Thinking Anglicans

Opinion – 4 November 2017

Kelvin Holdsworth The Episcopal Way of Death

Mark Clavier Covenant ‘Time makes ancient truths uncouth’
“Reflections of a Former Theological Educator”

Lois Lee Church Times Take the beliefs of the non-religious seriously

16 Comments

Opinion – 1 November 2017

Andrew Lightbown Theore0 ‘What is the shape of the community of women and men that you long for?’

Jonathan Clatworthy Château Clâteau Hereford, conservative Christians and the abolition of history

Sam Hailes Premier Christianity How evangelicals took over the Church of England
Archdruid Eileen has this alternative take on the Church of England’s three major groups; The Church of England’s Tribes Redefined

David Walker ViaMedia.News Painting by Numbers…

Robert McCrum has been writing weekly for The Observer about his selection of The 100 best nonfiction books, “key texts in English that have shaped our literary culture and made us who we are”. This week he reaches No 91 – The Book of Common Prayer (1662). For those concerned that McCrum might think that there are 90 better books, the list is in chronological order.

Archdruid Eileen The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley 95 Theses for the Church Today

7 Comments

Opinion – 28 October 2017

Bosco Peters Liturgy Sex Obsessed

Ian Paul Psephizo What did large churches ever do for us?

Tony Clavier The Living Church Protestant or Catholic?

ViaMedia.News It Can Happen to Guys Too!

39 Comments

Opinion – 25 October 2017

Martin Sewell Archbishop Cranmer “I need a friendly bishop,” said the child abuse survivor, as the prelate passed by on the other side

Josh Parry Liverpool Echo Why I won’t be donating a Christmas charity shoebox this year – and you shouldn’t either

ViaMedia.News A Zero Tolerance Approach to the Weinsteins in the Church?

Adrian Alker PCN Britain She’s a woman – get over it!

Mark Harris Preludium AAC, ACNA and GAFCON, wandering astray in the fields of the Lord

Michael Sadgrove Woolgathering in North East England Crumbling Cathedrals?

Mike Higton kaì euthùs Making our minds up

16 Comments

Opinion – 21 October 2017

Ian Paul Psephizo The shame of Britain’s prison system

Jonathan Draper Afterthoughts Obsessed about sex?

David Keen Opinionated Vicar Church of England Attendance Change by Diocese, 2011-16

43 Comments

Opinion – 18 October 2017

Sir Mark Hedley Ecclesiastical Law Society Practical Aspects of the Clergy Discipline Measure
Sir Mark is Deputy Chair and Deputy President of Tribunals.

The Babylon Bee The Bee Explains: Main Differences Between Popular Bible Translations

6 Comments

Opinion – 14 October 2017

Updated to add day 2 to Colin Coward’s blogs

David Ison ViaMedia.News Confronting our Culture, Presenting our Past

Andrew Lightbown Theore0 Speaking of leadership; speaking of reconfiguration.

Benjamin L Corey Patheos To Those Christians Who Say, “God Doesn’t Give Us More Than We Can Handle”

Ben Clements British Religion in Numbers Religion and the British Social Attitudes 2016 Survey
An update of the long-term religious data available from the British Social Attitudes (BSA) surveys

Colin Coward is attending the Intimate Conviction Conference in Jamaica.
Intimate Conviction Conference opens in Jamaica
Intimate Conviction Conference – Day 1
Intimate Convictions Conference – Day 2 and Reflections

Rachel Treweek Gloucestershire Live Letter to my younger self by the Bishop of Gloucester

11 Comments

Opinion – 11 October 2017

Connor Hammond Country Living A celeb in the countryside: Reverend Richard Coles
The vicar of Finedon, broadcaster and musician discusses the importance of community.

Kate Botley Church of England “It might boost my ego, but no one becomes a vicar because they saw it on TV”

Abdul-Azim Ahmed interviews Frank Cranmer, who with David Pocklington, runs the popular Religion and Law blog online.
On Religion Religion and Law: Interview with Frank Cranmer

Rachel Neaum WATCH A response to the use of ‘minority’ in Sir Philip Mawer’s review

Jeremy Morris ViaMedia.News A “Safe Space” for Liberalism?

Chris Burn Yorkshire Post How Yorkshire’s women of spirit paved the way for female priests

54 Comments

Opinion – 7 October 2017

Andrew Brown The Guardian Melvyn Bragg says kids should read the King James Bible. But is it too graphic?

Andrew Lightbown Theore0 Speaking of Anglicanism; speaking of subsidiarity.

Bosco Peters Liturgy Praying Using Technology?

Hayley Matthews ViaMedia.News Primates Meetings – Who’d Be a Prophet?

Lucy Winkett and Sam Wells spoke on “Reforming Church” at St Martin in the Fields in London on 2 October. There are links to the full texts of the talks and to a podcast here. There is a shortened and edited version of Sam’s lecture in yesterday’s Church Times: It’s about abundant life, not hell-avoidance.
This was the second in an autumn series of public lectures on “Reformation” at St Martin in the Fields; the first was by Alister McGrath. Details of the series are here. Podcasts are added here after the event.

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Gravitational Waves

5 Comments

Opinion – 4 October 2017

Philip Christopher Baldwin Gay Times “The Church of England remains a battleground and all LGBT+ people need to advocate for change.”

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love False ideas in the church

Jonathan Clatworthy Château Clâteau Why progressives need God

Jonathan Draper Modern Church The Archbishop of Canterbury, irreconcilable difference and ‘copping out’

8 Comments

Opinion – 30 September 2017

The Scottish Episcopal Institute Journal has been published quarterly since March 2017. Issues can be freely downloaded from here. There is some background information here.
The latest issue includes “Some Insights from Church Planting in the Tower Hamlets Deanery of the Diocese of London” by Carol Latimer.

Paul Bayes ViaMedia.News The True God and the Real World

Church Times leader comment Taking a knee

Andrew Lightbown Theore0 Talking of speaking

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Speaking as a fool for God

Martyn Percy Christian Today Can the Church of England still afford nuance or ambiguity? Some final thoughts on Sir Philip Mawer’s Sheffield review

Richard Peers Quodcumque De-throning the ego: address to the Diocese of Leicester Catholic Societies, Michaelmas 2017

WATCH Ministry Statistics published September 2017

26 Comments

Opinion – 27 September 2017

Andy Hill Metro I’m an atheist who goes to church – here’s why you should too

Scott Cowdell ABC Religion and Ethics Gender and Identity: Freeing the Bible from Modern Western Anxieties
Tony Payne ABC Religion and Ethics Is There Moral Truth Out There? A Response to Scott Cowdell on Gender and Identity

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love ‘Feeling’ and ‘knowing’ – David Jenkins’ Guide to the Debate about God

Alister McGrath ABC Religion and Ethics Is God a Figment of Our Imagination? On Certainty, Scepticism and the Limits of Proof
[Professor McGrath is giving a public lecture, C. S. Lewis for Today: Making Sense of Faith and Culture, in Liverpool on 25 October 2017. Details are here.]

5 Comments

Opinion – 23 September 2017

Mark Clavier The Living Church The Sea Change: Reflections of a Former Theological Educator

Giles Goddard ViaMedia.News Loyalty and Obsession

Andrew Lightbown Theore0 Speaking of ordination, speaking of good will

Jesse Zink Church Times Born in discord, striving for harmony

Janet Traill explains the Colenso affair, which was the trigger for the first Lambeth Conference: Church Times A question of authority

29 Comments

Opinion – 16 September 2017

Andrew Lightbown Theore0 Speaking of faith in the public square

Rosie Harper ViaMedia.News Is “Sorry” Too Easy a Word?

Archdruid Eileen The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley Troubles with Trebles

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love The unconditional and the insistence of God

A little world made cunningly: in defence of the parish
St Mellitus will host a debate asking whether the parish has had its day. Priests from across the country told Church Times their answers.

3 Comments

Opinion – 13 September 2017

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Life in all its fullness and meditation in the body

Eric Reitan Religion Dispatches A 14-point Rebuttal to the Nashville Statement from a straight cis Christian man

Bibles, arm-waving, and incensePhilip North recounts visiting three very different Christian festivals this summer for Church Times
Ian Paul Psephizo Is there hope for unbelieving Britain?

Simon Butler ViaMedia.News This Love Ain’t Big Enough!

4 Comments

Opinion – 9 September 2017

Giles Fraser The Guardian The disestablishment of the church is now necessary and inevitable
Church Times Leader Comment Life with the ‘nones’
The above two articles comment on figures contained in the latest British Social Attitudes survey. Madeleine Davies has written about the figures for Church Times: Bishops unfazed by surge among the non-religious in latest British Social Attitudes survey.

Simon Butler ViaMedia.News In Praise of Activists…

Charles Clapham Unadulterated Love The House of Bishops’ proposed Teaching Document on Human Sexuality
[This is a consolidation of Dr Clapham’s comments on our article here.]

Jeremy Paxman Financial Times Jeremy Paxman on the Church of England’s fight to survive
As congregations dwindle, is the Church on the brink of extinction?
[You may find this article is behind a paywall; this has been happening to me intermittently.]

38 Comments

Opinion – 6 September 2017

Jack Jenkins ThinkProgress Are evangelicals inventing a new kind of Christianity that’s all about sex?

Eliel Cruz The New York Times The Nashville Statement Is an Attack on L.G.B.T. Christians

Jonathan Merritt Religion News Service Take a deep breath. The Nashville Statement won’t change anything

The Victorian Society has expressed its opinion on keeping churches open. There’s nothing on their website, but Olivia Rudgard reports their views in The Telegraph: Victorian Society criticises evangelical group for keeping churches ‘shuttered and barred’

21 Comments

Opinion – 2 September 2017

Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Fifty years on – the new Co-ordinating Group meets for the first time

Noel Chavasse was the only man to be awarded the Victoria Cross twice during the First World War. Crispin Pailing celebrates his life and faith. Church Times He who would true valour see …

20 Comments

Opinion – 30 August 2017

Dan Ennis The Episcopal Café An Open Letter to UK Anglicans — in response to the news of ACNA’s consecration of a bishop for missionary work in the United Kingdom and Europe

Eve Poole Koomi of Smale

Tim Stratford One way of looking at things… Churches – what are they for?

St Chrysostom’s Church News and Views Bishop’s head dress – a contribution to a debate

3 Comments

Opinion – 26 August 2017

Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, Anglican Journal Good disagreement

Andrew Lightbown Theore0 Speaking of the wonderful old writers; in search of the significant

Richard Blackledge of The Star interviews Pete Wilcox: The new Bishop of Sheffield on women priests, the church’s big challenges – and why his wife’s books aren’t ‘raunchy’

Stephen Croft, Bishop of Oxford, Artificial Intelligence: a guide to the key issues

15 Comments