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Last week I spoke with Pete Broadbent, Bishop of Willesden, on whether the C of E was drinking at last chance saloon on a sinking ship. You can read a good write-up of it by Madeleine Davies at the Church Times. Since I don’t really drink, and have never been to a saloon, I focused … Continue Reading
There is a great game you can play as an Anglican clergyman—I call it ‘numbers bingo’. You can play it whenever you are in a meeting with other Anglican clergyman, though it might work for other denominations too. You need to join in the conversation, and time how long it takes for someone to mention … Continue Reading
In the first part of his book, Song has explored some of the dynamics of marriage and sex in scripture and theology, and along the way has dismissed the most popular arguments for accepting same-sex unions as on a par with marriage. He then turns to the question of ‘covenant partnership’, and appears to hit another … Continue Reading
Robert Song’s Covenant and Calling: towards a theology of same-sex relationships is a book I have wanted to be persuaded by more than anything else I have recently read, for two main reasons. First, I was privileged to be in a small discussion group with Robert at a recent CEEC consultation on the issue of same-sex … Continue Reading
This is a guest blog post by Matthew Kirkpatrick, who teaches at Wycliffe Hall and at the University of Oxford. The Westminster Faith Debate series last autumn on ‘The Future of the Church of England’ finished with a session on ‘What does the Church of England offer the next generation?’ And no more important topic could perhaps be … Continue Reading
This guest post by Peter Ould responds to the recent incident at St John’s, Waterloo in Southwark Diocese. The apology this afternoon by Giles Goddard of St John’s Waterloo is nothing of the sort. If the Diocese of Southwark choose to accept it as a resolution of the complaints received about the church hosting an Islamic worship … Continue Reading
I spent last Saturday in London at a consultation organised by the Church of England Evangelical Council on (guess what?) the current debate on sexuality. The focus was a new book by Martin Davie, commissioned by CEEC, looking at all the major publications on the Bible and same-sex unions that have come out since the … Continue Reading
I’m often intrigued by those who argue that the church’s stance on sexuality—which usually means the church’s traditional opposition to seeing same-sex sexual unions as equivalent to male-female marriage—as an obstacle to mission. They are quite right that most people beyond the church look at this aspect of its teaching with more or less blank … Continue Reading
In just about every deanery I have been involved with, the allocation of ‘parish share’, the contribution to the central financing of the diocese, has been a matter of contention. As with many decisions, disagreements are heightened when they are focussed on the practical decisions involved. This is often because underlying principles have not been … Continue Reading
The title of this post is not a reference to the legendary last stand of the Spartans at Thermopylae, nor the gruesome film 300 based on a fictional retelling. There might have been times when I felt outnumbered (though not by a million) and some online interactions can feel like a fight to the death—though … Continue Reading
On Friday, Linda Woodhead expressed in the Church Times her serious reservations about the recent series of reports on change required in the Church of England (under the general heading of ‘Renewal and Reform’). Many of the responses I have read so far have been distinctly coloured by Woodhead’s previous comments and writing. This was, after … 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 Christmas 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 preaching Revelation same sex marriage same sex unions sexuality theology video Year A Year B Year C
