St Paul

archbishops letter nation covid deaths call to prayer

Archbishops call the nation to prayer as Covid deaths reach 100,000

January 27, 2021
Archbishop Cranmer
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As the number of deaths caused by Covid-19 passes 100,000, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have written an Epistle to the Nation calling everyone to prayer. And if you don't pray, you are exhorted to pause and reflect: It…

Adam was patient zero: he passed his virus on to all of us

April 17, 2020
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This is the 16th contribution to His Grace’s emergency team ministry during the coronavirus pestilence. It comes again from the Rev’d Ian Chidlow, Curate at St Mary’s Parish Church, Cheadle. …

The mission of the Church is not ‘right ethics’

April 14, 2020
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This is the 15th contribution to His Grace’s emergency team ministry during the coronavirus pestilence. The author wishes to be known as The Snail @. He has a background in…

The real presence of Christ in the community of the virtual Church

March 29, 2020
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This morning I want to depart from our Lectionary readings to offer a text which inspired a first-class sermon which I once heard at Rochester Cathedral. A few years ago,…

Blogging and the voice of the Church

December 29, 2019
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Someone recently tweeted that this blog should close down because people mistake it for a legitimate voice of the Church, and so it conveys a spiritual falsehood by sustaining a…

Boris Johnson becomes the first baptised Catholic to made Prime Minister

July 24, 2019
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Today is the Feast Day of St Boris (really). And today Boris Johnson kisses hands with the Queen (not the hand of the Queen) to become the 55th person to…

Child sexual abuse: the Blackburn Pastoral Letter is game-changer for the Church of England

June 21, 2019
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When St Paul began writing his letters I doubt he expected them to become as copied, shared, dissected and analysed as they are today. He wrote to help and support…

Israel Folau tweet homosexuality gays hell

Israel Folau – a fool for Christ’s sake

May 9, 2019
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Israel Folau plays rugby in Australia. He plays at quite a high level, actually, being paid around $1.6m per season. He is, however, considered to be worth every cent, not…

Church of England’s Brexit prayers – what exactly do they mean?

March 5, 2019
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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…

Charles, Defender of the Faithful persecuted for Jesus’ sake

December 5, 2018
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Yesterday, from the pulpit of Westminster Abbey, the Prince of Wales made a plea for peace; and not only peace, but for reconciliation. And not only did he make a…

Tim Peake spaceship Peterborough Cathedral

Does installing Tim Peake’s spaceship in a cathedral glorify God and lead people to salvation?

September 19, 2018
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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,…

Jumping, skipping, dabbing and bouncing clergy – are we ordaining Tigger?

June 25, 2018
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'Likewise must the deacons be grave', writes St Paul in his first pastoral letter to Timothy (3:8), expounding the necessary character and qualifications for Church leadership. The adjective is associated…

That wedding sermon: Bishop Michael Curry’s critics would have carped at St Paul

May 24, 2018
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St Paul in Athens (Acts 17:16-34 NIV): Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are…

Why is the General Synod of the Church of England so poor at holding Bishops to account?

May 1, 2018
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Travel is said to broaden the mind, but occasionally it reminds us to pay more attention to what is closer to home, right under our noses. Many years ago, on…

Advertising Standards Authority probes billboards declaring ‘The Messiah has come’

February 20, 2018
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Billboards have been popping up around London declaring 'The Messiah has come'. According to Harry Farley in Christian Today, these have attracted a number of objections, and the Advertising Standards…

religion without holy spirit william booth

Is the Church of England doing religion without the Holy Spirit?

November 27, 2017
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Much has been written about the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, or the Paraclete; the third person (hypostasis) of the Trinity. In fact, so much has been written over…

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh celebrate their 70th Wedding Anniversary – the longest and most successful marriage in royal history

November 20, 2017
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Never in the history of royalty has a monarch reached a 70th wedding anniversary. A few have come quite near, but that coveted Platinum milestone is reached today for the…

Theological illiteracy: 46% of Protestants think it’s okay to worship idols

October 27, 2017
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Talk about theological illiteracy: the recent YouGov poll asking whether the 10 Commandments are still widely considered important principles to live by yielded some data of jaw-dropping incredulity. There's no…

Mawer, Percy, and the See of Sheffield: what if Conservative politicians had supported Philip North?

September 25, 2017
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Sir Philip Mawer's report on the circumstances surrounding the nomination of Bishop Philip North to the See of Sheffield makes interesting reading, in particular what it means for the 'mutual…

One in Christ? Why do liberal Christians abuse conservative Christians?

September 15, 2017
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The Most Rev'd Nicholas Okoh is the Archbishop of Abuja Province and Primate of the Church of Nigeria in the Anglican Communion. A glance at his biography establishes his fraught…