Talking (non)sense about rural mission

When we lived in Poole, and the kids were small, we loved to ride on the Swanage Railway. Its steam and diesel locomotives, run by volunteers, gently haul visitors from the busyness of the seafront to the drama of Corfe Castle, still standing defiant against the destruction wrought by Cromwell after the Civil War. But … Continue Reading

(How) can we live with disagreement?

Earlier this year, I took part in a consultation on the current conflicts in the Church of England, particularly on sexuality, and whether it is possible to disagree well. Out of that discussion has come the book Good Disagreement? edited by Andrews Atherstone and Goddard and published very promptly by Lion Hudson. The back cover blurb runs … Continue Reading

What does it take to grow?

A few years ago I was in conversation with someone who had been in theological education, but was now returning to parochial ministry. ‘I am going to go and grow a church’ he quipped; ‘It’s not that hard.’ He was heading to an inner urban area, and whilst I admired his optimism, I winced at … Continue Reading

Labour’s crazy economics

Having commented from time to time on politics and the elections, I found it fascinating to see the rather muted response to John McDonnell’s speech at the Labour party conference. Reaction to the appointment of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader has mostly focussed on things he said in the past and terrible things he would … Continue Reading

Gender, representation and Synod

There have been some interesting responses to my previous post on Synod, representation and gender—thanks to all who provided corrections to the data for individual diocese, and filled the gaps. Two kinds of responses predominated in the conversation on Facebook, which became quite lively. They are encapsulated by the response of my colleague Amanda Digman … Continue Reading

Synod, representation and gender

It is with some trepidation that I have offered myself as a candidate for General Synod for the next quinquennium (five-year term), having been a member for Salisbury Diocese in 2000–2005. During that time, we signed off the last stages of liturgical revision (remember that?!) including the ordinal and alternative collects, and received the excellent Some … Continue Reading

The Meaning of Death

It is remarkable to think that it is only 11 days since the vote on the Assisted Dying Bill—a week is a long time in social media ethics. As part of ongoing reflection on this issue, Matthew Kirkpatrick of Wycliffe Hall in Oxford offers this reflection on The Meaning of Death—A Response to Lord Carey … Continue Reading

A Bluffer’s Guide to the Anglican Communion

This is the full text of my article published on the Christianity magazine blog on Friday: What has happened? The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has made a significant announcement about the future of the Anglican Communion. He has issued an invitation to 37 Primates of the Anglican Communion (archbishops who lead the different provinces) … Continue Reading

What is going on in the Anglican Communion?

There has been a small torrent of comment in the religious press following Justin Welby’s announcement about a meeting to consider the future of the Anglican Communion. As usual, there is a full listing of the different points of view on the Thinking Anglicans website, and some pointed discussion of what is ‘really’ going on … Continue Reading

The Ethical Case for Voting Reform

One of the many reactions to the result of the General Election earlier this year was a renewed call for electoral reform. The reason for this can be shown by a simple analysis of the number of votes needed for each seat in Parliament for the different parties: Votes Seats Votes per seat Con 11,162,553 … Continue Reading