Thinking Anglicans

opinion

Ian Ellis of the Church of Ireland Gazette has interviewed Rowan Williams. You can listen to the interview here. Topics include Christian Aid and the European Union; there’s a list of contents with timings below the fold.

Kelvin Holdsworth blogs about The Peace and Unity and Order of the Church.

Rachel Mann blogs on Headship and Holiness: ‘It’s a Trap!’ or ‘Why the Bishop of Maidstone might be particularly bad news for Conservative Evangelicals’

(more…)

2 Comments

opinion

Vic Van Den Bergh More than ‘Just a service’ – Funerals

Michael Sadgrove Cathedrals: a success story?

Giles Fraser The Guardian The whole point of Christianity is to create a deeper form of humanism

Madeleine Davies Church Times The Maasai – a tradition in transition

25 Comments

opinion

Kelvin Holdsworth Six reasons why [some] cathedrals are doing well
and Church blogging – all may, none must, some should

Church Times leader Cathedral conundrum

Andrew Brown The Guardian Talking about fish copulation is no way to discuss the family

Kate Bottley The Guardian I’m all for a mid-week church service – at least it’ll give me a Sunday lie-in

James Croft Patheos This Atheist is Thankful for the Clergy

Paul Handley The Guardian Let us give thanks, Black Friday has nothing to do with religion

51 Comments

opinion

Miranda Threlfall-Holmes 5 Things I miss about being Laity

Cathy Newman interviews Rose Hudson-Wilkin for The Telegraph Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin: The truth? We’re all fearful for the first female bishops

Rupert Christiansen The Telegraph Why do Christmas carols make the church feel nervous?

Erasmus The Economist Hello ladies, goodbye Communion?

Lucy Ward The Guardian Una Kroll: ‘Public protest is still very important’

Sam Wells The Christian Century Dressed for the moment

Bosco Peters A Bishop is not a Priest

Isabel Berwick Financial Times From atheist teenager to lady of the parish

14 Comments

Priests ordained by women bishops abroad

The Questions yesterday evening at General Synod included this question and answer:

Mrs Christina Rees (St Albans) asked the Secretary General:
Q Is there any longer a bar on a man or woman who, having been ordained to the priesthood by a bishop who is a woman in another province of the Anglican Communion or in another Church with which the Church of England is in communion, being given to permission to officiate under the Overseas and Other Clergy (Ministry and Ordination) Measure 1967, so as to make them then to be as a priest in the Church of England, given a Licence or Permission to Officiate?

Mr William Fittall replied:
A The decision taken by the Synod this afternoon means that it is now lawful for women to be consecrated as bishops in England. The rationale for the bar which the Archbishops have operated up to now under the 1967 Measure has therefore disappeared. The gender of the consecrating bishop will be no longer relevant when applications for permission to officiate are considered.

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opinion

updated Saturday night

Frederick Schmidt What is a seminary faculty?

These three articles look at the Church of England statistics issued on Monday.

David Keen New CofE stats: we did better than UKIP, but still not well enough
Norman Ivison The clock is ticking
Bev Botting New Stats, New Findings
Giles Fraser The Guardian The Church of England is actually holding up pretty well in an adverse market

Angela Denker Sojourners 3 Ways ‘All Are Welcome’ Is Hurting the Church

Leading article in The Spectator Thank heavens for Justin Welby!

Update

David Keen has also published Latest CofE stats: Attendance by Diocese 2009-13.

6 Comments

opinion

Rachel Harden, the Church of England’s Deputy Director of Communications, writes about Blogging Faith.

Alex Willmott If you can’t lead a church, don’t lead a church

Kevin P Emmert Christianity Today New Poll Finds Evangelicals’ Favorite Heresies

Kelvin Holdsworth Becoming a Welcoming Cathedral

Pat Henking “Priestly Formation” is a Term that Really Bugs Me!

8 Comments

opinion

Michael Sadgrove Extraverts and Introverts: a plea for understanding

David Keen Vicars – A Great Resource Squandered?

Brother Ivo Defending Lord Hope -different times, different understandings

Kelvin Holdsworth Beware of the Celibate

Giles Fraser The Guardian Superstition can’t be exorcised just by simply turning off the God switch

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opinion

Ian Paul How to save a diocese
Gillan Scott How to prevent the extinction of the Church of England
Jonathan Clatworthy Does the Church still need parishes?

Miranda Threlfall-Holmes Women in the Episcopate Bill gains Royal Assent

Sarah and Lindsey blogs at A Queer Calling When the Church’s “Welcome” to LGBT People Hurts

Neil Hodgson of the Liverpool Echo has been talking to Andrew Ware of church suppliers Hayes & Finch.

5 Comments

Opinion

Ian Paul wrote Free healthcare cannot continue.

David Keen wrote The parish system: game over?

The Bishop of Durham Paul Butler has been writing about the Synod of Bishops in Rome, in a series of reflections which begin
here and continue
here
here
here and
here.

Update And part 6 is here.

Justin Welby has written in Prospect magazine Archbishop of Canterbury on dealing with ISIS and jihadism.

12 Comments

opinion

Jon Riding writes for Fulcrum about Bible in the Raw.

The Guardian has published a selection of readers’ pictures of Empty places of worship.

Giles Fraser writes in The Guardian that Jesus wasn’t much taken with biological kith and kin – he said we’re all family.
On the same topic Andrew Lightbown has written An open letter to Nigel Farage.

The Church Times has now published its complete list of the 100 best Christian books.

15 Comments

opinion

Richard Beck blogs at Experimental Theology about Faith as Quantum Superposition.

David Salisbury of Vanderbilt University asks Are the world’s religions ready for E.T.?

The Archbishop of Canterbury talks to the editor of The Church of Ireland Gazette, Canon Ian Ellis.

4 Comments

opinion

Marcus Borg Patheos A Christianity Co-Opted by Individualistic, Exclusivist Faith

Gillan Scott blogs Shock! Justin Welby admits that he believes in God

Charities Aid Foundation The Guardian The role of socially responsible investment in economic uncertainty

Karen Armstrong The Guardian The myth of religious violence

The Church Times has compiled its list of the 100 best Christian books. Yesterday (Friday) it revealed numbers 100 to 51. Numbers 50 to 11 and then 10 to 1 will be announced on 3 and 10 October.

8 Comments

opinion

Church of England Newspaper editorial The battle for the soul of the Church

Isabel Hardman The Spectator Conservative Anglicans’ emergency plan to escape women bishops

Phoebe Thompson of Premier Youthwork spoke to Sally Hitchiner about Diverse Church.

Jules Evans has interviewed Richard Chartres: The Bishop of London on Christian contemplation.

Andrew Brown writes in The Guardian that If Justin Welby has doubts about God it’s no bad thing (with reference to this story).

32 Comments

opinion

In response to the article by Eric Pickles that I linked to last week, Andrew Brown writes in The Spectator about The theological illiteracy of Eric Pickles.

Richard Beck blogs about Search Term Friday: Type 1 and Type 2 Errors and Deciding Who Is Going to Hell.

Christopher Howse writes in his Sacred Mysteries column in The Telegraph: The full glory of Miss La La.

4 Comments

opinion

Archdruid Eileen On Encountering a Church
and Going to Church is a Waste of Time

Laurie Brock who blogs at Dirty Sexy Ministry discusses dating and the single priest: Eat, Priest, Love.

Ian Paul asks What kind of leader is Justin Welby?

Eric Pickles The Telegraph The fight against intolerance begins at home

9 Comments

opinion

Rupert Shortt The Telegraph A man of faith with a firm grip on reality

Jem Bloomfield Cassock Rippers and Ecclesiastical Fiction: An Interview with Catherine Fox

Wonderful photographs by Richard Silver Don’t look down! Kaleidoscope-style photos of England’s churches and cathedrals show off incredible ornate ceilings in all their glory

Giles Fraser The Guardian Nobody is better at being human, Professor Dawkins, least of all you

16 Comments

opinion

John Pavlovitz Church, Here’s Why People Are Leaving You. Part 1 and Part 2

Anna Norman-Walker It all begins, not with abandonment of the truth, but with the humility to accept you just might have been wrong ….

Giles Fraser The Guardian If this is real religion, then you can count me as an atheist

10 Comments

opinion

Christina Patterson The Guardian The Good News Bible taught me the power of words, but also stole my youth

For lovers of mediaeval church architecture, James Alexander Cameron writes on Great Mistakes in English Medieval architecture.

2 Comments

opinion

Oliver Farry New Statesman What should happen to churches as religion recedes?

Peter Stanford Third Sector Faith and Good Works – the weakening of traditional links

Giles Fraser The Guardian Just how far does the concept of Christian solidarity extend?

6 Comments