That wedding sermon: Bishop Michael Curry’s critics would have carped at St Paul
St Paul in Athens (Acts 17:16-34 NIV): Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are…
St Paul
Jumping, skipping, dabbing and bouncing clergy – are we ordaining Tigger?
'Likewise must the deacons be grave', writes St Paul in his first pastoral letter to Timothy (3:8), expounding the necessary character and qualifications for Church leadership. The adjective is associated with sobriety, dignity and honesty; not so much dour or…
Why is the General Synod of the Church of England so poor at holding Bishops to account?
Travel is said to broaden the mind, but occasionally it reminds us to pay more attention to what is closer to home, right under our noses. Many years ago, on…
Advertising Standards Authority probes billboards declaring ‘The Messiah has come’
Billboards have been popping up around London declaring 'The Messiah has come'. According to Harry Farley in Christian Today, these have attracted a number of objections, and the Advertising Standards…
Is the Church of England doing religion without the Holy Spirit?
Much has been written about the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, or the Paraclete; the third person (hypostasis) of the Trinity. In fact, so much has been written over…
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh celebrate their 70th Wedding Anniversary – the longest and most successful marriage in royal history
Never in the history of royalty has a monarch reached a 70th wedding anniversary. A few have come quite near, but that coveted Platinum milestone is reached today for the…
Theological illiteracy: 46% of Protestants think it’s okay to worship idols
Talk about theological illiteracy: the recent YouGov poll asking whether the 10 Commandments are still widely considered important principles to live by yielded some data of jaw-dropping incredulity. There's no…
Mawer, Percy, and the See of Sheffield: what if Conservative politicians had supported Philip North?
Sir Philip Mawer's report on the circumstances surrounding the nomination of Bishop Philip North to the See of Sheffield makes interesting reading, in particular what it means for the 'mutual…
One in Christ? Why do liberal Christians abuse conservative Christians?
The Most Rev'd Nicholas Okoh is the Archbishop of Abuja Province and Primate of the Church of Nigeria in the Anglican Communion. A glance at his biography establishes his fraught…
The Musicians’ Church hasn’t banned non-Christian music, but it has sown confusion
"Absurd and obscene to see a church in London banning classical groups that want to perform non-religious music", bleated the Humanists on Twitter, knowing full well that the secularist hordes…
Charlottesville: white supremacists are fundamentally anti-American and anti-Christian
Charlottesville has gone downhill a bit since The Waltons: the town where John Boy negotiated his first bank loan, Jim-Bob learned about his dead twin brother, and grandma and grandpa…
Prison chaplains may no longer convict offenders of sin: preaching must be ‘sensitive’
Remember the case of the Rev'd Barry Trayhorn, the 'tent-maker' (gardener) volunteer prison chaplain at HMP Littlehey in Cambridgeshire? Being an ordained minister in the Pentecostal Church, he quoted Scripture…
‘Dear Patrick…’ Words of comfort for clergy who feel forsaken by mutual flourishing
Returning to the Church of England's gender wars and sexuality skirmishes (which never really went away), the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, who advocates righteous discrimination against traditionalists who discriminate…
Good Friday: the death of the Messiah
'Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ' (Acts 2:36). 'Jesus died the death…
Discrimination and discernment: an exercise in relativist supremacy
This is a guest post by the Rev’d Dr Gavin Ashenden, former Chaplain to the Queen. ___________________________ In the great amphitheatre of Twitter a gladiatorial combat recently took place between…
Is cohabitation still a sin, or is it an embryonic marriage with proof of love?
There are many who will guffaw at this very question: how absurdly old fashioned, not to say narrow-minded and bigoted of Christians to shame/alienate/offend lovely couples whose commitment to one…
The Church of England should not tear itself apart over homosexuality and same-sex marriage
The General Synod of the Church of England is due to 'take note' (or not) of the Bishops' report ‘Marriage and Same Sex Relationships after the Shared Conversations.’ In the…
Shared conversations: some came to seek truth; others to conquer. Why can’t we just be kind?
Commenting on the Bishops' statement Marriage and Same Sex Relationships after the Shared Conversations ("a gamma minus piece of drafting if ever there was one"), Canon Professor Mark Chapman prophesies…
Ashers Bakery ‘gay cake’ appeal judgment: 11% of Evangelical Christians haven’t got a clue about religious liberty
It was very tempting to go with the affirmatory '89% of Evangelical Christians support freedom of religion', which would have been the wholesome, encouraging, Christian thing to do, right? But…
Same-sex marriage/blessing confronts Church of England with "a structural flaw of fatal proportions"
We have reached Chapter 5 in the great Anglican sexuality saga: 'Church of England parishes consider first step to break away over sexuality'. It isn't clear what the dénouement…