.30 pm Church Tourism: Private Members’ Motion: Roy Thompson
Legislative Business: Payments to the Churches Conservation Trust
Climate Change and Human Security
Appointment of the Chairman of the Pensions Board
Audit Committee report
Appointment of auditors
Archbishops’ Council Annual Report: deemed approval
8.30 pm Fees: Four Funerals and a Wedding
Monday 7 July
9.30 am Prayers
Anglican/Methodist Covenant
Legislative Business
– Unfinished business from Saturday
– Fees Orders [deemed]
Standing Orders Committee Report
2.30 pm Women Bishops: debate on motion from House of Bishops
8.30 pm Faith, Work and Economic Life:St Albans Diocesan Synod Motion
Tuesday 8 July
9.30 am Prayers
Anglican Governance: Guildford Diocesan Synod Motion
Budget
Church Commissioners Annual Report: presentation and Questions & Answers session
Farewells
Prorogation
Contingency business: Chester Diocesan Synod Motion: Voice of the Church in Public Life
4 CommentsHere is the official Church of England press release on Moral, But No Compass: Von Hügel Institute: Government ‘moral without a compass’ says report into Church and Welfare.
The government is ‘planning blind and failing parts of civil society’ when it comes to faith communities in general and aspects of charity law and social policy in particular, concludes a report by the Von Hügel Institute, an academic research centre and think tank based at St Edmund’s College, Cambridge University. “The government has good intentions, but is moral without a compass,” the authors say.
The report, Moral, But No Compass – Government, Church, and the Future of Welfare, was commissioned by the Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, Bishop for Urban Life and Faith, who officially received the report today on behalf of the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. It was researched and written by Francis Davis, co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Faith in Society at the Von Hügel Institute, Elizabeth Paulhus, a researcher at the Institute, and Andrew Bradstock, co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Faith in Society at the Institute.
The Institute’s research involved interviewees from politics, churches, other faiths, the civil service and the voluntary sector. It ‘uncovered huge gaps in government evidence about faith communities in general and the churches in particular,’ according to the report.
“We encountered on the part of Government,” the report says, “a significant lack of understanding of, or interest in, the Church of England’s current or potential contribution in the public sphere. Indeed we were told that Government had consciously decided to focus its evidence gathering almost exclusively on minority religions. We were unsurprised to hear that some of these consequently felt ‘victimised’…”
And the CofE comments:
…Welcoming this report, Bishop Stephen Lowe said: “We had little information about our own capacity or indeed level of existing activity. We had only a sketchy idea of political aspirations for our involvement. We needed an informed and reflective assessment of the position for the Church to consider the nature and extent of its future participation…I am delighted with the outcome.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, called it a ‘fascinating and important report’.
“On the one hand it highlights and details some truly remarkable examples of public good delivered by the Church and faith based organisations – sometimes funded by the state, though mostly not – and a general picture of committed social engagement which if grasped imaginatively by the state could, indeed would, yield some extraordinarily positive results,” the Archbishops said.
“On the other it reveals a depressing level of misunderstanding of the scale and quality of contribution faith-based organisations make to the civil and civic life of our nation – our common good. This is particularly true in relation to the contribution of the Church of England, and its membership, on which the report focuses.
“In short, this report urges the Church, government and others, notably the Charity Commissioners, to sit up, take note and to better understand each others roles and intentions in order to make the most of one of this nation’s most diverse, creative and enduring assets – the Church..
“We all need to consider very seriously the report’s recommendations and take appropriate action – for the good of the nation.”
The press release includes the full list of recommendations made by the report. Some of those are addressed not to the government but to the church. These are reproduced below the fold.
0 CommentsSee below for earlier reports.
Here is the publisher’s website description:
Moral, But No Compass
Government, Church and the Future of Welfare
In the heyday of Thatcherism the Church of England and the Conservative government of the day locked horns over the principles, policies, and strategic direction of the welfare state. The ensuing public debate, fraught with emotion, led to fundamental shifts in the political climate, not least with regard to the poorest members of UK society.
This new major study for the Church of England, drawing on hundreds of interviews and survey questionnaires, describes the modern setting in which the Labour Party’s welfare and related voluntary sector policies often are experienced as “discriminatory”, inadequately rooted in evidence and at risk of failing the faith communities. The government is “moral, with no compass” and needs to recover a principled approach to public service reform grounded in gift, covenant, advocacy and justice. Such an approach also demands a richer appreciation of the “civic value” added to the life, identity and health of the nation by Christian institutions in partnership with the whole realm of civil society. The Church too must adapt to the changing times, overcoming its (mistaken) perception that it is well understood by society. If the crisis of evidence and conversation can be repaired, the Church is in a position, should it so wish, to engage in even more extensive social entrepreneurship, community activism and public advocacy.
The report covers:
• Historical background of welfare;
• Critical assessment of the Labour and Conservative Party’s policy positions;
• The failures of third sector evidence and policy design in Government and at the Charity Commission;
• Analysis of the assets and membership of social voices, both secular and faith-based;
• New data on the capability and potential of Anglican dioceses as social incubators;
• Fresh insights into the role of cathedrals as civic actors and economic hubs;
• New information on the civic contribution of bishops.
• The Church’s view of principles needed by Government for ethical commissioning, as well as its reservations about the present funding regime.ISBN: 978-1-898366-91-1
And here is further comment by Simon Barrow in Church Caught In A Spin Over Welfare.
3 Comments…The initial reporting about Moral, But No Compass has been rather selective, “well spun” and based on what was either a leaked document or a deliberately placed one. In any event, the full report was originally embargoed until a press conference in London tomorrow at 11am and will still be unveiled in full then, though the tone of reception and response has already been established. The archbishops of Canterbury and York will apparently issue a statement.
There is much more to be said about this (I’m respecting the embargo, even if the rush to summary judgment has already begun), but my opening comment on behalf of Ekklesia was as follows: “We believe a more careful, calm and critical evaluation is needed of the role of faith groups in public service provision. It is particularly important that the needs of the vulnerable and the reasonable expectation of all people (whether religious or non-religious) for equal treatment from public services should not be subsumed too readily in a ‘contracting-out’ culture that can put the interests of providers – government, voluntary and private agencies – ahead of those they are supposed to be helping. Research and thought is badly needed, but a confused ‘debate’ fuelled by sensational headlines and half-truths will not help anybody.”
Updated Sunday
This is apparently (some variations exist in the reporting) the title of a report commissioned by the Church of England (180 pages) to be published on Monday. The Times already has seen it, and has published several articles about it:
Church attacks Labour for betraying Christians
The policies of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have helped to generate a spiritual, civic and economic crisis in Britain, according to an important Church of England report.
Labour is failing society and lacks the vision to restore a sense of British identity, the report says in the Church’s strongest attack on the Government for decades. It accuses the Government of “deep religious illiteracy” and of having “no convincing moral direction”.
The report, commissioned for the Church of England and to be published on Monday, accuses the Government of discriminating against the Christian Churches in favour of other faiths, including Islam. It calls for the appointment of a “Minister for Religion”, who would act as the Prime Minister’s personal “faith envoy” and who would recognise the contribution of faith communities to Britain across every government department…
Other Times articles:
Ignored and spurned, the Church has lost its faith – in government
Hunger to put faith into action is frustrated by secularist agenda Analysis by Ruth Gledhill
Times Leader: Church and State
Ruth Gledhill’s blog has substantial quotes from the report, at Church critiques Government’s ‘moral compass’
The Telegraph has also seen it, and published this:
Christianity ‘discriminated against by Gordon Brown’s Government’ by Jonathan Wynne-Jones
The Associated Press report includes:
The Church declined to release the report before a scheduled publication Monday and would not comment on specific recommendations.
Peter Crumpler, spokesman for the Church of England, said the institute was asked to prepare a report “that could assist our reflections and contribute to our conversations with government.”
“The hard-hitting report raises issues of considerable importance, the authors say, and makes recommendations that challenge the Government to recognize the Church’s involvement and potential in public service reform,” he said.
Lowe said the report has not yet been discussed, or endorsed, by senior members of the clergy.
“The report is not an attack on the government, but a call for greater understanding by all politicians of the role of the Church of England in the community life of this country,” Lowe said in a statement.
Update Sunday morning
The BBC Sunday radio programme has a 12 minute segment on this report. Listen here.
Or there is a podcast available here.
Government moral report
A report commissioned by the Church of England says that the UK’s Labour Government is moral, but it doesn’t have a moral compass. The report, released on Monday 9 June, also says that the Government discriminates against the Christian Churches in favour of other faiths, and is guilty of deep religious illiteracy.Roger spoke to one of the report’s authors, Francis Davis from the Von Hugel Institute at St Edmund’s College, Cambridge. He was also joined by the Bishop who commissioned the report, Stephen Lowe, and by the Communities and Local Government Secretary Hazel Blears.
BBC Ministers ignore us, says Church
Simon Barrow reports on Ekklesia that Row breaks out over report to Church on its welfare role:
22 CommentsA report looking at the role of the Church of England and other faith communities in welfare has been spun into an attack on government before it has even been published and properly digested, say the researchers involved in producing it.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Sunday’ programme this morning, co-author Francis Davis from the Von Hugel Institute in Cambridge, which was commissioned by the Church of England’s urban affairs bishop, the Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, but produced its work independently, urged people to “carefully read and study the report” when it is published tomorrow rather than “quoting selectively from it.”
Another of the report’s academic authors, Dr Andrew Bradstock, is also deeply unhappy about the way that a lengthy and detailed document, embargoed until 9 June, has been spun by journalists into an attack on government.
“The purpose of this document is to resource an ongoing conversation, not to leap to conclusions or start apportioning general blame”, Dr Bradstock told Ekklesia this morning.
He points out that while the research indicates that some government departments have a sketchy view and little hard data on the church’s grassroots voluntary work, it is not suggesting a lack of moral purpose in any quarter – though it is raising tough questions and the need for action to address the shortcoming of the current situation…