Tory leadership contest: how ‘Christian’ are the candidates?
We have arrived at the final two candidates in the Tory leadership contest: either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt will be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and…
Discernment
General Synod: social and political diversity among Bishops
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 17-29), but the most interesting episcopal answers relate to two…
Brexit backstop and beef: if the EU wasn’t faithful over BSE, how can we trust them with our liberty?
'He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much' (Lk 16:10). If…
Rev’d Jonathan Aitken calls the nation to pray for Parliament
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…
Election of Church Commissioners – how best to assess the candidates
The US Mid-Terms are not the only important elections about to be determined this autumn. The voting papers have just been sent out to the members of the Church of…
Anglican clergy to undergo psychological profiling to weed out prophets
Graham Tilby, National Safeguarding Adviser for the Church of England, gave evidence yesterday to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). When asked about how the Church of England…
Discrimination and discernment: an exercise in relativist supremacy
This is a guest post by the Rev’d Dr Gavin Ashenden, former Chaplain to the Queen. ___________________________ In the great amphitheatre of Twitter a gladiatorial combat recently took place between…
Safespacing the Church: revising doctrine to suit mental health
Mental health matters, right? Yes, of course it does. And the Church of England is right to focus on this often-neglected area of human flourishing and wellbeing, with speeches in…
The search for the Top 100 UK Christians – nominations now open for #CranmerList2016
It's that time of the year (again.. comes round quickly, doesn't it?) when our minds turn naturally to consideration of year's momentous events, significant people and lists of achievements: best…
Does God still raise up prophets?
Prophecy is the most frequently-mentioned charism in the whole Pauline corpus: the role of the prophets is preeminent (eg 1Thess 5:20; 1Cor 11:4f; Rom 12:6; Eph 2:20; 1Tim 1:18).…
Third Sunday of Advent: rejoice in the recognition of Jesus
Today is Gaudete Sunday: into the season of waiting, preparing and expecting, we inject a note of delight and good cheer: 'Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I…
The search for the Top 100 UK Christians – nominations now open for #CranmerList2015
The celebration of Christian saints is a phenomenon which has endured throughout the centuries with an enthusiasm that shows little sign of diminishing. Recent Roman Catholic popes have dished…
Is the Pope Anglican?
The American Spectator isn't at all happy with the "liberal" Pope Francis and his "caricaturing of conservatives". That's Roman Catholic traditionalists, as opposed to the GOP-type conservative. "Under the…
Bishop of Chelmsford repudiates episcopal "talent pool"
It was a glorious sermon, with an audacious, if not subversive (which some may call prophetic) intervention on the Church of England's emerging "talent pool" approach to recognising bishops.…
Vicar regrets not being able to ban Tories from Communion
This is a guest post by a (necessarily) anonymous priest of the Church of England. _________ Can I be a Christian and a Conservative? A question which, 50 years ago,…
Church of England to spend £2m on "new approach" to leadership
Politicians are out of touch. We know that, because we constantly hear about the 'Westminster bubble' or the 'Westminster Village', and Nadine Dorries once told us that neither David…
Christian power lists: fame, popularity, judgement and false humility
Nominations have now closed in the quest to discover the 'Top 100 UK Christians' for 2014. Hundreds have been nominated - some with sarcastic citations (Sir Cliff Richard -…
The Top 100 UK Christians – nominations now open
In the seemingly eternal quest for hierarchical supremacy in an era of competing rights, societal fragmentation and adversarial identity politics, you may have observed the emergence and proliferation of…
Ukip racism, bad; Labour racism.. well, I'll get back to you on that
"Are you intentionally out to give @UKIP an easy ride from a Christian perspective?" demanded someone called Peter Adams yesterday, in a terse Twitter response to the question: "Has…