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…
NHS
The Church cannot indefinitely sidestep its self-inflicted Covid damage
There was an excellent letter to the Church Times just before Christmas from the Archdeacon of Hastings, the Rev'd Dr Edward Dowler. It was subtitled 'Deeper questions that Covid measures raise', and merits a far wider reading, not least because…
Durham Cathedral demands Covid passports for Christmas worship
Durham Cathedral is dividing its flock into sheep and goats for Christmas. The Dean is setting the Covid-vaccinated sheep on his right hand, but the goats who lack an NHS…
A ‘Church for England’, but whose understanding of Englishness?
Much has been written about the Archbishop of York's article in the Telegraph, in which he set out his vision for England woven with his preferred themes of Englishness, calling…
Institutional narcissism in the Church of England
"The BBC, the NHS and Oxfam have a bad case of institutional narcissism", wrote Matthew Syed in the Sunday Times yesterday. It is a terse but cogent thesis, coming in…
‘Coming Home’: what role should the Church play in housing?
"Across the UK, eight million people currently live in substandard housing, 800,000 people are in overcrowded households and one in five households face real difficulties in paying their mortgage or…
Curate says clapping Captain Tom is “a cult of White British Nationalism”
The Rev'd Jarel Robinson-Brown is a curate in London. He sets out his biography (and presumably mission priorities ["Black Prophetic Fire"]) on his Twitter account: "Human | Cleric | Writer…
Lockdown UK: only in Scotland is public worship prohibited (except for the rich)
Epiphany 2021. The Wise Men have arrived in the guise of SAGE – the wisest of the wise. If we follow the star of science and heed their advice, coronavirus…
Freedom revisited: perhaps we need a new revelation
"If Boris Johnson has a political philosophy it is that he will not restrict our liberties unless there is an overwhelming reason to do so", tweeted BBC's Robert Peston after…
Transgender aged seven; puberty blockers aged 11; detrans aged 18
There is an evil here which needs to be addressed. O, some will hurl 'transphobe', others 'bigot', and still others 'homophobe' or 'hater', but it still needs to be addressed,…
Care in a covid climate: in defence of Justin Welby
"The Archbishop of Canterbury has been secretly volunteering as a chaplain at St Thomas’s Hospital during the coronavirus lockdown, the Telegraph has learned." The Telegraph learned this when the rest…
‘Stay Alert’ is a perfectly sensible slogan
The Government is coming under a lot of criticism for its 'Stay Alert' messaging as we move incrementally out of the coronavirus lockdown. 'What exactly does this mean?' has become…
Canon Simon Butler responds to Archbishop Cranmer & Fr Marcus Walker
This is a guest post from Canon Simon Butler, vicar of St Mary's, Battersea. ____________ I’m grateful for being given a right of reply to the article about an exchange…
Nobody claps for Jesus
This is the 12th contribution to His Grace’s emergency team ministry during the coronavirus pestilence. It comes from Mike Stallard, who has been in education all his life, and is…
Legal Aid: why is the Government riding roughshod over the rights of the poor?
It is a well established part of the life of General Synod that the clergy and laity can submit motions for debate to the Business Committee. Synod time is both…
Four-day week: mandatory indolence or an interfaith ‘sacred weekend’?
When Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell mooted imposing a four-day week on the British economy (that is, a four-day working week; Labour has no plans to re-calibrate or 'modernise' the solar…
A Christian approach to immigration cannot be simply opening the doors to everyone
One of the handful of joys that blogging brings me is the opportunity to get to know a lot of people who have a similar interest in the relationship between religion and politics.…
Compassionate Conservatism and Social Justice – bedfellows or bugbears?
Talk to most Labour supporters about 'compassionate conservatism', and they'll scoff at the very notion, as though the evil Tories had stolen the robe of Christ and were masquerading…
Assisted Dying: Canon Rosie Harper condemns "extreme and emotive claims" of "a certain section of believers"
The Archbishop of Canterbury couldn't be any clearer: 'MPs must not take risks with the lives of vulnerable people', he writes in the Evening Standard. He is unequivocal, too,…
Assisted suicide and the unbearable indignity of the insupportable life
"I can't take this anymore," said Chantal Sebire (left), as the cancerous bulge ate into her nasal cavity and gnawed at her brain, robbing her of sight, taste and…