Church of England

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What bishop would tell a vicar: ‘You’re no longer welcome in the Church of England’?

It made the pages of the Daily Mail, so it's serious: 'Vicar resigns after being 'silenced' over a Church of England school's plan to keep an eight-year-old pupil's sex change a secret from parents', they helpfully summarise in one of…

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

May 13, 2019
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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…

Sir Brian Souter barred as sponsor of Turner Prize for being a morally orthodox Christian

May 3, 2019
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Sir Brian Souter is a Christian. He also happens to be a wealthy Scottish businessman, philanthropist, and supporter of the SNP, but he is a Christian first and foremost: his…

A ‘climate emergency’ demands a Green manifesto more useful that Joanna Southcott’s box

May 1, 2019
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Former US President George W Bush revealed in his book Decision Points that he often broke the conversational ice with visiting heads of state by asking the question: 'What keeps…

Bishop Graham Kings Farage Hannan traitors to EU

Bishop says Brexit Euro candidates are ‘Traitors to the EU’

April 28, 2019
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The Rt Rev'd Dr Graham Kings is Hon Assistant Bishop & World Mission Adviser in the Diocese of Southwark. He is a Senior Member of St Chad's College, Durham, and…

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…

Royal Assent: Crown neutrality on Brexit is unsustainable

April 8, 2019
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The last time Royal Assent was withheld from a parliamentary bill was in the wake of the union of England and Scotland in 1707/8, when Queen Anne declined to support…

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
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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
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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…

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

March 5, 2019
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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…

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…

Jayne Ozanne Bishop Liverpool Paul Bayes conversion therapy

Faith, sexuality and conversion therapy: how not to do research

February 23, 2019
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This is a guest post by Dr Judith Sture. _______ We can only applaud those who wish to carry out research to help improve the lives of others. But the…

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

January 21, 2019
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"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…

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…

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

December 18, 2018
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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…

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…

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Rev’d Jonathan Aitken calls the nation to pray for Parliament

December 9, 2018
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From The Times' 'Credo' column yesterday, by the Rev'd Jonathan Aitken, reproduced here with permission: After a seismic week of political and constitutional upheavals at Westminster, might this be a…

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…