Thinking Anglicans

Opinion – 6 August 2025

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Questions for Christianity and the Church of England

Savitri (Savi) Hensman ViaVedia.News Sexuality Issues and the Church’s Theology Problem

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Opinion – 2 August 2025

Tim Wyatt The Critical Friend Made in Sheffield
Also in this week’s newsletter is a piece on the Church in Wales and its new archbishop: Cleaning House

Theo Hobson What do liberal Anglicans want?

Ian Gomersall A Retired Rector’s Reflections Division at ordination

David Torrance House of Commons Library The relationship between church and state in the United Kingdom
A briefing paper on the relationship between church and state in the United Kingdom

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Cherry Vann elected Archbishop of Wales

It has been announced that the Electoral College of the Church in Wales has elected the Rt Revd Cherry Vann, Bishop of Monmouth, as the fifteenth Archbishop of Wales, and her election has been confirmed by the Bench of Bishops. The announcement is copied below.

More pictures can be seen on Facebook here. There is a BBC News report here.

New Archbishop of Wales elected

A new Archbishop of Wales has been elected today, 30 July 2025.

Cherry Vann who has served as the Bishop of Monmouth for the past five years, has been chosen as the 15th Archbishop of Wales.

She succeeds Bishop Andrew John who retired in July after three and a half years as the leader of the Church in Wales.

Archbishop Cherry was elected having secured a two-thirds majority vote from members of the Electoral College on the second day of its meeting at the St Pierre Church and Hotel in Chepstow. The election was confirmed by the other diocesan bishops and announced by the Provincial Secretary of the Church in Wales, Simon Lloyd. Archbishop Cherry will be enthroned at Newport Cathedral in due course. As Archbishop she will continue to serve as Bishop of Monmouth.

Originally from Leicestershire, Archbishop Cherry Vann was consecrated as Bishop of Monmouth in 2020. Cherry was ordained as a deacon in 1989. She was then among the first women to be ordained as a priest in the Church of England in 1994. She then served as Archdeacon of Rochdale, in the Diocese of Manchester, for 11 years.

She said, “”The first thing I shall need to do is to ensure that the issues which have been raised in the last six months are properly addressed and that I work to bring healing and reconciliation, and to build a really good level of trust across the Church and the communities the Church serves.”

The Very Revd Ian Black, Dean of Newport welcomed the news on behalf of the Diocese of Monmouth.

He said, “Cherry is the right person for this moment in the Church in Wales’ life. She has the skills and vision that we need to restore trust following some very public failings. She has brought stability to the Diocese of Monmouth, managing the change to ministry areas with clarity and purpose, showing deep care for the clergy and people. This foundation will be a good base as she leads the Province over the next few years.

“She has a deep faith, which is also open to those who take a different view to her, and this has impressed those people enormously.

“I look forward to supporting her as Dean of her Cathedral. One of our duties and pleasures here is to pray for the bishop every day and we will continue to do so gladly.”

117 Comments

Opinion – 30 July 2025

David Voas The Conversation Is there really a religious revival in England? Why I’m sceptical of a new report

Mark Clavier Well-Tempered What the Heck Are Bishops For?

Michael Hampson ViaMedia.News No First Reading – Four Circumcisions Instead

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Bishop of Worcester

The Prime Minister’s Office has announced that the next Bishop of Worcester is to be the Right Reverend Hugh Edmund Nelson, currently Suffragan Bishop of St Germans. The Worcester diocesan website has more information here, and the diocese of Truro has this.

Appointment of Bishop of Worcester: 29 July 2025

The King has approved the nomination of The Right Reverend Hugh Edmund Nelson, for election as Bishop of Worcester

From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
Published 29 July 2025

The King has approved the nomination of The Right Reverend Hugh Nelson, Suffragan Bishop of St Germans in the Diocese of Truro, for election as Bishop of Worcester, in succession to The Right Reverend John Geoffrey Inge, following his retirement.

Background

After a theology degree at Worcester College, Oxford, Hugh spent 13 years living and working with adults with learning disabilities in one of the L’Arche communities. He trained for ministry at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, was ordained Deacon in 2009 and Priest in 2010, serving his title at The Six group of Churches in the rural area around Sittingbourne in the Diocese of Canterbury. He was appointed Vicar of Goudhurst and Kilndown, also in the diocese of Canterbury, in 2012.

In 2020 Hugh took up his current role as Suffragan Bishop of St Germans in the Diocese of Truro and was in addition appointed Bishop to the Armed Forces in 2021. Since 2023 he also served as Acting Bishop of Truro until the installation of the Right Reverend David Williams on 17th May.

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Opinion – 26 July 2025

Francis Young Election of the 12th Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love The Pearl of Great Price

Archdruid Eileen The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley Archdruid Eileen’s Sermon on AI

Anon Surviving Church Who is my Neighbour?

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General Synod electronic voting results – July 2025

The electronic voting results from this month’s meeting of General Synod are now available online. These contain the names of voting members and how they voted.

The full text of motions can be found in the official record of Business Done.

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Bishops confirm replacement of ‘Issues in Human Sexuality’ in discernment process

The House of Bishops yesterday agreed to replace Issues in Human Sexuality in the process of discerning new candidates for ordination with a requirement for candidates to live in line with the Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy. Details are in a Church of England press release which is copied below.

Bishops confirm replacement of ‘Issues in Human Sexuality’ in discernment process
23/07/2025

The House of Bishops has agreed to replace the outdated document Issues in Human Sexuality in the process of discerning new candidates for ordination with a requirement for candidates to live in line with the Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy.

The change does not alter the Church’s doctrine or canonical requirements, which remain in place, but is intended to ensure the discernment process is both theologically robust and pastorally sensitive.

The decision, at an online meeting of the House of Bishops this morning, follows a near-unanimous vote at the General Synod in York last week, and is an interim step while a longer-term approach is developed.

Synod supported an amended private member’s motion calling on the House to remove any requirements relating to Issues – as it was widely known – from the process and replace it with the interim requirement relating to the Guidelines.

When it was first published in 1991, Issues aimed to be sensitive, but the tone, language, and some of the assumptions are now considered inappropriate and offensive to many people.

Originally intended as a teaching document, Issues had assumed a more definitive role within the Church’s discernment and vocations process with candidates required to confirm that they would shape their lives within the boundaries outlined within it.

Bishops also agreed to remove the document from the House of Bishops website.

Work is now getting under way to update materials used in the discernment process such as online forms which reference Issues and documents used in the Candidates Panel. All existing guidance documents for Candidates, Diocesan Directors of Ordinands and Bishops’ Advisers will be reviewed and changed where necessary and new guidance will be issued. The Ministry Development Team, in collaboration with the Ministry Development Board, will report back to the House in October on this process.

This interim procedure will remain in place while the Church continues its work on the broader package of proposals for the Living and Love and Faith process. This work is ongoing, with the aspiration that proposals will be brought to the House of Bishops in the autumn and then to the February 2026 General Synod.

The House heard a presentation on the work undertaken so far on a review of regulations for Reader Ministry and the findings of the second Anglican Giving Survey carried out earlier this year.

The survey found that over 75 per cent of Anglicans had been thanked for their giving in the last six months, up from less than a third five years ago.

It also highlighted the generosity of givers, with average giving exceeding inflation over the last five years, and suggested that more than two thirds of Anglicans had heard a sermon on giving in the last year, with 60 per cent of those saying the sermon changed their thinking on giving.

The meeting closed in prayer.

Notes

  • First adopted in 2003, the Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy were substantially revised and declared an Act of Convocation by the Convocations of Canterbury and York in 2015. Work is currently underway to develop a revised version for consideration by the Convocations.
  • The House of Bishops resolved today to:
    • Remove Issues in Human Sexuality from the Vocations (Shared Discernment Process) and the House of Bishops website immediately and agree to replace it immediately with an interim requirement of living consistently with the Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy during the period of discernment and training.
    • Commission the Ministry Development Team, working with the Ministry Development Board to develop the details needed to implement this well, reporting to the House in October 2025.
  • The Synod motion agreed on July 15, 2025 was:
    • “That this Synod request that the House of Bishops remove any requirements relating to Issues in Human Sexuality from the Vocations (Shared Discernment) Process and replace it with an interim requirement of living consistently with the Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy (GPCC) during the period of discernment and training, and complete work on the package of the Pastoral Guidelines, Code of Practice, and Bishops’ Statement, as agreed at General Synod in July 2024.” 
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Opinion – 23 July 2025

Helen King ViaMedia.News Jagged Edges: Where Safeguarding Overlaps with the Trust Deficit

Martin Gorick The Observer By reforming its position on sexuality of clergy, Church of England welcomes everyone

Richard Scorer Surviving Church The Matt Drapper Settlement. Damages awarded to plaintiff in ‘exorcism’ case.

Helen King ViaMedia.News July 2025 General Synod: money talks

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Election of the Archbishop of Wales

The Church in Wales has announced the timetable for the election of its next Archbishop. The press release is copied below.

Election of the Archbishop of Wales
Provincial news Posted: 22 July 2025

The Electoral College will meet at St Pierre Church and Hotel in Chepstow on the 29th of July to choose the 15th Archbishop of Wales. The College can take up to three days to elect an Archbishop.

This election follows the retirement of the Bishop of Bangor, Andrew John, who held the office of Archbishop of Wales for three and a half years. His successor will be chosen from among the serving Welsh diocesan bishops – the Bishop of St Asaph, Gregory Cameron, the Bishop of Monmouth, Cherry Vann, Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, John Lomas, the Bishop of Llandaff, Mary Stallard, and the Bishop of St Davids, Dorrien Davies.

Those making the decision represent churches across Wales. Each of the six dioceses elects three clerics and three lay people onto the College and the bishops are also members. The College President is the Senior Bishop, Bishop Gregory Cameron.

The meeting will begin with Holy Communion at St Peter’s Church, which is on the St Pierre estate. Following that, college members will meet for confidential discussions.

After a discussion on the needs of the Province and a period of prayer and reflection, the President will call for nominations. The bishops nominated then withdraw from the discussion, only returning to vote. A nominee must achieve two-thirds of the votes of the college in order to be elected Archbishop. If after a vote is taken no candidate receives the necessary votes, the process begins again with fresh nominations, which may or may not include those who had been nominated in the previous round.

Once the Archbishop is elected, an announcement is made. The normal practice is for the bishop to confirm his or her election immediately. The new Archbishop will be enthroned in his or her home cathedral at a later date.

If The College fails to elect an Archbishop within three days, the decision passes to the Bench of Bishops.

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Opinion – 19 July 2025

Martin Sewell and Linda Billenness Surviving Church Synod ignores Audit Warnings

Martine Oborne Women and the Church The Church of England’s fifty-year journey from open sexism to concealed sexism

75 Comments

Opinion – 16 July 2025

Ben Gibson Surviving Church Institutional Failure and the Case of the Leicester Stalker: An Open Letter to General Synod

Kelvin Holdsworth What’s in Kelvin’s Head “Issues” is no more

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Dean of Bangor

A new dean has been appointed to Bangor Cathedral, with Canon Dr Manon Ceridwen James taking up the role from September. Details are in the diocesan press release.

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General Synod – 11-15 July 2025

This post will be updated as the meeting proceeds.

The Church of England’s General Synod is meeting this weekend. The timetable is here, the agenda is here and the papers are here.

Live video etc

All sessions are streamed live on YouTube and remain available to view afterwards. Links have been provided in advance.

There is an official X/Twitter account.

Chairs of debates

Order papers

Notice papers

Questions Notice Papers

Business Done

Official press releases

Press reports and comment etc

The Guardian

Independent

Church Times

Civil Society

Third Sector

Anglican Communion News Service

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General Synod Questions – July 2025

The Questions (and answers) for this weekend’s meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod were issued today. They can be found online here:

Questions will be taken on Friday evening (11 July).

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Opinion – 9 July 2025

‘Graham’ Surviving Church Justin Welby, the Truth and Forgiveness
The Unanswered Questions. Attachment/Addendum to Graham’s Article

Giles Fraser UnHerd Anglicanism’s poisoned chalice Decent candidates run a mile

93 Comments

Opinion – 5 July 2025

Ian Gomersall A Retired Rector’s Reflections A curious event at an ordination

Nick Spencer, George Lapshynov and Hannah Rich Theos Should Chris Coghlan be denied the Eucharist?

In this week’s issue of The Critical Friend Tim Wyatt writes about the resignation/retirement of the Archbishop of Wales in The rot goes deep, and about The Leicester Stalker. For those who have not been following the Leicester case, the BBC investigation is here, and subsequent statements from the Diocese of Leicester are here. House of Survivors have also issued a statement.

Alexandra Zhirnova reads the Nicene Creed in Old English; the Church of England has a press release.

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Dean of Carlisle

The Dean of Carlisle, the Very Revd Jonathan Brewster, has announced that he is to step down from his role.

5 Comments

Opinion – 2 July 2025

Sally Hope ViaMedia.News There’s Another Church Abuse Crisis That’s in Every Congregation, and Very Much Closer to Home

Pat Ashworth Church Times Retired clergy ‘keeping the show on the road’

24 Comments

Statement from the Representative Body of the Church in Wales on Bangor Cathedral

The Representative Body of the Church in Wales issued a statement on Bangor Cathedral, and other related matters within the Church, yesterday. It is copied below.

These are these two press reports.

Statement from the Representative Body of the Church in Wales on Bangor Cathedral

Posted: 1 July 2025

The Representative Body of the Church in Wales met on Tuesday June 24 to consider, among other matters, the situation at Bangor Cathedral.

A brief public statement was issued later that day:

“The Representative Body of the Church in Wales met today to consider matters relating to Bangor Cathedral. After extensive and detailed discussions, the meeting has been adjourned, and a statement will be issued in due course.”

That full statement is now being issued, comprising the full text of the motion approved by the Representative Body. (more…)

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