scholarship. serving. ministry.
We are once again undertaking a review of ordination training in the Church of England, technically known as IME 1–3, Initial Ministerial Training years 1 to 3, to note that initial training continues in curacy prior to anyone becoming an incumbent (sole leader of a congregation). The reason for this is that all previous discussions … 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
Andrew Goddard writes: The Bishop of Liverpool’s recent address at the launch of MoSAIC (Movement of Supporting Anglicans for an Inclusive Church) has, unsurprisingly, caused quite a stir. There have already been significant critiques of much of his central argument for same-sex marriage from Ian Paul and Martin Davie. What I want to do here is … Continue Reading
Last week, the Diocese of Oxford posted a video, the first in a planned series of four, in which Olivia Graham, the recently-appointed bishop of Reading, gave a short theological introduction to the reasons why Christians should be concerned about the environment. In it, I think she said some unusual and (it turned out controversial) … Continue Reading
Evan Cockshaw writes: I could feel the nausea building in my stomach. Sweaty palms. Heaviness in my chest. I got out of my beat-up Volvo and parked next to an array of cars from all walks of life parked side by side on the gravel of the car park. I remember thinking my car was by … Continue Reading
In the week that Stephen Cottrell is confirmed as Archbishop of York, Andrew Atherstone reviews the archbishop’s latest book, On Priesthood (Hodder & Stoughton, 2020). There is no shortage of paperbacks about Anglican ministry, and about Christian leadership more broadly, flowing from the printing presses at a rapid rate. Several of our bishops have such … Continue Reading
On Wednesday it was announced that the leaders of the dioceses in the North West of England are planning to open a new theological college, combining residential and part-time ordination training with lay training of various kinds. I was able to ask Dr Emma Ineson, Bishop of Penrith in Carlisle Diocese, about this new venture. … Continue Reading
The Church of England is currently engaged in discussion and action which is pulling in rather different directions in relation to the importance of its clergy, and these debates were exemplified in the latest meeting of the General Synod in York over the weekend. One of last debates, held on Tuesday morning, concerned the follow-up … Continue Reading
In the modern era there have been three major reviews of ordination training in the Church of England. All three have tried to address some important structural issues; all three have been controversial and have been (to some extent) ideologically driven; all three have had unfortunate unintended consequences. The first was the imaginatively named ACCM … Continue Reading
Richard Moy writes: In 2007 the local BBC TV station did a feature on Nicola and me as the youngest clergy couple in the Church of England. Fortunately the footage has since been lost! But what was still quite rare in 2007 is now the new norm – at least for women in training. Apparently 60% of … Continue Reading
At the last Archbishops’ Council, I was rather startled to come across a slide in a presentation on some background issues about funding and mission. The slide offered an analysis of the proportion of the population attending Church of England churches against another factor (whose label I have, for the moment, removed), and there was … Continue Reading