Thinking Anglicans

Opinion – 20 February 2021

The Guardian Ash Wednesday under Covid restrictions – in pictures

Ben Phillips All Things Lawful And Honest Super Bishops & Simpler Structures
“Ben Phillips reflects on the increasingly top-heavy structures of the Church of England and commends a radical rethinking of diocesan boundaries which would enable bishops to be both real pastors on the ground and effective symbolic leaders of the wider Church.”

Anthony Woollard Modern Church Does it Matter if the Church Dies?

Robert Hammond ViaMedia.News What to ‘Give Up’ When Everything’s Been Taken Away?

Philip North All Things Lawful And Honest The Primacy of the Parish

87 Comments

Opinion – 17 February 2021 – Ash Wednesday

Sarah James Earth & Altar Memento Mori: Christian Forms of Death Contemplation for Lent

Augustine Tanner-Ihm ViaMedia.News When You are Not Invited to the Table

Charlotte Gauthier All Things Lawful And Honest Middle Management Malaise
“Charlotte Gauthier speaks from her experience of middle management in the secular world – how it works well, and where it works badly. The Church of England is replicating all the worst management patterns of a failing company heading for collapse. How can we stop this malaise and restore an efficient and energising vision of what the Church of England could be?”

Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Proportionate and Just? The Church of England and the Clerical Discipline Measure.

20 Comments

Opinion – 13 February 2021

Savitri Hensman ViaMedia.News What place for minorities? Church, Status and Power

Barry Orford All Things Lawful And Honest Back to Basics Bishops
“Fr Barry Orford asks important questions about how the Church of England goes about appointing bishops and what a bishop is. Has an obsession with managerialism prompted us to lose sight of the true episcopal vocation to serve and care for the flock of Christ?”

Dexter Bracey All Things Lawful And Honest Change and Clerical Decay
“Dexter Bracey asks if the current agenda for change in the Church of England might not be at odds with the spirit of the newly published Covenant for Clergy Care and Wellbeing. Could it be that the trend for reinvention is driving clergy to burn out?”

The Tory Socialist A Plea to Save the Church of England

Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Waiting for the Thirtyone:eight Jonathan Fletcher Safeguarding Report

99 Comments

Opinion – 10 February 2021

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love The necessity for radical LGBTIQ+ activism in the Church of England

Jarel Robinson-Brown Church Times Can rage be holy?
“From Old Testament prophets to the present day, it can be”

Dexter Bracey All Things Lawful And Honest Change and Clerical Decay
“Dexter Bracey asks if the current agenda for change in the Church of England might not be at odds with the spirit of the newly published Covenant for Clergy Care and Wellbeing. Could it be that the trend for reinvention is driving clergy to burn out?”

John Bauerschmidt The Living Church A Scriptural Liturgy

Ian Paul Psephizo Is the Church of England on the brink of collapse?

Diocese of Oxford New Digital Congregations
“Growing New Congregations – Online”

Nicholas Adams Ekklesia Ecclesial white supremacism

Nicholas Henshall ViaMedia.News A Rock Climbers Guide to Church, History and the Future

54 Comments

Opinion – 6 February 2021

Philip Jones Ecclesiastical Law The Constitution of Marriage: Consensus-Copula

Ed Henderson Church Times CDM reform must reduce harm to clergy mental health
“Some who are subject to complaints become suicidal… A new disciplinary process should prioritise their well-being”

Simon Dawson has written two articles about the Living in Love and Faith process
Learning from the Underside of History (long essay)
The Silent Centre Ground (short essay)

Meg Munn Chair of the National Safeguarding Panel Archbishops and Bishops

Giles Fraser UnHerd We’ll have to shut some empty churches
“To save its poorer parishes the C of E needs to slash its middle management”

Rosie Harper ViaMedia.News LLF – Has There Been a Murder?

Stephen Parsons Surviving Church The Lincoln Affair – some comments

37 Comments

Opinion – 3 February 2021

Simon Butler ViaMedia.News Who Are The Prophets in Charismatic Churches?

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Forty LGBTIQ+ people and allies write a second letter to thirty five bishops

David Brown Surviving Church The Problem is not CDM, but a significant Relational Deficit

13 Comments

Opinion – 30 January 2021

Laudable Practice “Maintenance of Thy True Religion”: is use of 1662 reactionary?

Paul Bayes ViaMedia.News “It’s a Sin…Not to Care and Listen”

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love LLF and Systemic Homophobia in the Church of England

George Carey The Telegraph The Church’s unjust treatment of clergy has created a climate of fear
“I am far from alone in having fallen foul of a slow and secretive approach to disciplinary matters”

58 Comments

Opinion – 27 January 2021

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love How pro-LGBTIQ+ bishops responded to letter about LLF process

Jonathan Pease All Things Lawful And Honest Build Bach Better
“Jonathan Pease examines recent trends and developments in the Church of England’s choral tradition. Although COVID has produced many problems for church choirs in the immediate term, might it be that the pandemic prompts a renaissance in traditional church music and the life of parochial choirs in the long term?”

Helen King ViaMedia.News IICSA, ‘Living in Love and Faith’ & Lockdown 3.0

George Sumner The Living Church Concerning Asymmetry

1 Comment

Opinion – 23 January 2021

Ruth Wilde Inclusive Church Inclusion and the Church of Tomorrow: Talk to the Swedish Church

Ysenda Maxtone-Graham The Spectator The man behind Justin Welby

Stephen Parsons Surviving Church The Church of England and Safeguarding: the Pursuit of Excellence

Rosemary Lofty Church Times Mission needs pennies spent
“Numerical growth can be impeded by a lack of basic amenities”

20 Comments

Opinion – 20 January 2021

Francis Young All Things Lawful And Honest In defence of the clerical antiquary

Miranda Threlfall-Holmes 10 top tips for running a church discussion group online

Jayne Ozanne ViaMedia.News The Reckoning – Will the Church of England Survive?

6 Comments

Opinion – 16 January 2021

Updated 21 January

Fergus Butler-Gallie The Fence At the Altar of Capital
“The Church of England is plugging the gaps left by Tory austerity. Fergus Butler-Gallie explains how the party of religion split from its Church.”
Update: a vesrion of this article has subsequently appeared in The Guardian The Conservatives think the Church of England can fill all welfare gaps. We can’t.

Bernice Hardie Church Times It is time to value all equally
“Bernice Hardie suggests ways to include people with learning disabilities in churches”

Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Observing the power dynamics of the Church and its congregations

Charlie Bell ViaMedia.News Church of England: Will the Quest to be Woke Save Us?

92 Comments

Opinion – 9 January 2021

Jonathan Draper Afterthoughts Religion and the Right

Robin Stockitt and S John Dawson Church Times Why Donewiths never darken the doors again
“If their deeply felt longings are not met, some church people will head for the exit”

Martin Sewell Surviving Church Dean Percy and the case for specialist professional competence

23 Comments

Opinion – 6 January 2021 – the Epiphany

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 Comments

Opinion – 2 January 2021

Stephen 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”

56 Comments

Opinion – 30 December 2020

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”

86 Comments

Opinion – 26 December 2020

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 Comments

Opinion – 23 December 2020

Rachel 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 Comments

Opinion – 19 December 2020

Giles 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 Comments

Opinion – 16 December 2020

Andreas 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 Comments

Opinion – 12 December 2020

Adrian 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 Comments