The Rule of Six – we are being robbed of our liberty
"In England from Monday we are introducing the Rule of Six", the Prime Minister said. "You must not meet socially in groups of more than six. And, if you do,…
Church
Guardian ‘reveals’ Amy Coney Barrett is Roman Catholic (and takes her faith seriously)
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 of a mystery, but they have very cleverly dug around…
Diversity is deeper than BAME and LGBT: it is social, political, intellectual and philosophical
Lord Hall, the outgoing Director General of the BBC, has demanded that the Corporation improve the diversity of its staff to better reflect those who pay its TV licence. "You…
Churches tackle the real Covid-19 fallout – loneliness and isolation
The news and media are dominated by the economic fallout of the Coronavirus pandemic. Will the recovery it be V-shaped, U-shaped, or L-shaped? Will the recession last two years or…
The richness and exuberance of the Online Church
We are just beginning to see changes in the severity of the coronavirus lockdown. Even as the rules are being gradually loosened, which will be welcomed by many of us,…
‘Stay Alert’ is a perfectly sensible slogan
The Government is coming under a lot of criticism for its 'Stay Alert' messaging as we move incrementally out of the coronavirus lockdown. 'What exactly does this mean?' has become…
The Church should shine during lockdown
In all honesty I cannot pretend that the lockdown has been onerous for my wife and me. Just before it was imposed, I was approaching the age at which Alex…
The Supper at Emmaus
Today’s Gospel reading gives me the opportunity to share with you one of my favourite paintings, that of The Supper at Emmaus, by the Italian Renaissance genius Caravaggio. It hangs…
Canon Simon Butler responds to Archbishop Cranmer & Fr Marcus Walker
This is a guest post from Canon Simon Butler, vicar of St Mary's, Battersea. ____________ I’m grateful for being given a right of reply to the article about an exchange…
The mission of the Church is not ‘right ethics’
This is the 15th contribution to His Grace’s emergency team ministry during the coronavirus pestilence. The author wishes to be known as The Snail @. He has a background in…
Maundy Thursday: the invisible and the distant
This 13th contribution comes courtesy of Alison Bailey Castellina MA (Oxon), who founded the forerunner of The Tymes Trust national charity for children with ME, and led the national Christian…
Nobody claps for Jesus
This is the 12th 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…
Screwtape: ‘Our task, as always, is to undermine and to divide’
The 11th contribution to His Grace’s emergency team ministry during the coronavirus pestilence is another letter from senior devil, Screwtape, to his nephew and apprentice devil, Wormwood. It comes again…
Whisky Priests Galore
I have a sense that many clerics today find themselves no less confused and variously out of sorts than their widely dispersed flocks. Some report being frazzled with too much…
The Human Touch
This is the eighth contribution to His Grace’s emergency team ministry during the coronavirus pestilence. The author is a Christian and key-worker, who has had a busy week. Were…
The real presence of Christ in the community of the virtual Church
This morning I want to depart from our Lectionary readings to offer a text which inspired a first-class sermon which I once heard at Rochester Cathedral. A few years ago,…
The end of freedom?
Last night the Prime Minister placed the UK in lockdown to help abate the spread of coronavirus. You should be staying at home unless you must travel for essential work,…
Coronavirus pestilence: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’
This week on 21st March the Archbishop Cranmer blog shall be 14 years old. It seemed like a good moment to call it a day: to everything there is a…
Kruger: we should not throw away the inheritance of our Christian culture
In his maiden speech on 29th January, a Conservative MP said something which even the Bishops in the House of Lords aren't saying. Danny Kruger, the Member for Devizes, made…
Blogging and the voice of the Church
Someone recently tweeted that this blog should close down because people mistake it for a legitimate voice of the Church, and so it conveys a spiritual falsehood by sustaining a…