Applied Theology

Anglican spinach – a primary challenge for the Church’s mission

December 1, 2020
Archbishop Cranmer
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There was a subtitle fail in the Zoom service from Guildford Cathedral on Advent Sunday. It caused a bit of amusement on Twitter, but it presents an opportunity to explore a more serious missiological point in the wake of Tim…

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Bishop of Reading: ‘Evolution is God incarnate; the whole earth is God’s body’

October 13, 2020
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The Rt Rev'd Olivia Graham, Bishop of Reading, has been reading a book. Perhaps she has been reading two or three. Her subject is Creation and Incarnation; her passion is…

Guardian ‘reveals’ Amy Coney Barrett is Roman Catholic (and takes her faith seriously)

October 2, 2020
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The Guardian has revealed that Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, is Roman Catholic. Quite why they have only just cottoned on to this is something…

Sheffield Cathedral sacks choir – because God told them to

July 26, 2020
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The Dean and Chapter if Sheffield Cathedral have sacked their choir, and this has caused a bit of a stir in the media and consternation on Twitter. They explain: For…

Care in a covid climate: in defence of Justin Welby

May 14, 2020
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"The Archbishop of Canterbury has been secretly volunteering as a chaplain at St Thomas’s Hospital during the coronavirus lockdown, the Telegraph has learned." The Telegraph learned this when the rest…

Rev’d Marcus Walker returns to his pulpit: “Here I stand!”

April 20, 2020
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"We are back!" exclaims the Facebook page of Saint Bartholomew the Great, London's oldest extant church, founded in 1123 as an Augustinian Priory and which, they say, "has been in…

Politics is too important to leave to politicians

November 4, 2019
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"The Archbishop's platitudes do far more to divide the country than unite it" wrote the Telegraph's Charlotte Gill in a piece headed: 'Justin Welby has no business using his sacred…

religion without holy spirit william booth

Is the Church of England doing religion without the Holy Spirit?

November 27, 2017
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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…

Hurricane Harvey and the $50m mega-church pastor who wouldn’t shelter flood victims

August 30, 2017
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Texan mega-church pastor Joel Osteen is reputedly worth $50million. That's his personal wealth. He leads a church of some 16,000 (ie a 'mega-church') which gathers in the Lakewood Church, Houston,…

Theresa May did not instruct the CofE to allow gay marriage

July 20, 2017
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'Prime Minister: The Church should "reflect" on allowing gay couples to marry', declares the Telegraph; 'Theresa May Suggests Churches Should Consider Conducting Same-Sex Marriages', says Huffpost UK; 'May: Church should…

Is cohabitation still a sin, or is it an embryonic marriage with proof of love?

February 20, 2017
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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…

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

February 2, 2017
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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…

Justin Welby takes to Twitter to teach us how to pray

September 6, 2016
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And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray,…

There is neither Leaver nor Remainer; for you are all one in Christ Jesus

June 21, 2016
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Leavers are xenophobic, insular, narrow-minded, self-regarding, racist, confused, brainless, extremist, hateful, economically-illiterate, un-Christian little-Englanders and swivel-eyed conspiracy theorists. Remainers are sneering, aloof, arrogant, vicious, supercilious, evil, unhinged, hypocritical, ageist,…

Divorce and remarriage: Catholic crisis, chaos, conspiracy, or just contextual theology?

October 25, 2015
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The fallout from the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church (aka 'Synod on the Family') has been considerable. Whatever the reported…

Migrants, refugees, dead babies and 'virtue signalling': WWJD?

September 7, 2015
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This is a guest post by the Rev’d Stephen Heard – Assistant Priest at St Mark’s Church, Enfield. He is a former civil servant with a background in political and…

The social gospel is a legitimate child of evangelism

September 2, 2015
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"I am so tired of hearing this social gospel held up as the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. The reason the Church pushes this social gospel is because by…

Clerics for Corbyn: Bishop of Willesden comes out for 'Alice in Wonderland' politics

August 31, 2015
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Pete Broadbent, Bishop of Willesden, has joined the Rev'd Giles Fraser and finally come out for Jeremy Corbyn. This is that same Jeremy Corbyn of whom Tony Blair says…

Cecil the Lion – a lesson in animal theology

July 30, 2015
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A dentist called Walter Palmer has killed a lion called Cecil. Cecil the lion is now dead, and never has the world been so united in grief. Well, perhaps…

Jeremy Corbyn's path to power is more plausible than people think

July 24, 2015
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Usually somewhere between three and 30 people avail themselves of the #Amen prayer facility at the bottom of this blog's Home Page. Since it was installed, the most believers…