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As I write the title for this piece, I feel rather hesitant. Why is it worth talking about discontent? Isn’t it best left, so that we can focus on things that are positive? Sometimes that is true—but the difficulty with ignoring the discontent, or other negative feelings, is that they then fester, and become worse. … Continue Reading
There continues to be some heated debate in the C of E about the respective roles of clergy and laity. On the one hand, research shows that the deployment of stipendiary ministry and leadership is a key to church growth, and so cutting clergy numbers runs counter to current stated strategy. On the other hand, … Continue Reading
It seems that universalism—the idea that God is somehow present in all people, or that all will experience ‘salvation’ without differentiation—is the widespread and mostly unreflected assumption of many in the C of E. I offered a critique of this a couple of years ago, in response to a comment made by the Archbishop of … Continue Reading
I have just returned from the second session, in London, of the new Synod which first met last November. Some commented that the agenda looked rather dull, but (to coin a phrase) ‘the devil is in the detail’, and in amongst the boring-but-important discussions about faculties, boilers, and internet cabling, there were some startling insights … Continue Reading
Stephen Hance is National Lead for Evangelism and Witness for the Church of England. He has written a fascinating Grove Booklet arising from his research in his current role, Seeing Ourselves as Others See Us: Perceptions of the Church of England. I was able to ask him about his research and its implications for national and … Continue Reading
Andrew Goddard writes: Two years ago, as I headed to bed just gone midnight on January 23rd, I sent an email to colleagues involved in Living in Love and Faith (LLF) saying, “Am rather surprised to see this tonight on Twitter…I imagine it may cause a bit of a stir….”. The document concerned was Pastoral Guidance … Continue Reading
Grove Books have just published a new study, “Drink This, All of You”: Individual Cups at Holy Communion, by Andrew Atherstone and Andrew Goddard. I caught up with Andrew Atherstone to ask him about it. IP: Why do you think this booklet is needed, and why is it needed just now? AA: Many Church of … Continue Reading
On 6th January, it was announced that Stephen Knott, who has been working as part of the Lambeth Palace team, was appointed to be Archbishops’ Secretary for Appointments in succession to Caroline Boddington. The role has attracted attention in the past, since Caroline developed the role so that it had significant control over the process … Continue Reading
This week saw the first meeting of the new General Synod following elections last month. It was designed to be a largely uncontroversial first session, not least because around 60% of the members were new—something fairly unprecedented, which resulted in a surprising number of established members not being re-elected. Most of the items of business … Continue Reading
It has been reported that leaders of the Anglican Church in Ghana are supporting a parliamentary bill that would strengthen harsh criminal sentences for same-sex sexual activity, criminalise people who advocate for LGBT rights, and even punish people just for identifying as LGBT. You can read a memorandum on the legislation here. We are aware that there … Continue Reading
On 9th October, Leicester Diocesan Synod voted to move to what they call a ‘Minster communities framework’ for ministry: The Diocese of Leicester Synod has voted in favour of a Minster Community framework with an amendment that the stipendiary (paid) leadership team of at least four people (including lay and ordained roles) in each of … 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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