Press release from the Church of England
The College of Bishops: September 18 to 21
21/09/2023
The College of Bishops has been meeting in Oxford over the last four days.
The meeting, which welcomed eight new or incoming bishops, began with an afternoon of retreat for prayer and study.
Discussions then included sessions on public affairs – including proposals raised by the Archbishops’ Commissions on families and households, social care, housing and racial justice; the importance of making missionary disciples; generous ecclesiology and episcopal well-being.
The bishops devoted the remaining time to discussing the work to take forward the introduction of Prayers of Love and Faith for same-sex couples, the associated Pastoral Guidance and Pastoral Reassurance.
The College’s reflections will be taken forward to the House of Bishops meetings in October ahead of the meeting of General Synod in November.
32 CommentsThe Church of England has published its response to the Government’s consultation on mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse.
The Church Times writes about the response here: We don’t know, but consider religious freedom, says C of E response on exceptions to mandatory reporting.
On the Seal of the Confessional the response has this to say.
Like many other historic churches, the Church of England includes in its practices the ministry of Confession and Reconciliation. In this ministry, someone can come to a priest and disclose anything they feel they may have done wrong. It is the practice of the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches to guarantee absolute confidentiality of what has been disclosed. This is often known as ‘the Seal of the Confessional’. The Seal is referred to in Canon Law, although the interpretation of the relevant legal provisions is contested.
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Helen King sharedconversations Being back in the room
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Appointment of Suffragan Bishop of Swindon: 24 August 2023
The King has approved the nomination of The Venerable Neil Warwick for appointment to the Suffragan See of Swindon, in the Diocese of Bristol.
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
Published 24 August 2023
The King has approved the nomination of The Venerable Neil Warwick, Archdeacon of Bristol, for appointment to the Suffragan See of Swindon, in the Diocese of Bristol, in succession to The Right Reverend Dr Lee Rayfield, following his retirement.
Neil was educated at Nottingham University and trained for ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He served his title at St Lawrence, Towcester, in the Diocese of Peterborough, and was ordained Priest in 2006. Neil was appointed Vicar of Earley St Nicolas, in the Diocese of Oxford, in 2009.
In 2019, Neil took up his current role as Archdeacon of Bristol, in the Diocese of Bristol.
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Appointment of Dean of Truro: 17 August 2023
The King has approved the nomination of The Reverend Simon Robinson, Residentiary Canon and Interim Dean at Truro Cathedral, for appointment as Dean of Truro.
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
Published 17 August 2023
The King has approved the nomination of The Reverend Simon Robinson, Residentiary Canon and Interim Dean at Truro Cathedral, for appointment as Dean of Truro, in succession to The Very Reverend Roger Bush, following his retirement.
Simon was educated at Warwick University and trained for ministry on the Southern Theological Education Training Scheme. He served his title in the Parish of Freshford, Limpley Stoke and Hinton Charterhouse in the Diocese of Bath and Wells and was ordained priest in 2013. Simon was appointed Vicar of the Parish of Minehead in 2015. In October 2022, Simon took up his current role as Interim Dean and Canon Missioner at Truro Cathedral.
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28 CommentsUpdated 31 July to add the originally missing results.
The electronic voting results from this month’s General Synod are now available online and are linked below. The texts of the motion can be found in the official record of Business Done for each session of Synod. For convenience I have made a note of what each item was about and given a link to the relevant item of Business Done.
The texts of the motion can be found in the official record of Business Done for each session of Synod. For convenience I have made a note of what each item was about and given a link to the relevant item of Business Done.
In addition to the votes above there were two other counted votes
the lists for which have not been made available.
Update The lists for the two votes above are now available.
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42 Comments