All Things Lawful And Honest We don’t need no education
“Angela Tilby asks challenging questions about the capacity of the Church of England’s theological institutions to prepare adequately ministers who love, know and understand both the Scriptures they preach, and the Church they serve.”
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Time for Disclosure instead of Silence- Jonathan Fletcher
Meg Munn Chair of the National Safeguarding Panel Further Discussions on Redress
28 CommentsChurch Times Lambeth Conference: Early steps on the path to unity
“One hundred years ago, Anglican bishops made a bold ecumenical move. Mark Chapman describes its impact”
Ben Thompson Earth & Altar The Church of England as a model of pluralistic unity for the “One Holy Catholic Church”
Laudable Practice Thoughts on Mitregate
57 CommentsPress release from the Prime Minister. The Anglican interest is in the second paragraph.
Prime Minister announces Appointments Secretary
The Prime Minister has announced that he has appointed Mr Richard Tilbrook to be his Appointments Secretary.
Published 13 August 2020
From: Cabinet Office and Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
The Prime Minister has announced that he has appointed Mr Richard Tilbrook to be his Appointments Secretary following the retirement of Edward Chaplin CMG OBE at the end of last year.
Mr Tilbrook will work with the Archbishops’ Appointments Secretary on the consultations for diocesan bishop and Crown deanery appointments, attending meetings of the Crown Nominations Commission as appropriate.
Mrs Helen Dimmock in the Cabinet Office remains responsible for parochial appointments where the Crown or Lord Chancellor is patron.
Mr Tilbrook is Clerk to the Privy Council and has been acting as the Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary since January, having previously served as Deputy Appointments Secretary. His earlier civil service career was spent at the Government Communications Headquarters, in the Department for International Development and in the Cabinet Office, where he oversaw the operation of the honours system for a number of years. He is also responsible for advising the Prime Minister on the appointment of Lord-Lieutenants.
Mr Tilbrook is a communicant Anglican, worshipping at St Andrew’s, Naunton, in the Diocese of Gloucester. A classicist, he is an alumnus of Queens’ College, Cambridge, and the Royal Grammar School, Guildford.
27 CommentsJonathan Bish All Things Lawful And Honest Tune in, or Turn Off
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church The Peter Principle. Incompetence and the Church
9 CommentsThe two Archbishops have called a special session of General Synod on Thursday 24 September 2020. The only business expected will be a draft measure to allow Synod to meet remotely in November (and subsequently) if necessary. The Archbishops wrote to all synod members last month to explain why this measure is necessary and can only be taken at an in-person meeting; their letter is copied below.
It is hoped that most members will not exercise their right to be present, but arrangements will be made to ensure that enough do attend to provide a quorum in each of the three houses.
Subsequently the text of the draft measure and explanatory notes have been published.
GS 2175 Draft General Synod (Remote Meetings) Measure – First Consideration
GS 2175X General Synod (Remote Meetings) Measure – Explanatory Notes
Letter from the Archbishops
22 July 2020
To: All Members of General Synod
Ref: Special Session of General Synod on 24 September 2020
Standing Order 2(6)(b), provides that in circumstances of special urgency or importance, the Presidents of the General Synod may summon a special session.
We consider that such circumstances exist. It is not practically possible at present to hold a group of sessions in the usual way and we do not know when it will be again possible to do so. Nor is it currently possible, under the Synod’s Constitution and Standing Orders, for the Synod to transact business remotely. There is important business which the Synod must transact before the end of this year. This includes the approval by the General Synod of the Archbishops’ Council’s budget for 2021, which is a statutory requirement under the National Institutions Measure 1998, and the approval of Fees Orders for 2021. Other business the Synod needs to address without delay includes amending safeguarding legislation to take account of recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and the giving of final approval to the Cathedrals Measure.
For those reasons, we need legislation that will enable the Synod to meet and transact business remotely should it still not be possible by November for it to meet in the usual way. The Government has not been able to make time for this in Parliament. We therefore need to legislate by Measure and are summoning a special session of the General Synod for this purpose on Thursday 24 September 2020.
This meeting will be held physically at Church House, London. Although no Synod member can be denied admission to this meeting, we will in practice hope to work with the three Houses to ensure that only a quorum-plus of members need attend to ensure compliance with social distancing requirements.
The only business we envisage being on the agenda for the special session is a draft Measure to enable the Synod to meet and conduct business remotely. It is proposed that all stages of the Measure would be taken at the special session. We do not expect to have any other business at this meeting, even urgent business outlined above. These items will be taken to the November Group of Sessions.
Members will receive further details, including the draft Measure, from the Synod Office in due course.
Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of York
Presidents of the General Synod
Archdruid Eileen The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley Not Going into a Church for Private Prayer
Giles Fraser UnHerd The neoliberal revolution within the Church
“The ancient institution has been asset-stripped by an expanding bureaucracy of management-speak types”
Paul Bradbury His Light Material Is pioneer ministry a ‘neoliberal destruction’ of the parish system?
Janet Fife Surviving Church Bethel Sozo Part 2 Being Sozoed
Part 1 is here.
Kelvin Holdsworth Every Eucharist is a Virtual Eucharist
Religion Media Centre Holiness and desire: how the C of E can keep the conversation open
38 CommentsGiles Fraser The Telegraph Is the Church of England determined to kill off the parish church?
There are some letters in response to this article in today’s Telegraph.
Silvia Gosnell Institute of Sacred Music Inside!
Andrew McGowan Journal of Anglican Studies Communion and Pandemic
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Human evil -individual and corporate
Ian Paul Psephizo Bishops should throw away their mitres
109 CommentsThe consecrations of the new bishops of Doncaster and Sherwood were postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. They will now take place in two separate services in York Minster on Monday 21 September.
The Minster has this morning published these details of who will consecrate and preside.
The Revd Canon Sophie Jelley, former Director of Mission, Discipleship and Ministry in the Diocese of Durham and Canon Missioner at Durham Cathedral, will be consecrated as Bishop of Doncaster in the Diocese of Sheffield. Sophie will be consecrated in the morning by The Archbishop of York, The Most Reverend Stephen Cottrell, assisted by the Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler and the Bishop of Sheffield, Pete Wilcox.
In the afternoon, the Revd Dr Andrew Emerton, former Dean of St Mellitus College, London, will be consecrated as Bishop of Sherwood in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. Andrew will be consecrated by the Bishop of Durham, the Right Revd Paul Butler, assisted by the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally and the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, Paul Williams. The Archbishop of York will preside at both services.
There is more detail here.
35 CommentsStephen Stavrou All Things Lawful And Honest Watch your language
Giles Fraser UnHerd Church philistines have got high culture all wrong
Janet Fife Surviving Church Bethel Sozo Part 1: Coming to a Church near You?
Laudable Practice Why I Support The Ordination Of Women: A High Church Reflection
14 CommentsThe Rt Revd Alistair Magowan, the Suffragan Bishop of Ludlow in the Diocese of Hereford, retired on 30 April 2020. The Diocese has now announced that he will not be replaced; there is an explanation of this decision here. As with his recent predecessors the bishop was also Archdeacon of Ludlow. The plan is to replace the existing combined Bishop/Archdeacon of Ludlow role with a full time Archdeacon.
41 CommentsPress release from the Church of England
Bishop of Bristol to take up national safeguarding role
29/07/2020
The Bishop of Bristol, Bishop Viv Faull has been appointed a deputy lead bishop for safeguarding, with a focus on liaison with diocesan bishops on behalf of the National Safeguarding Steering Group (NSSG) and with the wider Anglican Communion, and to speak on safeguarding in the House of Lords.
She will work closely with the lead safeguarding bishop, the Bishop of Huddersfield, Jonathan Gibbs and the other deputy lead Bishop Debbie Sellin who took up their roles earlier this year. All three bishops will continue to work closely with Melissa Caslake the Church of England’s national director of Safeguarding to continue to develop the Church’s safeguarding practice.
Speaking about her appointment Bishop Viv said:
“I was a Chester Diocesan ordinand when Victor Whitsey was Bishop, and a Deacon in Gloucester when Peter Ball was Bishop. Though they did me no individual harm I have seen the great harm done to others and the whole Church of God. Safeguarding has therefore been an urgent concern throughout my time as Dean in Leicester and in York where I led changes of process and culture and learnt much. I am aware of how much the Church still has to learn and will do my best to contribute to debates and to enable fellow diocesan bishops to participate fully and be supported in their roles.”
Bishop Jonathan said: “We are delighted that Bishop Viv has agreed to take up this role bringing her long experience of ministry and absolute commitment to good safeguarding. She will play a key role as a link between the NSSG and other bishops, as well as with the wider Anglican Communion.”
4 CommentsAndrew McKinnon University of Aberdeen Questioning the evidence for rapid growth of ‘orthodox’ Anglican churches in sub Saharan Africa
[A preprint of the original journal article is online here.]
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church The Clergy Discipline Measure – RIP?
Pam Bishop St Bride’s Liverpool The ‘New Normal’ in a Liverpool Anglican City Centre parish
John Gillibrand Ekklesia Equal marriage: time for full acceptance from all churches
1 CommentStephen Parsons Surviving Church Conflicts of Interest and Church Discipline
Chris Phillips All Things Lawful And Honest Listening to the Laity
Meg Warner The Tablet Worship behind closed doors?
[Free registration is required to access this article.]
Press release from the Church of England
House of Bishops Meeting – 22 July 2020
22/07/2020
A meeting of the House of Bishops took place today on Wednesday 22 of July 2020 (by Zoom)
Updates were given to House on a range of matters including an update by the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally in her capacity as the Chair of the Recovery Group, on the Church’s activities relating to Covid. This was followed by an update from the Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, the Chair of the Vision and Strategy Group, and an update from the Bishop of Leeds on the emerging work plan for the Governance Review Group,
The House then turned its attention to Legislative Reform and Simplification. The House endorsed a proposal for a green paper to be issued on clergy terms of service. The House agreed that a report with recommendations for fresh legislation for pastoral reorganisation should be presented to Synod with a view to a draft Measure on pastoral reorganisation being brought to the synod.
The House endorsed the direction of travel relating to the planning for and establishment of an Archbishops’ Commission on Racism.
The House then turned its attention to the report from the Implementation and Dialogue Group, agreeing to publish the report and request that it go on the agenda of a future General Synod.
Further matters discussed at the meeting included Budgets, the Anglican Communion and an update on Safeguarding.
16 CommentsPeter Anthony All Things Lawful And Honest Sound Bite Theology
Archbishop Cranmer Archbishops go on consecration strike – they will make no more bishops
Jason Loch A Venerable Puzzle The Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary And Episcopal Appointments
32 CommentsIn 1997 Prime Minister Tony Blair vetoed the Church of England’s nominee for the Bishopric of Liverpool. The incident has largely faded from the public consciousness, but thanks to documents inadvertently released by the Cabinet Office Jason Loch can now show us some of the behind-the-scenes drama of this remarkable event. Read it here: Tony Blair And The Bishopric Of Liverpool.
36 CommentsJanet Fife Surviving Church Deliverance Ministries: Do They Deliver?
Jessica Martin Church Times Sex and religion: When it all started to go wrong/right (delete as applicable)
“In fact, neither of the narratives about sex is right”
Jayne Ozanne ViaMedia.News We Can’t Go Back….But We Will, Unless…
Elizabeth Anderson Earth & Altar Purity and Danger: Eucharistic safety in a time of pandemic
7 CommentsStephen Cottrell Yorkshire Post Let’s head to a more caring ‘new normal’
The text of the article is also available on the Archbishop’s website.
Surviving Church ‘They’: A Talking Head
Peter Webster Webstory The pandemic and the idea of a national church
8 CommentsNews from the Archbishop of York
The Confirmation of Election of the Rt Revd Mark Tanner as the next Bishop of Chester
14/07/2020
Bishop Mark Tanner will be confirmed as the Bishop of Chester at 11am on Wednesday 15 July 2020, in a service broadcast entirely online due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The service will be broadcast on YouTube and on the diocesan website.
The service will include music from Chester Cathedral’s Nave Choir, a reading and prayers from young people in the diocese, and the new Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell will give the address. Prayers will be offered for Bishop Mark, the Diocese of Chester, the Northern Province of the Church of England, and for our country, as well as for the wider world.
Commenting on the service, Bishop Mark said: “I am so grateful that we can gather in prayer and worship as we begin this next phase in the life of Chester Diocese. During the lockdown, as so much has been stripped away, we have glimpsed some of the ways Christ holds out hope and love and invites each of us. This is the hope and peace in which we meet and it will be lovely if you can join us.”
Archbishop Stephen said: “I am pleased to be confirming Bishop Mark as Bishop of Chester, made even more special as it will be the first Confirmation of Election that I have undertaken as Archbishop of York. My prayer is that Mark will take time to discern where God is leading the Diocese of Chester and that together Christians can be of one heart and mind as they seek to share the Good News of the love of Jesus Christ with the people in the North West of England.”
1 CommentUpdated on Monday and again on Tuesday
Three suffragan bishops will be consecrated in Lambeth Palace chapel on 15 July: Will Hazlewood as Bishop of Lewes, Ruth Bushyager as Bishop of Horsham, both in the Diocese of Chichester, and Hugh Nelson as Bishop of St Germans in the Diocese of Truro.
Forward in Faith has issued this press release: Statement regarding the Consecration of The Revd Prebendary Will Hazlewood. In this they say that Prebendary Hazlewood will be consecrated in a separate service from the other new bishops. In his case the Bishop of Richborough will act as the Archbishop’s delegate as chief consecrator, and the Bishops of Ebbsfleet and of Fulham will act as co-consecrators. This is because “all candidates must experience the sacramental assurance and joy of full communion with the bishops who ordain them”.
I assume that the Archbishop of Canterbury will be the chief consecrator for the other two new bishops, but I can find nothing online to confirm this. [But see the comments.]
Update 1
The Diocese of Chichester has published links for the livestreaming of the two consecration services
MORNING SERVICE: Consecration of the Bishop of St Germans and the Bishop of Horsham at 11.30 am
AFTERNOON SERVICE: Consecration of the Bishop of Lewes at 2.30 pm
Update 2
The Diocese of Chichester has issued this statement from the bishops-designate of Horsham and Lewes: A daunting and exciting venture of faith. In part it says
It is untrue to say [as some are reporting] that Prebendary Will Hazlewood declined to be consecrated as bishop of Lewes by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The arrangements for consecrations are the sole responsibility of the Archbishop: we are thankful for the distinctive arrangement he has made for a traditionalist provision.
but do read it all.
For another view read this statement from WATCH.
83 Comments