Ian Paul Psephizo Is it time to scrap the ‘curacy’?
Andrew Lightbown theore0 Speaking of liturgy (and theological formation)
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church The Imagination Deficit. Bishops and Survivors
Peter Sheppard Catholic Herald Thousands of medieval churches face ruin. Who will save them?
David Walker ViaMedia.News The Fallout from Tribal Scrums
56 CommentsHelen King ViaMedia.News Safeguarding & Sexuality – Are We Throwing Money In the Right Direction?
Trevor Thurston-Smith The Pensive Pilgrim Ancient and Modern : When is church music ‘Good’?
Leo Benedictus The Guardian Churches in nightclubs and Anglican gyms: can the C of E win back city dwellers?
60 CommentsBosco Peters Liturgy A Schism’s Consecration
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Life after Trauma. Charities who work for peace and the healing of Survivors
David Ison ViaMedia.News Unity or Truth?
Julia Baird The Sydney Morning Herald In praise of the oddities and outliers resisting bonkers fundamentalism in Sydney
Rosalind Brown Church Times The lectionary silences women’s experiences
“It is time to make the stories of female biblical characters more visible during public worship”
Rosie Harper ViaMedia.News “Don’t Go Listening to Lies….”
Stephen Kneale Christian Today Is your church too dependent on charitable status?
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Open Letter to Keith Makin re: John Smyth Review
30 Comments… and other news from Australia and New Zealand
updated to add another press report
updated Thursday to add reaction from leaders of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand
During his presidential address to the Sydney diocesan synod a week ago, Archbishop Glenn Davies said:
My own view is that if people wish to change the doctrine of our Church, they should start a new church or join a church more aligned to their views – but do not ruin the Anglican Church by abandoning the plain teaching of Scripture. Please leave us. We have far too much work to do in evangelising Australia to be distracted by the constant pressure to change our doctrine in order to satisfy the lusts and pleasures of the world.
There is a report on the diocesan website here: Guarding the faith in a changing world. The full hour-long address is available as a pdf and a video.
Four days after his address The Sydney Morning Herald published this piece by the archbishop, My words were for the bishops and I stand by them, which included this:
When I said “Please, leave us”, my words were directed at bishops of the church, and those who wish to change our doctrine, and I stand by those words. The words were not directed at members of our congregations, especially those who identify as gay, whether single or married.
The archbishop’s remarks attracted a lot of attention – see the press reports below.
The Melbourne diocesan synod also met last week and voted to record its “sorrow” over the decision by the diocese of Wangaratta to bless same-sex marriages.
There are also reports that Archbishop Davies and other Australian bishops took part in the consecration of a GAFCON bishop in New Zealand at the weekend.
Archbishop Davies’s remarks gathered a lot of attention in the press, and there is also coverage of the other news from Australia and New Zealand.
update
Anglican Taonga Church denounces ‘crossing boundaries’
Leaders of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand have spoken out against boundary-crossing by Anglican bishops who supported the ordination of a bishop for a break-away church last Saturday.
Press reports and comments
The Sydney Morning Herald Archbishop accused of trying to ‘split’ Anglican church over same-sex marriage
The Guardian ‘Please leave’: why the Sydney archbishop’s same-sex marriage message has Anglicans rattled
“The blunt words of Sydney archbishop Glenn Davies come at a critical moment for Australian churches and demands for religious freedom”
The Guardian Anglican churches reject Sydney archbishop’s stance on same-sex marriage
“Churches in Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria say they welcome everyone and his comments cause ‘deep distress'”
Julia Baird The Age Even conservative rectors shuddered: why Sydney Archbishop’s words hurt
Eternity News I wanted bishops to leave, not LGBT people, says Sydney’s Glenn Davies
The Guardian Melbourne Anglicans vote to express ‘sorrow’ over blessing of same-sex marriages
The Sydney Morning Herald ‘Crisis point’: the Anglican church is riven by worse divisions than ever before
Craig D’Alton humane catholic Melbourne Synod 2019, and beyond
VirtueOnline Christchurch: GAFCON Consecrates New Evangelical Diocesan Bishop
Eternity News NZ gets two Anglican Churches. Maybe Australia will too
update
The Guardian British bishop rebukes Sydney Anglican leader’s call for gay marriage supporters to leave church
“Bishop of Liverpool says he regrets that Archbishop Glenn Davies ‘seems to want to exclude people rather than to engage with them'”
Peterson Feital ViaMedia.News Toxic Masculinity and the Church
Ian Paul Psephizo Should clergy count their days and hours?
Eve Poole Church Times How to break free from a culture of overwork
“Christians must model a different way of living, says Eve Poole. Help is at hand from Oscar Wilde and the latest research”
Joel Hollier The Guardian I’m gay, married, and not leaving my church
Paul Bayes ViaMedia.News The Rainbow of Non-violent Advocacy
10 CommentsUpdated Friday morning to add some press reports
Updated Monday morning to add link to diocesan tables
The Church of England has published two sets of statistics today.
There is an accompanying press release, Church engages millions through apps and social media, which concentrates on the digital report. It is copied below the fold.
Update: Detailed Diocesan tables (excel file) are now available.
Press reports
Church Times Enquirers’ courses are attended mainly by churchgoers, statistics suggest
Telegraph Church of England’s prayer apps used a record five million times, while attendance figures fall
Christian Today Church of England’s digital reach grows as service attendance continues to fall
30 CommentsNic Tall is Election Campaign Coordinator for the IC and partners’ 2020 Synod Campaign. Inclusive Church has published this article by him: 2020 Synod Elections: Shaping the future of the Church of England.
Should same sex couples be able to marry in church? How can the church respond to the climate emergency? How do we equip the church for the challenges of mission and ministry in the 21st Century? Do you ever find yourself asking these questions? And do you ever wonder who in the church has the job of answering them?
In the Church of England the big questions of the day are debated by the General Synod. It can seem like a remote body, with little effect at parish level and no place for ordinary clergy and churchgoers, but that is a common misperception. Many significant changes in how local churches operate come from decisions in General Synod, and the policies of the national church are shaped and decided in Synod. Next year will see full elections for the next five year term of the General Synod, and whoever is elected will have a voice in how the church grapples with the big issues and shape its future.
Could you serve on General Synod? Maybe you know someone you could encourage to stand for election. The Church needs a diverse range of people on Synod, different ages, backgrounds and experience to represent the full breadth of the Church. Inclusive Church is leading a campaign to organise for the 2020 elections, working in partnership with other inclusive organisations across the life of the church. We have just launched our main campaign leaflet, saying what will be happening and how you can be involved. Please download it here, and share it far and wide among people you know in the church who have inclusive values…
The campaign leaflet, Planning for the 2020 Elections to the General Synod, contains more detailed information:
Who is organising the Inclusive Synod Campaign?
This campaign is being organised by a coalition of key organisations from across the full breadth of traditions in the Church of England – evangelical, catholic, liberal. We represent the broad mainstream of the Church, those who want our national Church to be for everyone, regardless of gender, age, disability, tradition, race, socio-economic background or sexuality. Members include Inclusive Church, WATCH, One Body One Faith, Ozanne Foundation, Affirming Catholicism, Accepting Evangelicals, Modern Church, the Society of Catholic Priests, the Campaign for Equal Marriage in the C of E, the Progressive Christianity Network and Thinking Anglicans. We are the only campaign for Synod organising across the whole of the Church…
Ian Blair ViaMedia.News On Brexit, Becket and Signs of the Times
Janet Fife Surviving Church The Gospel, Victims and Common Worship pt 2
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Crowd Psychology and the Church
Archdruid Eileen The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley The Mathematics and Psychology of the Peace
Jayne Ozanne ViaMedia.News Identity Depression & the Church’s Culpability
Felicity Cooke and Lizzie Taylor WATCH Trust and Transparency: Essentials for Mutual Flourishing
Loretta Minghella gave this talk (a 31 minute audio) at the WATCH AGM earlier this month.
1 CommentUpdated
Two news articles about the dispute concerning the Dean, Martyn Percy, have appeared on the same day. Each contains new information, but there is surprisingly little overlap. Do read both articles all the way through. (Warning: the FT piece is very long.)
Church Times Christ Church continues to struggle to find peace
A NEW row is brewing in Christ Church, Oxford, despite the exoneration of the Dean, the Very Revd Dr Martyn Percy (News, 30 August). The Cathedral Chapter has now sought its own legal advice about the actions of a group of senior dons who accused the Dean of “immoral, scandalous, and disgraceful behaviour” (News, 5 November 2018).
As a consequence, there are reports that members of the Chapter have, in turn, been harassed and threatened with legal action. On Wednesday, Dr Percy declined to comment.
The small group of dons used an estimated £1.6 million of college funds to pursue the Dean, who is also Head of House (i.e. Master of the college) after he raised questions about governance and pay scales, including his own. He was cleared of all charges in August, in an internal inquiry led by Sir Andrew Smith, who produced a judgment of more than 100 pages. It is this document that is at the centre of the new row…
Financial Times Scheming spires: trouble at Oxford’s Christ Church
Update: this second article, which was available freely earlier today, has now gone behind a paywall. I am sorry about the inconvenience. See comments below about possible ways around this.
32 CommentsThe Church Times has a news report today (which covers other episcopal Brexit responses too) This is how to honour the referendum: Welby clarifies Bishops’ statement. In it the Archbishop of Canterbury makes a fairly lengthy response to last week’s leader column. Do read it all.
35 CommentsPress release from the Church of England
Channel Islands Commission publishes recommendations
09/10/2019
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on the relationship of the Channel Islands to the wider Church of England has published its final report, including a recommendation for Episcopal oversight of the Islands to be transferred to the Bishop of Salisbury.
37 CommentsThe Oxford bishops write:
We may be about to exit the European Union and begin a new relationship with our European neighbours and with the world. +Steven, +Alan, +Colin and Bishop-elect Olivia have written a joint letter to every church, school and chaplaincy in the Diocese of Oxford reminding us all of the important roles that our churches and schools hold at this time. The bishops are encouraging parishioners across the diocese to read the letter too: “Don’t underestimate what we can achieve if every church, chaplaincy and school does something and if every Christian disciple takes some action, however small”.
Read the whole letter here. A Christian response to Brexit.
And there are further resources here.
26 CommentsMembers of the Church of England General Synod have been sent the following email inviting questions for answer next month. As noted written answers will be given (and published); ie no supplementary questions will be possible.
Dear Synod members,
Mindful of the exceptionally high number of questions in February and July, the Business Committee has decided to use its powers under Standing Order 117(1) to give members the opportunity to submit questions for written answer between groups of sessions. This is a process last used in 2008.
The deadline is 12.00 on Friday, 8 November. Please send the questions to questions@churchofengland.org.
Answers will be published on www.churchofengland.org no later than Monday, 25 November.
Please also note that under SO 112(2), members can ask up to two questions, which should be addressed to one of the bodies accountable to the General Synod listed in SO 112(1).
Thank you very much.
Best regards,
Synod Support
1 CommentStephen Parsons Surviving Church The Jonathan Fletcher story continues
Martyn Goss Modern Church Faith, belief and climate justice
Peter Leonard ViaMedia.News Power, Men & Politics
Lambeth Conference Eamonn Mullally shares his hopes for the Lambeth Conference
20 CommentsToday’s Church Times carries three items relating to the Church of England bishops’ intervention in the Brexit debate.
There is a news story, Bishops defend statement in which they endorse Brexit
and there is the Press column Press: Bishops back Brexit — but no one reports it.
But more significantly there is a very long leader article, which is highly critical of the statement: The Bishops’ misplaced respect. Do read the whole of this critique, which starts out:
IT WAS a very Anglican betrayal. No Gove-like rush of blood to the head, stolid Johnsonian plotting, or Momentum bullying. Just a throwaway line at the start of the College of Bishops’ statement on the tenor of political discourse. It was a clearing of the throat, a testing of the microphone. “In writing, we affirm our respect for the June 2016 Referendum, and our belief that the result should be honoured.”
All three parts of this sentence deserve a closer look…
There are also some Letters to the Editor.
37 CommentsColin Coward Unadulterated Love The 40th anniversary of a feral priest’s priesting
Janet Fife Surviving Church The Gospel, Victims and Common Worship
Sarah Mullaly, the Bishop of London, preached this sermon at the annual Judges Service in Westminster Abbey yesterday.
“Justice in the Bible has less to do with the conviction of the guilty and more to do with the care of the innocent.”
The Reverend Al Barrett is the incumbent of Hodge Hill Church – a partnership between St Philip & St James (Church of England – Birmingham Diocese) and Hodge Hill United Reformed Church. He blogs regularly at This estate we’re in and he has written this: “Not peace, but a sword”: a response to the bishops’ statement.
This is quite a long analysis and deserves to be read in full He starts out this way:
There is, I realise, something slightly perverse about criticising a unanimous statement, from the Church of England’s bishops, attempting to speak with urgency into a time of profound national division. I also realise it’s not the first time I’ve responded publicly, and critically, to a statement made by my denomination’s senior leadership at a moment of political ‘crisis’. I’m sure there are words for people like me, and ‘irritant’ is probably the politest of them.
But these are indeed critical moments in our national life, and thankfully our bishops rarely presume to have ‘the last word’ in such moments. With whatever authority they seek to speak, their interventions are invitations (implicit or explicit) to further reflection and conversation – and it is to that implicit invitation that I cannot help but respond – with some ‘wonderings’ that can claim no more authority than the bishops’ statement, and certainly no more claim to be ‘the last word’ of a vital ongoing conversation.
I can only imagine the anguished discussions, in person, on the phone, by email, between the bishops in the process of agreeing this unanimous statement. The felt importance of presenting a ‘united front’, a single message – when they will no doubt have, among themselves, had passionate disagreements about the content, the tone, and even whether they should be saying anything public at all. I feel for them in those struggles. None of this is easy. To say anything, as much as to say nothing, is risky, costly, weighty in its responsibility…
And here is his concluding paragraph:
…Here, then, is the dilemma confronting the Church of England, in a nutshell: how do we ‘own up’ with penitent honesty to our own profoundly imbalanced and compromised social location and institutional reality (dominated by White, upper-/middle-class men), while seeking complex solidarities with diverse and marginalized ‘others’ who present challenges to both the church and wider society, and courageously challenging the powers-that-be where power is both concentrated and abused? The answer must, surely, include a willingness to give up – or be stripped of – most of the traces of institutional power that the Church of England, especially, continues to benefit from – even that of presuming to speak into political debate with some kind of ‘authoritative voice’. It must also, equally certainly, include an unshakeable commitment to listen acutely, attentively, enduringly, and with a radical receptivity, to the many within, and beyond the Church who are not White, or not middle-class, or not male, in ways that challenge and change us, to our very DNA. Only in the context of that ongoing commitment to listening, repentance and change can we humbly and courageously seek to ‘speak truth to power’.
But do, please, read the whole thing.
19 CommentsRachel Mann Church Times How Life of Brian drew me to Christianity
“Church leaders who condemned the film on its release 40 years ago missed its evangelistic potential”
Michael Sadgrove Woolgathering in North East England On Books, Waves and Not Getting Angry with Rascals
Andrew Lightbown Theore0 That under her we may be godly and quietly governed.
Church Times Leader Under judgment
1 CommentUpdated to add press reports and comment
Press release from the Church of England
Bishops call for respect on all sides amid Brexit debate
27/09/2019
The bishops of the Church of England have issued a call for respect on all sides amid growing acrimony over the debate on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU.
A joint statement issued on behalf of the Church of England’s College of Bishops calls for a new tone of listening and respect in debates and describes the use of language in some cases as “unacceptable”.
It calls for the 2016 referendum to be honoured and for the rule of law and impartiality of the courts to be upheld.
It adds: “We should speak to others with respect. And we should also listen. We should do this especially with the poor, with the marginalised, and with those whose voices are often not heard in our national conversation.
“We should not denigrate, patronise or ignore the honest views of fellow citizens, but seek to respect their opinions, their participation in society, and their votes.”
The full statement reads as follows:
As Bishops of the Church of England, we make this statement conscious of the great challenges to our nations and to their leaders. In writing, we affirm our respect for the June 2016 Referendum, and our belief that the result should be honoured.
In the last few days, the use of language, both in debates and outside Parliament, has been unacceptable.
We should speak to others with respect. And we should also listen. We should do this especially with the poor, with the marginalised, and with those whose voices are often not heard in our national conversation. We should not denigrate, patronise or ignore the honest views of fellow citizens, but seek to respect their opinions, their participation in society, and their votes.
The teachings of Jesus Christ call for us to be generous and humble servants; virtues which are for all leaders, whatever their faith.
We call on politicians to adhere rigorously to the rule of law and on all to respect and uphold the impartiality of the courts and our judiciary.
Our concern is also for the structure and the constitution of the United Kingdom. To use the words of Jesus, we must renew the structures that enable us to “love one another”. Changes to our principles and values of government, if necessary, should be through careful planning and consultation.
It is easy to descend into division and abuse – climbing out and finding unity again takes far longer. Further entrenching our divisions, whether from uncertainty or from partisanship, is not worthy of our country nor the leadership we now need. We are a body that understands from our own experience the dangers of division. It is our view and most solemn warning that we must find better ways of acting.
Further information:
Press reports
Church Times Love one another, Bishops urge politicians
The Guardian Language in Brexit debate unacceptable, say C of E bishops
Christian Today Language in Brexit debate has become ‘unacceptable’, say bishops
Premier Anglican bishops: Hostility in Brexit debate ‘not worthy of our country’
Comment
David Walker ViaMedia.News Rhetoric of a Playground Bully or Political Discourse?
Barbara Glasson President of the Methodist Conference Statement on political situation
Archbishop Cranmer Bishops urge Boris to get on and deliver Brexit
26 Comments