Before going onto the Synod livestream for the sessions. I happened to have been going through 1 Corinthians in the course of a Bible reading plan in the morning. The Apostle Paul's rebuke to the Corinthian church in chapter 11 strikes me powerfully:
Read moreMahatma Gandhi said that "unity to be real must stand the severest strain without breaking." I have always been clear that, as your Bishop, I should be there to build and foster togetherness across our Diocese, focused upon our life together in Christ, and upon our joint mission to serve Christ in our communities and to sustain Christian witness in daily life. Sadly, it seems it is no longer possible for me to fulfil this role.
Read moreArchbishop of York Stephen Cottrell--second only in the hierarchy to the archbishop of Canterbury--first floated his ideas last year in a report from a "Vision and Strategy" committee that Cottrell heads. But its publication last month, just before the laity, bishops and other clergy attended the Synod sessions online, has caused an outcry.
Read moreThe CofE spends at least $166,000 a year on each of its 42 diocesan bishops in maintaining their houses and paying their expenses, in addition to $64,000 each bishop is given per year as a stipend, according to the data that was released ahead of the sitting of General Synod, which began Friday and will end on Monday.
Read more"It has been claimed in some places that there is a plan to dissolve the parish system, sideline or even replace trained clergy, especially paid clergy, or to get rid of our beautiful, historic church buildings.
"So I want to make it abundantly clear that the Church of England is committed, now as always, to the ministry of the whole people of God including to ordained ministry in our parishes.
Read moreTo be fair to myself, I have not been entirely passive, skulking in the back pews with an Agatha Christie novel concealed behind a copy of Hymns Ancient & Modern (Revised).
For all that half-century I have fought a rearguard action against the tide of modernisation, secularisation and infantilisation which has constituted the agenda of the Established Church.
Read moreAs the Queen is supreme governor of the church and the archbishop of Canterbury, the Rt Hon and Most Rev Justin Welby, says he upholds the church's stance against gay marriage, the wedding causes new controversy at a time when Anglicans within and outside the United Kingdom are deeply divided.
The non-established Scottish Episcopal Church, along with its counterpart in the United States, has in recent years permitted gay weddings.
Read more'MOSAIC seeks a church where the God given potential of all is fully embraced and celebrated -- calling for an end to all discrimination against people due to economic power, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, learning disability, physical disability, neurodiversity, mental health, or sexuality. (https://mosaic-anglicans.org/about-us/)
Read moreThe "world beyond the church" has found it to be offensive, oppressive and hypocritical, he said.
Issues of sexuality, gender and same-sex marriage have caused deep and bitter divisions within the C of E in recent decades. Conservatives have sought to uphold traditional teaching that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. Campaigners for change say the bible teaches inclusivity and equality.
Read moreCertainly, hypocrisy is serious: if you are depriving people of their liberty, you at least need to comply with the strictures of your own regulatory framework. After all, people couldn't kiss their loved ones as they were dying; and then they couldn't attend the burials or cremations. So, yes, the hypocrisy is serious, because every breach of social distancing might kill granny, as Matt Hancock once warned.
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