Church of England

Project apocalypse: Welby calls the nation to prayer over Brexit

February 27, 2019
Archbishop Cranmer
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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 more entrenched and intractable than for many years". He explained:…

‘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…

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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.…

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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…

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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…

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‘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…

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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…

It is pointless pouring the new wine of safeguarding into the old wineskins of arcane ecclesiology

September 6, 2018
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The Church of England media report on Monday told us that “a senior church figure” had been invited by the police to discuss an alleged failure to report a serious…

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Dean of Ely reports Daily Mail to IPSO for saying Cathedral flew UKIP flag

August 22, 2018
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It beggars belief that anyone could have taken the story seriously. What dean and chapter of any cathedral would even entertain flying the UKIP flag? Oh, they'll host a Labour-supporting…

CofE clergyman tells suicidal sex-abuse victim to “crawl back under a stone”, and that he “probably enjoyed” it

August 20, 2018
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Surprising as it may seem, the wave of comment following the death of former Iwerne Chairman and serial abuser John Smyth very nearly wasn't the worse news for the Church…