all clergy operate under his licence and no member of the clergy can operate without it. The Bishop is also in charge of discipline, as evident in the Ordinal:
WILL you maintain and set forward (as much as shall lie in you) quietness, peace, and love among all men; and such as be unquiet, disobedient and criminous within your Diocese, correct and punish, according to such authority as ye have by God's Word, and as to you shall be committed by the Ordinance of this Realm?
Read moreLiberal commentators have been claiming it's a fine thing to see high levels of immigration because it is immigrants propping the Church up. Well, that cannot be true if we have had record highs in immigration in recent years, reaching 1.1 million immigrants arriving in the U.K. last year, and Christian numbers keep falling. Moreover, the number of Christians is still plummeting, putting us in the minority for the first time in modern history.
Read moreJeremy Morris is a highly-regarded specialist in nineteenth-century religious history but he evidently relishes this broader focus of a narrative history in the mode of Tom Holland. He holds a balance between offering a coherent historical thread and challenging established preconceptions throughout. Only towards the end do we lose the momentum of quite an exciting story and that is because of the uncertainty of current trends: their outcome still has to be determined.
Read moreIn your letter you raise various passages that you say may conflict with your conclusion and to your credit you not only say that they may be legitimately read as such but actually agree that one, Romans 1:26-27, does in fact conflict with your stated position. Your principle of development of doctrine i.e.
Read moreA press release issued at the conclusion of the meeting on Wednesday said: "Bishops spent time praying, reflecting, and discussing a spectrum of possible ways forward for the Church regarding same-sex relationship and marriage, and the theological basis for each. They will continue those discussions at a third meeting in mid-January at which it is anticipated that they will agree an 'offering' to the Church, giving a clear sense of direction."
Read more"The voice we listen to above all other voices is God's voice and that voice is heard in "God's word written, in Holy Scripture"... God has spoken through his Word and his voice is the decisive voice to be heard in the Church of England."
Sinclair's statement is in clear agreement with the Scripture, Creeds, Canons, Ordinal, Book of Homilies, and the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion of the Church of England.
Read moreThis is despite the low threshold for establishing antisemitism used by the Church of England since it adopted the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism in 2018. The IHRA has been widely criticised for weaponising antisemitism in order to silence critics of Israel by conflating criticism of Israel with attacks on Jews for being Jews.
Read moreSeveral bishops have issued public statements sharing their position. It is thought more than a thousand priests could back a change to church law.
The Most Rev Justin Welby, the church's most senior cleric and spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, said he did not expect to share his views, however, because his role was to be a source of "unity".
Read moreThis is what we must be praying for the bishops next week. Out of that meeting will come whatever proposals are to be brought to Synod in February. This won't be the final form of any motion with all the legal i's dotted and t's crossed. It is most likely to be a series of exploratory motions, testing the mind of Synod, seeing what they might be able to get through and what will cause most outcry.
Read more"There is no remedy for bishops who teach falsely!"
"There's nothing we can do!"
"The Church of England is finished--this is it!"
"CDMs (Church Disciplinary Measures) do not apply to doctrine."
"CDMs do not apply to bishops."
All that is missing is Henny Penny running around shouting, "The sky is falling."