2021: a new year of change and the promise of hope
As seasons go, 2020 was a year to cast away. It was a time die, a time to break down, a time to weep and a time to mourn. Its…
Hope
Three Lions — a Psalm of England
Three Lions — a Psalm of England It's coming home It's coming home It's coming Football's coming home (we'll go getting bad results) It's coming home It's coming home It's coming Football's coming home It's coming home It's coming home…
Revealed, reclaimed, restored
This is the fifth contribution to His Grace’s emergency team ministry during the coronavirus pestilence. The author has a 30-year itinerant preaching and teaching ministry. He leads a large public…
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…
Brexit postponed (again): tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope
It is tempting to move to the rivers of Babylon, sit down and weep. Boris Johnson said he would rather "be dead in a ditch" than request another extension to…
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…
Pessimism, realism and confusion: Ecclesiastes shines a light on Brexit
Theresa May has said that a vote for her Withdrawal Agreement (aka 'deal') would be an act of patriotism. Writing in the Telegraph she exhorts all MPs, whether they voted…
Project apocalypse: Welby calls the nation to prayer over Brexit
In his 'State of the Nation' address to the General Synod of the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury is calling the nation to prayer because "social divisions feel…
Charles, Defender of the Faithful persecuted for Jesus’ sake
Yesterday, from the pulpit of Westminster Abbey, the Prince of Wales made a plea for peace; and not only peace, but for reconciliation. And not only did he make a…
Sentamu: ‘pure’ (‘real’/ ‘hard’) Brexit is “a childish dream”
On the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, the Archbishop of Canterbury was asked about the disparity (/gulf) between the laity and clergy in the Church of England regarding the…
No, Ruth Davidson: the burqa is a world away from a crucifix
Scottish Tory Leader Ruth Davidson is of the view that a Muslim wearing a burqa is no different from a Christian who wears a crucifix. She said: "If you use…
Bishop Nick Baines derides Brexit British hopelessness
There's a lot of anxiety about. The torch which once lit our path is being extinguished. Our institutions and communities are beset with moral problems, dilemmas and quandaries. Our politics…
Synod and the Nuclear Ban Treaty: the CofE would rather have sent Britons to Treblinka than annihilate Germany
The Church of England’s General Synod had to talk about something, I guess. It couldn’t talk about the pressing problems of the CofE lest it cause its nascent civil war…
Iftar in the Cathedral is exactly what the Queen (and Jesus) would want
If it had been called 'Tea & Chapatis' no-one would have batted an eyelid. But the meal had an upper-case Islamic name – Iftar – and it involved Arabic food:…
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,…
Welby: Brexit offers ‘a wide and liberal future’; Remainers are ‘depressed’ and ‘paranoid’
When it transpired that the reason Chris Heaton-Harris MP had written to all university vice-chancellors asking for the names of academics lecturing on Brexit was simply because he was writing…
Charlottesville: white supremacists are fundamentally anti-American and anti-Christian
Charlottesville has gone downhill a bit since The Waltons: the town where John Boy negotiated his first bank loan, Jim-Bob learned about his dead twin brother, and grandma and grandpa…
Bishop Philip North is good news for the poor – what a shame he’s sidelined
It is #GoodNewsFriday – space and time to tell of God's love, miracles, joy, hope and peace – and Bishop Philip North provides today's subject matter. Here are a few…
Is it time for a Good News Day?
Let's survey the news today: there's a boycott, a ban, another ban, yet another ban, a blunder, a bereavement, a crisis, a dilemma, sex and drugs, suicide, murder, theft, envy,…
There was a blast and then a flash of fire, and then Jesus came to Manchester
Bodies and blood. Carnage, terror and tears. "There are children among the deceased," confirmed Greater Manchester Police. "This has been the most horrific incident we have had to face," said…