Renewing Communion: A queering of unity and colonialism

The Rev'd Dr. Charlie Bell summarises: The Anglican Communion as a trans-national and interdependent community of Christians is facing potential catastrophe. The Communion remains a creature of colonialism, both in the way it lives out its mission and in its structures. At the heart of the Communion’s breakdown in koinonia has been the ‘possibility’ of same-sex or same-gender love, something made somehow distinct and, as a result, problematised. This article considers the underlying complex dynamics of colonisation and the ongoing refusal of the Anglican Communion to engage in reflexive practice. The opportunity of redemption through queerness is identified, and the barriers to such a journey of hope in the Communion both engaged with and challenged. Similarly, the appeal to ‘unity’ is confronted and itself disrupted. Finally, the intrinsic relationship between decolonisation and queerness is identified and celebrated as a key to a healthy future for what it means to be Anglican. ... CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2025-01-17T20:24:25+00:00By |Tags: |

Lived Mission in 21st Century Britain – Ecumenical and Postcolonial Perspectives

The Rev'd Dr. Adrian Hough in his review of 'Lived Mission in 21st Century Britain - Ecumenical and Post Colonial Perspectives' writes: This is a good book; indeed, this is a very good book and an important book. If more people were to read it than ever will and if they were to then act upon what they had read, British Society would be improved and our churches would be more vibrant and effective at sharing the Good News that God has for everyone. As the existence of editors implies, this is actually a book of essays, fifteen in all, together with an introduction and a concluding discussion. The authors come from a wide range of backgrounds and denominations (although there are rather more men than women) and they were all asked to address the subject of Mission as a lived experience. In case the reader was unaware of the distinction, the editors also make it clear that Mission is not the same as Evangelism nor is it explicitly about evangelism. ... CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2024-12-30T17:50:43+00:00By |Tags: |

Expensive votes for sale this Christmas but still no room at the inn?

The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson in his Editorial writes: During the Christmas season and on the cusp of what seems to have the potential to be an annus horribilis in 2025 news is being generated (like the carol ‘We three Kings’ “Westward leading, still proceeding”) from the United States. We learn that an unelected billionaire sidekick to the incoming/returning American President is extending his reach even unto the United Kingdom. The Reform Party a recent right-wing arrival on the British electoral scene, which specialises (like most far right parties) in agitating about immigration has apparently been offered a huge sum of money to support its electoral endeavours. Should this come about by one means or another it would seriously distort British politics and represent both foreign interference and the purchase of voting intentions. It should be noted in this respect that the precursor to the Reform Party was the Brexit Party whose eager embrace of the mantra “Take Back Control” that assisted in the disastrous exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union has reversed position by effectively being willing to cede control to the United States! ... CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2025-01-17T20:27:20+00:00By |Tags: |

Archiepiscopal vacancy

The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson, Editor: Anglicanism.org writes in his latest Editorial - The recent resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury, at first resisted, became almost inevitable. The astonishing and appalling nature of the sado-masochistic proclivities inflicted on well over a hundred young male victims in the UK and then in South Africa and Zimbabwe, by the late John Smyth QC in the name of religion have ensured that there would eventually be collateral damage, not least on the victims themselves. It is the Church of England under which auspices Smyth operated that must be most alarmed..... CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2024-11-20T15:22:47+00:00By |

When will it ever end?

The Editor: The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson writes in the latest Editorial - On Saturday 7th October 2023 the fifth war of the Gaza/Israel conflict began when Hamas-led militant groups led a surprise attack on Israel. This resulted in the deaths of 1,915 Israeli and foreign nationals including 815 civilians. Further, 251 hostages were taken captive into Gaza with the stated aim to release Palestinian prisoners and detainees. ... The Israeli reprisal invasion of Gaza that followed has resulted in the deaths of over 40,000 Palestinians and enormous destruction of property and homes in Gaza. The subsequent steady enlargement of the conflict from both sides has continued in a steady escalation of the war with incursions by the Israelis into both Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. This has drawn the Shiite powerful non-state militia Hezbollah into the conflict and the background influence of Iran has become increasingly obvious. ...CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2024-10-18T13:06:41+00:00By |Tags: |

Pondering the essence of worship – a reflection

The Rev'd Mark Rudall reflects on the nature of worship: ... I have a love affair with my local river. The sheer beauty, joy and peace I find on it relaxes and delights me beyond words and is something I like to share at every opportunity. ... CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2024-10-18T21:27:32+00:00By |

“From Pakistan to the UK: A Christian Woman’s Journey of Faith, Perseverance, and Renewal”

Sabeeta Mushtaq writes of her faith journey: ... I was born and raised in Pakistan, a Muslim country, into a Catholic Christian family. Growing up as a religious minority in a society where Islam is the dominant faith was a unique experience that came with its own set of challenges and blessings. Despite facing discrimination and social barriers, my faith and upbringing instilled in me a keen sense of purpose and determination that propelled me forward. My early education was in Pakistan, where I worked hard to excel in my studies despite the obstacles. As a Christian in a Muslim-majority country, I encountered moments of marginalization, but I refused to let those experiences define or limit me. Instead, they fuelled my resolve to not only succeed but to advocate for others in similar situations. ... CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2024-10-18T13:16:08+00:00By |Tags: |

Review: The Holiness of Ordinary People – by Madeleine Delbrêl

Kathryn Rose writes: Madeleine Delbrêl's *The Holiness of Ordinary People* offers a profound exploration of spirituality in everyday life, providing readers with an insightful reflection on how ordinary people can live out their faith in the world. Delbrêl, a French Catholic social worker, writer, and mystic, draws from her own life experiences working in the streets of Ivry, a working-class suburb of Paris, to share her observations on the holiness found in the mundane. ... CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2024-10-18T13:17:13+00:00By |Tags: |

East meets West – a reflective faith journey from China to London

Jenny Clarke writes: I was brought up as an atheist.  I remember that at the age of 10, I made a vow to devote my life to communism, and I received a red scarf, which signifies my status as a member of the Young Pioneers of China.  In a way, this ceremony is very similar to a standard confirmation service in my church.  We had 12 children from the local parish school confirmed on 12th May 2024, but I hardly saw them afterwards in the church on Sundays.  This is not a criticism.  Turning up to Sunday mass week by week requires sacrifice.  Those youngsters will have had to miss football clubs, Sunday TV, weekends away or other fun.  Sometimes, I struggle to go to mass, so I shouldn’t offer to take the speck out of others' eyes before taking out the beams of my own. ... CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2024-10-18T13:18:12+00:00By |Tags: |

Review: What Christ? Whose Christ? Alan Race & Jonathan Clatworthy (Editors)

Jason Plessas writes: For a book that sets the Nicene Creed among other things in its sights, What Christ? Whose Christ? reads in some ways like a credal rededication to the founding principles of Modern Church, the liberal Christian theological society to which its editors Alan Race and Jonathan Clatworthy belong. The pair’s introduction relays the book’s antecedence in a 1921 conference at Girton College, Cambridge, entitled ‘Christ and the Creeds’, held by a group of Anglican modernists called the Churchman’s Union which across the ‘20s “debated, and largely doubted…the physical resurrection of Jesus, the Virgin Birth, miracles and the realist and ransom doctrines of the Atonement”. Race and Clatworthy enthusiastically adopt the CU’s mantle, as the book “continues this spirit of critical enquiry first highlighted at the turn of the twentieth century and yet often still resisted at the turn of the twenty-first.” Where is this Churchman’s Union then, you might ask, if its work of the last century goes uncompleted in this one? It became ecumenical and now operates under a different name. You guessed it: it’s Modern Church, of course! In its promises of bearing the flame of theological free enquiry, What Christ? Whose Christ? does not disappoint. ... CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2024-10-18T13:19:36+00:00By |Tags: |
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