The Church of England
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
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
The Ambiguous Legacy of John Henry Newman
Dr. Graham Kings reflects on the legacy of John Henry Newman in the light of the UK papal visit of 2010 - Beguiling and virulent, holy and vituperative, quicksilver and splenetic, charming and cantankerous: there are many sides to the character of John Henry Newman ...
The frog in the pan – reflections on the ‘culture of church’
Bishop Robert Paterson writes: “Increasingly, the culture of ‘church’, particularly in those churches that are old and hard of hearing, is alien to most people. Most people do not customarily gather on Sunday mornings to sing in chorus with others, handling books (let alone several of them), sitting on wooden benches in cool buildings, ...
Editorial: The next forty years and the end of mainstream Christianity?
The Editor, the Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson writes: According to an article recently published in the U.K. Church Times an analysis of R-number modelling, as used during the Covid crisis, which calculates the growth or contraction rates of events and institutions, has given the Church of England a “reproduction potential” R number of 0.9. In short this means that at current rate of decline the Church will cease to exist in 2062. ...
REVIEW: The Precarious Church – Redeeming the Body of Christ by Martyn Percy
Sebastian Satkurunath writes: I wanted to like this book; I really did. The stated premise, that church is at its best when it is outward focused and trusting in God to provide rather than prioritising its own security in the form of financial resources and numerical growth, is a compelling and appealing one, and thoroughly in the spirit of the sermon of the mount (Mt 6.25-34). What’s more, there are clearly many ways in which the Church of England fails to meet this ideal, ...
‘In God we Trust’ – Editorial, Easter 2023
The Editor,The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson writes in the Easter Editorial: ‘In God we Trust’– a phrase that appears on American banknotes and coinage – was first approved by Congress in 1864 during the American Civil War. The provenance of the phrase isn’t biblical but comes rather from the American National Anthem, a stanza at the end of the fourth and final rarely sung verse: “And this be our motto: In God is our trust. And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” The anthem is itself an exposition of a poem ‘The Defence of Fort McHenry’ by Frances Scott Key during the War of 1812 against the British. It seems today that the banknote rather than the motto has elicited more faith than a sinking conventional religious affiliation and patriotism. ...
Democratic Deficit?
The Editor, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson writes in his Editorial post, Lent 2023: ‘Gerrymandering’ is the political manipulation of electoral boundaries with the intent of creating an undue advantage for a political party or faction. These days it might also be extended to describe generically other associated practices to the same end. ... Whilst currently busy assessing the recent decision published by the House of Bishops and welcomed by the General Synod to enable same-sex couples to come to church after a civil marriage or partnership to give thanks, dedicate their relationship to God and receive God’s blessing - even the Church of England, cannot be accused of gerrymandering. At least not in terms of its electoral process, which has long used a system of Proportional Representation for its elections – the precise form being STV (Single Transferable Vote). ... Not fraudulent, but certainly unfair, the system as used in the United Kingdom for parliamentary elections remains that of the so-called ‘first past the post’ (FPTP) where winner takes all regardless of how low a percentage actually voted for the candidate. This has produced some seriously skewed results. For example, the Johnson-led conservative victory at the 2020 general election produced a large parliamentary majority of 80 seats – hailed a great mandate and the will of the people on what was actually only 43.6% of the popular vote. Clearly, this system often effectively negates the wishes of a majority of voters. ... The use of voter ID is in itself no bad thing, if it ensures democracy rather than distorting it. Nevertheless, there is a legitimate concern even if the scheme may in practice backfire and in practice remove the vote from the very people it is meant to encourage . In short and in practice it looks like a subtle variation of gerrymandering. ...
The House of Bishops on gay marriage – Part two of a two-part study
In this second contribution to the current debate on gay marriage and the C of E's House of Bishops Report, the Rev'd Jonathan Clatworthy concludes: Reflecting on that whole history of church teaching about sexual ethics, one cannot help noticing that the changes since the early 1960s have been remarkably fast. I suspect this means three things. Firstly, the changes have been much needed. Secondly, younger people find it hard to understand why their parents and grandparents behaved as they did. Thirdly, we are left with much unfinished business. A century ago, there was a clearly understood ethical tradition about sex: it was only for childbearing within marriage. That tradition was sanctioned by a widely accepted moral authority, the Christian churches. Now, there is no clearly understood ethical system. If any principle is emerging as a criterion of acceptable sex, it is simply consent between the parties. In the process, the moral authority of the churches has collapsed. So far, nothing has replaced it. As long as the ecclesiastical leadership continues to tear itself apart over gay marriage, the general public cannot forget why the churches are no longer seen as a moral authority. ...
A response to ‘The Church of England’s Doctrine of Marriage’, +Fulham et al
The Rev'd Dr. Charlie Bell responds to the fourteen bishops who have published a defence of 'traditional' marriage: I thought it might be useful to offer a few thoughts on the most recent paper by a number of bishops, of differing theologies and yet in opposition to same-sex marriage. It’s notable that these bishops come from different theological stables, which probably does give some indication as to why the resulting theology here is so disappointingly light and unconvincing. It appears to lack a coherence theological thread and suffers because of it. Nonetheless, it is good that bishops are finally willing to say what they think – even if we might disagree with it. The risk of saying what you think, of course, is that your arguments are open to challenge. This is my small offering in that regard. ...