Church decline

Matthew Parris just wants to be loved, accepted, and buried in the CofE

November 23, 2021
Archbishop Cranmer
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Matthew Parris has written a strange a piece in the Times about the Church of England: 'Anglicanism was never really about God', he decrees, with a kind of semi-detached secular-papal journalistic infallibility. His Epistle to the Thundererarians drifts between theological…

Welby: there is no need to ‘save the parish’; there is no threat to it

September 28, 2021
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The Archbishop of Canterbury recently made a very subtle intervention in the process of elections to the General Synod. Indeed, so subtle was it that absolutely nobody noticed. Just as…

Michael Gove: “The Church has.. a critical, central and important role in building back better”

February 21, 2021
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It seems somewhat counterintuitive, in an age of increasing secularity, and with an incessant stream of triumphant tweets from the National Secular Society, that the world's perception of the Church…

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Just 6% of Anglican clergy voted Conservative in 2019

February 10, 2021
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A Savanta ComRes poll was published just over a week ago on the political affiliation of Church leaders, and it hasn't had much coverage. In fact, it doesn't appear to…

Bishop Liverpool Paul Bayes Brexit Dad's Army

Bishop of Liverpool depicts UK-EU Brexit negotiations as ‘Dad’s Army’

December 13, 2020
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The Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev'd Paul Bayes, has been honing his episcopal vocation to be a "focus of unity", to which end he tweeted that the presently fraught…

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Law Commission ‘consultation’ on weddings is just another secularist push

September 7, 2020
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This isn't a government consultation, though it has the authoritative whiff of one, and many people will doubtless mistakenly believe it to be one, but it is definitely not one:…

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General Synod: social and political diversity among Bishops

July 10, 2020
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Quite a few interesting questions have been tabled for the imminent virtual General Synod of the Church of England, ranging from Bishops' Twitter usage (Qs 69-70) to Safeguarding abusage (Qs…

‘Church locked for coronavirus’ – but it was last year, too

April 1, 2020
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This is the ninth contribution to His Grace’s emergency team ministry during the coronavirus pestilence. It comes from Mike Stallard, who has been in education all his life, and is…

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:…

Curate’s egg or Archbishop’s omelette? Welby tells TUC: gig economy is “reincarnation of an ancient evil”

September 13, 2018
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Justin Welby delivered a speech to the TUC, which went down well in one quarter, and not so well in five eighths, most of whom were irked that he delivered…

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CofE General Synod couldn’t find time to discuss evangelism… “Oh, what’s the bloody point?”

July 11, 2018
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Kenneth Williams of ‘Carry On’ fame was not, alas and alack, a member of the Church of England’s General Synod. And yet his are the words for which I find…

How Bishop George Bell became a victim of Church of England ‘spin’ and a narrative of ‘decisive leadership’

November 17, 2017
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This is a guest post by The Very Rev’d Professor Martyn Percy, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. _______ Some may begin to wonder how exactly the Church of England’s National…

Welby is right: the UK economy is “broken”, but England’s church is limping

September 6, 2017
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It was an unfortunate coincidence that on the day the British Social Attitudes survey was released which announced that more than half (53%) of the British public now describe themselves…

Bishop Philip North is good news for the poor – what a shame he’s sidelined

August 4, 2017
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It is #GoodNewsFriday – space and time to tell of God's love, miracles, joy, hope and peace – and Bishop Philip North provides today's subject matter. Here are a few…

Michael Gove sugar-coats Jesus and preaches fake good news

April 18, 2017
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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. ___________________________…

Buried Archbishops “found by accident”? The CofE’s forgetfulness is galling

April 17, 2017
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"It beggars belief that no-one thought what a terrible, terrible image of decline it is to deconsecrate the ABC's home church," tweeted the Rev'd Marcus Walker, slightly irritated by the…

Church of England funerals plummet 30% in a decade

November 2, 2016
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Are people living longer? Are fewer dying? In the decade 2005-2015, the general population increased from 60,210,000 to 64,716,000, so why has the number of Church of England funerals plummeted…

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

August 17, 2016
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"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…

Forget the Holy Spirit: the key to Church revival is Pokemon Go

August 2, 2016
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According to the Daily Mail (please don't stop reading at that), something called Pokemon Go (or Pokémon GO for the accentually pedantic and orthographically precise) is set to bring…

Church of England continues its decline – but is revival stirring?

January 12, 2016
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The Church of England has published its attendance stats ('Statistics for Mission') for 2014. Don't yawn. Yes, the interesting Anglican stuff is leavening this week in a Canterbury crypt,…