So it is very understandable that Tony Blair should convert. But what about the difficulties – and they are great? He has been a great champion of embryonic stem cell research. This involves the destruction of the tiny multiplying bundle of cells that form the early embryo. According to the Roman Catholic Catechism, ‘human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception’. In other words, the early embryo has to be accorded the full rights of a baby. This also rules out in vitro fertilisation, for this involves the destruction of some of the fertilised eggs. All this without even taking into account his voting record on abortion.

Then there is the question of gay relationships and his support for civil partnerships. As a Catholic there can be no question of Tony Blair now advocating their blessing.

There are also the old theological difficulties. A huge amount has been achieved in recent years by the international commission of Anglican and Roman Catholic theologians. On issues such as the Eucharist, misunderstandings have been overcome and substantial agreement reached. But on two areas there is still a big divide. One is any idea of the Pope being an oracle in his own right, as opposed to the linchpin of the college of bishops. The other involves dogmas such as the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption, which Anglicans may believe if they like, but which since the 19th century have been matters of basic faith for Roman Catholics.

Read it all.

On my journey to Cairo my fellow passengers included a large party of British Muslims going on the haj, the great pilgrimage to the Muslim holy places of Mecca and Medina, and I found myself in an intensely interesting conversation with my Muslim neighbour. He told me of the spiritual significance of the haj to him personally, and described the sequence of events that would make up the pilgrimage. Questioning me about my own Christian faith, he reminded me of the Muslim veneration of Jesus as a prophet. He assured me that he had no problem with school Nativity plays, even though a nervous secular society all too often believed he might, and ought, to have. The most important thing, he said, was that we should live in acknowledgement of the God who had created the Universe, and that we should strive to love and serve that God.

Yes, I told him, that was my concern as well. But, he said, how difficult it was to love a God whom you had not seen. So I explained how for the Christian the unknown God, the source of all life and being, the creator of all, has chosen to reveal Himself, not just in words of prophecy and inspiration, but in going much farther than this. Although, as the Bible emphasises, God is awesome, holy and transcendent, yet that same God discloses Himself, chooses to make Himself known, in the end, in the amazing wonder of incarnation.

St Paul speaks of how we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. St John, in the prologue to his Gospel, writes of the Word ? the creative reason and wisdom of God ? becoming flesh, and in that becoming flesh, that incarnation, “we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”. God comes down, as the 14th-century Christian mystic Lady Julian of Norwich reminds us, “to the lowest part of our need”.

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Dr Michael Nazir-Ali is the Bishop of Rochester, and thus a leading figure in the Church of England, one of the Lords Spiritual; but, as his name suggests, he is from a largely Muslim family background. Dr Nazir-Ali was received into the Anglican Church of Pakistan at the age of 20 and became the Bishop of Raiwind in West Punjab at the age of 35, making him the youngest bishop in the Anglican Communion.

As Dr Nazir-Ali told me on an earlier occasion: “This was a time ”“ the late 1980s ”“ when there was a great movement towards political Islamicisation in Pakistan. As Christians we had to say that there were certain penal laws, partly concerning the role of women in society, which we could not support.”

The threats to Dr Nazir-Ali that resulted from this ideological conflict eventually became so unpleasant ”“ especially as they were also directed at his children ”“ that the young bishop left Pakistan, and settled in Britain.

What astounded Dr Nazir-Ali, when he regained his bearings, was that the dominant form of Islam in the UK that he recalled from his time here in the 1970s (when he was tutorial supervisor in theology at Cambridge University) ”“ pietistic, Sufi-orientated ”“ had, in little more than a decade, been completely supplanted by something much more militant and political: in fact, exactly the same form of the religion that had forced him out of Pakistan.

Dr Nazir-Ali claims that this had happened “because the British mosques had recruited people from fundamentalist backgrounds” ”“ people like Hannah’s father, as it happens.

Like Hannah, Dr Nazir-Ali cannot be described as anti-Islamic. As he pointed out to me, he has “a large number of Muslim friends and relatives with whom I get on very well and for which I am deeply thankful”. His complaint is against what he terms “the chauvinist manifestations of Islam, a kind of ideology which affirms the will to power”. He adds that he had been to Bosnia during the period in which Muslims were slaughtered in their thousands: “So I have seen such chauvinism in its Christian form.”

Read the whole article.

The debate we face now is often represented as a debate over scripture. I do not believe that is true. I see no desire to move away from scriptural authority for the life and witness of the church. What we do have is division as to how to listen to and interpret scripture: Colenso believed that Moses did not write the five books of the Pentateuch. Longley profoundly disagreed with him, but wanted the variety of views to be aired. I do not believe that it is coincidental that sexuality is at the heart of our current debate. It provokes a deep reaction, while we live happily, though in profound disagreement, with a variety of ethical views on issues of peace and war. Try getting a just war doctrine out of scripture without very considerable help from tradition. It interests me that the vegetarian debate sometimes provokes the same use of scripture, in letters to me, to batter with one view rather than to listen to others.

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THE BISHOP of Liverpool has challenged the necessity of the proposed amendment to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill criminalising anti-gay speech. Speaking in the House of Lords on Nov 12, Bishop James Jones stated that current laws were sufficient to deal with problems of homophobic behavior.

Last month the Justice Secretary, Jack Straw (pictured), announced plans to amend the Criminal Justice Bill, extending the protections against hate speech provided to religious and racial groups to homosexuals.

Bishop Jones told Parliament that while it was ”˜essential to protect vulnerable groups in society from malicious and harmful attacks,’ it must also be asked ”˜whether the existing public order law is being enforced effectively and equitably before introducing new offences.’

“As we found in the debates on incitement to religious hatred, the offence of incitement brings all kinds of uncertainties about the boundaries of acceptable speech and behaviour. Any new offence will have to balance protection against freedom of expression, so that hateful and inflammatory behaviour towards particular groups is distinguished from controversial argument, for example, about sexual ethics,” Bishop Jones said.

Read the whole article.

A bishop has criticised Tony Blair after he said he avoided talking about his religious views while premier because he feared the “nutter” label.
The Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, said he was “sorry” the former prime minister felt unable to talk about his faith.

It would have led to more constructive social policy at home and principled policies abroad, the bishop said.

Mr Blair’s admission comes in the final episode of BBC One’s The Blair Years.

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From biblical times Communion is a key word in church history meaning a fellowship of Christians devoted to the apostles teaching. The Anglican Communion, mirroring the Commonwealth, is a network of independent church provinces, giving a position of honour to the Archbishop of Canterbury, just as the Commonwealth sees the Queen as its symbolic focus of unity, and until now the Communion has relied upon strong bonds of mutual affection to hold it together.

Sadly, that seems no longer to be the case. There’s now talk of one province or another being expelled from the Communion if they don’t change their ways; and the argument that their ways make perfect sense in the context in which their church is set, no longer convinces all the members. There’s a demand for club rules, dignified by being called a Covenant. Fine perhaps, if they merely spell out the kind of behaviour expected in this family – less fine if they result in the stern demand – “Go and never darken our doorstep again” – for the family rules are not the family; as Groucho Marx also said, “A child of five would understand this – send someone to fetch a child of five.”

Read the whole reflection.

THE BISHOPS of Chester, Chichester, Exeter, and Rochester issued a statement on Tuesday in support of the Rt Revd Robert Duncan, the Bishop of Pittsburgh, after the warning letter sent to him by the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Dr Katharine Jefferts Schori.

She wrote to Bishop Duncan on Wednesday of last week, asking him to lead his diocese “on a new course that recognises the interdependent and hierarchical relationship between the national Church and its dioceses and parishes” (see above).

If his course did not change, she wrote, “I shall regrettably be compelled to see that appropriate canonical steps are promptly taken to consider whether you have abandoned the Communion of this Church . . . and whether you have committed canonical offences that warrant disciplinary action.”

The English bishops’ statement, which was instigated by the Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, read: “We deeply regret the increase in the atmosphere of litigiousness revealed by the Presiding Bishop’s letter to Bishop Duncan. At this time, we stand with him and with all who respond positively to the Primates’ Dar es Salaam requests. We hope the Archbishop’s response to Bishop John Howe of Central Florida will also apply to Bishop Bob Duncan of Pittsburgh.”

The Bishop of Chester, Dr Peter Forster, said on Tuesday that the statement gave personal support to Bishop Duncan. He described the Presiding Bishop’s letter as “aggressive, inappropriate, and unfortunate”. “They are acting as if it is the OK Corral. This is the North American culture: it is a managerial rather than a pastoral approach.”

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The Bishop of Peterborough, Rt Rev Ian Cundy has been diagnosed with cancer.

Mr Cundy, who has been the city’s bishop since 1996, is suffering from mesothelioma ”“ a rare cancer of the lung cavity.

His office has said that the cancer has been caught at an early stage, and medical experts were hopeful the Bishop will be able to continue with his duties after a short course of treatment.

He has been unwell since the summer, forcing him to cancel a number of public engagements.

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“I’m convinced there are young people who are searching for churches which will embrace their passion for caring for the earth. These folks can help the church remember its connection to creation, and the church can give them a sense of wholeness in their lives by relating their passion to Christ,” said the Rev. Pat Watkins, a United Methodist clergy member of the Virginia Annual (regional) Conference and environmental coordinator for the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy.

The task force joined Muslim, Jewish and Christian clergy for a breakfast to discuss the role of faith communities in caring for creation. The breakfast was co-sponsored by the British Embassy and the Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light.

Speakers included the Right Rev. James Jones, bishop of Liverpool in the Church of England, who described how he called for a “carbon fast” last year for Lent in the Diocese of Liverpool. He said such a fast was more valuable than giving up chocolate or candy or other more typical seasonal sacrifices. “We are caught up in a disease of consumption, and that is what is afflicting the earth,” he said.

Jones said that, by the end of the carbon fast, “people weren’t ready to resume their previous consumption levels; it made them think about their life

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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, met in Dublin last week with the leaders of the Porvoo Communion of Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches for private talks. However Dr Williams’ Irish excursion did not bring him a change of scene as the vexing issue of gay clergy followed him to Dublin. While a spokesman for the Church of Ireland told The Church of England Newspaper there would be no formal statement of the gathering of Anglican and Lutheran bishops, sources familiar with the deliberations, held every two years, tell CEN that issues of common national and ecclesial concern were raised at the gathering.

The Lutheran Churches of the Porvoo Group: Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania are sharply divided over the Swedish church’s decision to authorise rites for the blessing of same-sex unions. The Swedish move has opened a split within the Lutheran World Federation akin the divide in Anglicanism, with the Lutheran Churches of the Global South threatening to break with their Northern counterparts over the issue of gay blessings and clergy. The controversy intensified last week when on Oct 2 by a vote of six to five, the Church of Norway’s Bishops’ Conference voted to recommend to the church’s general synod that non-celibate homosexuals be permitted to serve as bishops, priests and deacons.

The moderator of the Norwegian Bishop’s Conference, Bishop Olav Skjevesland of Agder and Telemark, who attended the Dublin meeting, voted to reject the licensing of gay clergy.

The Church of Norway has three openly gay ministers serving in parochial ministry under the licence of their bishops. The issue will now go before the Church’s Nov 12-17 meeting of General Synod for resolution. In 1995 and 1997 the Norwegian Synod stated that people in registered same-sex partnerships could hold lay positions in the Church, but could not be ordained as clergy.

On Sept 13 the Church’s National Council stated that it believed the consensus within the church over gay clergy had shifted in the past 10 years. It recommended that Synod revise the church’s canons, allowing bishops the local option of whether or not to ordain and licence gay clergy.

The National Council encouraged dialogue saying that ”˜many members of the church are touched directly by this issue and that there are many who feel that their place in the church is at stake’. “Church leaders should work continuously on attitudes and forms of communication, so that fellowship in the church is felt to be open, clear and inclusive,” it said.

–This article appears in the Church of England Newspaper edition of October 19, 2007, on page 8

Since 1867 it’s been the Archbishop’s personal bash. Does it have to be a Big Boys Business meeting for it to be worth my while? I am just not self-regarding enough to mind. If Rowan wants a Vatican Council Theme Party, fine. If he wants to partay by showing us his Simpsons Videos, fine. It’s his party, not mine. There is a self-important little prat in me who feels business meetings matter more than parties. Jesus disagrees. The Sanhedrin has business meetings on Thursday nights. Jesus has a meal with his friends. This is a matter of substance as well as style. The 1662 Book of Common Prayer says how grievous and unkind a thing it is, when a man hath prepared a rich feast, decked his table with all kind of provision, so that there lacketh nothing but the guests to sit down; and yet they who are called (without any cause) most unthankfully refuse to come.

Read it all (Hat tip: SS).

ROADS were packed, tents were pitched, and crowds wearing their Sunday best were out in droves, as thousands of people gathered in Jamaica to hear the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, speak to mark the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

One of Britain’s most influential church leaders, Dr Sentamu was the preacher at Jamaica’s bicentenary celebration of the abolition of slavery.

Dr Sentamu spoke to the crowds in Jamaica’s National Arena against the evils of the transatlantic slave trade and sent out a message to work with humility and for the grassroots.

“God rejoices in the fact that he created each one of you. That is the greatest message of the sermon this morning, be yourself and don’t try and be somebody else,” he said.

Quoting a sermon from the Archbishop of Zanzibar, he asked the people to reach out and work at the grassroots: “Go out to the highways and byways look for the people who have lost hope and those who are struggling to make good.

“Have Jesus on your lips and the world in your heart, you have been called to freedom to work with justice and to embrace responsibility.”

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“Boycott is not a word that I used. The problem is that the Lambeth conference has been for 150 years where Bishops gather together to teach. That is the main reason for it – to exercise their office as teachers of the faith for the worldwide communion.

We have been told this time that this is not what it will do. So the question arises what is it for and will it be worthwhile since it is a hugely costly exercise. I am very happy to talk with people at any time that is mutually convenient. The Lambeth Conference is not just such an occasion. It is a meeting of bishops for particular purposes. There are churches and bishops who were requested, there were pleas to them by everyone from every quarter, not to do what the whole communion had said was contrary to God’s purpose. They went ahead and did it. Now the intention is to have those bishops at the Lambeth Conference and the person consecrated also. Under such circumstances, and as matters stand, I could not go. I do not want to single out Gene Robinson

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A senior Church of England conservative has intensified the storm over homosexuals in the clergy by warning he will boycott next summer’s Lambeth Conference if liberal American bishops are invited.

The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, said he would find it difficult to attend a Church council alongside those who consecrated or approved the appointment of Anglicanism’s first openly gay bishop.

His comments are fresh evidence of the divisions within the Church of England over the issues and will exacerbate the difficulties facing the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, in maintaining unity.

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The Bishop of Lichfield told the Express & Star he had a traditional view of homosexuality and viewed the appointment of gay bishops as wrong.

He said: “I have friends who are gay and I am very fond of them and life is very complex for them. I don’t want a split at all but the reason for it not so much the moral issue, it is the fact the Americans have gone ahead without a debate. We need to have a debate, that’s the real cause of the split.

“It may be that the American churches are allowed to split and get on with it while the rest of the church gets back to debating it. Appointing a gay bishop, in my view, was wrong and I think 95 per cent of the Anglican Communion would agree with me.”

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The Human Fertilisation and Embryology authority last week decided to allow licences to create cytoplasmic hybrid embryos for research purposes. These consist of an animal egg with its nucleus (containing its DNA) removed and the nucleus of a human cell inserted. The embryos are destroyed before they are 14 days old. Scientists want to create them in order to investigate debilitating, untreatable medical conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s and motor neurone disease.

There is fierce opposition to the HFEA’s decision, not least from the Roman Catholic Church. Yet the head of the Authority’s ethics and law committee is a churchman: the former Anglican Bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries – now Lord Harries. He told Sunday what ethical considerations his committee took into account.

Listen to it all from the BBC.

Policy on embryo research continues to zig-zag. Having first said it would outlaw the creation of animal-human hybrids for medical experimentation, the Government then decided to allow it. That position was endorsed last week by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).

I hope that the Government will change tack yet again. I am deeply uncomfortable with the use of human embryos for research. The HFEA recognised the revulsion many feel at such use of human cells, but insisted that the benefits outweighed such feelings. The recent go-ahead for the creation of ‘cybrid’ embryos – created by the use of a human cell or its nucleus to fertilise an animal egg from which the nucleus has been removed – brings more dilemmas.

If the embryos are human enough to be of use in research, are they not human enough for it to be wrong to experiment on them – whatever the possible benefits?

Read it all.

By Michael Brown

The fourth most senior figure in the Anglican hierarchy says too many demands are these days being made of bishops.

The complaint is forthrightly made by the Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Tom Wright, (pictured) in the September issue of Newslink, the newspaper of the Durham diocese.

And the 59-year-old church leader confesses that he has been finding it particularly hard to run his diocese in recent months since the departure for Oxford of his suffragan, the Rt Rev John Pritchard, Bishop of Jarrow, and before the arrival next month of the Ven Mark Bryant, at present Archdeacon of Coventry, as the new Bishop of Jarrow.

Bishop Wright says: “I have enjoyed this period of interregnum””in a funny sort of way. I’ve done more confirmations and licensings per week and month than ever before, and visited several churches for the first time.”

But the bishop goes on: “But I have discovered… that if there is only one of you, it’s not only a bit lonely but, frankly, more or less impossible. The demands on bishops these days are enormous.”

The 71st Bishop of Durham, in a reference to the 63rd bishop of the same see ”” the famous and controversial Hensley Henson who was at Durham from 1920 until 1939 ”” declares: “Gone are the days when Hensley Henson could spend all morning writing a letter to The Times, all afternoon walking round the park [of Auckland Castle] chatting with unemployed miners, and all evening at a great dinner party.”

And he bemoans: “Goodness, I’ve only played golf three times this year ”” and one of those was official diocesan business.”

With apparent relief, Bishop Wright declares: “I am enormously looking forward to sharing ministry with Mark,” and in a message to the flock of his diocese he adds: “I know you will welcome him with open arms and hearts.”

–This article appears in the Church of England Newspaper, August 31st, 2007, edition, on page 3

Woody Allen famously pointed out that the problem is not that God doesn’t exist, but that he is an underachiever. The philosophical tendency for at least the past three centuries has been to assume that the human estimation of God is more significant than the divine estimation of humanity. And “evil” names the extent to which, in human estimation, God’s purposes have invariably been found wanting.

In a lucid treatment of this perennial conundrum, N. T. Wright argues that pondering the “problem of evil” is an activity that displaces us from the business of implementing the healing, restorative justice of God. The problem of evil is philosophically located in theoretical analysis of an inherently distant God””that is, the deist God of the Enlightenment. By contrast, Wright engages with the scriptural God, revealed through narrative rather than theory and addressed through lament, obedience, discipleship and faith rather than through dispassionate analysis””in short, the God of Jesus Christ. Christ’s death and resurrection, the promise and embodiment of forgiveness, and the hope of God’s final victory make the people of God a people who bring into the present a reconciliation that is assured in the future.

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The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee has issued advice that the British Government, through Tony Blair in his new role, ought to be talking to Hamas. It is quite a risk. After all, Hamas has been responsible for encouraging suicide-bomb attacks against Israel. None the less: “We recommend that he engage with Hamas in order to facilitate reconciliation amongst Palestinians.”

This is the right thing to do, for it is just this sort of risky talk, often clandestine, that led to peace in Northern Ireland. No peace will ever come without a willingness to sit around a table and talk.

This is why the refusal of a number of Anglican bishops to accept the Archbishop of Canterbury’s invitation to the Lambeth Conference looks so childish and lacking in moral imagination (Press, 27 July). From Sydney to Nigeria to Winchester, there have been bishops toying with the idea that they might refuse to sit down and talk to other bishops. This is an out-and-out scandal, and has nothing whatsoever to do with homosexuality.

It is a scandal because church leaders might talk the talk about peace, but some just don’t walk the walk when it involves themselves.

Read it all.

A Bishop has roundly accused newspapers and television of “machinations and mischief” over next year’s Lambeth Conference. The charge is levelled by the
Bishop of Wakefield, the Rt Rev Stephen Platten, in the latest issue of Awake, the newspaper of theWakefield diocese. Controversial issues ”” including gay bishops ”” threaten the unity of the Anglican Communion and make the Lambeth Conference pointless, sections of the media have claimed.

But the Lambeth Conference ”” the first took place in 1867 ””sprang from “dispute, disagreement and division,” Bishop Platten suggests. He says: “John Colenso, vicar of the tiny Norfolk village of Forncett St Mary, was made Bishop of Natal, South Africa. Colenso was a clever man ”” but no diplomat.
“He had been well educated and understood something of the emerging critical study of theology. He proceeded to preach and teach about this, and great controversy followed. “So much fuss ensued that Bishop Robert Gray of Cape Town decided that he must go. Colenso dug his heels in, and loyalties divided.
It was this dispute, effectively, which led Charles Longley, Archbishop of Canterbury, to convene the first Lambeth Conference.”
Now, newspapers “and other media” have, says Bishop Platten, tried to turn the Lambeth Conference on its head, saying that controversy makes it pointless ”” or even unnecessary. “But controversy was where Lambeth Conferences began” says the bishop, who declares:

“Despite the machinations and mischief of the media, we should rejoice at the preparations for the 2008 Lambeth Conference. Communion worldwide is not only
desirable”” it is essential.” Bishop Platten claims: “Last year’s experience with the drought in Mara proved the point. Our communion in Christ with our brothers and sisters averted a terrifying human catastrophe; we have grown together over 20 years.”

The bishop concedes that Anglicans won’t always agree “on every moral issue” ”” and suggests that that “is the nature of a multicultural world.” But we shall
“all benefit by talking and listening to each other about our different views and cultures,” he claims.

–This article appears in the Church of England Newspaper, August 17th, 2007, edition, page 3

Blessed are those who leave no carbon footprints – that has been the public view of the Bishop of London, and he has now lived up to his vow of not indulging in air travel for a year by declaring that he will take the train to Romania to attend a clerical conference.

It was unclear how many of the Church of England delegation would accompany the Rt Rev Richard Chartres on the 36-hour rail trip to Sibiu for the Third European Ecumenical Assembly next month.

The bishop took a “gold” pledge not to fly anywhere for 12 months after pronouncing that flying was potentially a “symptom of sin”.

His next family holiday, he said, would be in Devon. His office, however, had to cancel his attendance at a seminar in northern Norway because it would have been impossible to get there any other way than by air.

Read it all.

From the Irish Gazette:

Following the debate on the Anglican covenant process at the meeting of the Church of England General Synod earlier this month in York, the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt, told the Gazette that if the bishops of The Episcopal Church (TEC) in the United States do not meet the demands of the Dar es Salaam Primates’ Meeting required by next September’s deadline, and if the bishops of the Global South decline to attend next year’s Lambeth Conference, as many as six in ten Church of England bishops could be considering their own positions about attending the ten-yearly episcopal gathering.

However, Bishop Scott- Joynt added that such bishops would feel “constrained” by their loyalty to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who personally invites the bishops.

Bishop Scott-Joynt also said that if the US bishops were not attending and the Global South bishops were, his estimated four in ten minority among the English bishops would be facing similar considerations to those of the majority in the opposite situation.

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From this Living Church article:

A spokesman for the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is on sabbatical until September, said Archbishop John Sentamu was not speaking on behalf of Archbishop Rowan Williams, but instead offering his own reflections on current events.

Six out of ten senior Church of England bishops could boycott next year’s Lambeth Conference of more than 800 Anglican bishops and archbishops from around the world because of the row over gays.

Such a boycott would be unprecedented in the history of the Anglican Church and would be an indication of how deep the divisions go, in England as well as in the rest of the communion.

The fifth most senior bishop in the mother church of the Anglican Communion warns today that a majority of English diocesan bishops could consider a boycott if the US does not row back on its pro-gay agenda.

A UK boycott would confirm the gravity of the splits within even the Church of England, traditionally the model for Anglicanism’s “via media”. It would effectively spell the end of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s dream of maintaining unity.

Read it all.

Update: there is more here.

The Rt Rev Maurice Wood, who has died aged 90, was the flamboyant yet hugely popular bishop of Norwich from 1971 to 1985. He was very good with ordinary people and brought in young clergy to parishes around the city, giving it a great sense of energy. A friend and admirer of Billy Graham, he sponsored the American evangelist’s visits to Cambridge and Norwich in 1955 and spoke on his platforms in Japan and the US.

Born into an evangelical and teetotal family, Wood was a classic evangelical of the 1930s mould, nurtured by his time at Monkton Combe school, near Bath, Queens’ College and Ridley Hall, Cambridge, evangelical camps, bible classes, the Crusaders – and the suffering he witnessed as a chaplain with the commandos during the D-day landings, for which he was awarded the DSC.

A man of simple faith and great zeal, he was successively incumbent of two evangelical flagship parishes, St Ebbe’s, Oxford (1947-52), and St Mary’s, Islington (1952-61). He then became principal of Oak Hill Theological College, Southgate, his warm-hearted pastoral care attracting a good number of students, including many graduates. While never claiming to be an academic himself, and content with an uncritical reading of the scriptures, he added to the fortunes of the college by inviting such evangelical rising stars as John Simpson, later dean of Canterbury, John B Taylor, later bishop of St Albans, and George Carey, later archbishop of Canterbury, to join the staff. The Opportunity Knocks weekends run by the college played no small part in attracting men to the ministry.

Read it all.

Presiding at the recent commissioning service of ten newly-commissioned Church Army evangelists and a 400-strong congregation in the United Kingdom, the Archbishop of York told them they have been sent out as evangelists because they have a passion for sharing the gospel.

At the July 12 service in a packed Sheffield Cathedral, Archbishop John Sentamu told the seven women and three men admitted to the Office of Evangelist they should “loiter with intent” to help people experience, explain and demonstrate what new life in Christ is all about.

In a thoughtful and wide ranging sermon given in a city that had been devastated by floods only a couple of weeks earlier, the Archbishop called upon the newly commissioned evangelists to be “all weather” evangelists not waiting for the sun to come out and shine as it very rarely does, but “getting out there in all weathers” to share the gospel through words and actions. He said the Christ Jesus they serve is alive and working in the world and cannot be constrained or trapped within the covers of any book.

“God in Christ must be accessible to all — tell others what you know and your experience will bring joy and new beginnings for those you encounter,” he added. The Archbishop also called on the church to renew its focus on mission and evangelism and share with confidence an authentic and international gospel to our communities.

In blessing each one of the evangelists he admitted to the office of evangelist within the Anglican church, the Archbishop told the new recruits to bring, joy, passion and commitment to their ministry as they had the best news in the world to share. The name and story of Jesus should be constantly on their lips, he said

At the commissioning service that was held the day before, Church Army’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Russell urged the new evangelists to show compassion and love in their ministry so that people can have hope in the Christian gospel.

“Today, we commission you to love, to show compassion, especially to those considered most unlovable,” Russell said.

He told the evangelists: “Jesus spent time with the prostitutes, tax collectors and immoral of the day. He spent time with those considered unclean. He didn’t just spend time with those people, he loved them. He showed them compassion, he became their friend. He didn’t stick his nose up in the air and avoid people that others judged. He got in amongst them. That’s your job, get alongside people and love them in Jesus name. Allow Jesus to change you, and let you see them through his eyes.”

The full article is here.

Clear blue water was emerging yesterday on this programme when Ian Duncan Smith went head to head with Ed Miliband about the State’s attitude to marriage. But both agreed that the interests of children were paramount.

It’s clear that many children in Britain today are being brought up in emotional poverty, deprived of the security that flows from a stable family relationship. Recent evidence shows that those raised in a family structured on marriage achieve significantly higher results at school. It’s also clear that when you have children the family spending increases hugely. It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that a single-income household that feeds four or even five people should, on the grounds of justice alone, be taxed very differently from a double-income household that keeps only two.

But there are problems with these arguments.

Read it all.

Gordon Brown’s announcement that the Government will no longer have the final word in the appointment of diosesan bishops in the Church of England has fascinated the General Synod that is meeting in York. The announcement ends two centuries of intrigue over episcopal patronage, and many in the Church ? with memories of recent prime ministerial interference ? will be grateful that appointments are not being sanctified by a prime minister, who, in theory, could be a Catholic. But it also reawakens the vexed issue of disestablishment, bringing nearer a break between Church and State for which many, within the Church and beyond, have been campaigning.

Despite a general feeling that the Church of England should not enjoy unique favour by a secular State, not all the bishops are unreservedly pleased at the prospect of a change. One issue that troubles some is money. Would disestablishment also mean disendowment?….

Read it all.