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…
Spirituality
The Archbishop Interviews: Justin Welby to host BBC Radio 4 chat show on faith and morality
It would be a great honour indeed to be interviewed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and explore complex contemporary ethical issues and nuanced moral-political dilemmas in the context of the plurality of religious belief and the centrality of the Christian…
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…
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…
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…
Scrupulous for Christ: saving the Church from the doctrine of the infallibles
Ever since Jesus cried 'Woe' to the scribes and Pharisees, his disciples have been calling out the two-faced hypocrites and judiciously discerning whitewashed tombs – those who look all meek…
Does installing Tim Peake’s spaceship in a cathedral glorify God and lead people to salvation?
If you install a junk spaceship or other space detritus in a sacred space and then pat yourself on the back for increasing your visitor numbers by 600% to 58,000,…
Uncovering the world of mediums, clairvoyants, empaths, shamans, psychics, and ghost hunters
The organisers wanted me to come with an open mind, but of course that was impossible. In the first place, I have never been convinced that the idea of an…
Church of England votes to ban Religious Conversion
The Church of England's General Synod has backed a motion calling for a ban on the practice of Religious Conversion, aimed at altering a person's religious orientation. Members of the…
Safespacing the Church: revising doctrine to suit mental health
Mental health matters, right? Yes, of course it does. And the Church of England is right to focus on this often-neglected area of human flourishing and wellbeing, with speeches in…
If Philip North can’t be Bishop of Sheffield, the Church of England ceases to be catholic
The Dean of Christ Church, Professor Martyn Percy, has issued an ultimatum circumspectly entitled 'Questions of Ambiguity and Integrity'. It's quite long, but essentially it boils down to a choice:…
“Is Justin Welby not showing the world Jesus?”
Here follows Adrian Hilton's response to Martyn Percy's first letter: Dear Martyn, Thank you for your letter. I appreciated the account of your conversation with the “senior commentator on religious…
Martyn Percy on Justin Welby: “there is a marked absence of salient and resonant ‘God-talk’, or any persuasive public theology”
Here follows the first of a six-letter exchange between the Very Rev'd Professor Martyn Percy, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and Dr Adrian Hilton, Editor of this blog, on the…
Vicky Beeching, vocation, and the church that exists to serve our selfish ends
There was a piece in the Guardian (where else) this week by Vicky Beeching, entitled: 'The first openly gay bishop is a huge step forward – but it’s not enough'.…
Spiritual influence: bullying voters with threats of hell is no different from threats of physical violence
Following the 2015 Tower Hamlets election court judgment which saw the disqualification of the elected mayor Lutfur Rahman for a number of corrupt and illegal practices, Sir Eric Pickles…
Political spin and media din: the importance of silence
There's an awful lot of noise around at the moment. Perhaps there was always a din in the Agora and a racket in the Forum, but they were concerned…
The Woolf Institute is wrong: Christianity is needed in public life now more than ever
This is a guest post by Will Jones who holds a PhD in Political Philosophy from the University of Reading and a diploma in Biblical Studies from Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He currently works…
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…
Pope's preacher lauds the "great theological and spiritual enrichment" of the Reformation
When Fr Raniero Cantalamessa, Preacher to the Papal Household, was invited to speak in Westminster Abbey at the inauguration of the 10th General Synod of the Church of England,…
"God told me to.."
Have you ever had a Christian say to you: "God told me to..", followed by a directive or (more usually) a subtly coercive exhortation to do something (usually) for…