Q. So might we have a vicar and his or her partner in the vicarage?
A. Yes. But in the case of clergy, the bishops have said they will seek assurances that the relationship is celibate (paras 19, 21).
Q. Why is there a different standard for clergy and for laity?
Read moreThe dig took place over the past 18 months at the Megiddo prison in Israel's northern Galilee region, with the most significant discoveries taking place in the past two weeks, Tepper said. Scholars believe Megiddo to be the New Testament's Armageddon, the site of a final war between good and evil.
Tepper said the discovery could reveal more about an important period of Christianity, which was banned until the fourth century.
Read moreTo the skepticism of the disciples, Jesus responded, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it."(Matthew 19:11-12). For years, I did not give much thought to who Jesus might have been referencing here by the use of the term eunuchs.
Read more2. to indicate the theological foundations stated or implied by the writings, public announcements and other leadership actions taken by the other three instruments of unity in the Anglican Communion as set forth in Lambeth 1998
Read moreHowever, although it was Newman again who said 'Growth is the only evidence of life' It was Henry Miller (1891 - 1980) US novelist who said 'All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act without benefit of experience.' That's more like my style. The Wisdom of the Heart, "The Absolute Collective," 1947.
Read moreWhat distinguishes the English religious sensibility? Most any answer you can think of risks pride, since other traditions can doubtless claim the quality as well. Still, perhaps the most admirable is the most humble, English common sense.
Read moreIn general, it is not worth answering the kind of breezy dismissal of our work you shared with your colleagues and have passed on to us - other matters are at clearly at issue in your self-expression that are hard to fathom from the outside.
Read moreWORLD: You've argued, against today's conventional wisdom, that the idea of "sexual orientation" is a fiction. What's the scientific evidence?
JS: A nationwide University of Chicago study of sexuality in America in 1994 concluded, ". . . it is patently false that homosexuality is a uniform attribute across individuals, that it is stable over time, and that it can be easily measured." Studies across the globe that have now sampled over 100,000 individuals have found the same.
Read moreAbout the Cover Art
Which is pretty remarkable when you think that Cuddesdon now only trains about one tenth of those in residential training and less than one twentieth of all those in training in any form.
By way of comparison the six evangelical colleges combined trained the same number of Bishops (15/44). Yet these colleges now account for two-thirds of all those in residential training.