Shared Conversations

Rainbow Church, LGBT Eucharist and intolerable utterances

September 21, 2018
Archbishop Cranmer
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This picture has not been photoshopped: it is the altar of Reading Minster draped in the rainbow flag for this year's Gay Pride festival, in order to convey to the congregation that the Eucharist is one of inclusion and acceptance.…

The General Synod of the Church of England puts same-sex relations over youth evangelism

December 1, 2017
300 Comments

There is perhaps nothing more challenging in mission than the proclamation of the gospel to those who have never heard it, in a foreign land, in an unfamiliar culture, in…

Shared conversations: some came to seek truth; others to conquer. Why can’t we just be kind?

February 5, 2017
584 Comments

Commenting on the Bishops' statement Marriage and Same Sex Relationships after the Shared Conversations ("a gamma minus piece of drafting if ever there was one"), Canon Professor Mark Chapman prophesies…

House of Bishops upholds canon law: marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman

January 30, 2017
874 Comments

After a seemingly interminable period of 'shared conversations' on the nature of marriage and the relational experiences of some LGBT Christians, the House of Bishops of the Church of England…

Gay marriage: Bishops can’t be bullied with demands for “greater clarity and consistency”

September 12, 2016
294 Comments

As the College of Bishops gathers in Oxford today, the world might be forgiven for thinking there was just one item on the agenda: the liturgical blessing of same-sex unions…

Good Disagreement: report fellow Christians to the police for daring to disagree

September 11, 2016
228 Comments

It isn't entirely clear what happened to 1 Corinthians 6 in the Christian pursuit of Good Disagreement. It appears that if certain liberal/progressive Christians disagree with conservative/traditionalist ones, they think…

Same-sex marriage/blessing confronts Church of England with "a structural flaw of fatal proportions"

August 30, 2016
192 Comments

We have reached Chapter 5 in the great Anglican sexuality saga: 'Church of England parishes consider first step to break away over sexuality'. It isn't clear what the dénouement…

Peacemaking needs peacemakers

November 20, 2015
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Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." And that includes Muslim peacemakers, because Jesus didn't say 'Blessed only are the Christian…

Pray and fast for climate change? Is the Church creating disciples of Christ or eco-warriors?

July 15, 2015
101 Comments

The latest session of the General Synod of the Church of England drew to a close in York this week and, absent any debate about women bishops, it failed…