Tim Wyatt Church Times Key reports in 2018: everything you need to know
“Too many long documents to read in 2018? Tim Wyatt provides a digest”
Richard Mammana Mockingbird Popsicles and Prayer Books
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Unconditional Love – a New Year Resolution for 2019
Kelvin Holdsworth What’s in Kelvin’s Head 10 Correct Opinions About Christmas Carols
Jayne Ozanne ViaMedia.News When “the Goodies” become “the Baddies”…
Jonathan Cooper Independent Our Anglican Christmas has been tarnished by the church’s role as an enabler of LGBT hate
36 CommentsLuke Miller Archdeacon of London Happy Anniversary
Cally Hammond Church Times Dear tokens of my passion
“Four years ago, Cally Hammond was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was Christmas.”
The Anglican Communion News Service has compiled a list of Christmas messages from Anglican Primates.
Jonathan Draper Modern Church ’tis the season
Jonathan Clatworthy Château Clâteau The meaning of the Magnificat
Sandra Palmer St Chrysostom’s Church News and Views The Ox and the Ass – inclusive nativities
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Open Letter to Meg Munn on Safeguarding
… in response to Meg Munn Chair of the National Safeguarding Panel First reflections…
The Anglican Communion News Service reports: Director of Anglican Centre in Rome steps down after “sexual misconduct” allegation.
The governors of the Anglican Centre in Rome have announced the resignation of the Centre’s director, Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi, following an allegation of sexual misconduct. The Anglican Centre in Rome is the permanent Anglican Communion presence in Rome. Its director is also the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Personal Representative to the Holy See.
The resignation was announced today in a statement by the Centre’s Governors – its independent board of trustees. They said: “the Governors of the Anglican Centre in Rome have accepted the resignation of its Director Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi following his suspension last week over an allegation of sexual misconduct.
“The Governors are now taking urgent steps to appoint an interim director, who will also act as the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Representative to the Holy See.”
The statement from the Governors can also be found here.
0 CommentsPress release from Number 10
Queen approves nomination of Suffragan Bishop of Jarrow
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Sarah Elizabeth Clark.Published 20 December 2018
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing StreetThe Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Sarah Elizabeth Clark, BA, MA, MBA, Archdeacon of Nottingham, in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, to the Suffragan See of Jarrow, in the Diocese of Durham in succession to the Right Reverend Mark Watts Bryant, BA, who resigned on the 8th October 2018.
The Dioceses of Durham and of Southwell and Nottingham have also announced the appointment.
Durham: New Bishop of Jarrow Announced
Southwell and Nottingham: Archdeacon Sarah Clark to be Bishop of Jarrow
The new bishop will be consecrated by the Archbishop of York at 11am on the 27th February in York Minster.
31 CommentsPress release from Number 10
Queen approves nomination of Bishop of Derby
The Queen has approved the nomination of The Right Reverend Elizabeth (Libby) Jane Holden Lane for election as Bishop of Derby.Published 18 December 2018
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing StreetThe Queen has approved the nomination of The Right Reverend Elizabeth (Libby) Jane Holden Lane, MA (Oxon), Suffragan Bishop of Stockport, for election as Bishop of Derby in succession to The Right Reverend Alastair Llewellyn John Redfern, MA, PhD, following his resignation on the 31st August 2018.
More details are on the Derby diocesan website: Bishop Libby Lane named as next Bishop of Derby.
47 CommentsThe Episcopal Café Gaudete
Rosie Harper ViaMedia.News “Enjoy But Don’t Inhale!”
Mark Savage BBC Meet the godfathers of the Christmas carol
Helen King sharedconversations Out in Africa?
14 CommentsUpdate An amended timetable was issued on 25 January 2019.
The Business Committee of General Synod has today published the timetable for the February 2019 Group of Sessions in London. The timetable can be downloaded here and an abbreviated version can be found below the fold.
19 CommentsUpdated Friday, Saturday and Tuesday
This report was published yesterday; the press release is copied below.
St George’s PCC had requested, in accordance with the House of Bishops Declaration on the Ministry of Bishops and Priests, that episcopal sacramental and pastoral ministry in the parish be entrusted to a male bishop. Their requirements included this:
iii. whose marital status conforms with Apostolic teaching and practice expressed in the historic teaching and practice of the Church of England.
The PCC complained that the bishop proposed by the Bishop of London had remarried after divorce and was therefore unacceptable to them. In his report on their grievance Sir William concluded that
“the resolution making procedure set out in the House of Bishops’ Declaration concerns theological conviction in relation only to gender and ordained ministry. It does not extend to matters of marital status or indeed any other consideration. The PCC’s grievance against the decision of the Bishop of London to invite the Bishop of Fulham to provide episcopal ministry is therefore unjustified.”
Read the full report for the other parts of the PCC’s grievance.
press release
PCC of St George’s Headstone – report by Independent Reviewer Sir William Fittall
13/12/2018
The report by Sir William Fittall, Independent Reviewer in relation to the House of Bishops Declaration on the Ministry of Bishops and Priests, can be found at the link provided below.
Report
Grievance from the PCC of St George’s Headstone
Update
Madeleine Davies Church Times London PCC’s criteria for accepting a bishop went too far, Sir William Fittall decides
Anglican Mainstream Church of England’s Independent Reviewer supports Bishop of London against parish refusing the Bishop of Fulham over divorce and remarriage
David Pocklington Law & Religion UK Seven Bishops and a PCC: St George’s, Headstone
48 CommentsThe Church of England House of Bishops met this week. The following report was issued today.
Report from the December House of Bishops
12/12/2018
The House of Bishops met in London at Lambeth Palace from the 10th to the 12th of December.
The agenda was wide ranging. On the first day, the bishops considered the priorities for the Church over the three-year period 2020 to 2022. They reviewed progress with the Church’s body of work called Renewal and Reform, which is intended to bring more people to know the good news of Jesus Christ. They explored the Church’s mission with children and young people and made a renewed commitment to that mission. They agreed to examine some areas where Church law might be simplified.
On the second day the Chair of the National Safeguarding Panel, Ms. Meg Munn, addressed the House with her initial observations on taking the role. A more detailed briefing on safeguarding followed. The bishops engaged with the issues facing the nation in the current turbulent political climate. The Pastoral Advisory Group reported to the House on its recent work on gender, identity and sexuality.
On the third day the Bishops participated in exploratory work related to the Living in Love and Faith project.
The House of Bishops prayed for the nation and all our politicians at this challenging time.
11 CommentsUpdated again Sunday morning (scroll down)
There have been strong conservative responses to the recent announcement from the Church of England’s House of Bishops.
Christian Concern has published this: New CofE guidance on gender transition services follows “devastating trajectory”.
Lee Gatiss of Church Society has written Transitioning a Liturgy which helpfully includes links to previous materials from that source on this topic.
Ian Paul has written Wisdom and folly: the bishops’ guidance on transgender welcome.
Anglican Mainstream has published a more comprehensive roundup of conservative reactions, also including links to earlier articles. In addition there is this contribution from Andrew Symes: The secular, postmodern re-shaping of church and society (the relevant part comes towards the end).
Updates
GAFCON UK has published this Statement from Bishop Andy Lines following the Church of England’s guidance on liturgies to celebrate gender transition.
CEEC has published this: A response to the House of Bishops’ “Pastoral Guidance for use in conjunction with the Affirmation of Baptismal Faith in the context of gender transition”.
11 CommentsDavid Ison ViaMedia.News Are Christians Guilty of Exerting Peer Pressure to Make People “Fit In”?
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church John Calvin and the Christian Right
Ian Paul Psephizo What are the church attendance statistics telling us?
Samuel Bray The Living Church A neglected gem: the Sunday first lessons in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer
Laudable Practice Another reason why we need Sunday Mattins
James Marston Eastern Daily Press What does a priest in training have to do?
12 CommentsThe House of Bishops of the Church of England has today published this:
Pastoral Guidance for use in conjunction with the Affirmation of Baptismal Faith in the context of gender transition.
The press release about it is headlined: Guidance for gender transition services published. The full text of that is copied below. (more…)
12 CommentsThe Ozanne Foundation has today announced this:
The 2018 Faith & Sexuality Survey is designed to explore the impact of religious belief on people’s understanding and development of their sexual orientation and identity. It is as such not designed to understand in any depth people’s gender identity.
It is open to all individuals living in the UK who are over 16 and should take about 10 – 15 minutes to complete. Please be assured that your responses will be treated in the strictest of confidence.
To take the survey go here.
The research project is being managed by the Ozanne Foundation and is being overseen by an Advisory Board that consists of:
Dr Jamie Harrison, Chair of the House of Laity, Church of England
Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, Senior Rabbi to Reform Judaism
Martin Pollecoff, Chair of UK Council of Pyschotherapists
Teddy Prout, Director of Community Services Humanists UK
Khakan Qureshi, Founder of Birmingham South Asian LGBT+ – Finding a Voice
Professor Sir Bernard Silverman, Former President of the Royal Statistical Society
Rt Revd Dr David Walker, Bishop of Manchester
The survey will run until December 31st 2018 and the results will be presented at a fringe meeting of the General Synod of the Church of England in February 2019.
The December 9th 2018 Press Release is available here.
For more information please contact survey@ozanne.foundation.
23 CommentsErika Baker ViaMedia.News Toxic Debates & Disagreement
Maria Evans The Episcopal Café Ambrose of Milan
Andrew Lightbown Theore0 Talking of management and theology
12 CommentsUpdated again Thursday and Friday (scroll down)
Channel 4 News broadcast a news item this evening (Wednesday): there is a link to the 5 minute video in this online article:
Exclusive: Church of England gags abuse victim with NDA
A woman who claims she was abused by a vicar has told Channel 4 News she was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) – before she was allowed to read an official review accusing the Church of England of mismanaging her complaints…
…A 2012 inquiry ordered by the then Archbishop Rowan Williams into multiple failures in safeguarding in the Diocese of Chichester concluded: “A confidentiality clause should never be included in any agreement reached with a survivor. It is essential that there is complete transparency about any abuse that has occurred.” mismanaging her complaints…
The Telegraph has also covered the story: Church of England embroiled in NDA controversy after allegedly hushing up findings of harassment probe.
The Church of England has been accused of using non-disclosure agreements to hush up a sexual harassment case involving one of its vicars…
…However the institution is likely to face fresh scrutiny over its alleged use of an NDA, after the Archbishop of Canterbury, its most senior cleric, questioned their legitimacy this year.
He told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in March: “A non-disclosure agreement seems to me to be dangerous because it creates suspicion, ‘Why are you doing an NDA? Surely you’re trying to cover something up’.”
The Diocese of Birmingham has published a document titled Lessons Learnt Review Statement.
A complaint has been made regarding the way in which the Church of England Birmingham handled and investigated a complaint made by an adult of alleged sexual abuse between 1989 and 1991.
Whilst we investigated the complaint with best intentions so as to honour the complainant’s feelings, and to sensitively communicate with all those involved, we accept that we fell short of achieving those aims.
We want to learn from the mistakes we have made, so as to make improvements to our policies and procedures.
With that objective in mind, the Bishops Safeguarding Management Group authorised an independent Lessons Learnt Review…
Updates
The Daily Mail has now also covered this story: Church of England ‘forced woman abused by a vicar to sign a non-disclosure agreement over her abuse claims’ then paid her £40,000 but denied liability
The Times also carried a short item in its News in Brief column.
The Church Times published Birmingham diocese defends gagging order for survivor.
The Birmingham Mail reported: Church cover-up claims over ‘sex pest Harborne vicar who walked around naked’.
The Diocese of Birmingham on Thursday afternoon issued this on its website:
Response to Channel 4 News story
27 CommentsIn response to the news report and interview with Jo Kind on Channel 4’s news programme (Weds 5 Dec 7pm) we believe that it is important to clarify a number of elements of the story as reported in that instance.
Most importantly, we need to make clear that the Church of England – Birmingham has never restricted, or sought to restrict Jo from telling her story. This is not the purpose of the NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement). It was and will always be her story to tell. The decision with regards to the NDA was made to protect the many contributors to the report, some of whom wish to remain unidentifiable, along with the many others whom this situation affects. The suggestion of asking Jo to sign the NDA was also made by the independent reviewer once the report had been finalised. We encouraged Jo to seek legal advice, which she did, before signing the NDA, rather than ‘forcing it on her’ as reported.
It is important to understand that Jo was not asked to sign a ‘confidentiality clause’. Such a clause would have prevented her from disclosing information contained within the reports that she was already aware of, or where elements were already in the public domain. Jo was asked to sign an NDA with the intention to prevent from sharing information not belonging to her that she was not previously aware of (for example elements within the report that refer to information provided from or by other individuals, along with factors that could lead to the identity of the contributors and others who have been affected by this from being identified).
Simply put, Jo is and always has been free to tell her story, but we need to protect others who do not want their story to be told. We needed to put measures in place to safeguard the contributions and identities of these others. For us to publically share personal details regarding private individuals, some of whom have requested anonymity, would be irresponsible, unethical and contravening their understanding of what their contribution is being used for. It is not about protecting the Bishop, protecting the Church of England – Birmingham or the wider Church, it is about protecting the identities and rights of private individuals. We have not attempted to cover up our failings in dealing with this case and have publically acknowledged them here: www.cofebirmingham.com/hub/safeguarding/lessons-learnt/.
The Church of England has issued the statement below on the structure if its National Safeguarding Team.
Hattie Williams writes about this for Church Times: New post advertised to ‘strengthen’ C of E’s restructured safeguarding.
Statement on structure of National Safeguarding Team
05/12/2018
Following the establishment of the National Safeguarding Team in 2015 – replacing a 0.5 national post – the Archbishops’ Council has recently reviewed its structure and after consultation will be advertising for a Director of Safeguarding.
Secretary General’s letter to the College of Bishops about staffing developments at the National Safeguarding Team While this appointment is in process an interim director will lead the National Safeguarding Team and Sir Roger Singleton* has been appointed from January 2. This proposed change is about having the right structures in place to ensure good safeguarding is embedded across the Church in the most effective way possible.
*Sir Roger Singleton is a former Chief Executive of Barnardo’s and chaired the Independent Safeguarding Authority from 2007-2012. He also led the Independent Scrutiny Team which assessed the adequacy of the Church of England’s 2008-2009 Past Cases Review.
6 CommentsJonathan Clatworthy Château Clâteau Why worship?
Andrew Nunn Southwark Cathedral sermon preached at the Memorial Service for The Very Revd David Edwards
Benjamin Guyer The Living Church A Sunday in the Anglican Diaspora
Giles Goddard ViaMedia.News Advent – The Challenge of Active Waiting
Laudable Practice High-Church Populism in Advent
Martin Sewell Archbishop Cranmer Church in Wonderland: the Clergy Discipline Measure shoves victims down a rabbit hole
15 CommentsJo Bailey Wells WATCH AGM Sermon preached on 17 November 2018 The Woman of Valour
Elizabeth Baker Huffington Post My Evangelical Church Is Gaslighting Me, But I Refuse To Fall For It Anymore
Andrew Lightbown Theore0 Talking of bullying
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Teaching meditation or mindfulness in the CofE
Janet Fife Surviving Church Deliver us -From evil?
New Statesman Matters of life and death: Rowan Williams and John Gray in conversation
Kelvin Holdsworth What’s in Kelvin’s Head Whither Mission?
Jayne Ozanne ViaMedia.News A New Clash of Civilisations – Where God is on “Our Side”
6 CommentsStephen Parsons Surviving Church Entitlement. Power and its shadow in the Church
Mark Vernon Christian Today The idea of a male God is deep-rooted – but wrong
Jeremy Morris ViaMedia.News Spinning the Stats – Are We Too Defensive to Really Listen?
Richard Peers Quodcumque – Serious Christianity Listening with love: sex, gender and mutual flourishing with Evangelicals
36 CommentsQueen appoints Dean of York
The Queen has appointed Right Reverend Jonathan Hugh Frost as the Dean of York.Published 26 November 2018
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing StreetThe Queen has approved the nomination of the Right Reverend Jonathan Hugh Frost, BD, MTh, DUniv, FRSA, Suffragan Bishop of Southampton, in Winchester Diocese, to be appointed to the Deanery of the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter, York, on the elevation of the Very Reverend Vivienne Frances Faull, MA, as Bishop of Bristol, on 25 June 2018.
There are more details on the York diocesan website.
18 Comments