Thinking Anglicans

Opinion – 11 April 2020

Mia Kyte Hilborn Church of England A chaplain’s view – the Coronavirus pandemic
“The NHS has withstood many emergency situations. It will withstand this one, but this crisis is different.”

Hilary Ison ViaMedia.News Trauma & Tragedy in Congregations & Communities

Giles Fraser UnHerd Where is God in this Covid horror?
“Church is one of the few places where we can acknowledge the existence of futile suffering”

Martyn Percy Modern Church Dean’s Diary: Light and Dark in Holy Week

Luke Coppen The Spectator Will coronavirus hasten the demise of religion – or herald its revival?
“The lockdown is testing believers of all stripes”

Anglican Communion News Service Primates’ Easter Messages 2020
A collection of Easter Messages from Anglican Primates and other senior Church leaders.

11 Comments

Opinion – 8 April 2020

Stephen Cottrell The Spectator A first for Christendom: Holy Week without church
“We are going to have to follow Jesus in his isolation”

Georges Staelens Blogue de Georges Ajourner la Pâque. Postpone the Easter.

Jonathan Jong St Mary Magdalen School of Theology On receiving communion in desire

Kevin J Moroney The Living Church On Presence, Real and Impaired

Simon Butler ViaMedia.News Do We Believe in Life After Death – A Response

Meg Munn Chair of the National Safeguarding Panel Safeguarding Adults

Janet Fife Surviving Church Surviving Creeds

Jayne Ozanne ViaMedia.News Who’s Caring for our Nation’s Spiritual Health?

4 Comments

Opinion – 4 April 2020

Jonathan Gibbs The Church of England Blog from Lead Safeguarding Bishop

Bosco Peters Liturgy Spiritual Communion

Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Looking to the Future. The Church after COVID-19

Andrew Lightbown Theore0 Talking of mission and finance in challenging times

Giles Goddard ViaMedia.News Into the Dark….

Church Times Interview: Brendan McCarthy, C of E medical adviser

3 Comments

Opinion – 1 April 2020

Rosie Harper ViaMedia.News Covid-19, Theodicy and Common Grace

Wendy Bower ViaMedia.News A Sermon for Our Time: Tears & Tombs

Jonathan Draper Afterthoughts Virtual Church?

Tim Stratford One way of looking at things… Changed but not stopped

Richard Peers Oikodomeo Life with Zoom – Small solitudes, little deserts: Poustinia for a time of Pandemic

Gary Waddington The Busy Priest Three Rules for Love, in a time of pandemic

4 Comments

Opinion – 28 March 2020

Mandy Ford ViaMedia.News Space, Time, Prayer and Cranmer

Steve Goddard Ship of Fools In praise of online church

Lorraine Cavanagh Church Times Companionship with God and others in the Covid-19 pandemic
“There are ways of belonging to a worshipping community at this time that do not rely on a broadband connection”

Andrew Davison Church Times When priest and people are apart
“The eucharist remains vital, even if offered behind closed doors”

Fergus Butler-Gallie The Critic Return of the Dance of Death
“Coronavirus may be sweeping the world but we’ve been here before”

61 Comments

Opinion – 25 March 2020

Peter Leonard ViaMedia.News Flattening the Curve

Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Chance Encounters and Changed Lives part 1

Christopher Southgate, Carla Grosch-Miller and Hilary Ison Tragedy and Congregations guidance for ministers as the coronavirus crisis deepens
“Thoughts for ministers during the first phase of the coronavirus crisis”

Godfrey Kesari Church Times Finding hope in the midst of a pandemic
“During this crisis, it is normal and natural to ask where God is. But this is not a time for Christians to retreat from their faith”

3 Comments

Opinion – 21 March 2020

Laudable Practice Pray the Litany Daily

Meg Munn Chair of the National Safeguarding Panel Synod Discusses Redress

Nicholas Henshall ViaMedia.News “Yoga-Gate” – Fundamentalism in a Twist

Savitri Hensman ViaMedia.News Dolly Parton and ++Michael Curry on the Power of Love

12 Comments

Bishop Barbara Harris

Bishop Barbara Harris, the first woman to be consecrated as a bishop in the Anglican Communion has died.

Anglican Communion News Service Tributes paid following death of Barbara Harris – the Anglican Communion’s first female bishop

The New York Times Barbara Harris, First Woman Ordained an Episcopal Bishop, Dies at 89

The Washington Post Barbara C. Harris, first female bishop in Anglican Communion, dies at 89

The Episcopal News Service RIP: The Rt. Rev. Barbara C. Harris, Anglican Communion’s first female bishop, dies at 89

3 Comments

Opinion – 18 March 2020

Fergus Butler-Gallie The Fence Diary of an Urban Parson

Stephen Parsons Surviving Church The John Smyth saga – further observations

Andrew Lightbown Theore0 Talking of coronavirus,church, continuation and concomitance

David Ison ViaMedia.News Minding Our Adjectives…

1 Comment

Opinion – 14 March 2020

Janet Fife Surviving Church Surviving Lent

Jonathan Jong St Mary Magdalen School of Theology On receiving communion in one kind

Jayne Ozanne ViaMedia.News Bridges, Kingdom and Unity

5 Comments

Suffragan See of Sherwood

Updated

Press release from Number 10

Suffragan See of Sherwood
11 March 2020

Queen approves nomination to the Suffragan See of Sherwood.
Published 11 March 2020
Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street

The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Doctor Andrew Neil Emerton BSc, BTh, DPhil, Dean of St Mellitus College, in the Diocese of London to the Suffragan See of Sherwood, in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, in succession to the Right Reverend Anthony Porter BA MA who is due to retire on 22nd March 2020.

Andy was educated at York University, and Queens College, Oxford and trained for ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He served his title at Holy Trinity Brompton in the Diocese of London and was ordained Priest in 2006.

In 2008, Andy was appointed as Assistant Dean, St Mellitus College and in 2015 Andy took up his current roles as Dean, St Mellitus College and Principal, St Paul’s Theological Centre

Update

There is more detail on the diocesan website, including the consecration date which is Ascension Day 21 May 2020.

45 Comments

Opinion – 11 March 2020

Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Safeguarding, Compassion and the Law

BBC World Service Religion apps: Daily Prayer and the Devil’s Data
Sophia Smith Galer investigates the world of religion apps – from prayer hacks to actual hacks
Episode 1 of 4

David Walker ViaMedia.News Taking Advice – Gentlemen vs Players
This refers to the advice Duty to “have due regard” to House of Bishops safeguarding guidance recently published by the Church of England.

0 Comments

Meeting of the House of Bishops

Press release from the Church of England

Meeting of the House of Bishops
10/03/2020

The House of Bishops met today at Lambeth Palace.

The bishops heard from the Reverend Professor Gina Radford and the Reverend Dr Brendan McCarthy on the developing situation with regard to the spread of the Coronavirus. They also heard about the Archbishops’ decision to update the latest guidance.

The bishops also discussed the Living in Love and Faith project in advance of this summer’s publication of the teaching and learning resources.

0 Comments

Opinion – 7 March 2020

Rosie Harper ViaMedia.News The Whitewashing of Spiritual Leaders – Is Vanier Like Weinstein?

Jeffrey John St Albans Review Loving and remembering

Nick Bundock ViaMedia.News Uganda’s Unholy Trinity & the Forgotten Martyrs

15 Comments

Opinion – 4 March 2020

Mandy Ford ViaMedia.News ‘Dirty Bodies’, Dust and Ashes…

Robert Thompson ViaMedia.News A Call to Repentance – A Lenten Reflection

Giles Goddard ViaMedia.News Living in Love & Faith: Will the Deer Scatter?

Women and the Church Women in Ministry, the Church of England and Statistics: A closer look

2 Comments

Opinion – 29 February 2020

Miranda Threlfall-Holmes Ethical Evangelism

Lorraine Cavanagh Church Times Jean Vanier’s misuse of power
“Spiritual direction can be dangerous. It requires a radical rethink.”

Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Idealisation of Church Leaders. Problems for the future.

8 Comments

Opinion – 26 February 2020 – Ash Wednesday

Each day during Lent 2020 Clare Hayns will be posting on her blog about a different woman from the Hebrew Scriptures, and each post will end with a guide for personal prayer. She starts today with Hagar.

Simon Butler ViaMedia.News The Darkness Within…

Martin Sewell Archbishop Cranmer Welby brings peace and reconciliation to South Sudan

Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Christian Celebrities and Betrayal

3 Comments

Religion or Belief in the UK Parliament

The All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group in the UK Parliament has today published a report on Religion or Belief in the UK Parliament: Time for Reflection. Much of it is devoted to the 26 Church of England bishops in the House of Lords; the report calls for an end to their automatic seats.

There is a comprehensive summary of the report on www.politics.co.uk which starts

MPs, peers call for overhaul of place of religion in Parliament

Humanist MPs and peers have today called for a major rebalancing of the relationship between religion and state in the Westminster Parliament. Their new report calls for parliamentary prayers to be replaced with a ‘time for reflection’ inclusive of all, for the Commons speaker to consider introducing additional forms of religious and pastoral support alongside that provided by the Anglican chaplain, and for an end to automatic seats in Parliament for Anglican bishops.

Time for Reflection: A report of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group on religion or belief in the UK Parliament examines these matters in more detail than ever before, uncovering issues which have restricted non-Anglican parliamentarians from fully participating in the life of Parliament as equally as their Anglican colleagues…

Other coverage includes:

The Guardian Report: C of E’s right to 26 seats in Lords should be repealed.

inews Why the UK has the only parliament with reserved places for clerics – aside from Iran

26 Comments

Opinion – 22 February 2020

Jen Williams A Church Funeral can be a Moment of Radical Hospitality

Anthony Archer ViaMedia.News Church and State – The State We’re In!

Janet Fife Surviving Church Being a Witness

Cherry Vann was interviewed on BBC Radio4’s Woman’s Hour; it’s the first item.

39 Comments

Post Synod roundup

Updated

Here are a few online articles relating to last week’s meeting of the Church of England General Synod.

Business Done [the official summary of business]
Video recordings of all the Synod sessions are available to watch on YouTube.

Tim Hind Open Synod Group report of proceedings

Church Times General Synod highlights [12 minute podcast]
Subscribers can read the detailed reports of all Synod debates here.

The Tablet CofE synod commits to ambitious green targets

David Pocklington Law & Religion UK “Public health funerals” and “direct cremation” – an update

The rules and related items for the forthcoming General Synod elections are here.

3 Comments