Andrew Goddard

Lambeth 2020: what is the future of the Anglican Communion?

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Andrew Goddard writes: With preparations for Lambeth 2020 well underway, the questions already raised about who will attend (Section A) have become even more serious following two events at the end of 2018: Archbishop Justin invited all bishops in Communion provinces to attend and one of those invited then married his same-sex partner in his … Continue Reading

Evangelical and affirming: developments beyond Scripture?

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Andrew Goddard writes: As set out in my shorter summary, I believe the three articles entitled “Same Sex Marriage & Scripture: Affirming Evangelical Response” which were commissioned by Jayne Ozanne for her Via Media blog are significant and helpful responses to the Oct 2018 letter from the Bishop of Blackburn and ten other evangelical Church … Continue Reading

Evangelical and affirming: pastoral accommodation?

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Andrew Goddard writes: As set out in my shorter summary, I believe the three articles entitled “Same Sex Marriage & Scripture: Affirming Evangelical Response” which were commissioned by Jayne Ozanne for her Via Media blog are significant and helpful responses to the Oct 2018 letter from the Bishop of Blackburn and ten other evangelical Church … Continue Reading

Evangelical and affirming: re-reading Genesis 2?

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Andrew Goddard writes: As set out in my shorter summary, I believe the three articles entitled “Same Sex Marriage & Scripture: Affirming Evangelical Response” which were commissioned by Jayne Ozanne for her Via Media blog are significant and helpful responses to the Oct 2018 letter from the Bishop of Blackburn and ten other evangelical Church … Continue Reading

Evangelical and affirming?

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Andrew Goddard writes: The October 2018 letter from the Bishop of Blackburn and ten other evangelical Church of England bishops produced a range of different responses.  The most significant and helpful for me were undoubtedly the three articles entitled “Same Sex Marriage & Scripture: Affirming Evangelical Response” which were commissioned by Jayne Ozanne for her Via … Continue Reading

Is the Bishops’ Policy on Civil Partnerships Sustainable?

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The House of Bishops’ position on civil partnerships and same-sex sexual relationships is defined by three statements. The first is Issues in Human Sexuality, published in 1991 as a ‘discussion document’. When it was published, it had very mixed reactions, and I remember very clearly our whole-college debate about it in the college chapel when I … Continue Reading

What signal was given by the Ely Pride flag?

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Last weekend, Ely Cathedral flew a rainbow Pride flag in order to signal support for the Ely Pride festival taking place (for the first time) over the weekend. The decision was made on the recommendation of the Dean, Mark Bonney, and the cathedral chapter voted to accept his recommendation—though this was not a decision by … Continue Reading

The death penalty and Christian moral teaching

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Andrew Goddard writes: The announcement that Pope Francis has altered Roman Catholic moral teaching on the death penalty, and the fuller justification of this decision in the letter to bishops from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith open up a host of interesting and important ethical and ecclesiological questions. Although his action appears to … Continue Reading

On Synod, sexuality, and not ‘Taking note’

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Yesterday the General Synod of the Church of England debated the report offered by the House of Bishops outlining where we had got to in the debate about sexuality. The form of the debate was unusual; rather than proposing anything, the motion was simply to ‘Take note’ of the report, which essentially means acknowledging that … Continue Reading