We need to make more space for silence
High School student Jack Higgins has a severe form of autism which makes him hypersensitive to noise. His graduation rite of passage was looking to be an impossible occasion, with…
Prayer
Prayer as harassment: the curious case of Christian Hacking
When does prayer become harassment? That's the essential question at the heart of the recent arrest of a Christian called Christian Hacking, who was praying in a public space outside the Marie Stopes abortion clinic in Ealing, West London. He…
Government slaps secularists: “England has an established Church”
Amidst all the equality clamour and the siren voices of secularism, you can perhaps be forgiven for occasionally forgetting that England still has an Established Church, that its status is…
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…
Church of England’s Brexit prayers – what exactly do they mean?
A few months ago the Archbishop of York issued a Brexit prayer, or, rather, 'A Prayer for Parliament in Time of Brexit Trouble'. It was a fairly benign effort which…
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…
Speaker Bercow: the most powerful commoner in the land
The Speaker of the House of Commons is also known as the First Commoner of the Land, elected by MPs to chair their proceedings without prejudice or partiality, and to…
Parliamentary prayers give strength and instil humility: they impose nothing and exclude no one
"If MPs don’t want to attend prayers, they wait outside for five minutes until they are over", tweeted Nadine Dorries MP, in response to those who are agitating anew for…
Rev’d Jonathan Aitken calls the nation to pray for Parliament
From The Times' 'Credo' column yesterday, by the Rev'd Jonathan Aitken, reproduced here with permission: After a seismic week of political and constitutional upheavals at Westminster, might this be a…
Anti-prayer ‘safe zones’ around abortion clinics are a threat to civil liberties
Women who want an abortion will no longer be harassed by zealous pro-life protestors outside the Marie Stopes clinic in Ealing. No longer will they be bludgeoned with choruses of…
Las Vegas shooting: Anglican Primates complain about having to pray together
As news of the appalling Las Vegas shooting reached the cloisters of Canterbury Cathedral, where gathered the eminent Primates of the Worldwide Anglican Communion (well, most of them) to continue…
Church of England priest calls for the overthrow of Theresa May
Fr Christopher Woods is the parish priest of St Anne's Hoxton. He is a Labour Party supporter, which is laudable, and also a member of Momentum, which isn't so, but…
Despair at the Church of England’s General Election prayer
Who writes these things? Honestly, since when was it a sin to despair? Don't the brokenhearted, poor and homeless despair? What about the starving and dying? Or the persecuted or…
Julia Hartley-Brewer: it’s “bloody stupid beliefs” like prayer which help create acts of terrorism
Even as Tobias Ellwood MP was trying to get the blood to flow once again through PC Keith Palmer's heart, tweets of blame and judgment were flying about like a…
Same-sex marriage: what does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?
This is a guest post by the Rev'd Dr Gavin Ashenden, sometime Chaplain to the Queen. ___________________________ ‘Archbishop Cranmer’ has written a balanced and generous analysis of the House of…
The answered prayers of the great and the good
The Spectator has carried out a Christmas survey, which solicited "answered prayers or wishes". Presumably 'wishes' were included for those who don't pray. So we have a Christmas survey sent…
Understanding the Ministry of the Church Today: a lecture in honour of the late Rev’d Canon Dr Ian Tomlinson
The Rev'd Canon Dr Ian Tomlinson died peacefully at his home on Monday 31st October. He had asked the Very Rev'd Professor Martyn Percy, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, to…
New Bishop of Oxford enthroned with L-plates
Bishops don't much like the word 'enthroned' these days. Perhaps it's a bit too imperial or exalted for modern notions of accessibility and equatability. So now we focus on their…
Don’t bash the Archbishop of Canterbury – pray for him
Funny. Defend Nigel Farage against Justin Welby, you're "racist" or a "bigot"; defend Justin Welby against Nigel Farage, you're a "feminist-humanist-pro-Marxist" (amongst other things). There is no apparent via media…
Thy Kingdom Come: “prayer must always be the first action of evangelism and witness”
When the archbishops of Canterbury and York inaugurated a week of prayer last year under the banner 'Thy Kingdom Come', they could have had no idea that the Holy Spirit…