Although the procedure for formally choosing and appointing a new Archbishop of Canterbury is thus clear, what is much less clear is how it will prove possible for the CNC to choose a candidate who is acceptable across the breadth of both the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.

The deep divisions within the Church of England and the Anglican Communion over the issue of human sexuality which have opened up since 2003 and which have become even more pronounced during the tenure of Archbishop Welby, mean that it will become very difficult, if not impossible, to find someone who the Church of England as a whole and the Anglican Communion as a whole will be able to agree upon. If a candidate takes a conservative view on human sexuality this will make them unacceptable to the liberals in the Church of England and the Anglican Communion and vice versa.

The question that therefore arises is whether it might not be sensible to hold off from appointing a new archbishop until there is the sort of reconfiguration of the Anglican Communion suggested by the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches and the sort of reconfiguration of the Church of England suggested by the Church of England Evangelical Council and the Alliance.

This would solve the problem because a liberal Archbishop of Canterbury could be appointed who would be acceptable to liberals in the Church of England and across the Communion, but conservatives in the Church of England and the Anglican Communion would no longer come under his archepiscopal authority.

Read it all.

Why the appointment of the next Archbishop of Canterbury may prove challenging https://t.co/fzDRacSfnt

— Christian Today (@ChristianToday) November 19, 2024

The Most Rev Justin Welby will formally “complete his duties” as Archbishop of Canterbury on January 6, passing his official functions to his number two, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, who will act as caretaker.

Following his historic resignation last week amid criticism over his handling of abuse allegations and safeguarding policy, Lambeth Palace has said that Welby would continue to serve as the lead cleric of the church until Epiphany in the first week of January, allowing him to serve over Christmas.

After Epiphany, his duties will be “delegated to the Archbishop of York”. Cottrell will fulfil the role until a new appointment is made, which is unlikely to be before next summer.

Read it all (subscription).

The Most Rev Justin Welby will formally “complete his duties” as Archbishop of Canterbury on January 6, passing his official functions to his number two, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, who will act as caretakerhttps://t.co/xKNhA4OLpL

— The Times and The Sunday Times (@thetimes) November 20, 2024

Patterson is correct when he says that process set out in Canon B2 provides the opportunity for General Synod to approve liturgical texts after agreeing that they do not depart from the doctrine of the Church of England in any essential matter. This does not mean, however, as Patterson suggests, that the decisions to ordain women as priests and bishops and the decision to permit the re-marriage of divorcees in church did not involve changes in doctrine. They clearly did, in that they involved the Church of England accepting that something was permissible which it had previously said was impermissible. The reordering of the Church of England’s common life that took place was a consequence of this change of doctrine. However, General Synod took the view that this change of doctrine was not in conflict with the doctrine found in the Articles, Prayer Book and Ordinal, and on that basis said that both this change, and the reordering of the Church’s life that flowed from it, were acceptable.

In similar fashion Synod could decide to permit same-sex marriages on the grounds that they were not contrary to what is taught by the Articles, the Prayer Book and the 1662 Ordinal and that therefore changing the Church’s teaching to allow these things to take place would be a legitimate thing to do. However, it would need to show good grounds for making this decision and this would be impossibly difficult to do given that the Prayer Book marriage service is absolutely clear that marriage was ordained by God to be between two people of the opposite sex and that ‘so many as are coupled together otherwise than God’s Word doth allow are not joined together by God; neither is their matrimony lawful.’

Fourthly, Patterson declares concerning the Prayers of Love and Faith commended by the House of Bishops in December 2023 for use in regular services:

‘I agree that they are not a change in doctrine, but they are a change. In response to the legalisation of civil partnerships in 2005, the then House of Bishops declared that ‘clergy…should not provide services of blessing for those who register a civil partnership’ and on the introduction of same-sex marriage in 2014, repeated the instruction,  ‘Services of blessing should not be provided.’ Whereas now they have very clearly commended a set of prayers that may be used with those who have formed a civil partnership or same-sex marriage.’

Read it all.

Martin Davie–'The…problem with this statement is that the idea that the Church of England does not have a ‘straightforward statement of doctrine’ is simply untrue. The Church of England does have a straightforward statement of its doctrine, and this is found in the Thirty Nine… pic.twitter.com/8jtUCwrQDb

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) November 21, 2024

The  “priceless heritage” of “historic and beautiful” churches in England is in danger “as never before”, the chair of the National Churches Trust (NCT), Sir Philip Rutnam, has warned this week.

He was referring to the fact that 53 churches, chapels, and meeting houses had been added this year to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register, announced last week.

Sir Philip said that the situation could get worse in the coming months if the Government chose not to renew the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme, which is due to expire on 31 March 2025 (News, 25 October). Under the terms of the scheme, established in 2001, VAT on eligible repairs or alterations costing more than £1000 to a listed place of worship can be reclaimed.

Read it all.

The “priceless heritage” of “historic and beautiful” churches in England is in danger “as never before”, the chair of the National Churches Trust (NCT), Sir Philip Rutnam, has warned this week https://t.co/Q59Y4X8A3d

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) November 18, 2024

Archbishop Welby has “decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury”; but he remains in office, for now, and it is not yet clear when exactly he will leave.

He said in his resignation statement: “It is my duty to honour my Constitutional and church responsibilities, so exact timings will be decided once a review of necessary obligations has been completed, including those in England and in the Anglican Communion.”

When contacted for more details, Lambeth Palace referred back to the Archbishop’s statement, and reiterated that the precise timings of his departure would be made in due course.

The selection of the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury is by the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC). There will be 17 voting members: three representatives from the Canterbury diocese; six members of the General Synod; the Archbishop of York; another bishop elected by the House of Bishops; and, in a change since 2012, five representatives of the global Anglican Communion. The final voting member is the CNC chair, often a public figure, who must be a communicant C of E member, and is appointed by the Prime Minister.

Read it all.

Archbishop of Canterbury resignation: what happens next? https://t.co/PD2G1WTunK

— Av Aleksandr (@abbaleksandr) November 14, 2024

Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Makin Review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth.

When I was informed in 2013 and told that police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow. 

It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024. 

It is my duty to honour my Constitutional and church responsibilities, so exact timings will be decided once a review of necessary obligations has been completed, including those in England and in the Anglican Communion. 

I hope this decision makes clear how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change and our profound commitment to creating a safer church. As I step down I do so in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse. 

Read it all.

🔴 NEW: Archbishop of Canterbury resigns as crisis engulfs more senior clergy.
Victims call on a further two bishops and associate minister to step down over involvement in abuse scandal
w/ @fiona_parker14 pic.twitter.com/WeweX0Juko

— Janet Eastham (@JanetEastham) November 12, 2024

The current Archbishop of Canterbury was a dormitory officer at the Iwerne holiday camp in the late 1970s, when Smyth was one of the leaders. He has always maintained that he was unaware of any abuse until 2013 and initially denied that Smyth was Anglican (News, 18 April 2019) — one of a number of inaccuracies in his account which the review corrects.

He told the review that he had been warned in 1981 by the Revd Peter Sertin, the Chaplain at St Michael’s, Paris (where the Archbishop was a worshipper), to “stay away” from Smyth, who was “really not a nice man”. The warning was “vague”, the Archbishop told the review. An exchange of Christmas cards with Smyth and donations that he made to Smyth’s ministry in Zimbabwe were not indicators of closeness, he argued.

The review concludes that, on the balance of probabilities, it is “unlikely that Justin
Welby would have had no knowledge of the concerns regarding John Smyth in
the 1980s in the UK. He may not have known of the extreme seriousness of the
abuse, but it is most probable that he would have had at least a level of
knowledge that John Smyth was of some concern.”

A former Bishop of Chelmsford, John Trillo, who died in 1992, was informed of the abuse in 1983 while chairing a selection conference at which Smyth was assessed. The review also reports that the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey was informed of the abuse while Principal of Trinity College, Bristol, and was sent a copy of the outline of the Ruston report, which he denies seeing.

Read it all (registration or subscription).

The “prolific, brutal and horrific” abuse perpetrated by John Smyth, a Reader in the Church of England, was covered up by “powerful evangelical clergy”, the long-awaited Makin review has concluded.https://t.co/67tmeMGVVS

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) November 7, 2024

Frank Weston had been Bishop of Zanzibar since 1908 when he died unexpectedly on 2 November 1924, aged 53. He was a remarkable figure. He had excommunicated the Bishop of Hereford and had charged the Bishops of Mombasa and Uganda with heresy and schism. Vilified as the “Zanzibarbarian” by his critics, he had been mentioned in dispatches and appointed OBE for his military service in the First World War. In 1964, he was declared a saint by the diocese of Zanzibar. His grave at the Holy Cross, Magila, in Tanzania, remains a place of pilgrimage.

Although Weston had an Evangelical upbringing, he was increasingly attracted to Anglo-Catholicism. Studying theology at Trinity College, Oxford, in the early 1890s, he was drawn to Christian Socialism, but found the Christian Social Union too moderate, and joined Stewart Headlam’s more radical Guild of St Matthew. During Weston’s studies, Bishop Smythies of Zanzibar visited Oxford and, in a sermon at St Barnabas’s, Jericho, appealed for volunteers to bring Christ to Africa. Weston signed up, but subsequently failed the medical.

In 1893, Weston took a first in theology. Despite encouragement from William Sanday to pursue an academic career, his heart was set on the Church. After leaving Oxford, he lived at the Trinity College Mission, Stratford, in east London. In 1894, he was ordained deacon, and, in 1895, priest by the Bishop of St Albans. Weston’s Anglo-Catholicism and socialism seem to have alarmed the leaders of the mission, and he resigned in 1896. There followed a curacy at St. Matthew’s, Westminster (1896-98), where a monument now stands in memory of his time at St Matthew’s and his subsequent African ministry.

Read it all.

Frank Weston, who died a century ago, was an Anglo-Catholic bishop who strove for racial justice in Africa — while challenging perceived threats from Protestantism and ‘modernism’, writes David R. Lawhttps://t.co/ednDM6LiK7

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) November 7, 2024

It’s widely rumored that organized religion is going down the drain. While the secularization thesis has been debated for decades, its main components are hardly controversial. Religion has reduced social power: its chief officers have less influence on political ideas and social norms, its language and habits no longer permeate the discourse of public life, and fewer people make collective worship and fellowship the rhythm of their week. Death no longer has a compelling hold on the public imagination: people still die, but usually not in the home or in their youth, and few people are terrified of the prospect of eternal hell. Meanwhile, with the possible exception of minority faiths among recent immigrants, it’s become increasingly difficult to socialize young people into a religion. It’s not that religion adheres to egregious ideas so much as that the whole notion of being habituated into a committed community of ritual and tradition seems incongruous.

There’s little that’s specifically Christian about all this. Real as the church’s failures are, most of its challenges it shares with other institutions associated with the pretechnological era. But in any case, in most congregations in the US mainline and the UK equivalent, a disproportionate number of the people are over age 65. The prospects for self-replication in 30 years’ time aren’t promising.

What are we to do about this? I see three main options…

Read it all.

“We have no idea what lies around the corner. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but the way the Holy Spirit makes Christ present to us seems to be ever changing.”

– Samuel Wellshttps://t.co/Vh9j7Gfe1E

— theChristianCentury (@ChristianCent) October 18, 2024

The Archbishop of Canterbury discovered recently that one of his ancestors was a slave owner, he said on Tuesday.

In a statement, Archbishop Welby revealed that his biological father, Sir Anthony Montague Browne, had an “ancestral connection to the enslavement of people in Jamaica and Tobago”.

Sir Anthony was the great-great-grandson of Sir James Fergusson, the 4th Baronet of Kilkerran (1765–1838), who had owned slaves and received compensation when slavery was abolished.

Read it all.

The Archbishop of Canterbury @JustinWelby discovered recently that one of his ancestors was a slave owner, he said on Tuesday https://t.co/UZb561Pnir

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) October 22, 2024

Without a rise in the number of ordinations, the number of stipendiary clergy in the Church of England will fall to 5400 in 2033 — more than 2000 fewer than the target set under Renewal and Reform, and a 40-per-cent reduction on 2000 numbers, projections by the Church’s national Ministry Development Team suggest.

The figure was reported by the Bishop of Sheffield, Dr Pete Wilcox, in a diocesan-synod address in July. The forecast was based on current levels of ordinations for stipendiary ministry (an average of 250 over the past two years) for the next ten years. Extrapolating from the trend since 2012 put the figure at 6100, while the most optimistic forecast of the Triennium Funding Working Group was 6600.

Numbers recommended for ordination have fallen from 591 in 2020 — the highest for 13 years — to 370 (News, 12 July). This is almost half of the goal set under Renewal and Reform in 2015: an increase in the number of candidates selected for ordained ministry from about 500 each year to 750. The goal was to create a “stable pool” of about 7600 full-time clergy by 2035. Meanwhile, numbers retiring have increased from 435 in 2020 to 531 last year.

Read it all.

“Sometimes, there doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason. What we may think is an attractive job doesn’t elicit much interest, and what we may think is going to be hard to fill brings in several applications" – @Guli_FDhttps://t.co/fMufDEor0K

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) October 21, 2024

TV presenter and conservationist Chris Packham has led calls to the Church of England to commit to re-wilding 30 per cent of its land. 

The call is backed by high profile figures including former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, former cabinet minister Michael Gove, and actor and broadcaster Stephen Fry, as well as 100,000 members of the public. 

The campaign, by the Wild Card group, was launched on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, where Packham unravelled the ’95 Wild Theses’ – a spin on Martin Luther’s Ninety-five Theses that triggered the Protestant Reformation. 

Read it all.

Chris Packham leads calls to rewild Church of England https://t.co/4f3SxzEfvE

— Sharon K. Gilbert (@sharonkgilbert) October 8, 2024

Mexico’s new President Claudia Sheinbaum is using her first 100 days in office to try to lower homicides and loosen the grip of organized crime groups that control swaths of the country, extort businesses, smuggle drugs and kill with impunity.

Among Sheinbaum’s top efforts to “pacify the country” will be a push to slash killings in the country’s 10 deadliest cities, including Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez on the U.S. border, according to a presentation of the strategy seen by The Wall Street Journal. She is also planning new efforts to combat the smuggling of the deadly drug fentanyl, which kills tens of thousands of Americans a year, the presentation says. 

In a graphic display of the violence that Sheinbaum must deal with, the mayor of Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero, one of Mexico’s most violent states, was assassinated Sunday, officials said. The newly elected mayor, Alejandro Arcos, was the second Chilpancingo official to be killed in the last three days, the probable victim of one of two violent gangs that control the city. “It is a state totally dominated by organized crime,” said Eduardo Guerrero, a Mexico City security expert. “It’s a jungle. What the criminals are saying to authorities is: We rule here.” 

Read it all.

Inside Mexico’s New Plan to Take On Cartel Violence https://t.co/KTlyIIZqZK

— Alicia A. Caldwell (@aacaldwellLA) October 7, 2024

Sexual violence against women and girls is being seen as the defining characteristic of the worsening civil war in Sudan, as more evidence of the widespread use by all sides of rape as a weapon of war.

An open letter by 253 women across Africa and in the diaspora has called for urgent international action in response to a conflict described as being “fought on the bodies of women and girls”.

It refers to reports of gang rapes of girls as young as nine, and older women, including grandmothers raped in front of their daughters and granddaughters. Male relatives are frequently forced to watch. Women have also reported being targeted because of their ethnicity.

Read it all.

A bipartisan group of senators this week revealed draft legislation that aims to prod the U.S. government into taking a more active diplomatic role in bringing about an end to the civil war in Sudan.https://t.co/8qzfW6Q5e2

— Stars and Stripes (@starsandstripes) October 4, 2024

Black composers, musicians and singers are to be celebrated as part of a series of events, from exhibitions and lectures to services and study days, marking Black History Month in Cathedrals and churches across the country.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is to preside at a Eucharist at Southwark Cathedral marking Black History Month in the Diocese of Southwark.

The service will hear music by St Saviour’s and St Olave’s School Gospel Choir and the Nigerian Chaplaincy Worship Team with the sermon preached by the Dean of Gloucester, Andrew Zihni. A panel discussion will be held afterwards on the theme ‘music at the heart of change.’

The day aims to ‘acknowledge the profound positive impact music has had on the black community, and the power of music to transform worship and enhance witness, to bring hope, and provide a space of healing, restoration and justice’, Southwark Cathedral said.

Read it all.

Pray with us as we enter Black History Month.

We'll be sharing resources throughout the month to help us all reflect on how the church can address the injustice of racism, and create communities where everyone can flourish. https://t.co/iveTSWaIQX

— Leeds Minster (@LeedsMinster) October 2, 2024

Speaking about her new position as an archdeacon, she said: “I am a bridge between the diocese and the parish.

“So I talk to the parishes about what the diocese is saying and what they have to offer. I then go back to the diocese centrally and say what the parish and clergy are saying.”

The Venerable Ruth Newton explains one of her biggest challenges will be addressing the recruitment crisis within the clergy.

She said: “There are a lot of vacancies. People are working on a shoestring.

“The pressure on clergy is to work and work and work is really extensive so hopefully get a better work life balance than I presently see in some areas.”

Read it all.

The Venerable Ruth Newton has been named as the Archdeacon of Carlisle as she looks to reduce a large number of vacancies within the church.https://t.co/hIgBLyWpTx

— ITV News Border (@ITVborder) September 25, 2024

A body has been found in the search for the Revd Captain Katherine Watson, a former army officer and hospital chaplain who was reported missing on Thursday, Northumbria Police reports.

Captain Watson, aged 50, was last seen in the Heaton Road area of Newcastle, at about 1 p.m. on Thursday. “Extensive searches have been carried out since then to locate her,” the police said in a statement posted on social media on Friday.

“Sadly, this morning a body was discovered in the Jesmond Dene area. Formal identification has yet to take place, however it is believed to be Katherine. Her next of kin have been made aware and are being supported by specially-trained officers.

“This is an incredibly sad outcome, and our thoughts are with Katherine’s loved-ones at this difficult time. We continue to support them and we ask that their privacy is respected. Thank you to everyone who supported our search.”

Read it all.

A body has been found in the search for the Revd Captain Katherine Watson, a former army officer and hospital chaplain who was reported missing on Thursday, Northumbria Police reports https://t.co/BkwKpcEtj7

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 23, 2024

….he believes that there are good reasons to challenge simplistic accounts of Christianity’s rise and fall. For a start, it is enjoying significant numerical growth globally and, closer to home, the crises engulfing organised religion do not necessarily translate into an equivalent embrace of atheism or wholesale rejection of Christian beliefs and values. The contribution made by Christian agencies to aid and development work around the world is immense even if seldom acknowledged. He robustly challenges secularisation theories prevalent among sociologists since the 1960s. He maintains that we are “metaphysical animals . . . unlikely to abandon age-old quests for a fundamental and inclusive context of meaning”.

Nevertheless, “mainstream European culture is hurtling forward largely without the fuel that Christianity has historically supplied”. This has disturbing consequences acknowledged even by avowed atheists. But the question remains whether Christianity’s credal credentials can enable it to fuel a sustainable culture into a future threatened by complex existential crises facing humanity and the environment.

Shortt responds to such a challenge, first, with an exposition of just how shallow and insipid so much atheist polemic has been of late. He eloquently defends both the meaning and the mystery of Christian beliefs founded upon scripture and tradition as objectively credible even if, as the biblical critics and liberal theologians for whom he has little affection attest, it is ultimately unfathomable. Shortt entitled one of his books The Hardest Problem and tackled head-on the problem of evil with appropriate humility. while confident that it does not hole Christianity below the water line — a case that he succinctly summarises here.

Read it all (subscription or registration).

"He believes that there are good reasons to challenge simplistic accounts of Christianity’s rise and fall."

John Saxbee reviews The Eclipse of Christianity: And why it matters by Rupert Shortt https://t.co/oRYQTpKpas

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 21, 2024

Almighty God, who didst call thy faithful servants John Coleridge Patteson and his companions to be witnesses and martyrs in the islands of Melanesia, and by their labors and sufferings didst raise up a people for thine own possession: Pour forth thy Holy Spirit upon thy Church in every land, that by the service and sacrifice of many, thy holy Name may be glorified and thy kingdom enlarged; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

20 September 1871: death of the Rt Revd John Coleridge 'Coley' Patteson, aged 44. The first Bishop of Melanesia (consecrated 1861), he was killed on the island of Nukapu in what is now the Solomon Islands. #anglican #153years Biography: https://t.co/chTCB7hAHx pic.twitter.com/nuvCGtGzcL

— AustralianAnglican (@AustAnglican) September 19, 2024

The secret ballot by which diocesan bishops are nominated could be removed under changes intended to restore trust in the processes of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC).

In the wake of the failure of the CNC to appoint on two occasions in the past nine months, faith in the process has deteriorated to the extent that candidates across a range traditions are refusing to have their names added to longlists, a paper by the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, warns.

Others are “openly questioning the integrity of the process”, while “allegations of politicking in the Vacancy in See process are commonplace”.

Read it all.

The secret ballot by which diocesan bishops are nominated could be removed under changes intended to restore trust in the processes of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) https://t.co/2RtEht4aQB

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 12, 2024

Services at English cathedrals clocked up an extra five per cent attendance in 2023, although they have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, statistics published on Thursday suggest.

The total weekly attendance at regular services at cathedrals in England rose from an average of 28,300 in 2022 to 30,300 in 2023. Despite this increase, the average was still significantly below the 2019 figure of 36,800.

By contrast, visitor numbers have largely recovered. A total of 9.35 million visited in 2023, close to the 2017 total of 9.38 million. The 2023 figure amounts to an increase of 1.4 million from 2022, although the increase in those paying or making a donation amounted to just 45,000.

Read it all (subscription).

Cathedral visitor numbers bounce back after pandemic; services recover more slowly https://t.co/NrLCegKzrx

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 5, 2024

Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things:
graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion,
nourish us with all goodness,
and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Here in the Diocese of York, we call our response to the Church of England’s Vision and Strategy and its invitation to be a Christ-centred and a Jesus Christ shaped Church, Living Christ’s story. We imagine and envisage our life of missionary discipleship to be as if, led by the Spirit, we are writing the next chapter in the Acts of the Apostles, the chapter for this bit of Yorkshire in this day and for the people and communities we serve. And when Jesus says at the end of St John’s Gospel, ‘As the Father sent me, I am sending you’ (John 20: 21); and when at the end of Matthew’s gospel, he says ‘Go into all the world and make disciples’ (Matthew 28: 19); and when St Paul says to the church in Corinth that they are a ‘letter from Christ… written by the Spirit of the living God’ (2 Cor. 3: 3), it is as if God is handing us the pen, entrusting to us his mission of love to the world and asking us, imploring us, to be his presence in the world. And of course, the foundation and the inspiration for this is the living word of God that bursts forth from the pages of scripture and lodges in our hearts and minds, changing them and shaping them so that we, indeed, become that love letter from God. But for this address, knowing that it is scripture, but also the way that scripture shapes and is shaping the lives of so many others who then become these love letters from God, there are two other books I want to mention as well.

When I first went to see my parish priest, Fr Ernie Stroud, one time member of this Synod, and spoke with him, aged about 20, about a possible vocation to the priesthood, he gave me two books to read. First Iremonger’s Life of William Temple; and second Kenneth Ingram’s biography of the slum priest, Basil Jellicoe.

I read these books when I was about 20 years old and they have made a mark on my life and groove in my ministry that has never gone away, that has laid down tracks upon which I believe I am still seeking to live and minister today.

William Temple gave me – and I believe still gives to the Church – a profound vision of how Christian Faith shapes and orders society; and since we are gathering the day after a General Election, it is especially relevant for us not only to pray for our new Prime Minister and government, but also to think afresh how Christian Faith and Christian values can shape and order the world.

Read it all.

The living word of God bursts forth from the pages of scripture and lodges in our hearts and minds, changing them and shaping them.

I begin my presidential address for the opening of Church of England @synod. pic.twitter.com/PJ8BNWn1nK

— Archbishop of York (@CottrellStephen) July 5, 2024

The £5.2m Demonstrator Churches project from the Church of England’s Net Zero Programme aims to help 114 churches in 2024 and 2025 pay for items such as solar panels, heat pumps, insulation, secondary glazing, LED lighting and infrared heating systems.

As work progresses, the network of Demonstrator Churches – representing many different types of community and situations – will share what they have learned more widely with dioceses and parishes so that all Church of England churches can learn from their experiences.

Abi Hiscock, Project and Grants Manager for the Church of England’s Net Zero Demonstrator Churches Project, said: “Ultimately, we want to demonstrate that with the right support and infrastructure, churches from diverse settings and facing a variety of challenges can reach net zero by 2030.

“By the end of this project, we will have over 100 case studies on what to do and when, and what not to do. Along the way, the supported churches are all required to act as champions to other churches in their dioceses or geographically near to them, or simply to other churches working from similar baselines to them, so that the learnings from these projects engage, influence and support this vision.”

Read it all.

@StPeterMancroft is 1st of over 100 churches 2 receive part of the £5.2M Demonstrator Churches project from the Church of England’s Net Zero Programme.

Watch our journey towards net zero in the full video on the Diocese website. Here's a snippet…https://t.co/dsrNh10sAr

— VergerStPeterMancroft (@verger_st) July 4, 2024

And all clergy have taken public vows at ordination that they believe the doctrine of the Church of England, that they will uphold it, and that they will teach and expound it.

Do you believe the doctrine of the Christian faith as the Church of England has received it, and in your ministry will you expound and teach it?

Ordinands   I believe it and will so do.

This includes the teaching of Jesus on marriage which is expressed in Canon B30 and explained in the marriage liturgy.

How, then, can we be ‘undecided’? How can some believe one thing, and others another? It can only be that we have, amongst our bishops and other clergy, people who simply do not understand the doctrine of their own Church or, understanding it, think it is wrong. That is the problem we have. What is the solution to this?

Martyn’s solution is—as he says openly in his article—‘a spirit of generosity and pragmatism.’ In other words, to preserve institutional unity, we must pragmatically give up on the idea that we actually share common beliefs, that we expect clergy to be faithful to their ordination vows, and that we expect our bishops to believe and teach the doctrine of the Church they lead. But what kind of institution will that be? A husk, a hollow shell of a ‘church’, retaining its outward, institutional, form, but having lost its heart.

Read it all.

Unity matters in our debates about sexuality—and so does truth | Psephizo https://t.co/Q1Dwp6xsw1 via @psephizo

— Simon Sarmiento (@simonsarmiento) June 24, 2024

The head of the United Nations children’s agency, Unicef, says Sudan is one of the worst places in the world for children.

Catherine Russell says it now has the largest displacement of children anywhere, with millions facing malnutrition and most not in school

She is travelling to the country torn apart by more than a year of brutal civil war as warnings of famine grow louder.

The pillars of Sudan’s food economy have collapsed, and both warring parties – the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – are restricting the delivery of desperately needed aid.

Children were at the sharp end of this hunger crisis, Ms Russell told the BBC while en route in Nairobi: nine million don’t get enough to eat regularly, and nearly four million face acute malnutrition.

Read it all.

Millions of children going hungry in Sudan – Unicef https://t.co/eT49aHTHzz

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) June 24, 2024

Over the past two years, Professor Hope Hailey conducted interviews with 20 laity and clergy, who were nominated by “a handful of diocesan bishops”. The focus was on those who “work with varied complexities and challenges in the Church but need to establish high-trust working environments”.

The 49-page review concludes that “pervasive yet patchy distrust is manifest in different ways across the Church”, but that distrust is “most profoundly evident” in “the major and traumatising breaches of trust that have been of deep concern to the General Synod and many inside and outside the Church”.

“Racism, sexual abuse and issues relating to Living in Love and Faith all deeply affect the life and witness of the Church,” it says. “The serious breaches of trust and some of the profoundly inadequate ways they have been responded to, in terms of processes, procedures and decision making, are themselves acute manifestations of a wider culture of distrust.”

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I had a look at a new review of "Trust and trustworthiness within the Church of England"… one recurring theme was effect of social media

"What would Jesus think if he read your social-media posts, church review asks"https://t.co/UnDEZFyNLh

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) June 24, 2024

Stephen said: “Ever since arriving in Worcester five years ago I have loved this amazing Cathedral and have grown in deep affection for the people and city as well as the wider diocese. It is now a privilege and joy to be appointed as Dean of Worcester and I look forward to continuing to develop the Cathedral’s ministry and position as a place of prayer, learning and welcome.”

Bishop John said: “I am delighted with this appointment. Stephen is an exceptionally gifted priest who is much loved in Worcester and beyond. He has been a brilliant Interim Dean, and we are very blessed that God has called him to be the next Dean.”

Stephen was ordained in 1996, serving first in the Church in Wales and then in the Diocese of Manchester, where he was Rector of the inner-city parish of St Agnes’, Longsight and then Team Rector of Wythenshawe. Stephen was also the Bishop of Manchester’s adviser for liturgy and worship as well as the co-ordinator of the Manchester Estate Ministry Network. As a Residentiary Canon of Worcester Cathedral, Stephen has also been involved in the Cathedral and diocesan Eco groups and the diocesan Racial Justice Forum. He is the independent chair of the Worcester Cares forum for homelessness and vulnerable people. His interests include architecture, ales and a love of dogs!

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"Architecture, ale and a love of dogs!"

He's our kind of Dean

The King has approved the nomination of The Revd Canon Dr Stephen Edwards, Interim Dean of Worcester, to be appointed as the new Dean of Worcester#DogLovers @worccathedral https://t.co/x3NfEHoxgX

— English Cathedrals (@engcathedrals) June 19, 2024

A proud city of gleaming high rises, oil wealth and five-star hotels lies in ruins. Millions have fled. A famine threatens. The gold market is a graveyard of rubble and dog-eaten corpses. The state TV station became a torture chamber. The national film archive was blown open in battle, its treasures now yellowing in the sun. Artillery shells soar over the Nile, smashing into hospitals and houses. Residents bury their dead outside their front doors. Others march in formation, joining civilian militias. In a hushed famine ward, starving babies fight for life. Every few days, one of them dies.

Khartoum, the capital of Sudan and one of the largest cities in Africa, has been reduced to a charred battleground.

A feud between two generals fighting for power has dragged the country into civil war and turned the city into ground zero for one of the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophes.

As many as 150,000 people have died since the conflict erupted last year, by American estimates. Another nine million have been forced from their homes, making Sudan home to the largest displacement crisis on earth, the United Nations says. A famine looms that officials warn could kill hundreds of thousands of children in the coming months and, if unchecked, rival the great Ethiopian famine of the 1980s.

Fueling the chaos, Sudan has become a playground for foreign players like the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Russia and its Wagner mercenaries, and even a few Ukrainian special forces.

Great reporting and photographs by @declanwalsh and @ivorprickett : A War on the Nile Pushes #Sudan Toward the Abyss
https://t.co/8oyxZrUptC

— Paulo Nunes dos Santos (@pdossantos) June 5, 2024

Loving God, may thy Name be blest for the witness of Ini Kopuria, police officer and founder of the Melanesian Brotherhood, whose members saved many American pilots in a time of war, and who continue to minister courageously to the islanders of Melanesia. Open our eyes that we, with these Anglican brothers, may establish peace and hope in service to others, for the sake of Jesus Christ; who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today the Church of England commemorates Ini Kopuria, Founder of the Melanesian Brotherhood, 1945

Photo of Ini Kopuria on the deck of the SS Southern Cross, from Southern Cross Log (1946) by Charles Fox, via Project Canterbury, https://t.co/lyShV4WlNQ pic.twitter.com/Q2xkN7Y632

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) June 6, 2024