Theo Hobson, writing in today’s Guardian, says that “We are witnessing the end of the Church of England”. This is not for the reasons normally given, such as conflicting views on homosexuality, but because of differing understanding of the concept of the church. “The evangelicals, ever since the reformation, have been lukewarm about the church’s institutional authority. They see it as a means to an end” – and that is all.
0 CommentsToday the Church Times breaks the news that somebody has produced a handbook to help organisations avoid having to employ non-Christians.
Bill Bowder’s story is headlined How to employ only Christians – a guide.
I’m sending off for a copy of this book immediately.
Here is some more background in a 6 June press release from the Evangelical Alliance.
On 8 May, a letter was sent to members of the Council, members of the House of Bishops, and Diocesan Secretaries, reporting what had been achieved by Church House staff in their negotiations with the government about the Employment Equality Regulations. The full text of this letter appears below.
Analysis real soon now 🙂
0 CommentsRobin Eames and John Neill, archbishops respectively of Armagh and Dublin, have issued a press release containing a joint statement concerning the election of a bishop for the diocese of New Hampshire, USA.
The statement says that this election raises grave issues for the Anglican Communion and refers to the discussion on homosexuality in which the Irish House of Bishops is currently engaged. The archbishops say: “We regret the threat to the unity of the Anglican Communion caused by this election at a time when the Christian Church faces such grave issues in a divided world.”
This statement then refers to Clause 3 of the declaration to which all Irish clergy must subscribe. This says:
“The Church of Ireland will maintain Communion with the sister Church of England, and with all other Christian Churches agreeing in the principles of this Declaration; and will set forward, so far as in it lieth, quietness, peace, and love among all Christian people.”
The statement ends as follows:
“It is clear that what happens in another part of the Anglican Communion cannot change the Church of Ireland and that we have a duty to do all that we can to maintain as high a degree of unity as possible with those from whom we differ.
Our prayer must be that God will deepen our understanding of these issues, so that we may discern a way forward that is faithful to Christ and sensitive to the needs of the Church and of the world. In the past many issues have led to division between Christian Churches and that division has often crippled the mission of the Church. It is our task today, whilst differing on many issues, to maintain the communion to which God calls us.”
The Economist has on 14 August, published in its regular Bagehot column, a piece titled Archbishop Major which asks With the Anglican Communion on the verge of schism, can Rowan Williams learn anything from John Major?
Note: Back in July, the Economist wrote about the Jeffrey John affair, and quoted Peter Akinola of Nigeria as saying: “I cannot think of how a man in his senses would be having a sexual relationship with another man. Even in the world of animals, dogs, cows, lions, we don’t hear of such things.” The Economist then said:
“Why should the Archbishop of Canterbury pay any attention to such on outburst? First, the Nigerian Primate has powerful allies, both at home and abroad. Social conservatives in the Church of England, who are fast becoming expert organisers, had by June 25th set up a new network, Anglican Mainstream, to lobby against the appointment of gay clergy…
“The second reason why… has to do with the increasing centralisation of the Anglican communion… George Carey… has bequeathed… an institution in which decisions taken in one diocese are subject to global scrutiny and comment, and in which the head of the church is expected to answer for the whole.”
This new article is available electronically only to those who subscribe to the magazine, and I cannot reproduce it here in full without breaching copyright. But there is a summary below.
I think the comparison with Major has some merit, although obviously RW and JM are leagues apart, not least in IQ. Certainly, the claim that there is no chance of a “miraculous reassertion of the good manners and tolerance that have been the traditional hallmarks of Anglicanism” seems pretty accurate to me when reviewing the recent remarks of African and American conservative anglicans.
0 CommentsIn my earlier analyses of the Sexual Orientation Regulations, I failed to report that in addition to Clause 7(3), there is a further special exemption for “organised religion” at Clause 16 which deals with Qualifications Bodies. Clause 16(3) reads:
(3) Paragraph (1) does not apply to a professional or trade qualification for purposes of an organised religion where a requirement related to sexual orientation is applied to the qualification so as to comply with the doctrines of the religion or avoid conflicting with the strongly held religious convictions of a significant number of the religion’s followers.
I’m not entirely clear what this is intended to refer to as far as the Church of England is concerned. Is ordination to be considered as a trade qualification?
The DTI guidance note says:
48. Regulation 16(3) provides an exception in relation to qualifications for purposes of an organised religion, which is similar to the exception in regulation 7 (see above), and to section 19 of the SDA. Where a qualification is for purposes of an organised religion, it allows the body to apply a requirement related to sexual orientation so as to comply with the doctrines of the religion or avoid conflicting with followers’ religious convictions. This could apply to qualifications required to be a minister of a particular religion, for example, to the extent that such a position constitutes a profession or trade for the purposes of regulation 16. Regulation 16(3) is consistent with Article 4.1 of the Directive, although it does not copy out its wording. This is because a requirement which meets the criteria defined in regulation 16(3) is necessarily a genuine and determining occupational requirement which is applied proportionately, within the meaning of Article 4.1.
I have written previously in my personal blog here about the Employment Equality regulations and the role played by the Archbishops’ Council in their framing.
Here is the full text of the letter which William Fittall, Secretary General of the General Synod and the Archbishops’ Council, sent to the Clerk to the JCSI on 9 June.
Comment about this is invited from readers. I expect to publish my own analysis here shortly.
0 CommentsFirst, two newspaper columns commenting on recent ECUSA events:
When the Archbishop Calls by Colbert King in the Washington Post.
A Divided Episcopal Church? by Peter Steinfels in the New York Times.
Second, here is a pastoral letter written by the Bishop of Arizona to his diocese. (Arizona is a diocese which voted in all three orders in favour of the confirmation of the Bishop-elect of New Hampshire and in favour of the compromise resolution on same-sex blessings.)
I found all of these helpful in understanding how mainstream Americans view recent ECUSA events.
0 CommentsRuth Gledhill writes in The Times today that Archbishop of Canterbury backs faithful gay relationships. This story is based on the fact that Canterbury Press is to republish an earlier essay of Rowan’s in the book of essays The Way Forward: Christian Voices on Homosexuality edited by Timothy Bradshaw, due to appear in the middle of September.
A second article in the same newspaper discusses another essay and the book further.
Gay clergy need not be celibate, says Dr John.
Rabbi Lionel Blue talked about acceptance of gay people in Tuesday’s Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4.
1 CommentDamian Thompson reviews Rowan Williams by Rupert Shortt
The only half-crown item in a sixpenny bazaar
Mary Ann Sieghart has written this article in The Times:
If all liberals left the church it would cease to be a national institution and become a narrow sect.
Thinking Anglicans has received the sermon that Colin Slee, Dean of Southwark preached at St Mary’s Putney on Monday, 11 August at the service which launched www.inclusivechurch.net.
1 CommentMatthew Parris, in a bizarre article in The Times on Saturday says that the Church should not change its view on homosexuality.
1 CommentThinking Anglicans has received the following press release, announcing the formation of a new movement in the Church of England.
3 CommentsLast week the Doctrine Commission of the Church of England published a report entitled Being Human and with the long explanatory subtitle “A Christian understanding of personhood illustrated with reference to power, money, sex and time”.
It doesn’t seem to be readable on the web, but there is a summary on this week’s Church Times website and the report can be bought from Church House Publishing or, as they say, from any good bookshop.
From the summaries I have seen so far this looks like an important contribution as to how we understand ourselves. I plan to get a copy soon, and will add my further thoughts here.
0 CommentsThinking Anglicans was created and is run by three people: Simon Kershaw, Simon Sarmiento and Peter Owen.
Simon Kershaw is from Warwickshire, read Physics at Wadham College, Oxford, and worked for 40 years in the computer software industry for a variety of companies, retiring in 2023.
He is married with two adult children, and lives near Cambridge. He has contributed to or edited a number of liturgical publications, is a member of the Liturgical Commission of the Church of England, the Lay Chair of the Ely Diocesan Synod, and a lay Canon of Ely Cathedral.
Simon Sarmiento was born in Sheffield and graduated in Industrial Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is now retired from a major British software company, where he served for a decade as personnel director and later as head of internal IT.
Married with four grown-up children, he worked in the USA for a while, and lived in St Albans Hertfordshire from 1971 to 2014 where he worshipped at the Cathedral and Abbey Church of Saint Alban. He is part of the team that publishes Anglicans Online and has been a consultant to Church House Publishing. He now lives in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.
Peter Owen was born in Southend-on-Sea, read Mathematical Physics at Birmingham University and has a DPhil in Astrophysics from Sussex University. He taught mathematics in higher education for thirty years before taking early retirement in 2000.
He lives in the suburbs of Liverpool and is a worshipper at Liverpool Parish Church. He is part of the team that publishes Anglicans Online. Outside the church, he chaired an NHS Research Ethics Committee for seven years and was later a member of the Greater Manchester West Committee for ten years. He was a member of General Synod from 1995 to 2005.
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Thinking Anglicans is a website for thoughtful contributions to the proclamation of the gospel message. Here writers reflect on what it means to be a Christian, particularly in Britain today.
Thinking Anglicans will actively report news, events and documents that affect church people, and will comment on them from a liberal Christian perspective.
Thinking Anglicans proclaims a tolerant, progressive and compassionate Christian spirituality, in which justice is central to the proclamation of the good news of the kingdom of God. Our spirituality must engage with the world, and be consistent with the scientific and philosophical understanding on which our modern world is based. It must address the changes which science and technology have brought into our lives.
Thinking Anglicans takes the form of weblogs (or ‘blogs’) in which writers place their thoughts in public for all to read. We each take responsibility for our own words. There is no central definition or declaration of faith to which contributors must subscribe, although most of our writers are active Christians in communion with the see of Canterbury. Rather there is a range of opinions, which contributes to debate, and is legitimate diversity within the Christian faith. The site will be updated frequently, with regular contributions from our team of writers, commenting on news events and exploring wider issues and deeper meanings.
Thinking Anglicans is a focal point where you can find the words of informed contributors to the contemporary understanding of Christian faith, as well as the views of ordinary ‘Anglicans in the pew’. In a world where the voices of fundamentalism and conservatism are frequently heard, Thinking Anglicans is a place for a tolerant, thoughtful and understanding exploration of Christian faith. We hope this shared witness of the vision of God’s kingdom in the world will help and encourage both Christians and others.
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