Church of England

Is a diocesan bishop about to break ranks over historic child abuse in the Church of England?

May 13, 2019
Martin Sewell
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The past few weeks have seen a huge escalation in the accumulation of evidence and opinion on the tragic story of the Church’s safeguarding failures. I write in the context of the Church of England, but the Roman Catholic Church…

Government slaps secularists: “England has an established Church”

April 12, 2019
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Amidst all the equality clamour and the siren voices of secularism, you can perhaps be forgiven for occasionally forgetting that England still has an Established Church, that its status is…

Emotional abuse in the Church: Bishops need psychological help

March 8, 2019
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There is a Jewish proverb that a good name is worth more than precious stones. In this reflective and penitential season of Lent, members of the Church of England House…

Project apocalypse: Welby calls the nation to prayer over Brexit

February 27, 2019
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In his 'State of the Nation' address to the General Synod of the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury is calling the nation to prayer because "social divisions feel…

‘General Synod has no confidence in the Church of England’s capacity to regulate its own safeguarding culture’

February 20, 2019
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The laicisation of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick by the Roman Catholic Church was one more step on the long journey towards cleansing that institution of sexual abuse, much of it…

How far is Bishop George Bell’s reputation restored? When is a cloud not a cloud?

January 25, 2019
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This is a guest post by Synod members Martin Sewell and David Lamming. _______ The Church of England has now published the Briden Report into the further allegations against Bishop…

church of england safeguarding guidelines card

Church of England Safeguarding Guidelines: progress, regression or PR spin?

January 7, 2019
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The Church of England has just brought out a very useful wallet-sized card of Safeguarding guidelines to remind its various bishops, priests and officers of what is a good and…

Following CofE guidance for gender transition services, bishops weigh the possibility of political transition services

December 13, 2018
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The Church of England has issued new guidance for parishes planning gender transition services to help transgender people mark their transition to their new identity. Since there is now no…

Church in Wonderland: the Clergy Discipline Measure shoves victims down a rabbit hole

December 4, 2018
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On 22nd November 2017 the Rt Rev'd Peter Burrows, Bishop of Doncaster, was having lunch in a cafe when his chaplain began a discussion about the case of Fr Matt…

While bishops bicker over Brexit, there is one who shows a better way

November 22, 2018
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Should there be a second referendum (aka a 'People's Vote') on Brexit, the Bishop of Oxford was asked. "My own view is that it would make things worse and it…

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National Secular Society equates Anglicans with Islamists baying for blood

November 12, 2018
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While the Church of England was preparing to lead the nation in a corporate commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day 1918, the National Secular Society issued a tweet.…

Iwerne David Conner Dean Windsor John Smyth

Iwerne: what did David Conner (now Dean of Windsor) and others know about John Smyth’s regime of abuse?

November 6, 2018
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Many years ago, I worked as a duty solicitor, undertaking day and night visits to the local police stations. There were not many on the rota and it was a…

Fergus Bulter Gallie archbishops of canterbury as crisps

Post-Reformation Archbishops of Canterbury as crisps

November 4, 2018
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Why, when church attendance is falling, is cathedral attendance soaring?

October 25, 2018
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An email was delivered to Cranmer's Tower at 11.15am on Tuesday of this week. It was headed: 'Record numbers attend cathedrals at Christmas', followed by a very red, upper-case warning:…

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Imam to preach Eucharistic sermon at University Church, Oxford

October 17, 2018
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The University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford dates back to 1086. It was the first building adopted by the University of Oxford in the 13th century, and…

Election of Church Commissioners – how best to assess the candidates

October 14, 2018
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The US Mid-Terms are not the only important elections about to be determined this autumn. The voting papers have just been sent out to the members of the Church of…

Pete Broadbent - Cranmer campaign against bishops

‘Cranmer’s continual campaign against the bishops…’

October 9, 2018
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The Bishop of Willesden is of the view that the Archbishop Cranmer blog is waging a "continual campaign against the bishops". Apparently, this isn't acceptable because it confuses the political…

Lord Carey challenges Bishops to break their silence on the ‘significant cloud’ hanging over the name of Bishop George Bell

October 5, 2018
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Lord Carey spoke at the 'Rebuilding Bridges Conference' at Church House today, which aims to restore the name and reputation of Bishop George Bell. This is his speech, reproduced in…

Archbishop York Sentamu - retirement woman

Why a woman may be the next Archbishop of York, but not of Canterbury

October 2, 2018
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His Grace The Most Rev'd and Rt Hon Dr John Sentamu, Lord Archbishop of York, has announced that he will retire from his post on 7th June 2020, three days…

Complicit in evil? Church of England has shares in Amazon and uses zero-hours contracts

September 14, 2018
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Imagine the prophet Amos in 650 BC travelling through the southern kingdom up to Bethel in the Samaritan north to sell his figs. It's a long journey, but that's where…