Bishops

The Conservative Party does not govern – or even exist – by divine right

The Conservative Party is often referred to as "the natural party of government". Certainly, they dominated much of the 20th century – being in power for half of it, while the Liberals and Labour shared the other half – with…

CofE brexit prayer together peoples vote

Bemused by Brexit? Come to church for tea and prayer – unless your vicar is a Remainer

March 25, 2019
0 Comments

At this moment of national crisis and international humiliation (which it is), the Church of England is encouraging people to come to church to be 'Together' for a cup of…

Emotional abuse in the Church: Bishops need psychological help

March 8, 2019
0 Comments

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…

Church of England’s Brexit prayers – what exactly do they mean?

March 5, 2019
0 Comments

A few months ago the Archbishop of York issued a Brexit prayer, or, rather, 'A Prayer for Parliament in Time of Brexit Trouble'. It was a fairly benign effort which…

Bishop Steven Croft Lords ambition Brexit

Bishop says Brexit is marred by politicians’ personal ambition, and calls for ‘strong, compelling and united vision of the future’

March 1, 2019
0 Comments

"My Lords, I always rise to speak in this Chamber with some fear and trepidation but never more so than today," confessed the Lord Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev'd…

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

February 20, 2019
0 Comments

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
0 Comments

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…

Parliamentary prayers chaplain house of commons prayer

Parliamentary prayers give strength and instil humility: they impose nothing and exclude no one

January 21, 2019
0 Comments

"If MPs don’t want to attend prayers, they wait outside for five minutes until they are over", tweeted Nadine Dorries MP, in response to those who are agitating anew for…

Welby Brexit debate no deal moral failure

Brexit and the ‘moral failure’ of ‘no deal’

January 17, 2019
0 Comments

In his speech to the House of Lords last week on Brexit, the Archbishop of Canterbury spoke eloquently about the moral responsibility that comes with parliamentary sovereignty, and of the…

Legal Aid is in crisis: can the Church of England help ensure justice?

December 18, 2018
0 Comments

The Brexit drama is sucking the oxygen of publicity away from many other newsworthy stories, and one of the more regrettable casualties is the parlous state of our Legal Aid…

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

December 4, 2018
0 Comments

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
0 Comments

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…

What makes Jair “God above everything” Bolsonaro a far-right politician?

October 29, 2018
0 Comments

Those stupid people have gone and done it again. Not content with Brexit, Trump and Orbán, or the rise of the National Front, Alternative for Germany, Golden Dawn or the…

Gay cake: why don’t CofE bishops care about freedom of religion?

October 11, 2018
0 Comments

It was a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court. The queer case of the 'gay cake' has been rumbling on for four long years, and the highest court in the…

Pete Broadbent - Cranmer campaign against bishops

‘Cranmer’s continual campaign against the bishops…’

October 9, 2018
0 Comments

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…

Catholic Herald protestants disestablishment church of england

Catholic Herald calls for disestablishment of the Church of England

October 4, 2018
0 Comments

The Catholic Herald has long held a certain antipathy toward the term 'Protestant', with occasional blurts of 'bigot' aimed at anyone so obtuse as to be duped by its theology…

Archbishop York Sentamu - retirement woman

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

October 2, 2018
0 Comments

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…

Labour antisemitism - Bishop Pete Broadbent

Bishop condemns Labour antisemitism and demands immediate expulsions

September 7, 2018
0 Comments

"For too many on the Left, Jewish suffering does not touch them the way Muslim suffering or gay suffering or black suffering touches them," wrote Stephen Daisley in 2015 on…

Anti-Brexit bishops jump on Boris burqa bandwagon

August 14, 2018
0 Comments

This isn't a post about Brexit; it really isn't. Nor is it a post about banning the burqa. It isn't even a post about Boris, or whether what he said…

nick baines bishop eu speech british hopelessness

Bishop Nick Baines derides Brexit British hopelessness

July 25, 2018
0 Comments

There's a lot of anxiety about. The torch which once lit our path is being extinguished. Our institutions and communities are beset with moral problems, dilemmas and quandaries. Our politics…