Brexit Day – at last, a wide and liberal global future
When the majority of UK voters determined to leave the European Union on 23rd June 2016, it was met with much relief and rejoicing by many millions of people: The…
Grace
The Plague of Cyprian
This is the seventh contribution to His Grace’s emergency team ministry during the coronavirus pestilence. It comes from Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage and Father of the Church, from his work On the Mortality: 12. Thus Abraham pleased God, who,…
Praying for this week of Brexit
Each day that passes this week shall be the last of that day we shall be in the European Union. The last weekend is already gone: the coming Sunday shall…
Bemused by Brexit? Come to church for tea and prayer – unless your vicar is a Remainer
At this moment of national crisis and international humiliation (which it is), the Church of England is encouraging people to come to church to be 'Together' for a cup of…
Lowering the voting age to six isn’t a bad idea: it would give the family its rightful electoral status
Prof David Runciman (Cambridge University) is of the view that an ageing population is creating a democratic crisis: the views of those beneath the age of 18 – the current…
Jimmy Carter acts justly, loves mercy, and walks humbly with his God
He was President of the United States when Charlie flirted with Angels, Starsky tore around with Hutch, and Steve Austin cost $6million ($33million in today's bionics). He's mostly remembered for…
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…
The Rev’d Jonathan Aitken – being ordained is like ‘a new life’
Former Tory Cabinet minister, convicted perjurer and bankrupt the Rt Hon Jonathan Aitken MP is now the Rev'd Jonathan Aitken, deacon at St Matthews, Westminster, and chaplain to the Prison…
Steve Chalke: the wrath of God and the experience of Grace
Steve Chalke tweeted about the wrath of God which is apparently often heaped on his head by 'Church people' (as opposed to Christians?), compared to the grace he experiences directly…
Justin Welby tweets the sermon of the year
Sometimes Twitter is like trying to bound infinite space in a nutshell. You can fiddle with words, abbreviate and cut commas, but still it lacks art, and if not art,…
Reformation 500: Archbishop of Canterbury preaches Eeyore and Tigger
The Archbishop of Canterbury's sermon to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in Westminster Abbey positively bounced with Reformation glee: Through the Reformation we learned that we are saved…
Filial Correction: laity who are more Catholic than the Pope
The Pope of Rome hath erred. So, of course, hath the Pope of Alexandria, the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church, and we mustn't forget the Pope of the Christian Palmarian…
Vicky Beeching, vocation, and the church that exists to serve our selfish ends
There was a piece in the Guardian (where else) this week by Vicky Beeching, entitled: 'The first openly gay bishop is a huge step forward – but it’s not enough'.…
Welby: witness gently for Jesus, and wait until you're asked (most of the time)
There's always a danger when you pick up a comment piece from a newspaper that you glance at a headline and form an opinion from a crass summary of…
An abused dog howls for the love of God
An abused dog is stroked for the first time. The sound is piercing and distressing. It isn't quite a howl of anguish; more a shriek of intense fear. It…
"Our daughter died…" Justin Welby's sermon to Child Bereavement UK
Every now and again a sermon is preached which is so simple in expression and yet so rich in its depths of compassion and apprehension of salvation that you…
Dignity in Dying and the callous indignity of their spin
How many of us breathed a big sigh of relief when the voting results for the Assisted Dying (No.2) Bill were announced? Those in the know were expecting a…
Elizabeth II becomes our longest-reigning monarch – God Save The Queen!
Today, 9th September 2015, sometime around 5.30pm, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II becomes the longest-reigning monarch in British history, beating the record previously set by her great-great grandmother Queen…
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…