More articles will be added as and when they are published.
News
Church Times LLF: Archbishops apologise for harm caused to LGBTI+ people
Church Times leader comment LLF: it’s out, it’s long, it’s good
Christian Today Church of England publishes landmark resources on sexuality and relationships
Christian Today Evangelicals will ‘engage’ with Church’s sexuality resources but say key issue is ‘obedience’ to Scripture
The Guardian Church of England could rethink stance on LGBTQ+ issues by 2022
Anglican Communion News Service Church of England publishes major teaching resource on identity and sexuality
Premier Church of England outlines plans to tackle sexuality disagreements
Telegraph Church of England could hold historic vote on gay marriage in 2022 (£)
Reuters Church of England leaders apologise for ‘damage and hurt’ to LGBT+ people
Religion Media Centre Living in Love and Faith: ‘What is means to be human’
The Times Church of England to rethink same-sex marriage (£)
Press Association (at the Daily Mail) Church of England decisions on sexuality and marriage `could be made within two years´
This PA article is also on the websites of a great many local newspapers.
The Living Church New C of E Resource for Discernment on Sexuality
Church Times Campaigners welcome Living in Love and Faith resources
Opinion
Helen King sharedconversations Deleted sex scenes from Living in Love and Faith (1)
Deleted sex scenes from Living in Love and Faith (2)
Deleted sex scenes from Living in Love and Faith (3)
Deleted sex scenes from Living in Love and Faith (4)
LLF and IICSA, revisited
Helen King for Modern Church Living in Love and Faith: doing history
Marcus Green
Living in Love and Faith: One – Suddenly Equal?
Living in Love and Faith: Two – Predictably Discriminatory
Living in Love and Faith: Three – Stubbornly Hopeful
Nikki Groarke ViaMedia.News Scripture & Sexuality – Taking Nothing For Granted
Andrew Goddard Fulcrum LLF for Dummies: 10 FAQs about the Church of England’s new teaching and learning resources on identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage
The Church of England Evangelical Council Living in Love and Faith: evangelicals say they are ‘ready to engage and ready to contend’
Student Christian Movement A response to the Church of England’s ‘Living in Love and Faith’ resources
Alex Clare-Young Trans. Christian. Human. LLF: Call, Response, Prayer
General Synod Gender and Sexuality Group
Prudence Dailey Christian Today First impressions of the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith are very disappointing
David Baker Christian Today ‘Living in Love and Faith’: there may be much to encourage, but there is also every reason to stand firm
Oliver O’Donovan The Living Church Mapping the Terrain for Engagement on Human Sexuality
Colin Coward LLF: it’s long, complex, and fails LGBTI Anglicans
Andrew Symes Anglican Mainstream Living in Love and Faith: early thoughts
Ian Paul (How) should we engage with Living in Love and Faith?
Christopher Cocksworth Living in Love & Faith – My Journey
Ann Memmott Ann’s Autism Blog Living in Love and Faith – How the CofE failed the autistic LGBT+ people
43 CommentsUpdate I have been advised that the Living in Life book is available for download (without registration) from here as a single pdf file.
The Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith resources were published this afternoon, along with a press release (copied below). There is some introductory material at the first link below (Living in Love and Faith), but for most of the resources are in the Living in Love and Faith Learning Hub; to enter this requires registration.
Hard copies of the Living in Love and Faith book are (or will be) available from Church House Publishing or your favourite online bookseller (although none of the three that I tried have it in stock).
You can download the book from within the hub, but it does come in the form of 27 separate files.
Press release
Living in Love and Faith resources published as bishops issue appeal to Church to ‘listen and learn together’
09/11/2020
The Church of England has published a landmark set of resources drawing together the Bible, theology, science and history with powerful real-life stories as it embarks on a new process of discernment and decision-making on questions of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage.
The product of three years’ work by more than 40 people, led by the Bishop of Coventry, Living in Love and Faith includes a 480-page book, a series of films and podcasts, a course and an online library of other publications, in what is thought to be the most extensive work in this area by any faith group in the world.
It comes as the House of Bishops issues an appeal to the whole Church of England to participate in learning together, using the resources for open, honest and gracious discussion, listening and learning.
A group of bishops, chaired by the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, will lead the process of discernment and decision-making about a way forward for the church in relation to human identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage.
It is anticipated that the period of church-wide learning and engagement would take place during 2021. The House of Bishops would then bring the discernment and decision-making to a timely conclusion in 2022 which would then be put before Synod.
In a foreword to the Living in Love and Faith resources, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, acknowledge and apologise for the “huge damage and hurt” that has been caused particularly to LGBTI+ people within the Church.
“At the heart of our failure is the absence of a genuine love for those whom God loves in Christ, knowing as God does every aspect of all of our lives,” they write.
But addressing the future, they add: “Our prayer for the Church through this work is that collectively we demonstrate the same love to one another that we have experienced from God.”
The book opens with an account of how Jesus invited people to sit down together as he fed the 5,000. It notes how Jesus often sat down with people with radically different lives and views.
In their invitation to the church, the bishops say: “Our prayer is that as all of us, the people of God, take time to listen and learn together, our love for one another will be deepened and our faith in Jesus Christ strengthened so that His joy will be made complete in us.”
The Bishop of Coventry, Christopher Cocksworth, who oversaw the Living in Love and Faith project, said: “These learning resources are the fruit of an extraordinary collaborative process.
“This has involved intense and prayerful study and reflection as well as listening to as wide a range of voices and experiences as possible.
“Our hope is that through them people will be inspired by the Bible’s glorious and joyful vision of God’s intention for human life.
“Questions of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage are deeply personal with real life consequences. Engaging with these resources will be enriching and, at different points for different people, deeply challenging and uncomfortable.
“They ask us to examine afresh what it means for Christians to live in love and faith.
“We offer them in the hope that the whole of the Church of England will embrace this opportunity to learn and reflect together across difference for the sake of our unity in Christ.”
The Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, who will lead the ‘Next Steps Group,’ said: “The challenges of the pandemic have underlined how we need each other more than ever.
“At the same time, we can see how deeply divided the Church is over these questions, and we must seek God’s will by learning together, listening to each other and to God.
“We will encourage and support churches to do this in ways appropriate to their local contexts over the coming year, inviting people to reflect on their learning, both as groups and individually.
“This must be a meaningful process with a clear way forward.
“However, it will not succeed without love, grace, kindness and compassion.”
Notes
Register to explore the Living in Love and Faith Learning Hub.
The members of the Next Steps Group are:
Press release from the Church of England
A meeting of the House of Bishops took place today Monday 9 November 2020 via Zoom
09/11/2020
The House has now reverted to a schedule of monthly meetings with this meeting being the meeting for November.
As one of the first items of substantive business, a series of proposed amendments to the Standing Orders of the House were approved. As a result of recent demands brought on by the pandemic, the House endorsed the proposal for the Secretary of the House to be to be able to call a meeting of the House of Bishops with just 24 hours’ notice in circumstances of special urgency, rather than the current 7 days. The House agreed to two other procedurally related proposals.
The House then discussed the imminent publication and communication around the publication of the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) resources planned for later that day. The House was addressed by Bishop Christopher Cocksworth, Chair of the Living in Love and Faith Co ordinating Group and parties working collaboratively on the launch, including the enabling officer of LLF and the Director of Communications.
The House then received an update on the work of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Housing, Church and Community Commission (HC&C). The update was given by the Bishop of Kensington and Charlie Arbuthnot, the co-authors of an interim report that was shared with the House. The interim report was discussed and the House approved the general direction of travel of the report and agreed to receive the final report in February 2021.
The House then heard from the Bishop of London in her capacity as the Chair of the Recovery Group charged with the Church’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. An overview of the current situation was given with an update on discussions on the Places of Worship Task Group and ongoing negotiations with the Government regarding the opening of churches for public worship. The House agreed that its December meeting will include a more detailed discussion on the regional impact throughout England of the pandemic.
The House was then updated by the Bishop of Huddersfield, (Bishop for Safeguarding) and the Director of Safeguarding on a range of safeguarding matters. The House noted and agreed that progress on the Interim Support Scheme must be made by the end of the year.
The House also received updates from the various works streams operating under the auspices of the Emerging Church Groups.
An overview by the Chair of the Co-ordinating Group, the Bishop of Manchester was followed by reports from the Chair of the Vision and Strategy Group, the Governance Group and the Transforming Effectiveness Group.
The House agreed, as part of the Vision and Strategy Group, to note and prepare for further discussion at the December meeting of the House on a series of proposals replacing the three Quinquennium Goals dating from 2010.
The House also agreed to offer comments and advice on the workplan of the Transforming Effectiveness group with further suggestions and proposals to be tabled at the December meeting. The House agreed to the same for the Governance group.
The Bishop at Lambeth informed the House that there will be a longer detailed decision on Emerging Church at the scheduled two day December meeting of the House.
3 CommentsTrevor Thurston-Smith The Pensive Pilgrim The Harsh Truth Unlocked by Lockdown
Giles Fraser UnHerd Boris Johnson doesn’t get God
“This second lockdown has robbed church-goers of more than community”
Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff Church Times The Church’s sacramental ministry is not an optional extra
“The precautions in place in churches mean that there is no justification for suspending public worship”
Church Times Leader Worship banned
Paul Bayes ViaMedia.News Uphill Struggles and the Road to Peace
11 CommentsThe Church of England has issued its usual press release (copied below) in advance of this month’s meeting of its General Synod. Also released today are the papers for the Synod meeting; links to them are in my post below.
Church of England to detail Net-Zero bid at first online General Synod
06/11/2020
The Church of England has clarified the scope and definition of net-zero following General Synod’s pledge to achieve net-zero by 2030.
Detail was shared with General Synod members today as papers were published for the forthcoming meeting of General Synod, the first full meeting of the Synod to be held remotely.
Today’s environmental publications follow a February 2020 motion setting the Church a target of cutting its carbon emissions year-on-year to reach Net Zero emissions by 2030.
Among other Agenda items, Synod will also debate the recent IICSA report endorsing a motion to urgently implement its recommendations, a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Archbishops’ Council budget and proposals for apportionment for 2021.
In legislative business, the Cathedrals Measure will receive its final drafting and approval and there will also be a number of items of Safeguarding legislation as the Church continues its work to strengthen its procedures in this area.
First official remote synod
In response to the challenges presented by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, special changes to Synod rules were approved in October enabling a full meeting to take place online.
This will be the first such official meeting of the Synod to take place online, over three days between Monday 23rd and Wednesday 25th November.
Dioceses and cathedrals consult on net-zero
Despite the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19 during the past nine months, the vast majority of dioceses and cathedrals have responded to a consultation to shape a definition and scoping of net-zero. This has been sent to General Synod members today for information ahead of its November meeting.
Of 35 dioceses and 23 cathedrals that replied, 81% of consultees agreed fully with the definition as now drafted (or with minor variations). Of those who did not fully agree, half still expressed a desire that it should go further.
Among the key details from the papers:
Revd Professor Martin Gainsborough, who moved the 2030 amendment, said that he was “hugely impressed” by the way in which the Environment Working Group has been working since the momentous vote in February.
“The definition of what is included for our net-zero carbon target seems the right one. It is also widely supported, as the consultation process relating to it shows,” he continued.
“It is now absolutely critical that the whole Church commits to this agenda. Of course, aspects of it will be challenging but I am convinced that if we work systematically and work together we can pull this off. What an achievement and what a legacy that would be.”
The Bishop of Salisbury, Nicholas Holtam, the Church of England’s lead bishop for environmental affairs, welcomed the publication of the Synod papers.
He said: “In the months since Synod set its 2030 target for net-zero, despite the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19, parishes, dioceses and cathedrals have demonstrated their urgency by completing the energy footprint tool and participating in a consultation on the scope of net-zero.
“While reaching our target remains a huge challenge and will require prayer and concerted and sustained action, this work moves us closer to having a reliable baseline for our current carbon impacts and a roadmap to achieving net-zero.”
The Church has also rolled out the Energy Footprint Tool, and since April 2020 (following the 2030 target introduction in February) the tool has seen 4,500 churches formally submitting their data or nearly a third of parishes in England. A further 1,500 churches tried the tool but did not submit their data.
The Environmental Working Group will next report back to General Synod in 2022, at which time a detailed roadmap will be reviewed.
Work will continue at all levels in the meantime with a national programme of church energy audits, renewable electricity tariffs through parish buying, ARocha’s Eco Diocese programme, events for Climate Sunday and a series of net-zero carbon webinars which are free for parishes.
Notes
The Papers for this month’s meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod are now available online.
Papers with a note of the day scheduled for their consideration are listed below the fold. Synod meets virtually from Monday 23 to Thursday 25 November. They can be downloaded as two zip files.
GS papers .zip folder
GS Misc papers .zip folder
The Agenda is here and the Report by the Business Committee (Guide to the November 2020 group of sessions) is here.
Synod members reading this might like to note that the deadline for the submission of questions is 12 noon on Wednesday 11 November 2020.
0 CommentsThis Measure was debated, and passed, by the Houses of Commons and Lords last month. It received Royal Assent today and came into force immediately. This month’s meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod can now take place remotely.
4 CommentsHelen King sharedconversations Waiting for publication: the week before Living in Love and Faith
Elizabeth Adekunle Via Media.News Wise Leadership: Needed Now More Than Ever!
Marcus Walker The Spectator If anything is essential, it’s worship
4 CommentsTimothy Goode ViaMedia.News Covid, LLF and the Power of “Lived Experience”
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church The John Smyth affair: further reflections
Modern Church has an insert in yesterday’s Church Times. It includes these two articles from their blog.
Miranda Threlfall-Holmes Communion, Tangible and Virtual
Augustine Tanner-Ihm How Long O Lord?
Peter Crumpler Church Times The pandemic has changed how churches use media
“From YouTube services to the traditional magazine, parishes have been innovating”
Martyn Snow Church Times Dare to think differently about lay ministry
“It is about much more than filling the gaps left by stipendiary clergy, argues Martyn Snow. A whole new vision is needed”
Suffragan Bishop of Repton: Reverend Canon William Malcolm Macnaughton
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Canon William Malcolm Macnaughton to the Suffragan See of Repton.Published 30 October 2020
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing StreetThe Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Canon William Malcolm Macnaughton MA MTh, Chief of Staff to the Archbishop of York in the diocese of York to the Suffragan See of Repton, in the diocese of Derby, in succession to the Right Reverend Janet Elizabeth McFarlane who resigned on 31st March 2020.
Malcolm was educated at Queens’ College, Cambridge and trained for ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He served his title at St Andrew, Haughton Le Skerne, in the diocese of Durham and was ordained Priest in 1982.
In 1985, Malcolm was appointed Priest-in-Charge of All Saints, Newton Hall, in the diocese of Durham. In 1990, he moved to the diocese of London to be Team Vicar (and subsequently Vicar) of St John the Baptist, Hoxton. He also served as Area Dean of Hackney from 1994 to 1999. Malcolm was appointed Rector of Hambleden Valley in the diocese of Oxford in 2002 and became Area Dean of Wycombe in 2005.
In 2007, Malcolm took up his current role as Chief of Staff to the Archbishop of York.
There are more details on the Derby diocesan website.
26 CommentsCharlie Bell ViaMedia.News Collusion, Hypocrisy & the Greasy Pole to Success
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Living in Love and Faith in a Systemically Abusive Church
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church The work of a Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor. Insights from the Whitsey Report
7 CommentsThe Church of England has announced that its Living in Love and Faith teaching and learning resources will be published on the afternoon of November 9; the press release is copied below.
Church House Publishing is advertising the main volume for £19.99, and a 5-session course for groups for £4.99 (or £24.99 for a pack of six).
Living in Love and Faith – publication update
26/10/2020
The Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith teaching and learning resources, exploring questions of human identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage, will be published on the afternoon of November 9.
The resources, commissioned by the House of Bishops, will include a book, a series of films and podcasts and a course which have been developed over the last three years by a group of more than 40 people from across the Church.
They are intended to initiate a process of whole Church learning and engagement, within a clear timeframe, that will contribute to the Bishops’ discernment of a way forward in relation to questions of human identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage.
Exact timings will be confirmed closer to the date.
59 CommentsStephen Parsons Surviving Church Responding to wounded abuse survivors. Can the post-IICSA Church get this right?
Anne Foreman ViaMedia.News Church of England – Please Mind the Gap!
Jeremy Pemberton From the Choir Stalls Deadly Pressure
Stephen Cottrell, Nick Baines and David Walker Yorkshire Post We must face up to the human heartache in a Britain divided by lockdowns – Archbishop of York
10 CommentsAndrew Graystone Surviving Church What do we mean by Redress?
Alan Wilson ViaMedia.News World Without End…?
Richard Scorer National Secular Society The Church of England’s culture of entitlement has to end
22 CommentsSuffragan Bishop of Berwick: Mark Wroe
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Mark Wroe BA MA, Archdeacon of Northumberland to the Suffragan See of Berwick.Published 20 October 2020
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing StreetThe Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Mark Wroe BA MA, Archdeacon of Northumberland, in the diocese of Newcastle to the Suffragan See of Berwick, in the diocese of Newcastle, in succession to the Right Reverend Mark Tanner following his translation to the See of Chester. Mark was educated at St Mary’s University, London and Anglia Polytechnic University and trained for ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He served his title at All Saints Chilvers Coton with St Mary the Virgin, in the diocese of Coventry and was ordained Priest in 1997.
In 2000, Mark was appointed Priest-in-Charge, and latterly Vicar of St Alban Windy Nook, Gateshead in the diocese of Durham. Mark took up the roles of Priest-in- Charge of St Barnabas and St Jude, and Vicar of Holy Trinity Jesmond in the diocese of Newcastle in 2007. In 2017, Mark was additionally appointed Area Dean of Newcastle Central Deanery. He took up his current role as Archdeacon of Northumberland in 2019, having been Acting Archdeacon since 2018.
There is more on the Newcastle diocesan website.
19 CommentsUpdate The Church Times has written about the bishops’ meeting and a subsequent interview with the lead safeguarding bishop, Dr Jonathan Gibbs: Gibbs: independent body will supervise Church’s safeguarding.
Church of England press release
House of Bishops Meeting – Monday 19 October 2020
19/10/2020
A meeting of the House of Bishops took place today, Monday 19 October via Zoom.
From October, the House is now meeting once a month, a schedule which is likely to continue until Easter 2021.
The focus of the meeting was an opportunity for reflection and learning on the overarching IICSA report for the Anglican Church in England and Wales which was published on 6 October and had six recommendations for the Church of England.
The House discussed the two most significant themes from the report; proper redress for victims and survivors and greater independence in safeguarding decision making. The House was addressed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the lead safeguarding bishop and the National Director of Safeguarding. All spoke in favour of the motions put before the House (see below) and strongly urged the House to vote in their favour.
During the course of two plenary sessions and breakout groups the House reviewed the recommendations of the report, affirming that any response by the Church needs to be sensitive to, and mindful of, the views of victims and survivors.
The House unanimously endorsed a motion fully accepting the IICSA report, unreservedly apologising to victims and survivors for the harm done by the Church and committing itself to urgently implementing the recommendations.
The House also unanimously agreed with the proposal that the Church should move towards establishing an independent safeguarding structure, with a new trustee body responsible for safeguarding to take over responsibility for the Archbishops’ Council. The House also agreed that an interim arrangement be put in place for additional independent oversight of safeguarding, prior to the establishment of the new trustee body.
The House then underlined the importance of a full response to the IICSA report being released in the coming weeks.
The House also received updates from the various works streams operating under the auspices of the Emerging Church Groups. An overview by the Chair of the Co-ordinating Group, the Bishop of Manchester was given, followed by a brief report from the Chair of the Recovery Group, the Bishop of London regarding ongoing changes and updates to the guidance for worship, following the introduction of the tier system across the nation.
The Archbishop of York updated the House on the work of the Vision and Strategy Group and received the House’s endorsement for his work on developing a shared vision for the Church. Further updates were also given by the Governance Group and the Transforming Effectiveness Group.
24 CommentsUpdated Tuesday
There has been a lot of coverage in the press over the weekend and this morning about why the recently retired Archbishop of York has not (yet?) been given a peerage. His three predecessors (Hope, Hapgood, Blanch) were. The three before that (Coggan, Ramsey, Lang) were all translated to Canterbury and in due course received the customary peerage for retiring Archbishops of Canterbury.
The Times Peerage snub for top black bishop John Sentamu
The Guardian John Sentamu peerage snub criticised as ‘institutional prejudice’
Telegraph Downing Street insists life peerage for John Sentamu ‘imminent’ amid backlash over delay
Yorkshire Post Accusations mount over peerage snub for former Archbishop of York John Sentamu
York Press Peerage snub for former Archbishop of York
John Sentamu peerage expected ‘imminently’ after criticism of Government
ITV Former Archbishop of York John Sentamu peerage expected ‘imminently’ after criticism of government
Update
Church Times Sentamu will get his peerage, government sources say
Yorkshire Post John Sentamu will have place in House of Lords after backlash over apparent snub
30 CommentsMeg Munn Chair of the National Safeguarding Panel First reflections on IICSA’s second report
Helen King ViaMedia.News Why the Church of England Must ‘Connect the Dots’ – IICSA and LLF
Shirley O’Shea The Living Church What Mentally Ill Persons Wish Their Clergy Understood
Anne Atkins Church Times When people won’t believe you
“Victims are often doubted, Anne Atkins finds”
Andrew Graystone Surviving Church Towards a Theology of Redress
6 CommentsThe Bishop of Birkenhead, Keith Sinclair, has announced today that he is to retire on 08 March 2021, 14 years to the day after he was consecrated. Birkenhead is a suffragan see in the diocese of Chester.
6 CommentsCharlie Bell Anglicanism.org Risk and Prophesy – has the Church got its COVID-19 response right?
“In this paper Charlie Bell challenges assumptions about how we should approach the COVID- 19 crisis not least in church. He argues that church authorities have misunderstood the science and imposed a culture of fear thereby exacerbating the crisis. It is time for a radical reassessment.”
Simon Butler ViaMedia.News Safeguarding, ‘Reabuse’ and LGBT People
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church We are sorry, but please be patient: An Apology after IICSA
Narcissism – A Recipe for Unhappiness in the Church
Ian Black Church Times Comment: how the Church can end its abuse culture
“Policies and procedures are not enough to stop abuse, says Ian Black. Much deeper changes are needed”