Statement on Clergy Conference 2022 by the Church of Ceylon
While the country’s problems have been brewing for years, spillovers from the crisis in Ukraine have sent the island nation over the edge
The long view – How retired clergy can harvest their experience and become encouragers to those who minister in a very different ‘now’.
The Rev'd Mark Rudall writes: The Grace of God is a central concept in Christian theology, but at every level of society there will always be failure if some level of its human outworking is missing ... retired clergy, who have seen the best and the worst of human dynamics in daily life and ministry over many years, are well placed to enter retirement equipped to be of real use in any groups, Christian or otherwise, that they might join.
Will God or his Church intervene in Ukraine before it’s too late?
Editorial: The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson writes. Rowan Williams former Archbishop of Canterbury 2003-2012 appeared with an ash mark still on his forehead on Ash Wednesday, 2nd March urging senior Orthodox church leaders outside Russia to stand alongside archbishops, patriarchs and the Pope in calling for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine ...
Kiev or Kyiv? #KyivNotKiev
Editorial: Kiev or Kyiv? - A difference in spelling the name of the capital city has emerged since the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine was first mooted. The shift indicates an almost universal reluctance to use the former Kiev as it is a transliteration from the Russian Cyrillic alphabet. The new (to us in the West) Kyiv is the local Ukrainian usage. Thus, solidarity in a spelling bee can be shown with those of us who are horrified at the increasing terror of Russian imperialism and accompanying military violence towards a near neighbour.
Is equality of opportunity ever achievable without tighter regulations on targeted marketing? – Is there more we can do to protect the vulnerable?
Nicola Hughes writes: For every student studying business since 1980 Kotler and Armstrong’s Principles of Marketing has been a necessary purchase – Marketing as an industry is constantly changing and in an unsurprisingly business savvy way K&A regularly updated the ‘’Marketing Bible” so students couldn’t borrow outdated copies from the library. I didn’t have the same problem while studying Theology!
The Pope’s Pet Subject
Jane Kelly, has serious reservations about the Pope's pronouncement on 'selfish couples' who 'substitute dogs for children' ... The lack of the initial strong maternal bond may be a key to why so many people now grow up unable to form close relations with other humans and lack the emotional resilience the Pope recognises is needed to tackle complex adult relationships such as being parents. We are all sad, lonely children now, needing our teddy bears and our puppy for comfort!
Truth and Reconciliation for Today
The Rev'd Canon Dr. Richard Truss, Guest Editor, writes: Where is the church’s voice in public affairs? We do see occasional episcopal pronouncements, and occasional letters in the press. But most of the attention the past year, when any has surfaced at all, has not been on what the church and theology might have to say to the rest of society, but on what is seen as the dire state of the Church itself - the future of the parish, the financial crisis and even conjectures as to whether it can survive at all?
Why did I leave the Anglican Church?
Chris Jefferies writes: I was asked this question some time ago. At first I felt that it somehow missed the point because I tend to feel that I never was an Anglican, although it’s true that in my mid to late teens I would have called myself Anglican – perhaps?
Egregious omicron?
Christmas Editorial 2021: The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson - Editor - Until recently, in the lexicon of everyday use, the word ‘egregious’ has been one of the lesser-used adjectival descriptions of conspicuously bad and flagrant behaviour. ...
Book review. My Journey as a Religious Pluralist: A Christian Theology of Religions Reclaimed – Alan Race
The Rev'd Dr. Peniel Rajkumar writes: Few theologians have approached the many questions and challenges that religious plurality poses for Christian theologies of religions with such honesty and depth as Alan Race. Never the one to dodge difficult questions, Race has both problematised as well as probed, with passion and profundity, a wide-range of themes and questions that are concomitant to Christian understanding and engagement with other religions