Net Zero.. racial justice.. mental health.. What exactly are cathedrals for?
Cathedrals can light the way to Net Zero, says the Rt Rev'd Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich and the Church of England's lead Bishop for Environmental Affairs. And he set…
Gospel
Diocese of Oxford puts a green stumbling block into liturgy of baptism
On 15th June, the Bishop of Oxford, Steven Croft, issued an ad clerum to the clergy in his Diocese: Dear xxxxx, In every service of baptism, confirmation and the renewal of baptismal promises there is a commission where the whole…
Ted Hui: “The more you persecute people, the more people will treasure that identity”
Ted Hui Chi-fung was (or is) a Democrat Party politician in Hong Kong, vocal on environmental issues, education, human rights and democracy. He is currently living in exile in Australia,…
Church of England contributes just 0.5% to the UK’s spiritual and religious narrative
It's a crude headline-grabbing statistic, derived from a distinctly unscientific list of apparently random figures, but by no means without a degree of truth and reliability to it. There is…
Rustat 1 – 0 Welby | Jesus College Cambridge must retain its memorial to Tobias Rustat
"Why is it so much agony to remove a memorial to slavery?" pleaded the Archbishop of Canterbury to Synod in February, as he bemoaned the fact that the Master of…
The hypocrisy of the Canons of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
Yesterday, the Rev'd Angela Tilby, an Emeritus Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, was blocked on Twitter by someone in the Cathedral. This wasn't the first time she had been…
‘Legal but harmful’: making social media the arbiter of gospel truth
WARNING: This blog post is legal but harmful (potentially). If you proceed, there is a significant risk that the nature of the content might cause adverse psychological impact on an…
Negative media about the Church outweighs the good news
A Christian PR agency has been weighing the media, and found it wanting. They have discovered that, on average, the Church attracts 150 pieces of negative media coverage every month…
Bramble Welby introduces her human on a BBC Newscast
Bramble Welby upstaged her human on a BBC Newcast this week. "Lie down. Can you lie down. That's a good girl," said the Archbishop of Canterbury. "Nope," thought Bramble. "Not…
Believe in a Marks & Spencer Christmas jumper
Many consumers of social media will have noticed a growing number of women clergy posting photographs of themselves wearing a plain black Marks & Spencer Christmas jumper bearing the simple…
Matthew Parris just wants to be loved, accepted, and buried in the CofE
Matthew Parris has written a strange a piece in the Times about the Church of England: 'Anglicanism was never really about God', he decrees, with a kind of semi-detached secular-papal…
Queen reminds General Synod of its essential mission
The 11th General Synod of the Church of England was opened yesterday, and the Supreme Governor was absent for the first time since Synod was created more than 50 years…
Little Amal blesses Cardinal Nichols in Westminster Cathedral
What's this about? Little Amal is a very big puppet, making the journey from Gaziantep near the Turkey-Syria border to Manchester, where "she will shine an urgent light on the…
Welby: there is no need to ‘save the parish’; there is no threat to it
The Archbishop of Canterbury recently made a very subtle intervention in the process of elections to the General Synod. Indeed, so subtle was it that absolutely nobody noticed. Just as…
Does it matter if Church of England parishes wither on the vine?
At the inaugural meeting of 'Save the Parish' this week at Great St Bartholomew's in Smithfield, London, the Rev'd Marcus Walker was animated and agitated. Time is short, he told…
Speakers’ Corner adopts a de facto sharia blasphemy code
"Saddening to hear Christian preacher Hatun Tash say Speakers' Corner - a bastion of free speech since 1872 - has become 'hostile and dangerous'", tweeted Stephen Evans, Chief Executive of…
Radical progressive activism and the Church of England
Civitas have published a new report: Rotting from the Head: Radical progressive activism and the Church of England. 'Radical progressive activism' is a slippery concept, not least because not all…
‘Key limiting factors’: the end of stipendiary parish ministry
Priests are expensive. Church buildings are expensive. Theological formation is expensive. So the Church of England has set out its 'Vision and Strategy' for cost-cutting: 10,000 new lay-led churches over…
Stop arresting street preachers, and laugh at them instead
Another street preacher has been arrested for proclaiming the gospel in a public place. This time it was in Uxbridge, in front of the Underground station. We've been here before…
Misogyny is to be outlawed. Excellent. Now, what does it mean?
Misogyny is to be incorporated into 'hate crime' legislation, which is very good news for women. No longer will they have to endure physical violence, emotional abuse or psychological manipulation…