Janet Fife Surviving Church The Crystalline Personality
Laudable Practice “The Last of the Solemnity of this Season”: Caroline, Restoration, and Revolution Era Preaching on the Epiphany
7 CommentsStephen Parsons Surviving Church Current Affairs – Power Games and Conflicts of Interest at Christ Church Oxford part 1
part 2
Editorial in The Guardian The Guardian view on liberal Christians: is this their moment?
“The election of practising Catholic Joe Biden is just one reason for religious progressives to be hopeful”
Paul Bayes ViaMedia.News Wise Words for this Year’s End…
A N Wilson The Times Church shepherds have lost their flocks
“The Archbishop of Wokeness Welby and the equally inept Nichols are not leaders that the faithful deserve”
Simon Jenkins The Guardian If the Church of England worships online, how can its historic buildings survive?
“Congregations have shown great adaptability in the pandemic, and churches could again be at the heart of British life”
Chantry Westwell British Library The ox and ass at the Nativity
Giles Fraser UnHerd Why I won’t be closing my church this Christmas
Jonathan Clatworthy Modern Church The Church and Bishopsgate
62 CommentsRachel Treweek ViaMedia.News The Sound of Silence
Jonathan Jones The Guardian Myrrh mystery: how did Balthasar, one of the three kings, become black?
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Bishops, Safeguarding and Jonathan Fletcher
The Anglican Communion News Service has links to Christmas messages from Anglican Primates.
13 CommentsGiles Fraser UnHerd Hope rises from the rubble of my church
“My ancient parish stands firm as the demolition diggers move in”
Kelvin Holdsworth Conversion Therapy and why I can’t join calls for it to be banned
Laudable Practice ‘Moderation, Learning, Usefulness, Piety’: An Old High Church Alternative To ‘Simpler, Humbler, Bolder’
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Power games in Church life
Jayne Ozanne ViaMedia.News To Sign or Not To Sign – A Bishop’s Dilemma
8 CommentsAndreas Wenzel All Things Lawful And Honest People first, then priests
Robert Paterson Church Times Consecrated bread should not be posted to communicants
“Doing this this might be motivated by pastoral intentions, but is a breach of fundamental principle”
Nicholas Henshall ViaMedia.News LLF: Listen to all the Voices
Charles Clapham Unadulterated Love Living in Love and Faith and heterosexual fragility
Janet Fife Surviving Church Alphabet Soup: A Glossary of Safeguarding
4 CommentsAdrian Thatcher Modern Church Living in Love and Faith
Savitri Hensman ViaMedia.News LLF: The Cost of Careless Talk and Needless Silence
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Safeguarding and the LGBTIQ+ Christian vision in the LLF process
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Smyth’s Bystanders and Enablers
Peter Collier Church Times Flawed clergy discipline is ripe for reform
“Measure to be proposed would deal with complaints regionally, and be more pragmatic and theologically sound”
Susan Gilchrist Church Times The barriers to listening need to be broken down
“The Living in Love and Faith process will work only if Anglicans pay attention to the stories of real people, not sectional viewpoints”
Siôn B E Rhys Evans Priors
Ian Paul Psephizo What is the vision and strategy of the Church of England?
John Barton Modern Church The Bible in Living in Love and Faith
64 CommentsStephen Parsons Surviving Church Whited sepulchres and Integrity
Charlie Bell ViaMedia.News LLF: Please Break the Silence, Bishops
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Honest to God and the Salvation Theology of LLF
Martin Sewell Archbishop Cranmer Martyn Percy cleared again: CofE safeguarding goes from tragedy to farce
(Warning, the picture at this link may cause distress.)
Peter Anthony All Things Lawful And Honest Tunnel Vision
Laudable Practice A Time to Rediscover Mattins
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church The Melissa Caslake resignation. Crisis for Safeguarding?
Simon Butler ViaMedia.News LLF: History Repeating Itself: The “Beautiful” Story
Philip Murray All Things Lawful And Honest Truth and Tradition
Janet Fife Surviving Church Saving Lives at Sea
Sarah Mullally Contemplation in the shadow of a carpark “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid”
“My introduction to Living in Love and Faith at The London Diocesan Synod”
Trevor Thurston-Smith The Pensive Pilgrim Those Videos and LLF : When Managers Don’t Manage
Jay Greene ViaMedia.News LLF: Bishops – The Time Is Now!
Matthew Chinery All Things Lawful And Honest Dispense with the PCC
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Gracious Disagreement. How do we move forward with divided Anglicanism?
15 CommentsJames Martin America magazine Whatever brings a person to God is holy–whether you like it or not
Jonathan Clatworthy The point of it all Love or faith? Can we live with both?
Jo Sadgrove ViaMedia.News LLF: Power, “Mother Church” and the Anglican Communion
Giles Goddard ViaMedia.News LLF: Can Perfect Love Cast Out Fear?
Giles Fraser UnHerd We don’t need more spreadsheet vicars
Stephen Conway All Things Lawful And Honest Only Connect
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Inclusive pro-LGBTIQ+ group writes to thirty four pro-gay bishops
Jonathan Clark The Commonwealth of Heaven Living in love and faith – and peace, with justice
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Reflections on Churchmanship Labels in the Church of England
Archdruid Eileen Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley Take a Break, Justin
70 CommentsJayne Ozanne ViaMedia.News LLF: That Video, Those Principles & a Call for a Public Inquiry
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Christian Concern and Anglican Mainstream sabotage the LLF process
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Politics, Evangelicals and the Church of England
Meg Munn Chair of the National Safeguarding Panel Past Cases Review 2
Karen Armstrong The Guardian Dear archbishop, now is not the time to take a sabbatical
50 CommentsThe Church of England’s General Synod meets virtually from 1300 yesterday until 1530 on Wednesday. The papers are available here.
Video recording of the morning’s proceedings
Video recording of the afternoon’s proceedings
Order paper 2 – details of the morning’s business
Order paper 3 – details of the afternoon’s business
The morning’s business started with a presentation from the Archbishop of York on Vision and Strategy, based on this paper: A Vision for the Church of England in the 2020s, ‘Christ centred and Jesus shaped. Simpler, humbler, bolder’. This is accompanied by A theological reflection on our emerging vision and priorities, ‘Salt for the earth, light for the world’ by Stephen Croft, Bishop of Oxford, and by this summary.
The other morning business was the Cathedrals Measure which received final approval.
Reports from members and the press
Stephen Lynas A change gonna come
Andrew Nunn Simpler, Humbler, Bolder
Church Times Synod: cathedral governance put on a new footing
2 CommentsPeter Leonard ViaMedia.News LLF – Patience & Pain
Rosie Harper ViaMedia.News LLF: Power, Fear & Our Inability To Do The Right Thing
Andrew Village and Leslie Francis Church Times The writing is on the wall for fragile rural churches
“The pandemic has exacerbated the crisis, and action is needed urgently”
Gilo Surviving Church BLM and Redress Schemes
[In this context BLM is a law firm – ed]
Lee Gatiss Church Society Initial thoughts on LLF
Trevor Thurston-Smith The Pensive Pilgrim Mirror, Mirror : A Journey in Imagination for the Heterosexual Christian
Philip Murray Dinner at the Vicarage Wine for the Feast: the wine cellar and eschatology
85 CommentsHelen King ViaMedia.News Living in Love & Faith – Waiting for Godot
Diarmaid MacCulloch Modern Church Living in Love and Faith
David Monteith Dean of Leicester Living in Love and Faith
“No change but change?”
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church ‘Vulnerable Adults’ and Safeguarding literature.
Church of England Evangelical Council The Beautiful Story “a film to encourage and enable evangelicals to engage and contend in discussions about human sexuality”. It’s 32 minutes long. They have also published a fuller introduction and suggested ‘next steps’ for church leaders here.
Charlie Bell has published this response.
See also opinion on Living in Love and Faith here; I’ve been adding to this daily.
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Nourishing and enriching our innate goodness and love
Paul Wilkinson Church Times Threat that is keeping our solicitors busy
“The pandemic has spurred greater numbers to consider leaving their affairs in good order”
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Safeguarding Complaint against Archbishop Welby dismissed
Jayne Ozanne PinkNews The Church of England is ‘deaf to the cries’ of the LGBT+ people it is harming. Its recent actions have proven that
13 CommentsSee also opinion on Living in Love and Faith here.
David Brown Surviving Church Leaven. Challenging the Power of Culture in our Church
Brian Castle Church Times Comment: What the Government fails to grasp about public worship
“Theresa May was right to draw attention to the sinister precedent that the lockdown ban on gathering for services sets”
Ian Paul Psephizo Should church buildings close during lockdowns?
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 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 Comments