Three articles by Martyn Percy for Modern Church
Embrace the “Tutufication” of the Church of England Part 3
Coda
Some Critical Comment on “Bishops and Ministry Fit for a New Context”
Rebecca Chapman Church Times Synod is falling victim to process
“Rebecca Chapman expresses her unease at procedural moves and general discontent”
Phil Groves ViaMedia.News MI5, Exclusion & The Church of England
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church The Independent Learning Lessons Case Review – Graham Gregory. Some comments
34 CommentsNews from the Church of England
Bishop of Kensington to lead new Centre for Cultural Witness
16/02/2022
The Bishop of Kensington, Dr Graham Tomlin, will step down in August 2022 to lead the new Centre for Cultural Witness, a project to underpin the Church’s work of being a Christian presence in every community, by exploring how the Church can communicate and share with others its profound and transforming story in its public witness.
39 CommentsNews from the Diocese of Canterbury
The Dean of Canterbury, The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, has announced that he will cease to be Dean at midnight on 16 May 2022, the eve of his 75th birthday…
The Church Times covers this story here.
51 CommentsRobert Springett ‘Save the Parish’: A response from Bishop Robert
Paul Bayes Thinking in Liverpool Farewell sermon, February 2022
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love NSG declines to define radical new Christian inclusion
Jeremy Marks ViaMedia.News Banning Prayer?
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church How Evil is to be found in our Institutions, including the Churches
3 CommentsWATCH A Report on the Developments in Women’s Ministry in 2021
Readers may find the tables in the downloadable pdf file easier to read.
Martyn Percy Modern Church Embrace the “Tutufication” of the Church of England Part 2
Giles Fraser UnHerd The Church’s war on the clergy
Ian Paul Psephizo Once again: should clergy be paid more?
Surviving Church A Maze with no Exit. Justice Denied in the Church of England
Eeva John Church Times A more excellent way to handle conflict
“The Church would deal with disagreement better if it were free from fear and full of love, says Eeva John, in a sermon preached in Great St Mary’s, the University Church, Cambridge, on 30 January”
Sorrel Shamel-Wood ViaMedia.News Another Injustice in the Church of England? Surely not!
123 CommentsDavid Mitchell The Guardian Having a laugh in church? God forbid
“A cathedral’s plan to host standup comedy has been criticised, but if it keeps places of worship relevant I’m a believer”
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Unfinished Business at Christ Church Oxford
Archbishop Cranmer Christ Church’s magic £millions make the Dean’s safeguarding risk disappear
Andrew Lightbown ViaMedia.News Why I’m ‘Crossing the Severn’…
8 CommentsNews from the Diocese of Southwark
The Bishop of Kingston, The Rt Revd Dr Richard Cheetham, announced today that he will be concluding his term of office on 17 October 2022, the 20th anniversary of his consecration. He is one of the longest-serving stipendiary bishops in the Church of England…
38 CommentsThis post will be updated as the meeting proceeds.
The Church of England’s General Synod is meeting this week. The timetable is here, the papers are here.
Live Video
All sessions are streamed live on YouTube and remain available to view afterwards.
Tuesday afternoon
Wednesday morning
Wednesday afternoon
Thursday morning
Thursday afternoon
Order Papers
OP1 – Tuesday 8 February PM
OP2 – Wednesday 9 February AM
OP3 – Wednesday 9 February PM
Erratum to Order Paper 3
This erratum also contains an error – the word “update” should be deleted from the first line of paragraph (b).
OP4 – Thursday 10 February AM
OP5 – Thursday 10 February PM
Business done
Official press releases
Archbishop of Canterbury’s presidential address to General Synod
Lack of action on racial justice is ‘chilling’, Lord Boateng tells Synod
Archbishop Justin’s remarks in racial justice debate
Racial Justice: update to Synod on racial justice work
Synod approves legislation to help churches meet carbon-reduction target
Unanimous backing from Synod for call to protect child survivors of trafficking
Synod invites engagement on ideas to simplify Church of England’s governance
structures
Synod invites engagement on ideas to simplify National Church Institutions governance structures
Synod unanimously condemns persecution of Christians around the world
Farewell to the Bishop of Liverpool, Paul Bayes
Press reports
Church Times
The strong thrive, the weak suffer: Welby challenges the pandemic narrative
Lord Boateng holds Synod’s feet to the fire over Church’s racism record
C of E safeguarding yet to come good, says new Independent Safeguarding Board
Full steam ahead for cleaner church boilers, General Synod agrees
Archbishop quizzed about selection of Appointments Secretary
New border proposals undermine current anti-slavery legislation, Synod hears
Bishop Seeley tells Synod of short- and long-term financial pressures
BBC
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby criticises delay in removing slavery plaque
The Telegraph
Justin Welby suggests Cambridge college should remove slavery-linked donor plaque
The Living Church
C of E Synod: Financial Woes, Safeguarding & Boilers
Members’ blogs
Andrew Nunn
Looking out
FOMO
Old boiler
The last lap
Give us our Archbishop back?
Helen King
General Synod, February 2022: what felt most bizarre
Jo Stobart
General Synod (February 2022)
The Church of England’s General Synod meets from Tuesday to Thursday of this week. There are links to the papers here and to the Questions here. Safeguarding is on the agenda for Wednesday and there are several questions on this topic – see our article here.
Other news and comment includes:
David Pocklington Law & Religion UK “Net zero” and the faculty jurisdiction
The Telegraph Your net zero push could force churches to close or leave our parishioners shivering, Welby is warned
Helen King sharedconversations February 2022 General Synod – before it starts
Gavin Drake General Synod Update February 2022
Church Times General Synod to focus on race, trafficking, and persecution
The latest Letters to the Editor include three on the proposed changes to the membership of the Crown Nominations Commission.
Martyn Percy Modern Church Twenty-Tutu (2022) is the Year for Leaving Oz Behind – Embrace the “Tutufication” of the Church of England
The first of a series of reflections in the lead up to Lent
Laudable Practice The Prayer Book’s theology of eucharistic consecration: Why individual cups should be rejected
Alan Wilson and Rosie Harper ViaMedia.News Who is Joe Rogan, Anyway?
Church Times In my end is my beginning
Fergus Butler-Gallie conducted a funeral with unexpected resonances
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Emotional Atrophy – a problem for the Church?
This has been overtaken by events, but may still be of some interest.
Angela Tilby The Tablet Christ Church, Oxford – scandal at the cathedral
The Questions (and Answers) for next week’s meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod were published today. The Question sessions (on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons) will be devoted to supplementary questions.
Questions Notice Paper February 2022
Question 34 Noticeboard Information
Question 35 Noticeboard Information
Question 36 Noticeboard Information
Question 99 Noticeboard Information
Rosalind Hughes The Episcopal Café A Song of Anna
Alice Goodman Prospect Magazine Clerical life: Curing clergy burnout
“After Christmas, the things I’d been holding together in the parish had all come loose”
Church of England press release Statement from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York for LGBT+ History Month
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Departure of Tim Dakin from Winchester. Some thoughts
Ozanne Foundation Safeguarding survey shows only a third of UK adult LGBT+ Christians say they feel ‘safe to be out’ in their local church
Jayne Ozanne ViaMedia.News Collateral Damage – Do Church Leaders Care?
Archdruid Eileen The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley Lament for the Filling-in of Statistics for Mission
19 CommentsMeg Munn Chair of the National Safeguarding Panel Annual Report 2021 National Safeguarding Panel
Andrew Goddard Psephizo Can the C of E ever bridge its differences on sexuality?
Pete Broadbent Mixed Ecology
“2030 Vision: People Strategy: Models of Church and Models of Ministry”
Janet Fife Surviving Church The Liberty: A meditation on Romans 8:19-21
‘One day the whole creation will know the glorious liberty of the children of God.’
James Walters Church Times Anglican Communion requires a rotating presidency
“Abandoning a colonial paradigm requires more than tinkering the CNC’s composition”
Assistant Bishop of Bangor announced
One of the first women to become a priest in the Church in Wales will be consecrated as a bishop next month.
Mary Stallard, who has served as Archdeacon of Bangor for the past four years, has been nominated as Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Bangor. She will share the leadership of the diocese while the Bishop of Bangor, Andrew John, serves as Archbishop of Wales.
Mary will be consecrated as a bishop at Bangor Cathedral on February 26. The new Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, John Lomas, will also be consecrated at that service…
15 CommentsClare Hayns Consider the Lilies Naomi: bittersweet
Ric Thorpe Premier Christianity Reports of the Church of England’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Here’s where it is thriving
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Wymondham Abbey – Stalemate?
Tim Wyatt Religion Media Centre Factsheet: Sexuality timeline in the Church of England
72 CommentsFollowing last week’s release of the papers for next month’s meeting of the Church of England General Synod there have been a number of press reports and online comments.
Church Times
General Synod to focus on race, trafficking, and persecution
Archbishops’ Council reckons up progress made/not made on racial equality
Angry response to parish reorganisation gives Commissioners pause
Faculty-system reform blows cold air on old-style boilers
Law & Religion UK Their latest round-up includes a summary of the proposed changes to the Faculty Jurisdiction Rules – scroll down to “Net zero” and the faculty jurisdiction.
Daily Mail Church of England will encourage priests to install more carpets and cushions to help buildings retain heat in bid to reach ‘net-zero’ carbon emissions
The Telegraph Church of England set to take ‘softly, softly’ approach by relaxing rules on cushions
Martin Sewell Archbishop Cranmer Is the Church of England about to ban prophets from Synod?
These items are not explicitly on the agenda, but may well come up in Questions.
Ian Paul Psephizo On the appointment of senior leaders in the Church
Church Times – letters from Rebecca Chapman and John Brydon (scroll down)
Trevor Cooper Law & Religion UK Contested heritage – A review of the Church of England guidance
Richard Burridge Church Times Is a Zoom rite a valid form of communion?
“The pandemic has led to eucharistic experiments online. But where is the Bishops’ guidance”
Jeremy Morris Ad fontes Whither Church reform? 1: Problems of the de-centralization agenda
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church The Winchester College Review about John Smyth
There is a link to the Review here.
Papers for next month’s meeting of the Church of England General Synod are now available online. There is a list (with links and a note of the day scheduled for their debate) in numerical order below the fold.
GS 2240 Agenda February 2022
14 CommentsHelen King sharedconversations Bake a cake for Living in Love and Faith: how to make your response count
Paul Devonshire Surviving Church “The Patronising Predisposition of Unaccountable Power”. The Cost of Questioning Church Authority
1 CommentThe Bishop of Plymouth, the Right Reverend Nicholas McKinnel, is to retire in August 2022. Plymouth is a suffragan see in the Diocese of Exeter.
13 Comments