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Yesterday in Synod, we spent five hours (yes, five!) on what is likely to be the final debate on the Living in Love and Faith process (LLF), the Church of England’s damaging and divisive debate on sexuality launched by Justin Welby in 2017. Following what was widely seen as a volte face by the House of … Continue Reading
Is the Church Commissioners’ proposal for a ‘reparations’ fund (Project Spire) for ‘Justice, Healing, and Repair’ based on historical facts? Will it ‘repair’, or in fact divide us further? Is there a clear ethical argument, and have they followed clear and transparent processes in proposing this? The two videos here comprises four addresses given at … Continue Reading
The Church Commissioners’ response to what has allegedly been learnt about the involvement of its predecessor, the Queen Anne’s Bounty (QAB), in the slave trade was first called Project Spire, and has been relabelled the Fund for Healing, Justice, and Repair. General Synod has been meeting this week, and in Questions, the first section pressed … Continue Reading
David Tudor was ordained in the Church of England, and served in Southwark Diocese in the 1980s, and then in Chelmsford Diocese from 2000, as Rector of Canvey Island. As a BBC report from a year ago notes: In 1988, David Tudor was a defendant in two criminal trials In the first trial, he was … Continue Reading
Sarah Mullally, current bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury elect, gave a new year’s address yesterday in which she set out some priorities for the Church of England. (It was quite widely reported, in The Times, BBC, LBC and elsewhere, though I could not find the text anywhere on her own website or that … Continue Reading
The fury over a Christmas carol event exposes the ideological gatekeeping hollowing out British Christianity. Jason Clark writes: Over the last few days, my social media feeds—shaped by the strange, selective algorithms we all live under—have been replete with progressive and left-leaning Christians condemning the upcoming “Christ in Christmas” event in London linked to Tommy … Continue Reading
David Campanale writes: It was in a one-to-one union meeting with BBC management where I met the darkness. In the wake of the post-Jimmy Savile BBC Trust investigation into a culture of bullying, harassment and control inside the BBC, I had gone on behalf of the National Union of Journalists to read out evidence from … Continue Reading
How can we make connections between what we see in our world around us, and the good news of what God has done for us in Jesus? How can we build bridges of understanding from the things that engage the time and attention of those around us, within but especially outside the church, and into … Continue Reading
Last week, King Charles III and Pope Leo IV made history in the Sistine Chapel by praying side by side—’a first for the leaders of the Church of England and Catholic Church’ according to the BBC. For some, this seemed like a historical ecumenical move; Stephen Cottrell called it a ‘step towards the full visible … Continue Reading
Marginally later than in some previous years, the full details of the annual returns on attendance for the Church of England has been published (‘Statistics for Mission’). This is in two parts, both linked here: a report, giving the main statistics and trends, helpfully illustrated with graphs; and the detailed breakdown by diocese in a … Continue Reading
One of the perennial features of theological study and preparation for Christian ministry has been the yawning chasm between scholarship and church leadership over the last century or two. The evidence for this varies from the comment to young Christians: ‘Don’t study theology at university; you will lose your faith’, to a sense that theological … Continue Reading
Ian Paul: theologian, author, speaker, academic consultant. Associate Senior Research Fellow, Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology; Associate Minister, St Nic's, Nottingham; Managing Editor, Grove Books; member of General Synod and Archbishops' Council. Mac user; chocoholic. Tweets at @psephizo
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Gospel commentary index Lectionary Year A
Andrew Goddard Bible biblical interpretation Biblical literacy biblical theology Christmas Church of England culture discipleship discussion doctrine eschatology evangelism gay General Synod Grove guest Hermeneutics History hope interpretation James Blandford Baker Jesus John's gospel Justin Welby leadership lectionary Luke Luke's gospel Matthew ministry mission New Testament Paul politics preaching Revelation same sex marriage same sex unions sexuality theology video Year A Year B Year C
