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…
Mission
A million flock to Facebook to hear Justin Welby search the scriptures
The Archbishop of Canterbury led a live-streamed Bible study on Facebook a few weeks ago. People logged in from all over the world, including the UK, USA, South Sudan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Australia, the Seychelles and Japan. At the time…
Thy Kingdom Come: a week of prayer for confidence to make Jesus known
"Jesus Christ calls every person to follow him. As Christians it’s our duty and joy to share that invitation. That’s why the Archbishops of Canterbury and York are inviting…
The Queen's 90th: Happy Birthday, Ma'am
God has saved her and she has lived long. The first two invocations of the National Anthem have been and are still being fulfilled. Her Majesty The Queen's 90th…
TGI Monday: Is a church without a disabled person a disabled church?
What is disability? Is there such a thing as a disabled church? What are invisible disabilities? What is inclusion? What is access? How complete are the able-bodied? Many disabled…
Justin Welby inaugurates a new set of Lambeth Awards
On the third anniversary of his installation to the See of Canterbury (and on the 460th anniversary of the martyrdom of Thomas Cranmer; and on the 10th anniversary of…
Palm Sunday: the Kingdom of God and a new social order
The Kingdom of God was heralded by the Messiah riding a donkey. By reason and provocation, He urged anyone who would fully accept that Kingdom to enter into its…
The Kingdom of God is within you, but it is also a future promise
Where is the Kingdom of God? Does it matter? How can it be both within you and yet still to come? Or has it already come? And if it…
Introducing TGI Monday – What does it mean to be a "real Christian"?
Move over Gogglebox. Forget Question Time. Ignore Everyday Ethics, The Big Questions and Loose Women. TGI Monday is here! It has been many months in development, through creative tensions,…
Pentecost evangelism? What is the gospel in an age of religious relativism?
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have written to every clergyman and woman in England (all 11,300 of them, which is a lot of stamps), urging them to pray…
The Servant Queen, and the Foreword which declares the glory of God
Her Majesty the Queen has written the Foreword to a book being published to celebrate her 90th birthday on 21st April this year. The Servant Queen - and the…
Rev'd Kate Bottley: "I hate it when I agree with a Tory"
The Rev'd Kate Bottley is the vicar on Gogglebox, and probably one of the most recognisable of all Anglican clergy in the country. It's usually a good thing to…
Anglican Primates pronounce, but the Holy Spirit prevails
The media bulletins are full of 'Episcopal Church suspended from the Anglican Communion', with a list of prohibitions and fulminations about 'second class Anglicans', with Giles Fraser reminding us…
Church of England continues its decline – but is revival stirring?
The Church of England has published its attendance stats ('Statistics for Mission') for 2014. Don't yawn. Yes, the interesting Anglican stuff is leavening this week in a Canterbury crypt,…
Should Christians in the public sector 'keep mum' to get on?
"Christianity is being subtly 'silenced' within the public sector in the UK because of a civil service culture which treats speaking about faith as 'not the done thing'," writes…
Woolf Institute: Butler-Slush and the demand for more multifaith mish-mash
So, the Woolf Institute, whose declared mission is concerned with "combining theology with the social sciences and the humanities", in pursuit of "interfaith" "social solidarity" and "common purpose", convenes…
The Church of England's investment in social media is a major embarrassment
Quite often when I attend a variety of events and conferences, I’ll end up in conversation with total strangers from all sorts of backgrounds talking about this blog. It’s…
The search for the Top 100 UK Christians – nominations now open for #CranmerList2015
The celebration of Christian saints is a phenomenon which has endured throughout the centuries with an enthusiasm that shows little sign of diminishing. Recent Roman Catholic popes have dished…
Cinema Lord's Prayer 'ban' was a retroactive policy to chuck the Church of England
Today the General Synod debates the public perceptions of Jesus (GS Misc 1126): What do people in this nation know and believe about Jesus? What do they really think…
Church of England campaigns for the living wage, but insists its clergy must claim tax credits
This is a guest post by Harold Pinker (pseudonym) – a Tory-inclined clergyman in the Church of England who fears that his ministry would be impaired (ie his prospects for…