Is Mark Rylands the humblest bishop in the Church of England?
The Rt Rev'd Mark Rylands is presently Bishop of Shrewsbury. He is well-known to readers of this blog for being a thoughtful and intelligent advocate for UK secession from the…
Discipleship
John Smyth dies – just as the CPS gives police go-ahead for his extradition and prosecution
John Smyth, who was accused of the sadistic beatings of young men under the guise of Christian discipleship, has died at his home in Cape Town. This brings to an end one aspect of a case that began in the…
The Apocalypse of Donald: “Fire and fury like the world has never seen”
"North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States," warned President Trump. "They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen," he…
The Church of England’s obsession with diversity is damaging its orthodoxy
"Your Grace, do you by chance know what 'Sexuality, composition of themed groups' is? Or what it has to do with the price of fish?" tweeted George Trefgarne in response…
Diocese of Truro advertises for Mission leader, but “You do not need to be a practising Christian”
"Mission goes out from God. Mission is God's way of loving and saving the world." So declared the Church of England at the 1998 Lambeth Conference. This quotation leads the…
‘Dear Patrick…’ Words of comfort for clergy who feel forsaken by mutual flourishing
Returning to the Church of England's gender wars and sexuality skirmishes (which never really went away), the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, who advocates righteous discrimination against traditionalists who discriminate…
Sex and the Church: how does a “radical new Christian inclusion” differ from the world’s?
You know that church that's seemingly in crisis and turmoil? Well, today it'll carry on praying, worshipping, visiting the ill and bereaved, loving one another... (and re-stocking food-banks). And it'll…
New Bishop of Oxford enthroned with L-plates
Bishops don't much like the word 'enthroned' these days. Perhaps it's a bit too imperial or exalted for modern notions of accessibility and equatability. So now we focus on their…
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…
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,…
Justin Welby did not "'say sorry' for bombing the Nazis"
Following the publication by the Daily Mail of a story entitled 'Archbishop "says sorry" for bombing the Nazis', the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury has issued the following…
The last chance to save our rural churches
There was a popular modern worship song that did the rounds a few years ago entitled 'God of this City'. The chorus went: For greater things have yet to…
The martyrdom of Thomas Becket
On this day in 1170 Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered by the knights of King Henry II in Canterbury Cathedral. It was muddled politics and religion -…
The Church needs to rediscover its heart
Established religion satisfies the minds of some, but the hearts of the multitudes frequently go hungry. We are often told of the imminent death of the Church of England…
How to prevent the extinction of the Church of England
If anyone isn’t aware that the Church of England is slowly walking down the statistical road to oblivion, the publication of the 2015 British Election Study last week should…
Discerning the future of the Church is not an intellectual exercise
When I was at university studying Architecture, we were given the hypothetical brief of designing a new chapel for the campus. Having looked forward to it initially, it actually became…