The £3.5 billion gift from the churches to our communities
This Friday will see Jake Berry MP's private member's Local Government (Religious etc. Observances) Bill go to Committee stage in the House of Lords. Assuming this goes through (and the…
God
Modern Slavery Bill – a glimmer of hope for the victims of child abuse
Another day and the revelations of lives wrecked by sexual exploitation continue to grow. A few hundred more unnamed individuals are added to the list – victims let down by those whose job it should have been to protect them.…
Welby: "The best decision anyone can ever make is to be a follower of Jesus Christ"
Back in January, Tim Montgomerie, writing in the Times, vented his frustration with the Archbishop of Canterbury: I remain hopeful that Justin Welby, a "graduate" of HTB and its famous…
Giles Fraser: Would Jesus vote? Yes, but absolutely not Conservative
Anyone who thinks that Christianity and politics should never mix must be highly irritated at the moment. A week doesn't seem to go by without some form of conference, event or…
'Those Who Show Up' – every church leader should read this book
Last week's Faith in Politics report by the Evangelical Alliance gave an interesting if somewhat predictable snapshot of Evangelical Christians' views on politics and their likely voting intentions. The…
Why do bishops flaunt their Socialism but shroud their Conservatism?
When the Archbishop of York was giving media interviews recently to promote his book On Rock or Sand?, he made clear that "the theology of where I am coming…
Meaningful chocolate – The Real Easter Egg spreads the gospel
I have a question. Who on earth actually buys Easter eggs in January? I'm not talking about Creme Eggs (now no longer made with Dairy Milk and forever ruined),…
This General Election is bringing in a new level of Christian engagement
There's something about the build-up to a General Election that is both fascinating and morbid at the same time, as we, the electorate, see a group of gladiators -…
Moral hazard: if Greece will not pay for profligacy, why should anyone?
The democratic lightning has struck Athens, but the thunder will reverberate throughout all of Europe. As the 'anti-austerity' Syriza party is swept to power in Greece, its leader Alexis…
Mehdi Hasan: "No Reformation in Europe without Muslim theologians"
Mehdi Hasan delivered an oratorically brilliant if rather sanctimonious speech at the Oxford Union in May 2013, which now rings in the head like tinnitus in the wake of…
Show Up: we need God's vision for the future of politics
Just in case anyone wasn't paying attention to Twitter yesterday, Christians in Politics - which is the umbrella group of Christians on the Left, the Conservative Christian Fellowship and…
We need a Prophetology to dispel the myths of Islam
Thousands upon thousands of Muslims were appalled by the Charlie Hebdo massacre, and deeply shocked by the subsequent carnage at a kosher supermarket in Paris. Newspapers and TV channels…
Government immigration clampdown targets Christian organisations
If you ask any Church of England vicar what the least favourite aspect of their job is, there's a good chance that it won't be dealing with random people…
Lord Carey is wrong to support state-sanctioned assisted suicide
Apparently the UK is "closer than ever" to introducing legislation which will permit the terminally ill to end their lives at a time and place of their choosing. Lord…
#ChristmasMeans anything but peace on earth
Today marks the official start of the Church of England's #ChristmasMeans Twitter campaign. Church congregations and clergy are being encouraged to get out their smartphones to let the Twittersphere know…
Rev'd Libby Lane to become Church of England's first woman bishop
The Bishop of Chester, Peter Forster, cast his eyes over the male applicants for the vacant See of Stockport in Greater Manchester, and despaired. He'd rather wait for a change…
Christianity is the key to foodbank success – it must not be suppressed
It's been interesting reading through many of the media articles following the parliamentary launch of Feeding Britain. There have been plenty of them, that's for sure; the Church of…
Religious leaders unite to end modern slavery – with one Islamic amendment
It is announced from Lambeth Palace that the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was joined by Pope Francis and other Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Jewish leaders in a joint…
Countering the warped Christianity of the far right
Once upon a time around 15 years ago it was impossible to go to any Christian youth event without seeing a swathe of bracelets marked with 'WWJD?'. 'What Would…
Black Friday demonstrates that greed is now the god of Christmas
There's that classic moment in Monty Python's Life of Brian when the People's Front of Judea, during their meeting to discuss the overthrow of the accursed Romans, end up getting into…