Sexuality and Anglican Identities
The University of Chester is engaged in a two-year project, Sexuality and Anglican Identities.
This seeks to engage the Academy, Chaplaincy and Church in conversation about current issues relating to sexuality within the contemporary Anglican context. A particular focus will be on how articulation of various positions on these matters, contribute to competing claims to Anglican identity. The project is funded by the Church Universities Fund.
The first of two open forums at Chester Cathedral, The Past, Present and Future of Christian Marriage, was held on Saturday 22 October, 2016. The second open forum, New Directions in Sexualities and Christianity, will be held from 1 pm to 3 pm on Saturday 11 February. The speakers will be
– Professor Adrian Thatcher, University of Exeter
– Dr Susannah Cornwall, University of Exeter
– The Rev Dr Mark Vasey-Saunders
– Dr David Hilborn, St John’s School of Mission
On Saturday 6 May there will be a day conference, for which there is a call for papers. Proposals of not more than 300 words to be with Dr Jessica Keady (j.keady@chester.ac.uk) by 28 February.
More information is on a public Facebook page here.
6 CommentsGrowth and Decline in the Anglican Communion
There will be a day conference on this subject, held on Friday 24 February, at Whitelands College of the University of Roehampton.
Further details of the conference are available here, including a draft programme. Speakers include:
– Questioning Church Growth and Decline in the Anglican Communion: David
Goodhew (Cranmer Hall, St Johns College, Durham University)
– Nigeria: Dr Richard Burgess (University of Roehampton)
– USA: Dr Jeremy Bonner (Durham University)– South America (Rt Revd Maurice Sinclair)
– Congo (Dr Emma Wildwood, Cambridge University)
– South Africa (Dr Barbara Bompani, University of Edinburgh)
– Ghana (Rev Dr Daniel Eshun, University of Roehampton)– South America (Rt Revd Maurice Sinclair, retired)
– Congo (Dr Emma Wildwood, Cambridge University)
– South Africa (Dr Barbara Bompani, University of Edinburgh)
– Ghana (Rev Dr Daniel Eshun, University of Roehampton)– England: Professor David Voas (University College, London)
– Theology, Growth and Decline: the Rt Revd Graham Kings (Mission Theologian,
Anglican Communion)
The conference is based upon a recently published book of the same title, edited by Professor David Goodhew, details of which – including a full table of contents – are shown on the publisher’s website here.
2 CommentsOpinion – 14 January 2017
Reactions to Martyn Percy’s 95 New Theses for the 21st century, which we listed last week
Ryan Cook A Reflection: Martyn Percy’s 95 Theses, Bishops & the Transcendent
Ian Paul Psephizo Can bishops save the Church?
Sam Norton Elizaphanian What’s really wrong with the House of Bishops
Andrew Lightbown Theore0 Management, Leadership, success-failure, heresy & idolatry
Jayne Ozanne ViaMedia.News Hopes and Dreams
Nick Young Londonist How London’s Churches Got Their Unusual Names
Anne Jolis The Spectator How the Church of England changed my life: Death, grief and love in a strange city
Miranda France Granta Words and the Word
Nick Tolson Church Times Beware of the siege mentality
19 CommentsChanging Attitude and LGCM announce merger
Updated to add press link
Changing Attitude and LGCM announce plans to merge their work to create ‘new missional movement for transformation and change’.
Changing Attitude and the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, who have between them been working for over 60 years for LGBT inclusion across the Christian churches, have announced plans to merge.
Tracey Byrne, LGCM’s Chief Executive said, ‘We’ve been working closely with Changing Attitude for some time now and we have so much in common, and so much to gain from working together. We both bring wisdom and experience to our work, and Changing Attitude’s deep understanding of the Church of England is complemented by LGCM’s insights from across and beyond the denominations. We want to see all that energy, commitment and vision combined to bring about real and lasting change.’
LGCM marked its fortieth anniversary in 2016, and Changing Attitude celebrated 20 years of Colin Coward’s leadership on his retirement in 2015. Tracey went on to say, ‘Both LGCM and Changing Attitude have been blessed with extraordinary and prophetic founders and leaders – people like Colin, Malcolm Johnson, Jim Cotter and Richard Kirker. We shall not see their like again – but of course we’re also part of a world and a church which functions very differently to the way it did in 1976. We have a really firm foundation from which to build a new movement which draws in all people of goodwill who want to see the church welcome LGBT people on equal terms with our sisters and brothers.’
Jeremy Timm of Changing Attitude said, ‘This is a really exciting opportunity for us to further LGCM and Changing Attitude’s work, to make ourselves a resource and a force for change in the churches as they continue in their journey of understanding in relation to sexuality and gender. We firmly believe we can do this better together, and as both boards of trustees have been talking and listening to one another over the past six months, we’ve become really excited and energised about what the future holds.’
LGCM’s Chair of Trustees, Jeremy Pemberton added, ‘If we’re going to reach out to a new generation with the message that the gospel is good news for everyone, then we’ll all need to commit ourselves to making that a credible and authentic claim for LGBT people too. That will involve humble listening and prophetic action at every level of the churches, from our leaders and from the many people we know are longing for change. The new movement will be uniquely placed to resource that kind of transformation.’
Notes for editors:
1. LGCM is a charity which is committed to the full inclusion of gay, lesbian and bisexual people in the life of the Christian churches.
2. Changing Attitude campaigns for the full inclusion of LGBT people in the life of the Church of England.
3. Further enquiries to Tracey Byrne, Chief Executive on 07497 203635
4. Further information about the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement can be found at www.lgcm.org.uk
5. Further information about Changing Attitude can be found at www.changingattitude.org.uk
Update
Carey Lodge Christian Today ‘We Want Real Change’: Gay Lobby Groups Join Forces To Fight For LGBT Inclusion In The Church
18 CommentsOpinion – 7 January 2017
Martyn Percy Archbishop Cranmer The Reformation 500 years on: do we need 95 New Theses for the 21st century?
Andrew Lightbown Only Connect! Thoughts on episcopacy and R&R
Miranda Threlfall-Holmes Church: Ice Dancing or Musical Statues?
Giles Fraser The Guardian A man recently broke into my church. Good on him, I say
The Archbishop of Canterbury preached this sermon during Evensong at St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, South Africa, on Friday 30th December 2016.
Jonathan Jones The Guardian Crucifixion is horribly violent – we must confront its reality head on
22 CommentsPeterborough Cathedral: Bishop issues Visitation Charge
Updated Monday 9 January and Wednesday 11 January
Peterborough Cathedral has issued a press statement: Bishop of Peterborough issues Visitation Charge to the Cathedral. The full text of the statement is copied below the fold.
The full text of the Visitation Charge is available here. It is only three pages long, and is worth reading in full.
A statement from the Church Commissioners is also published over here.
Update
The retired Dean of Durham, Michael Sadgrove, has published Peterborough Cathedral: thoughts on the visitation report and in particular he discusses the last six paragraphs of the report in which the Bishop of Peterborough argues that the current legal framework for cathedrals is inadequate.
Update
The Peterborough Telegraph reports that there have been 12 redundancies and some property sales: “About half of the redundancies have been achieved by not recruiting to jobs as people have left for other career moves or retirement. The cuts have been made in several areas including administration, hospitality, vergers and welcomers.”
The Manifestation of Christ
or Good news for non-believers
Today is the twelfth and last day of Christmas, and tonight at evening prayer the Church begins the celebration of the Epiphany. The Christmas story in Matthew tells how the Magi, wise men, came from the east to visit the infant Jesus, and this has long been interpreted as showing the Christ-child to the wider world of non-Jews near the start of his human life, as well as a recognition by them of his birth. During the next few weeks of the Church’s year there is a continuing focus on the story of how Jesus first came to public attention and how he began to teach his message or good news.
Many of us, perhaps all of us, can look around at our lives, at our relationships, at the state of the world, and wish it were better — whether for ourselves or for others. We can all dream of living in a place where it is good to live. A place where everyone has security and shelter and enough to eat, where everyone has value and is treated fairly, where no one holds grudges against other individuals or groups. In short, a society that is not “broken” and that lives at peace with itself and its neighbours.
Jesus’s message is that this place can exist, and that we have it within ourselves to choose to live there, at least in part. Each one of us can make the choice to live in that place of reconciliation and trust, peace and social justice. If we choose to live our lives in that way then we will be citizens of that place.
In Jesus’s language this place is the “kingdom of God”, because it is the place where God’s will is done, and that will ultimately is “love”. Jesus’s good news is that this kingdom, this “living in love”, is already at hand, here and now — it has already begun. All that we have to do is open our eyes and see the simplicity of it.
Opting in is entirely voluntary, and even those who have opted in will get it wrong, perhaps more often than not. So it won’t be perfect, because it is a place inhabited by fallible human beings in a world where not everyone has opted in and where mistakes and natural disasters also happen. Living this way is vulnerable. Jesus’s followers have long said that the kingdom will come at the end of time — and this is a recognition of the fact that the whole world isn’t going to accept the message for a very long while, if ever. So though the kingdom in all its fullness is not yet here, that makes it all the more important to choose to live in it now, and to share the good news and to encourage others to join in. We can still live partly in the kingdom, glimpsing the possibilities of its fullness.
What then is the role of religion in this, and what is the role of the Church? These are good questions. They highlight the problem with institutional religion.
Jesus, in the gospel stories, doesn’t have a lot of time for organized religion, and those who considered themselves holy and religious. He criticised the Pharisees and the Sadducees, whom we might see as typical of local religious leaders and the religious establishment, types that existed then and still exist today. Many in both groups understood Jesus’s concept of God’s rule, God’s kingdom, but (like many others down the ages, and still today) they were caught up in their own concepts of spirituality and nationality and their own priorities, and either failed to grasp what Jesus was saying, or failed to act on it.
Where does this leave the Church? As people used to ask, do you have to go to church to be a good Christian? Certainly the Church has a lot to answer for. Over many hundreds of years it has helped to suppress and control individuals and populations, and allowed itself to be used by states to achieve their aims, or indeed has corrupted states to achieve institutional goals. It has allowed itself to be limited to a “spiritual” life, teaching a personal piety and obedience, and the promise that things will get better, sometime. It has sacrificed individuals and groups to its own ends. And it’s easy for its members to get caught up in its institutional life, serving on its boards and commissions and councils, even carving out a career in church politics. It’s easy too to get caught up in its “religiosity”: in personal piety, personal devotion and personal belief as ends in themselves.
The Church, however, has also preserved the teaching of Jesus, and other great figures, and never lost sight of the centrality of his message, even when it has largely failed to understand or implement it. Individual Christians have led some of the great reform movements, such as the abolition of slavery, moves to racial equality and sexual equality, mass education and healthcare, humane working conditions, prison reform and so on.
The Church, for all its many and profound failings, is the group of people who follow Jesus, and stand in line with him: the community of his followers down the ages, even if a divided community.
The Church is also the primary place where those who commit to trying to live in the kingdom can interact with each other. Here above all other places is (or should be) the place where social justice and compassion are preached and practised. Here above all other places is (or should be) the place where the hungry are fed, both literally and figuratively, and the homeless and destitute cared for. Here above all other places is (or should be) the place where people forgive each other for the wrongs they have done to each other, and are reconciled. Here above all other places is (or should be) the place where Jesus’s good news is proclaimed and human beings welcomed to participate in it.
Where does that leave the believer and the unbeliever? No mention has yet been made of belief in God, belief in heaven, belief in the infallibility of this or that, or the special nature of someone or something. The story of the arrival of the Magi shows that Jesus is for Jew and Gentile alike: in today’s language, Jesus and his message are for the believer and also for the non-believer. The gospels do not record that Jesus required belief in any dogma or religious doctrine — only trust in what he was teaching, trust to begin to do it. There is no test of belief to be a citizen of this kingdom. There is no religious creed, no statement of religious belief.
Rather, what is required is to start again: to be willing to recognize (without unnecessarily beating ourselves up about it) that we don’t always get things right; to be willing to both give and receive forgiveness; to act to bring about reconciliation and social justice to all our neighbours, where Jesus’s definition of “neighbour” is “someone who needs our help”; to join with those who are trying to do the same; and to share this good news with others. The kingdom of God is built one person at a time — it is here, it is now, it is indeed at hand; and one day it will exist in its fullness.
What about God? Everyone must come to their own conclusions on that, and about the literal existence of God, because God’s kingdom — the place where the rules are love and peace, forgiveness and reconciliation and social justice for all — is a concept that exists whether you believe in God or not. Just as the arrival of the Magi in the Christmas story indicates that this baby is significant to Jews and non-Jews, so too he, and the kingdom he announced, are significant to believers and non-believers.
God’s kingdom is for all. And it’s there, in part, right here and now. Just open the door, and let the kingdom in.
Simon Kershaw is a founder and editor of Thinking Anglicans.
We invite you to make a contribution to the Church Urban Fund, which helps local groups work among the homeless and destitute, and tries, through local projects, to help them turn their lives around. You can support their work via this secure page www.cuf.org.uk/donate/advent-appeal/24/credit-card. Thank you.
29 CommentsOpinion – New Year's Eve 2016
Madeleine Davies Christian Today Women In Leadership: Is 2017 The Year HTB Will Practise What It Preaches?
Ruth Gledhill Christian Today Should We Work On Christmas Day? After All, Vicars Have To
David Walker ViaMedia.News Bursting the Bubble
Geoff Bayliss Church Times Speaking more of the language of the people
and in response
Doug Chaplin Liturgy: words for speaking, not for reading
Gary Waddington Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi
Justice, Peace, Joy If necessary, use liturgy
[Note: There was a subbing error in the Church Times article, now corrected online. A heading “Complex words that it could be difficult to avoid using” was originally “Complex words that might be avoided”.]
A selection of bishops' Christmas Messages
Updated 28 December
You are not expected to read/view/listen to these at one sitting!
Most Revd Philip Richardson, Co-archbishop, Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
Most Revd Philip Freier, Archbishop of Melbourne and Primate of the Church of Australia
Most Revd Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada
Most Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
Most Revd John Sentamu, Archbishop of York
Rt Revd James Newcome, Bishop of Carlisle
Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford
Rt Revd Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham, and Rt Revd Mark Bryant, Bishop of Jarrow
Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester
Rt Revd Paul Bayes, Bishop of Liverpool [subtitled version]
Rt Revd Richard Chartres, Bishop of London
Rt Revd Christine Hardman, Bishop of Newcastle
Rt Revd Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford
Rt Revd Tim Thornton, Bishop of Truro
Rt Revd John Inge, Bishop of Worcester
Most Revd Ian Ernest, Primate of the Anglican Province of the Indian Ocean, and Cardinal Maurice E Piat, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Port-Louis
[in French with a link to a computerised translation into English]
Archbishops of Armagh, The Most Revd Richard Clarke & The Most Revd Eamon Martin
Rt Revd John McDowell, Church of Ireland Bishop of Clogher, and Mgr Joseph McGuinness, Diocesan Administrator of Clogher
Rt Revd Ken Good, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe
Patriarchs and Heads of local churches in Jerusalem (including the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, Most Revd Suheil Dawani)
Most Revd Samuel Azariah, Primate of the united Church of Pakistan
Most Revd David Chillingworth, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church
Rt Revd Gregor Duncan, Bishop of Glasgow & Galloway
Most Revd Moon Hing, Primate of South East Asia
Most Revd Stanley Ntagali, Primate of Uganda
Most Revd Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States
Most Revd Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales
Rt Revd Gregory Cameron, Bishop of St Asaph
Rt Revd John Davies, Bishop of Swansea and Brecon
Opinion – Christmas Eve 2016
Linda Woodhead Journal of the British Academy The rise of ‘no religion’ in Britain: The emergence of a new cultural majority
[the text of a lecture delivered in January 2016]
Brian Zahnd Missio Alliance My Problem With the Bible
Alex Taylor, Children’s Ministry Trainer for the Diocese of London The worst Christmas song
Andrew Lightbown Mary & Elizabeth: Renewal & Reform
Harriet Sherwood The Guardian Christmas highlights pressures on C of E’s stretched rural clergy
Andrew Dunning British Library Medieval manuscripts blog The Medieval Origins of the Christmas Carol
Ian Paul Psephizo Should clergy have Christmas day off?
7 CommentsThe Coming of the Light
We have come to the end of Advent: the time of waiting is over. Tomorrow is Christmas. The night Jesus was born, the world seemed like an unsafe place for a baby, especially a baby born to a couple far away from the security of their own home and unable to find suitable lodging, vulnerable to the elements and to the rough characters living on the margins of society.
Today, with images of Aleppo and refugees dancing in our heads, how can we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace? At the end of a year of so much tragedy, evil and violence, further shaken by the uncertainty of Brexit and of a President Trump, who can feel safe, who can feel joyful? Even on a more intimate level, many people I know have been bereaved or have been battling illness or, at the very least, dealing with upset and disappointment. Is it worth celebrating Christmas at all?
It all depends on what we believe about God and our world, and about ourselves and other people. If our God is impotent or distant or disdainful or angry, then we are in trouble. But if our God is as present with us as a new-born baby gasping for air, as compassionate as a mother cradling a terrified child or as faithful as a rescue worker, digging resolutely through piles of rubble, then there is hope.
In the opening passage of the Gospel of John comes the pronouncement, “In him was life and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” Further on in the same Gospel, Jesus tells his followers, “In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
The baby who became the man who took on all that life could throw at him — all the evil, sin, hurt, hopelessness, grief and fear of the world — tells his friends not to be frightened, that even though he will soon be leaving them, not to be troubled. He tells them to be at peace, that in him they have peace, that his peace is present in the midst of all the challenges of life.
Do we believe the light is still shining in the darkness? Do we believe there is no darkness that can ever extinguish the light of Christ? Do we believe we have a peace that has been given to us as part of the gift of the Holy Spirit? Do we believe in the ultimate triumph of the Prince of Peace?
If we believe these things, then we can wake up tomorrow and dare to open ourselves to the joy of Christmas. For some, even though they believe, this year joy may elude them, but for those of us who can embrace the day, we must celebrate, not forgetting those who are suffering, but standing in solidarity with them by proclaiming the truth and reality and presence of Christ. Whether taking a service, serving a meal or visiting those in prison, in hospital or out on the streets — or simply safely curled up in a cosy room with our loved ones — we must let our hearts shout out — Joy to the world, the Lord has come!
Christina Rees CBE was a member of General Synod for 25 years, and a founder member of Archbishops’ Council. She is a writer, broadcaster, communications consultant, and advocate for gender justice.
We invite you to make a contribution to the Church Urban Fund, which helps local groups work among the homeless and destitute, and tries, through local projects, to help them turn their lives around. You can support their work via this secure page www.cuf.org.uk/donate/advent-appeal/24/credit-card. Thank you.
0 CommentsDoing Good
The think tank Theos has marked its tenth anniversary with a new report called Doing Good: a future for Christianity in the 21st century, a title that echoes its first report in 2006, Doing God.
A press release from Theos can be read here. In the foreword, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the RC Archbishop of Westminster write:
Nick Spencer charts a view of the future for Christianity in the UK, drawing on the wealth of data and evidence that Theos has accumulated in its years of research.
That view is one in which service is central, but it is service-as-witness, service that is firmly rooted in, shaped by and unashamed of its faith in Jesus Christ.
The report’s idea of “Christian social liturgy” expresses how Christians can combine their fidelity to the two greatest commandments — loving God and loving neighbour — in a way that is simultaneously distinctive and inclusive.”
The report can be downloaded as a pdf from the Theos website, and an article by Nick Spencer here.
3 CommentsJoseph was an old man
So goes an old and rarely sung carol.
In the ten days before Christmas, a group of very elderly, frail, forgetful people, sitting in a conservatory, are taking time every morning to sing about a baby. Arriving to take our monthly ‘service’ in a local care home, I was greeted by the activities co-ordinator (church input is an ‘activity’), proudly waving copies of ‘Away in a manger’ and announcing that it had become part of the day’s routine. So, we sang it again, before we did anything else. Fred had already been singing along to ‘Hark the herald’ on a CD playing gently beside him: he was a boy chorister, now too blind to see the words on a sheet, and today more focussed on his military service in North Africa than past carol services. Iris reminded me, as she always does, that she is in the Baptist church every Sunday: it has been so much part of her life that she keeps it there, even if doesn’t really happen. Liz joined in with prayers and carols with great enthusiasm, just one beat behind all the time, because somehow her deafness is creating a delay in receiving sound. Maggie was cross: she used to delight in our visits but now resents them, says pointedly that she doesn’t believe any of it, and loudly that we should shut up. She’s placated by Mary, the saintly Reader Emeritus, who has lived in the care home for five years since her stroke and maintains an extraordinary calm and patience.
Every month a service, prayers and the old familiar hymns; every month some, at least, of the residents tell us how grateful they are for our presence, every month staff are relieved to see them engaged and involved: and every month I leave with a sense of guilt and inadequacy. It’s a good care home, small, privately run, many of the staff are long-serving. But it feels as though there is little honour here for those whose lives will be lived out within its walls; for their contemporaries, still in their own homes and dependent on visiting carers, rushing from appointment to appointment, there is even less.
In a few days time we will celebrate the birth of that baby, marvelling at the God among us as child, utterly dependent on those around him for all that sustains life. Month by month, among the home’s residents, I see faculties, both physical and mental, diminished; dependence and need increased. These are no longer productive members of society, and all too often the debate about their care speaks of a burden. Even in church circles, I have heard care for the elderly disparaged, because they will not add to our numbers or contribute to the parish share. But if we are to tell a story of God coming among us, helpless, vulnerable, needing to be fed, cleaned, nursed, sheltered, loved, then surely these are among those of our neighbours who most vividly bear his image.
Canon Jane Freeman is Team Rector of Wickford and Runwell in the diocese of Chelmsford
We invite you to make a contribution to the Church Urban Fund, which helps local groups work among the homeless and destitute, and tries, through local projects, to help them turn their lives around. You can support their work via this secure page www.cuf.org.uk/donate/advent-appeal/24/credit-card. Thank you.
11 CommentsSuffragan Bishop of Woolwich: Dr Karowei Dorgu
Updated to add press reports
Press release from Number 10
Suffragan Bishop of Woolwich: Dr Dorgu
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
First published: 20 December 2016The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Prebendary Dr Woyin Karowei Dorgu, MBBS. BA, MA, to the Suffragan See of Woolwich.
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Prebendary Dr Woyin Karowei Dorgu, MBBS. BA, MA, Vicar of St John the Evangelist Upper Holloway, in the Diocese of London, to the Suffragan See of Woolwich, in the Diocese of Southwark in succession to the Right Reverend Michael Geoffrey Ipgrave, OBE, MA, on his translation to the See of Lichfield 10 June 2016.
Background
Reverend Prebendary Dr Dorgu is aged 58. He was a GP. He studied at the London Bible College for his BA, and studied for his ordination at Oak Hill Theological College from 1993 to 1995 and also holds an MA in missiology. He was Curate at St Mark’s Tollington in London Diocese from 1995 to 1998, before moving to be Curate at Upper Holloway in the same diocese until 2000. From 2000 to 2012 he was Team Vicar at Upper Holloway before becoming Vicar in 2012 and from 2016 he has been Prebendary at St Paul’s Cathedral.
He is married to Mosun, a doctor. She is a consultant child psychiatrist who works for the NHS and they have 2 grown-up children.
His interests include reading, cycling, travelling, cooking for guests and he is a keen Arsenal FC supporter.
Southwark diocesan website Bishop of Woolwich Appointed
London diocesan website New Bishop of Woolwich announced
Dr Dorgu will be consecrated in Southwark Cathedral on St Patrick’s Day 17 March 2017.
Press reports
Harriet Sherwood The Guardian Church of England appoints first black bishop in 20 years
Ruth Gledhill Christian Today First Nigerian Bishop In Church of England Counters Islamist Terror With Message Of Love In Jesus Christ
32 CommentsFebruary General Synod – outline timetable
Update 15 January 2017 — A slightly revised timetable has been issued. The table below has been amended; changes are in red.
The outline timetable for the February General Synod of the Church of England has been published today, and is copied below. Further papers will be published on Friday 20 January 2017.
[The published timetable does not explain the asterisks against certain items, but these clearly indicate timed business, eg Questions on the Monday will start not later than 5.30 pm.]
GENERAL SYNOD FEBRUARY 2017 GROUP OF SESSIONS
Timetable
| Monday 13 February | |
| House of Clergy will meet from 1.30 pm – 2.30 pm | |
| 3.00 pm – 7.00 pm | |
| 3.00 pm | Worship |
| 3.15 pm | Introductions and welcomes |
| 3.25 pm | Report by the Business Committee |
| 3.50 pm | Motion on General Synod February 2018 dates |
| 4.00 pm | Motion on General Synod dates 2019-2020 |
| 4.15 pm | Debate on a Motion on the Anniversary of the Reformation |
| 5.00 pm | Presidential Address by the Archbishop of Canterbury |
| *5.30 pm | Questions |
| 7.00 – 7.15 pm | Evening worship |
| Tuesday 14 February | |
| 9.15 am – 1.00 pm | |
| 9.15 am | Holy Communion |
| 10.30 am | Farewell to the First Church Estates Commissioner and Response |
| 10.55 am | Private Members Motion on “Preliminaries to Marriage” |
| Legislative Business | |
| *12.00 pm | Mission and Pastoral etc. (Amendment) Measure – Final Drafting / Final Approval |
| 12.35 pm | Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Care of Churches Measure – Final Drafting / Final Approval |
| 2.30 pm – 7.00 pm | |
| Legislative Business (ctd…) | |
| 2.30 pm | Legislative Reform Measure – Revision Stage |
| 4.00 pm | Statute Law (Repeals) Measure – Revision and Final Drafting / Final Approval |
| 4.30 pm | Pensions (Pre-consolidation) Measure – Revision and Final Drafting / Final Approval |
| 4.55 pm | Phase II Simplification Measure – First Consideration |
| 5.55 pm | Draft Amending Canon No.38 – First Consideration |
| 6.25 pm | Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Amendment Regulations 2017 |
| 7.00 – 7.15 pm | Evening worship |
| Wednesday 15 February | |
| 9.15 am – 12.30 pm | |
| 9.15 am | Worship |
| 9.30 am | Motion from the Bishop of Leicester for a proposal for a Petition to Her Majesty in Council for the creation of a suffragan see for the Diocese of Leicester |
| 10.00 am | Appointment to the Archbishops’ Council |
| 10.15 am | Diocesan Synod Motion on “Fixed Odds Betting Terminals” |
| (Legislative Business ctd…) | |
| 11.30 am | The Church of England Pensions (Amendment) Regulations 2017 |
| *12.00 pm | Introduction to the work of the Bishops’ Reflection Group on Sexuality |
| 2.00 – 4.30 pm | |
| 2.00 – 4.30 pm | Group work |
| 5.30 pm – 7.00 pm | |
| 5.30 pm | Take Note Debate on a Report from the House of Bishops |
| 7.00 – 7.15 pm | Evening worship |
| Thursday 16 February | |
| 9.15 am – 1.00 pm | |
| 9.15 am | Worship |
| 9.30 am | Farewell to the Bishop of London |
| 9.45 am | Speech by The Most Revd Dr Josiah Atkins Idowu-Fearon – Secretary General of the Anglican Communion |
| 10.15 am | “Setting God’s People Free”: Debate on a Motion from the Archbishops’ Council |
| Legislative Business (ctd…) | |
| 12.15 pm | The Safeguarding (Clergy Risk Assessment) Regulations 2016 |
| 2.30 pm – 5.00 pm | |
| Legislative Business (ctd…) | |
| 2.30 pm | Amending Canon No. 36 – Canons B 8 – Revision Stage |
| 3.20 pm | Amending Canon No. 37 – Canon B 38 – Revision Stage |
| *5.00 pm | Prorogation |
Deemed Business
Legal Officers (Annual Fees) Order 2016
Contingency Business
Private Members’ Motion on “Mission and Administration”
Opinion – 17 December 2016
Simon Jenkins Reform Magazine Jumble sales of the apocalypse
Paul Bayes ViaMedia.News Couldn’t We Just “Dissolve the People”??
Richard Peers Snoring, belching and farting: the stuff of koinonia – Retreat 2016: Glenstal Abbey
Rachel Pugh The Guardian Meet the vicar who’s swapping the sacristy for the surgery
Andrew Brown Church Times The Corbynista path to irrelevance
Jeremy Worthen Church Times The theology behind Renewal and Reform
Kenwyn Pierce Renewal and Reform Peer review – why bother?
Gary Waddington The Busy Priest Estates, the Poor and Culture War Stereotypes
David Goodhew The Living Church Is Anglicanism Growing or Dying? Statistics, the C of E, and the Anglican Communion
Andrew Goddard Church of England Newspaper Why 2017 will be a crunch year for the Church of England
26 CommentsTrouble at York Minster – today's developments
Updated Saturday evening and Sunday evening
We reported in October that York Minster’s team of bell-ringers had been disbanded.
The last few days have seen reports that the Minster has been having difficulties recruiting temporary bell-ringers to ring over Christmas, eg The Guardian and The Telegraph.
The Minster has today issued a statement giving more details of their decision to disband the bell-ringers, as reported here by Minster FM: Minster claims there’s been “intimidation” over Bellringer row.
York Minster says bellringers who’ve offered to step in to help the cathedral have suffered intimidation on social media and in the local media.
In a statement from The Chapter of York they also claim at least one member has been threatened with legal action.
They say despite this, they’re still exploring options for the ringing at Christmas and hope those wanting to volunteer will be able to approach them without the fear of intimidation.
The Minster statement in full also goes over the details of why this situation happened which were reported in the media back in September [sic] …
The article goes on to quote the Minster statement in full.
John Bingham also reports on this story for The Telegraph: York Minster bell-ringers sacked over stance on ‘ongoing’ abuse risk to children.
York Minster’s team of bell-ringers were disbanded because they refused to accept that a leading member of their group had been assessed as presenting an “ongoing risk” of child abuse, the minster’s governing body has said…
In what amounts to the most detailed explanation of the saga to date, they made clear that the apparently sudden decision to disband the 30-strong ringing team in October was just the “culmination” of weeks of discussion about the issue…
Updates (Saturday evening)
The York ringers have issued a statement in response to that of the Dean and Chapter, denying any suggestion of intimidation. They continue to put their side of the story and again ask the Dean and Chapter to discuss the matter with them so that it can be resolved. Their statement can be read here.
(Sunday evening)
Archbishop Cranmer Peace on earth and good will to all men – except the sacked bell-ringers of York Minster
Because of the nature of this story we ask all commenters to be especially careful in what they write. Comments containing ad hominem remarks will not be published.
4 CommentsArchbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon interviewed by CoI Gazette
Ian Ellis, editor of the Church of Ireland Gazette, recently interviewed Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, Secretary General at the Anglican Communion Office. The full interview lasts 45 minutes, and the recordings can be found here.
There is a report in the Church Times today: Idowu-Fearon: US conservatives manipulating African Anglicans.
THE importance that African church leaders attach to the question of same-sex relationships is the result of interference by conservatives in the United States, the secretary-general of the Anglican Communion, Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon, has said.
In an interview with The Church of Ireland Gazette, published last week, Dr Idowu-Fearon said that Anglican leaders in Africa seemed “to be so much taken in” by the issue, not because of concerns about the impact on relations with Muslims, but as a result of “very strong minority conservatives” in the US.
“The very strong minority conservatives, not in the UK but in America, they have found a footing amongst some of the leaders in Africa,” he said. “They are the ones that sort of pumped this thing into the leaders, and the leaders decided to make it an African thing. It is not an African thing. There are homosexuals everywhere — even in my diocese.”
He denied that African leaders were anxious about relationships with Muslims: “It’s not true. It has not stopped church growth in my part of Nigeria. . . Nobody talks about it.”
Another report of the interview has been published here: Are the Leaders of Africa’s Anglican Churches “Despotic”?
25 CommentsGod-with-us
‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel’,
which means, ‘God is with us.’ (Matthew 1:23)
To speak of God being with us might be good news, or bad news, depending on what we believe God’s character is like.
When Nazi troops marched into Paris in 1940, their regulation belt buckle bore the legend ‘Gott mit Uns’, God with us, and I wonder how the French felt about what that God was visiting on them? The badge of the English Defence League bears a cross, below which the Latin inscriptions translates: ‘In this sign you will conquer‘ invoking the militant power of an Anglo-Saxon warrior God.
Even people who do not espouse a political or military cause find themselves readily imagining a vengeful God. When someone encounters personal tragedy or misfortune, I find them looking for what they might have done wrong, for which this devastation is punishment, a retribution for a past sin. Or they may simply see their pain as a sign that God has brutally inflicted a tragedy or, at the very least, been asleep on the job allowing catastrophe to befall them.
The ‘Son of God’ in the world of the Christmas stories is a title for Caesar, presiding over the brutal imperial army occupying Jesus’s homeland. The Roman God-with-us means domination by brute force — a fearful God-with-us.
The stories of Christmas were written to challenge and subvert this dark idea of God’s character. Matthew’s God-with-us is hunted by a king, one who has to leave his country. Luke’s God-with-us is visited by the poorest in the neighbourhood. This is not a brutal God, this is a God alongside people who are powerless, people who have been done to, people who feel forgotten. This is the character of the God of the Christian Gospels.
Andrew Spurr is Vicar of Evesham with Norton and Lenchwick in the diocese of Worcester.
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8 CommentsStatement from the College & House of Bishops
Press release from the Church of England
Statement from the College & House of Bishops
13 December 2016
The College of Bishops of the Church of England met at Lambeth Palace on Monday 12th December.
The meeting began with a service of Holy Communion and reflections from the Archbishop of York. Discussions on issues of sexuality took place as part of a process of episcopal discernment which began in September and continued at the meeting of the House of Bishops in November.
The college discussed the reflections of the House from their November meeting and also received an update from the Chair of the Bishops Reflection Group on Sexuality.
As with the meeting of the College of Bishops in September and the meeting of the House of Bishops in November the discussions took place in private and participants have agreed not to comment on the contents of the meetings beyond their own views.
The Bishops agreed to consult the General Synod in February as well as updating Synod as to where their discussions had reached. More information will be available when those consultative materials have been prepared in January 2017.
The meeting closed with evening prayer and reflections from the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The House of Bishops met at Lambeth Palace on Tuesday 13th December. A full and diverse agenda included substantial discussions on safeguarding, discussions on Renewal and Reform activity – including lay discipleship, simplification legislation and resourcing – and ecumenical issues as well as considerations of work with student groups.
8 Comments