You are here
June 18 2015
Archbishop of Canterbury 'passed the buck over gay priest's wedding'
The bishop replied: "To paraphrase the TV programme [House of Cards], you may say that, but I couldn't possibly comment." Inwood was speaking at an employment tribunal for Canon Jeremy Pemberton, who has made a claim for discrimination against the bishop.
In April 2014, Rev Pemberton became the first clergyman to marry his same-sex partner, in defiance of guidance issued by the C of E's bishops the month before.
Read more
June 18 2015
2067: The end of British Christianity
Our cathedral buildings will survive, but they won't be true cathedrals because they will have no bishops. The Church of England is declining faster than other denominations; if it carries on shrinking at the rate suggested by the latest British Social Attitudes survey, Anglicanism will disappear from Britain in 2033. One day the last native-born Christian will die and that will be that.
Read more
June 14 2015
Reports of Anglican decline 'have been greatly exaggerated'
"Confirmation suggests an ownership of a specific denominational identity, which is simply not part of the deal for most people. I would suggest that even most people of my generation, and certainly those of my children's, find denominational identity increasingly irrelevant."
His position was affirmed by Ali Campbell, a youth-and-children's-ministry consultant.
Read more
June 12 2015
UK: Dame Mullally to Be a Bishop
When Mullaly became the government's Chief Nursing Officer for England in 1999, she was the youngest person appointed to this post. She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2005 in recognition of her outstanding service to healthcare.
Ordained in 2001, she served in non-stipendiary roles, then quit nursing to become a full-time rector in Surrey on the outskirts of London in 2006.
Read more
June 01 2015
UK: Our Mother who art in heaven: Group of Church women want to refer to God as a 'She' to combat sexism
One of the supporters of the idea, the Rev Emma Percy, chaplain of Trinity College, Oxford, said the dominance of male language makes women feel that they are less holy.
The chaplain, who is also a member of Watch (Women and the Church), the pressure group that helped win the argument for female bishops in the Church of England, said using the word 'She' for God would be more inclusive.
Read more
May 31 2015
C of E crisis as it loses 1.7m followers - and Islam gains 900,000
The Church of England has suffered a dramatic slump in its followers, shocking new figures show.
Between 2012 and 2014, the proportion of Britons identifying themselves as C of E or Anglican dropped from 21 per cent to 17 per cent -- a fall of about 1.7 million people.
Over the same period, the number of Muslims in Britain grew by nearly one million, according to a survey by the respected NatCen Social Research Institute.
Read more
May 30 2015
UK: Vicar Criticized for refusing to baptize son of unmarried parents
He added: "Marriage is part of God's way. Historically, it's always been the decision of the church. 'Baptism is a massive deal. We have lost the meaning of what baptism is all about. When it comes to baptism there is a small print. It's not a naming ceremony.
"If I'm standing up and saying 'I want to follow God's way' and God's way is marriage it will always be part of that. I will always hold up marriage as God's way of doing relationships."
Read more
May 28 2015
What difference will women bishops make? Quite a lot, it seems...
The Pagan Federation and the Druid Network have recently become fully-fledged members of Britain's religious establishment, having been voted into the Inter Faith Network UK as a body representative of its community.
Paganism had a "deep reverence" for both the feminine and masculine, not in a partnered but in a "conjoined" sense, she said.
Read more
May 26 2015
Church of England to consider transgender naming ceremony
The motion, which was passed by Blackburn Diocese last month, calls on the House of Bishops to consider whether it should introduce a new service to mark the milestone in the life of a trans person. A spokesperson for the Archbishops' Council confirmed that the motion had been received, but said it would not be debated imminently.
Newlands urged the church to take the lead on welcoming a group that suffered high levels of discrimination.
Read more
May 20 2015
Church of England investment bonanza boosts expansion
Total return investments in 2014 was 14.4 per cent, exceeding the target of RPI + 5 per cent. The fund has grown from £2.4 billion at the start of 1995 to £6.7 billion at the end of 2014.
Read morePages
