Church of England

Do Anglicans believe in ‘real presence’?

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Earlier this week I had a conversation with a friend who has just been recommended for ordination training. He has been meeting with someone else going through selection, and they have been working through the ordinal together. ‘It’s funny—we couldn’t find all that Catholic stuff in the ordinal—it comes over as quite, well, if not … Continue Reading

Does setting targets help with growth?

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Last Saturday I attended our Diocesan Synod—and came away having had a fascinating and absorbing time. (I am not sure I had ever anticipated saying that about a Diocesan Synod!) The first half of the meeting was what you might usually expect. We receive annual reports from across the diocese, the most important being the … Continue Reading

What are the Additional Baptism texts doing?

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The latest Grove Worship booklet Accessible Baptisms introduces the Additional Baptism texts which were published at the end of last year. The author, Tim Stratford, was in parish ministry for many years, for some time in an outer estate in Liverpool, before becoming Archdeacon of Leicester in 2012. Like the best of sermons, the booklet starts … Continue Reading

Should the Church be disestablished?

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The continuing decline in Church attendance and the apparent marginalization of Christian perspectives within the country naturally lead to the question of whether the Church should be disestablished. Does it make sense to have the life of the nation tied in to Christian belief by having a Church ‘established by law’ if so few people are actively involved in that Church, and a growing number don’t share its beliefs?

Justin Welby and the Fiery Cauldron of a Broken Family

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Andrew Atherstone writes: One of the precious family letters treasured by Lady Jane Williams (the Archbishop of Canterbury’s mother) dates from December 1973, shortly before her son’s 18th birthday. It is written by Justin Welby’s housemaster at Eton College and is a frank tribute to the “tenacity” and “bravery” displayed by the young man during his … Continue Reading

Liturgy for a missional church

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Last week, it happened. Half way through Holy Week, I finally got fed up with reciting the opening prayer in Common Worship. The offending text is as follows: Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation, to you be praise and glory for ever. As a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief your only … Continue Reading

Is the future of leadership lay or ordained?

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It is arguable that the greatest challenge currently facing the C of E is not to do with sexuality, not related to changes in culture and moral values, and unconnected with Church-State relations. It actually arises from a decision made around the time I started ordination training in 1989, that candidates needed ‘more experience of … Continue Reading

Jeremy Pemberton appeals the tribunal case

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I previously reported on the Employment Tribunal case of Jeremy Pemberton versus Richard Inwood, retired Acting Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, and the debate on BBC 2’s Victoria Derbyshire show between Jeremy and myself. Jeremy has been gracious enough to comment on the blog from his perspective, and a couple of days ago his partner, … Continue Reading

Is Archbishops’ Council too powerful?

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I spent most of the last two days in my first meeting of Archbishops’ Council. I think I am still processing the experience, not least because to what one person called ‘institutional vertigo’—it feels a little surreal to be considering questions of national and strategic importance, when there are few other places to experience this. … Continue Reading

Evangelicalism and the Church of England

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This guest post by Andrew Goddard is a review of Andrew Atherstone & John Maiden (eds), Evangelicalism and the Church of England in the Twentieth Century (The Boydell Press, 2014). Evangelicals in the Church of England are often remarkably confused and ignorant about their recent past. The wider church knows even less about who we are and … Continue Reading