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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, has been visiting west Africa, and was pictured meeting both the King of the Ashanti (above) and visiting the sites of slave trading, in particular the embarkation points for the Transatlantic slave trade, where she was clearly personally moved. I noticed this comment from Father Richard Woods, a retired … Continue Reading
The Church of England’s motion on Kairos Palestine II has dismayed many of Jewish heritage, including Jewish Christians in the UK. If the Church of England wishes to hear Palestinian Christians—which it should—then it must also hear Jewish believers, Messianic Jews, Israeli Christians, Arab Christians and others whose lives reflect the profound complexity of the … Continue Reading
Andrew Goddard writes: This article analyses the July 2026 General Synod’s debate on Helen King’s Private Members’ Motion concerning same-sex relationships and Christian discipleship explored in a previous article. It traces the two competing amendments before explaining why the eventual amended motion failed in the House of Bishops. It notes the significant shift in voting … Continue Reading
The columns of our newspapers and our feeds on social media have been filled with the debate about the political issues raised by the tragic murder of Southampton student Henry Nowak. Nowak was stabbed five times by Vickrum Digwa in December 2025, and Digwa was convicted this week. The case has raised emotive issues—but before … Continue Reading
This July, in the final session of this quinquennium, General Synod is due to debate a Private Members Motion from Helen King suggesting that there are no fundamental objections to committed same-sex relationships. Because of its timing, and the ambiguity of its wording, some have argued it must be opposed. Andrew Goddard here assesses the … Continue Reading
Angela Tilby, in her weekly column in the Church Times, has claimed that the Church of England is pastoral and not missional. But she can only do this by being highly selective from the ordinal, from the text of John 10, and from the Church’s own theology of mission. Angela Tilby is a retired Canon … Continue Reading
This week, the Church of England released headline figures for church attendance in 2025. This is collated from the parish returns done in October each year, and Ken Eames and the statistics team in Church House do a great job. Before plunging into the numbers and offering some reflection, it is worth addressing the common … Continue Reading
Andrew Atherstone has continued the tradition of being the biographer of our archbishops. He published two on Justin Welby, and has brought his proficient pen to bear on Sarah Mullally, producing his volume in remarkably short time—from a standing start when her appointment was announced (October 3rd 2025) he has produced this biography in time … Continue Reading
John Root writes: The diocese of London has been awarded a grant of £730,000 from the Church of England’s Racial Justice Unit to develop its racial justice work over a three year period. This is part of a national strategy of giving grants to address the issue. In this blog I want to question whether … Continue Reading
Tim Goode is a residentiary canon in York Minster, having previously spent all his time since ordination in 2009 in parish ministry in Southwark Diocese. Tim was elected to General Synod in 2015, and joined the Archbishops’ Council in 2021, where I got to know him. He is a charming man, and we have always … Continue Reading
Last summer, with a little help, I reimagined how Synod would look to Anthony Trollope and Raymond Chandler, whom I had been reading at the time. Now that the dust has settled from Synod in London last week, it is worth reflecting with some humour on the proceedings. One of the debates on Thursday was … 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 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 power preaching Revelation same sex marriage same sex unions sexuality theology video Year A Year B Year C
