Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
Some years ago, one of the fringe meetings at a session of the General Synod focussed on the needs of ‘mid-sized churches’, in this case defined as worshipping communities of 20 to 60. The reason for this was a question that William Nye, Secretary General of Synod and the Archbishops’ Council, had raised: Without meaning …
John Root writes: The diocese of London is advertising for the post of the newly-created ‘Head of Racial Justice Priority’. Other dioceses (such as Leeds) are considering or have made similar appointments. Why? In this blog, with London as the example, I want to spotlight the potential of such appointments, but especially explore the ways …
I write a quarterly column for Preach magazine, in which I explore a significant word or phrase in the Bible, or a theme or section of Scripture, and the ideas that it expresses. At the end of this piece I list the previous articles I have written for them. Here I explore what Scripture says …
Andrew Goddard writes: This article, building on my earlier account, explores issues surrounding this week’s public meeting of the House of Bishops to consider the Crown Nominations Commission’s (CNC) discernment process for diocesan bishops. Although that meeting was welcomingly transparent, the discernment processes leading to the proposals supported by it were much less so. Four areas …
John Root writes: Eric Kaufmann’s Taboo (reviewed last week here) is centrally about the damaging slippage in Anglophone culture from ‘cultural liberalism’ (such as equality of opportunity) to ‘cultural socialism’ (such as equality of outcome); a process that requires cancelling the expression of resistant ideas, inflated concern about the dangers of ‘harm’, and an increased …
Martin Davie writes: In a letter of 2 July this year to the signatories of a letter from the Alliance group within the Church of England to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishop of Oxford wrote as follows: The mind of the majority House of Bishops now seems to me to be settling …
What a dramatic spectacle it was, as it unfolded! I am not referring to the Olympic opening ceremony, which was spectacular in parts, but also rather long and drawn out, full of slightly obscure allusions to French cultural ideas (was ours better in 2012? Yes, I think it was less obscure), and at times seemed …
‘Valuing All God’s Children’ (VAGC) was first published in 2014 in response to research claiming to show homophobic bullying was something which needed particular attention in Church schools. It was revised in 2017 and 2019, but was the cause of controversy for three reasons. First, it was felt to be implying that children and young …
In the last few weeks I have been busy with the media, and this is a reflection of the fact that there are more and more opportunities for us to engage in broadcast media than ever before. Quite apart from the (literally) millions of podcasts and pre-recorded YouTube videos, there is demand for live radio, …
Robert Tombs and Lawrence Goldman write: The Church Commissioners have pledged £100 million over nine years in reparation for what are claimed to be their eighteenth-century predecessors’ involvement in and large financial gains from slavery and the slave trade. They argue that the Church, through Queen Anne’s Bounty (a corporation created by statute in 1703-4 for ‘the …
When I first heard the news of Michael Mosley’s disappearance on the island of Symi, I had a sense of foreboding which was confirmed four days later when his body was found. But more than that—I was taken by surprise at my sense of personal loss. Of course, there is always a rather unreal sense …
