Thinking Anglicans

Bishop of Richborough to retire

The Archbishop of Canterbury has announced that the Right Reverend Norman Banks, the Bishop of Richborough, is due to retire on Easter Sunday next year. The Bishop of Richborough is a suffragan of the Archbishop of Canterbury and one of three Provincial Episcopal Visitors (PEV) in the Church of England.

18 Comments

General Synod outline of business for February 2024

Updated 25 January. The outline of business has been amended, see here.

Synod members have been sent an outline of business for the February 2024 meeting of the Church of England’s Generaal Synod. It is copied below.

Update (5 January 2024) This is now available online.

GENERAL SYNOD: FEBRUARY 2024 OUTLINE OF BUSINESS

This is the current outline of business and subject to change.
The final details of the items will be available on the Agenda which will be circulated in February.

Friday 23 February
2.00 pm – 7.00 pm
Opening worship
Introductions
Presidential Address
Business Committee Report
Special Agenda I: Legislative Business Vacancy in See Regulations Consolidation
Special Agenda I: Legislative Business Vacancy in See Regulations Act of Synod
Special Agenda I: Legislative Business Amending Canon No 43 – for enactment
Special Agenda IV: Diocesan Synod Motions Parochial Fees: London
*Not later than 5.30 pm Questions

Saturday 24 February
9.00 am – 12.45 pm
Opening worship
Safeguarding
Special Agenda IV: Diocesan Synod Motions Code of Conduct for PCCs: Chelmsford
*Not later than 11.45am Questions

2.00 pm – 7.00 pm
Safeguarding
Land and Nature
Synod Code of Conduct
Special Agenda IV: Diocesan Synod Motions Future of work: Oxford

Sunday 25 February
2.00 pm – 7.00 pm
Racial Justice
Special Agenda III – Private Members’ Motions Bullying by Lay Officers
Standing Orders Committee Report
Archbishops’ Commission on Families and Households

Monday 26 February
9.00 am – 12.30 pm
Opening Worship
Church Commissioners’ Response to Links to Transatlantic Chattel Slavery
Special Agenda I: Legislative Business Parochial Fees Order 2024 – for approval
Special Agenda I: Legislative Business Chancel Repair (Church Commissioners’ Liability) Measure – first consideration Reappointment of two members of the Archbishops’ Council

2.00 pm – 7.00 pm
Living in Love and Faith
Estates Evangelism
Special Agenda III – Private Members’ Motions Clergy Pensions

Tuesday 27 February
9.00am – 12.30 pm
Opening Worship
Living in Love and Faith
Special Agenda I: Legislative Business Church Funds Measure

2.00pm – 4.30 pm
War in Ukraine and the Challenge to International Order
Special Agenda III – Private Members’ Motions Ordination after divorce
*Not later than 4.15pm Farewells
*Not later than 4.30pm Prorogation

Deemed business
Clergy Discipline Rules

Contingency Business
DSM Southwell & Notts – Church Buildings
DSM Sheffield – Foodbanks and Inadequacies in Social Security PMM Sam Wilson – LGBTQIA+ and Relationship Education

Deadline for receipt of questions: 1200 hrs Thursday 8 February 2024

8 Comments

Opinion – 16 December 2023

Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Does the CofE meet the Standards of the Nolan Principles in its Life?

The Church of England has a Redress Blog. It is “a blog for survivors and victims to express in their own words what “redress” means to them and to share their hopes for the National Redress Scheme. It is also a blog for Church officers and staff to provide regular updates on the progress the Church is making towards developing the Scheme.” Although the blog has been in place since October, it was only this week that there was a press release drawing attention to it. So far there have been these four posts.

7 Comments

Carlisle CNC fails to appoint

Statement from the Archbishop of York, issued today.

Archbishop of York Statement on the Crown Nominations Commission for the next Bishop of Carlisle

15/12/2023

“At the conclusion of a lengthy process of discernment, culminating in two days of interviews on 13 and 14 December, the Crown Nominations Commission considering the nomination of the next Bishop of Carlisle has, very sadly, not been able reach the level of consensus required to nominate a new Diocesan Bishop.

“Over the course of the next months, the Crown Nominations Commission will need to reflect, and make a decision about which stage it wishes to re-commence the discernment process. This is not likely to be before the Spring of 2025.

“Bishop Rob Saner-Haigh, the Bishop of Penrith, will continue serving as acting Diocesan Bishop alongside the senior leadership team in the Diocese of Carlisle.

“Please continue to hold the Diocese of Carlisle and the discernment of the Crown Nominations Commission in your prayers.”

132 Comments

Opinion – 13 December 2023

Surviving Church The Catastrophic Failure of Governance

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love What kind of God?

Neil Elliot NumbersMatters Who’s coming for Christmas?

11 Comments

Prayers of Love and Faith to be made available for use from Sunday

Press release from the Church of  Englaand

Prayers of Love and Faith to be made available for use from Sunday
12/12/2023

Selection of readings and prayers of thanksgiving, dedication and asking for God’s blessing for same-sex couples commended.

A selection of readings and prayers of thanksgiving, dedication and asking for God’s blessing for same-sex couples can be used in Church of England services for the first time from Sunday, December 17, following approval by the House of Bishops.

The final texts of Prayers of Love and Faith, commended for use in regular public worship or private prayer, are published today, together with pastoral guidance which sets out how they could be used.

At a meeting held online this morning, the House of Bishops confirmed its earlier decision to commend the Prayers of Love and Faith resources for use in regular public worship and agreed that this should take effect from Sunday December 17.

The Prayers can be used in regular scheduled services, such as a Sunday Eucharist or Evensong.

The House also continued to discuss separate proposals for special standalone services for same-sex couples to be formally authorised under canon law.

This follows a motion agreed by General Synod in November calling on the bishops to consider whether standalone services for same-sex couples could be made available for use, possibly on a trial basis.

The Prayers of Love and Faith were developed as part of the outcome of a seven-year period of listening, learning and discernment known as Living in Love and Faith.

The House of Bishops has said it will consider pastoral provision to protect the conscience of those who wish to use the Prayers and of those who do not.

It is intended that there will be wide process of consultation regarding the provision to ensure that whatever is agreed serves to promote unity and has broad support across the Church.

The Bishop of Leicester, Martyn Snow, and the Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, are chairing the group overseeing the introduction of Prayers of Love and Faith.

Bishop Helen-Ann said: “The Prayers of Love and Faith are resources to pray with and for a same-sex couple who are committed to one another in faithfulness and love. They are intended to enable those who wish to give thanks for and joyfully mark that commitment before God and their community of faith.”

Bishop Martyn added: “We know not everyone in the Church of England agrees on these important questions which go the heart of who we are – about people’s lives, their love and our shared faith. This is reflected in the House of Bishops, where there remain different views on the best ways to proceed.

“These Prayers are offered as pastoral provision. It is our prayer that they can be used with grace and understanding. Sharing them will be a blessing to the whole Church.”

The House agreed by 24 votes to 11, with three abstentions, in favour of a motion (see full text below) to make the Prayers of Love and Faith resources available with effect from December 17. Bishops also approved a motion to commend the Prayers for a Covenanted Friendship from the same date by 30 votes to six, with two abstentions. They are published together with the Prayers of Love and Faith resources.

More information

The motions approved were:

  1. ‘That this House, having agreed at its meeting of 9 October to commend the PLF Resource Section (‘PLF RS’) for use in the minster’s discretion under Canon B 5, now resolve that the PLF RS be commended with effect from December 17 2023 and published accordingly
  2. That this House, having agreed at its meeting of 9 October to commend the Prayers for a Covenanted Friendship for use in the minster’s discretion under Canon B 5, now resolve that the Prayers for a Covenanted Friendship be commended with effect from December 17 2023 and published accordingly.

Further notes:

  • The Prayers of Love and Faith have been commended for use from Sunday December 17. Given the busy Advent Season, it is likely that they will be more widely used in the New Year.
  • The final texts are available both as a downloadable resource and as text on the Church of England website.
  • The Church’s understanding of marriage – or Holy Matrimony – remains as a lifelong, faithful and exclusive covenant between one man and one woman. Yet some may wish to recognise the commitment same-sex couples make to each other and publicly pray for God’s blessing on them.
  • Commendation is when prayers or other liturgical materials are put forward by the House of Bishops as being suitable for use by ministers in exercise of their discretion under Canon B5.
  • Authorisation is more formal and means that a service becomes an integral part of the official liturgical resources of the Church of England available for use.
34 Comments

Opinion – 6 December 2023

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love God is a revisionist

Martin Sewell Surviving Church Waiting for Wilkinson

50 Comments

Opinion – 2 December 2023

Neil Elliot NumbersMatters Census taking – sacred and dangerous?

Bosco Peters Liturgy Are We Letting Worship Shape Us?

29 Comments

Dean of Leicester

The next Dean of Leicester is to be the Revd Canon Karen Rooms. She is currently the acting Dean and was previously Sub-Dean and Canon Missioner. There are announcements on the Leicester diocesan, Leicester cathedral and Church of England websites.

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House of Bishops meeting: 29 November

Press release from the Church of England

House of Bishops meeting: 29 November
29/11/2023

The House of Bishops met online on the morning of 29 November 2023.

The House considered the November Group of Sessions of General Synod, including next steps required following the vote on Prayers of Love and Faith.

It was agreed that a motion for the commendation of the “Prayers of Love and Faith: resource section” would take place at a further meeting before the end of the year. This aligns with the timescale indicated at Synod.

There was also consideration of the House of Bishops’ processes, with The House agreeing to begin a review with a focus on increasing transparency. The House voted in favour of immediate steps to publish summaries of meetings, and to set up a task-and-finish group to make recommendations to the House on potential improvements. A fuller summary of the meeting will be published in the coming days, in accordance with this.

The meeting ended in prayer.

24 Comments

Opinion – 29 November 2023

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Vile Bodies – Christian prejudice and abuse

Neil Elliot NumbersMatters Looking in the mirror?
“What happens to the statistics we carefully collect and collate. How are they used – if at all? In this edition we will look at myths, realities, and aspirations of using church stats”

Thomas Sharp ViaMedia.News Agree or Disagree: I’m Still in Communion with my Bishop

12 Comments

Former ISB members cut links to review

The Church Times reports that “TWO former Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB) members [Jasvinder Sanghera and Steve Reeves] have announced that they have ceased to co-operate with the independent review of the ISB’s demise. They have concerns about the reviewer’s remit.”

Jas Sanghera has posted on X/Twitter that  “At no point have ⁦@churchofengland⁩ engaged with us on terms of reference for this review, despite our numerous request. This is in effect CofE marking it’s own homework & not consulting with the very ppl it concerns. Shocking”.

Steve Reeves has posted that “the Church, with a remit solely defined by the Church, and excluding events critical of the Church, won’t tell anything like the true story.”

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November General Synod – electronic voting results

Updated 30 November New versions of all these files have been uploaded to the CofE website. All those there now are internally dated 29 November. I have updated the links below to point to these new files.

The electronic voting results from this month’s General Synod are now available online and are linked below. The texts of items 7 and 500 can be found in the official record of Business Done.

Living in Love and Faith motion (as amended – text here)

Amendments to Living in Love and Faith motion (see Order Paper IV for the texts of the proposed amendments)

Motion to consider Abuse (Redress) Measure for revision in committee

Motion to amend standing orders (see Order Paper IV)

102 Comments

Reactions to General Synod LLF debate

Church Times

Press Release from the General Synod Gender & Sexuality Group and from Inclusive Groups

The Campaign for Equal Marriage in the Church of England

Inclusive Evangelicals

Church of England Evangelical Council

Jayne Ozanne

Charlie Bell ViaMedia.News The Dam Has Broken: Synod and Beyond

Update

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Where have we arrived after General Synod?

54 Comments

Opinion – 18 November 2023

Neil Elliot NumbersMatters A question of position: CofE stats 2022

Adrian Thatcher ViaMedia.News Vile Bodies?

Ray Gaston ViaMedia.News Reclaiming Orthodoxy

The Guardian view on the C of E and same-sex relationships: love finds a way
“A decision by the church’s governing body to trial standalone blessings for couples is a significant moment”

Simon Parke Five questions to ask the prospective bishop

45 Comments

General Synod – 13-15 November 2023

This post will be updated as the meeting proceeds.

The Church of England’s General Synod is meeting this week. The timetable is here, the agenda is here and the papers are here.

Live video etc

All sessions are streamed live on YouTube and remain available to view afterwards. Links have been provided in advance.

There is an official Twitter account.

Order papers

  • LLF motion as amended
  • This motion was carried in a vote by houses:
    Bishops 23 in favour, 10 against;
    Clergy 100 in favour, 93 against;
    Laity 104 in favour, 100 against.
    There were 4 recorded abstentions by bishops, 1 by clergy and none by laity.

Business done

Official press releases

Press reports and comment

Church Times

The Guardian

BBC News

The Washington Times

The Independent

The Living Church

Members’ blogs

Helen King

Miranda Threlfall-Holmes

72 Comments

Pre-Synod news and opinion

Paul Roberts Inclusive Evangelicals On the use and abuse of the term ‘orthodox’

Mandy Ford ViaMedia.News Polluted Ground or Holy Ground? Going Forward to the November Synod

Church Times General Synod same-sex debate on knife edge

25 Comments

General Synod Questions

The Questions (and answers) for next week’s meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod were issued today. They can be found online here: QUESTIONS Notice Paper November 2023 FINAL.

Questions will be taken in two groups; on Monday from 2.50pm to 4.30pm, any questions relating to Living in Love and Faith matters will be taken first, followed by other questions rotating through the boards and councils as is customary. Questions will resume at 11.45am on Tuesday 14 November until 12.45pm.

Update

Q56 and Q64 have been provided with the wrong answers in the Questions Notice Paper. The correct answers are in Notice Paper 8.

12 Comments

Statistics for Mission 2022

The Church of England has released its Statistics for Mission 2022. There is an accompanying press release, copied below.

Church attendance rises for second year running
10/11/2023

Statistics for Mission show increase in regular worshippers and average weekly attendance

Nearly a million people were regular worshippers last year as the Church of England continued its post pandemic bounce back, statistics from the Church of England show today.

The worshipping community of the Church of England – made up of regular worshippers – grew by nearly 20,000 people to 984,000 in 2022 compared to 966,000 in 2021. Average weekly attendance for all ages grew nearly 50,000 over the same period from 605,000 to 654,000.

Child average weekly attendance rose 17% from its 2021 level to 87,000 and there was an 85% rise in all age school service attendance from its 2021 level to 164,000.

But despite the rises over two years, the figures were lower than before the pandemic in 2019 when the worshipping community stood at 1.1 million and all age average weekly attendance was 854,000.

Child average weekly attendance stood at 120,000 and school service attendance was 182,000 in 2019. (more…)

55 Comments

Opinion – 4 November 2023

Ruth Harley ViaMedia.News Collateral Damage: How Unjust Treatment of LGBTQIA+ People Harms the Church

Susan Hunt Surviving Church Searching for Truth. How ‘Kenneth’ has been failed by the Justice System of the Church of England

Neil Elliot NumbersMatters SMART or Organic?

27 Comments