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…
Disciples
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 in London’s National Gallery and the full power of its…
The Tower of Babel
This is the sixth contribution to His Grace’s emergency team ministry during the coronavirus pestilence. It comes from the Rev'd Robert Jackson, a sector chaplain. Over 3,000 years ago,…
Holy Week: dealing with deep sin is horrible, messy, prolonged, humiliating and painful
As we enter Holy Week, the most sombre time of the Church calendar, I am sure I'm not the only one left reflecting that my Lenten observance has not been…
Anglican Ambassador to Rome denies the Resurrection of Christ
The Anglican Centre in Rome is the Embassy of the Worldwide Anglican Communion to the Roman Catholic Church. Its Director is effectively the Archbishop of Canterbury's Ambassador to the Vatican;…
Jeffrey Archer: “I’m what I call an agnostic moving towards believer”
Jesus Christ is "the best known person on earth", says Jeffrey Archer in a recent interview on Premier Christian Radio. "If the name Jesus Christ has survived for 2,000 plus…
Brexit impasse: democracy can be messy – but the alternative is terrifying
'And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee' (1Sam 8:7). It might not end well, but never let…
Pope Francis wants to change the Lord’s Prayer (but doesn’t apparently understand it)
It is reported (all over the place) that Pope Francis wants to change the wording of a line in the Lord's Prayer because it is potentially misleading. The troublesome phrase…
Holy Saturday: marginalisation, persecution, martyrdom
Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus…
Good Friday: love so amazing, so divine
Good Friday The Collects Almighty God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed, and given up…
Maundy Thursday foot-washing reminds power of its purpose
Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his…
The Kingdom of God is within you, but it is also a future promise
Where is the Kingdom of God? Does it matter? How can it be both within you and yet still to come? Or has it already come? And if it…
Church of England continues its decline – but is revival stirring?
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,…
ISIS destroys the the ancient Monastery of Mar Elian
"The Monastery of St. Elian was a Christian monastery near the town of Al-Qaryatayn in the Homs Governorate," says Wikipedia. "Was"? Yes, the tense is accurate. It had stood…
Was St Paul wrong about the timing of the Second Coming?
If Jesus, being fully and infallibly God, was not wrong about the time of his Second Coming, what about St Paul, being fully and fallibly man? The whole thrust…
Was Jesus wrong about the timing of his Second Coming?
The imminence of the long-prophesied kingdom of God and the end of time has occupied Christians and Jews more than any other subject of theological conjecture. Certainly, at the…
Pray and fast for climate change? Is the Church creating disciples of Christ or eco-warriors?
The latest session of the General Synod of the Church of England drew to a close in York this week and, absent any debate about women bishops, it failed…
Sentamu: Jesus would pay the living wage (despite His disciples being unpaid interns)
It is not a divine intervention into the General Election campaign. Even less so is it an episcopal exhortation for the faithful to cast their votes for a particular…
Church of England mistakes mission for the management of decline
One of the best things Christians are doing all over the country at the moment is organising and hosting General Election hustings for their local communities. Last time round,…
Good Friday: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit"
Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple…