Via Media

The Church of England is a compromised and compromising church – thank God!

December 14, 2017
Martin Sewell
248 Comments

As we await the appointment of the next Bishop of London, some are limbering up for the next round of culture wars within the Church of England. In a 'warning' issued in advance of the name being announced, the Rev’d…

Reformation 500: Archbishop of Canterbury preaches Eeyore and Tigger

November 1, 2017
273 Comments

The Archbishop of Canterbury's sermon to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in Westminster Abbey positively bounced with Reformation glee: Through the Reformation we learned that we are saved…

The two opposed expressions of Anglicanism

July 25, 2017
1,061 Comments

There is a letter published in today's Telegraph signed by 23 conservative (/traditionalists/orthodox) Anglicans concerning the tensions in the Church over England (and wider Anglicanism) over same-sex marriage and other…

LGBT Pride London: police attempt to remove ‘Allah is Gay’ placards for causing offence

July 16, 2017
483 Comments

"Pride is full of placards saying 'God is Gay', 'Jesus had two fathers', as well as those mocking the church and priests and pope," writes Maryam Namazie, spokeswoman for the…

You cannot “draw the poison from Brexit” without extracting deception from the human heart

June 25, 2017
282 Comments

'Where there is no vision, the people perish', the Archbishop of Canterbury writes in the Mail on Sunday, reminding is that the Authorised Version still resonates down the ages, and…

Bishop slams “right wing headbangers” for Brexit and election “disasters”

June 13, 2017
148 Comments

You cannot know with what life-sapping weariness it must be reported that the Bishop of London (acting), the Rt Rev'd Pete Broadbent, blames "right wing headbangers" for the "disasters" of…

Justin Welby is not a heretic, he’s a very faithful Anglican

May 15, 2017
310 Comments

In the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Westminster there is a list of Archbishops of Canterbury which chronicles the centuries of communion between the popes of Rome and the chief pastors…

Michael Gove sugar-coats Jesus and preaches fake good news

April 18, 2017
249 Comments

This is a guest post by the Rev’d Dr Gavin Ashenden, former Chaplain to the Queen, who is presently in the (complicated) process of leaving the Church of England. ___________________________…

Those who attacked +Philip North have made same-sex blessing compromise impossible

March 10, 2017
358 Comments

Remember that "radical new Christian inclusion" Justin Welby spoke of in the wake of Synod's decision not to 'take note' of the Bishops' report on marriage and same-sex relations? Well,…

Abstaining: Martyn Percy’s excellent (but flawed) Lenten reflection (on Sheffield)

March 8, 2017
479 Comments

Martyn Percy has written an excellent Lenten reflection on abstaining, in the context of the appointment of the next Bishop of Sheffield. We wait with bated breath to see if…

If Philip North can’t be Bishop of Sheffield, the Church of England ceases to be catholic

February 25, 2017
620 Comments

The Dean of Christ Church, Professor Martyn Percy, has issued an ultimatum circumspectly entitled 'Questions of Ambiguity and Integrity'. It's quite long, but essentially it boils down to a choice:…

Shared conversations: some came to seek truth; others to conquer. Why can’t we just be kind?

February 5, 2017
584 Comments

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…

Same-sex marriage: what does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?

February 2, 2017
541 Comments

This is a guest post by the Rev'd Dr Gavin Ashenden, sometime Chaplain to the Queen. ___________________________ ‘Archbishop Cranmer’ has written a balanced and generous analysis of the House of…

Martyn Percy: Justin Welby “is preparing the ground for a complete volte-face on human sexuality”

November 15, 2016
141 Comments

Here follows Martyn Percy's response to Adrian Hilton's second letter on 'Renewal & Reform' and the ministry and leadership of Justin Welby. It was a simultaneous exchange with Hilton's third…

Would the appointment of Bishop Martyn Percy offer remedy against Justin Welby’s asserted theological ignorance?

November 14, 2016
20 Comments

Here follows Adrian Hilton's response to Martyn Percy's second letter on 'Renewal & Reform' (R&R) and the ministry and leadership of Justin Welby: Dear Martyn, Thank you for your letter.…

Same-sex marriage/blessing confronts Church of England with "a structural flaw of fatal proportions"

August 30, 2016
192 Comments

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…

The great canon doctor Martyn Percy implicates Justin Welby in "secular sorcery"

August 17, 2016
172 Comments

"Everything you need to know about the Bible can be summed up by the great canon doctor Martyn Percy: 'The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven.'," writes…

Primates' Meeting 2016: separating the Eloi from the Morlocks

January 9, 2016
697 Comments

Primates’ Meeting, Canterbury: stardate 2016. These are the continuing prophetic voyages of Justin Welby. His continuing mission: to explore strange new reconciliations; to seek out new wine and new…

Pope's preacher lauds the "great theological and spiritual enrichment" of the Reformation

November 26, 2015
115 Comments

When Fr Raniero Cantalamessa, Preacher to the Papal Household, was invited to speak in Westminster Abbey at the inauguration of the 10th General Synod of the Church of England,…

Cameron's EU via media: a British Model of Associate Membership

November 11, 2015
0 Comments

We want neither to be absorbed by the infallible magisterium of catholicity ('ever-closer union'), nor isolated by the nationalism of puritanical reformation ('out'): we want, instead, a particular 'British…