The Government’s new definition of extremism is likely to “vilify the wrong people” by threatening freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have warned.

In a joint statement published on Tuesday afternoon, Archbishops Welby and Cottrell said that the plan also “risks disproportionately targeting Muslim communities, who are already experiencing rising levels of hate and abuse”.

Their statement pre-empts an announcement, expected on Thursday, in which the Communities Secretary, Michael Gove, plans to broaden the official definition of extremism to include individuals and groups who “undermine the UK’s system of liberal democracy” — and ban them from public life.

Read it all.

The Government’s new definition of extremism is likely to “vilify the wrong people” by threatening freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have warned https://t.co/T87MOTD9eg

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) March 12, 2024

The amended motion that was eventually passed on Wednesday after a long and often painful debate as different conscientiously held views were explained and exchanged noted the progress made since the February Synod which asked the House of Bishops to find ways of commending the Prayers of Love and Faith alongside a number of other commitments, not least a heartfelt declaration of repentance for the prejudice and exclusion many LGBTQIA+ people had experienced and sadly sometimes continue to experience in the church. Nothing has yet changed or been introduced, but ways forward and a path to follow is being mapped out. That’s really what this Synod was about.

In particular, what will happen next is that the prayers themselves will be commended for use, either privately and pastorally with same-sex couples, or as part of an existing or regular service in church, but standalone services, i.e. that bit of LLF which has received the most publicity, and probably where the greatest disagreement lies, will be subject to a process of authorisation under Canon B2, which would mean that in order to receive final authorisation, there would need to be a two thirds majority in favour in each of the three synodical houses – bishops, clergy, laity.

Leading up to that vote, there will probably be a period of experimentation under Canon B5A. This is the canon allows individual parishes that want to, that opt in, to apply to be able to use material on an experimental basis for a fixed period, at the end of which, Synod considers whether to extend the authorization under B2. That’s’ the vote requiring the two thirds majorities. Doing it this way will be useful way both gauging the feeling of the Church, but also give time to properly consider exactly what sort of pastoral reassurance and provision will be necessary to honour those who in good conscience won’t be able to support these developments. Again, I want you to know that I am very committed to ensuring this happens well in the Diocese of York, but also for the whole Church of England, as are my colleagues.

The pastoral guidance concerning what this means for ordinands and clergy, particularly over whether they could be permitted to enter into same-sex marriages themselves is still a work in progress and wasn’t really discussed at this synod. But it will be forthcoming in the early part of 2024.

Read it all.

Jesus calls peacemakers ‘children of God’, a vital message for our church as well as for our world.

Read my @DioceseofYork synod address ⬇️ https://t.co/xs4hygpAn8

— Archbishop of York (@CottrellStephen) November 18, 2023

The General Synod is to vote on whether stand-alone services of blessing for same-sex couples should be authorised immediately for experimental use rather than first undergoing a full synodical process.

The move would effectively reverse a decision made in the House of Bishops last month…, but seems to be supported by both archbishops.

A total of 13 amendments have been tabled to the motion to be tabled by the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, on Tuesday afternoon, which recognises both the uncertainty surrounding the implementation of Prayers of Love and Faith for same-sex couples, and the progress that has already been made. The Synod’s agreement in February…to commend the prayers has since been challenged by those who want the decision to be removed from the Bishops and given to the Synod.

The Bishop of Oxford, Dr Steven Croft, has tabled an amendment asking the Bishops “to consider whether some stand-alone services for same-sex couples could be made available for use, possibly on a trial basis, on the timescale envisaged by the motion passed by the Synod in February 2023”.

Read it all.

The move would effectively reverse a decision made in the House of Bishops last month, but seems to be supported by both archbishops https://t.co/BBZVym6KzL

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) November 14, 2023

Where we are right now, is not where any of us would like to be.

But I continue to believe that we can find a way of living in love and faith.

Furthermore, I stand by the statements I made in February. There will need to be some sort of provision. But just as the way forward that is being proposed is pastoral, and in my view does not mean a change in the Church of England’s doctrine of Holy Matrimony, so I believe the reassurance and provision that we need should be pastoral. This is why I will be supporting the amendment being put forward by the Bishop of Oxford because, as things stand, I am concerned that clergy using the commended prayers might find themselves vulnerable to a legal challenge if their use of the prayers looks to someone else to be a standalone service.

Something that allows standalone services for an experimental period seems to me to be a sensible and pastoral way forward. It gives clergy and parishes who want to use the Prayers of Love and Faith the legal protection they need. And because this will be on an opt-in basis, clergy and parishes who in good conscience won’t use the prayers will be under no compunction or compulsion so to do, nor will they be disadvantaged in any way by their decision.

We will, of course, need further discussions about how this provision continues to run through all that we are proposing. I’m sure the Bishop of London will say more about this when we get to that bit of our agenda. I also recognise that the pastoral guidance that is such a key component in this work should not be thought of as a fixed entity but a body of guidance that will evolve.

But my purpose in this address is not to anticipate the debate. Rather, it is to ask us to lift our eyes above the debate to see Jesus.

Read it all.

General @Synod for the @churchofengland starts today. Over the next few days, we’ll be debating and voting on a number of important items.

Pray for all involved, that we may come together well and be granted wisdom in our discussions and decisions. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/LHXGGGk9FM

— Archbishop of York (@CottrellStephen) November 13, 2023

Millions are looking ahead to this winter with ‘fear and anxiety’ about the cost of heating their homes, the Archbishop of York said today as he backed the launch of a campaign to provide a network of warm spaces for people who struggle to pay their energy bills.

Archbishop Stephen Cottrell is encouraging churches to consider getting involved – if they are not already – in the Warm Welcome campaign, a network of venues from community centres to churches providing warm spaces over the winter for people struggling to heat their homes.

In a video message to support the launch, Archbishop Stephen said: “Sadly, what began as a cost-of-living crisis has simply become the new normal for many.

“Millions of people will look ahead to this winter with fear and anxiety, wondering how they are going to cope with high living costs.

Read it all.

Prospect of winter energy bills causing anxiety and fear for millions, Archbishop of York warns, as he backs the Warm Welcome campaign https://t.co/2dzYUr2Wrm via @churchofengland

— John Thomson (@john59thomson) October 30, 2023

Key decisions, including whether priests are permitted to enter same-sex civil marriages, and how to provide for those who oppose the introduction of blessings for same-sex couples, can be made only after “further work” by the House of Bishops, it was announced on Friday.

At a press conference looking at the papers for the upcoming meeting of the General Synod (13-15 November), the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, insisted that neither item was being put off.

“It’s not deferring, but it’s recognising that in terms of moving both those forward, not just more work but — certainly in terms of the formal structural pastoral reassurance — more listening needs to be done,” she said.

The agenda for the upcoming November meeting of the General Synod is dominated by LLF, with a day-and-a-half of the two-and-a-half-day schedule allotted for discussion.

Read it all.

Same-sex provision needs more work, General Synod will be told https://t.co/Jlx6JII3Eu

— Simon Sarmiento (@simonsarmiento) October 20, 2023

We have archbishops openly rejecting the teaching they vowed to uphold. The bishops are showing a lack of respect for a clear, recognizable link between liturgy and doctrine, refusing to follow the proper synodical processes for introducing new (particularly controversial) liturgy in the life of the church, sidelining public theological reasoning and the work of FAOC, and possibly seeking to introduce new guidance contrary to existing doctrine without the proper synodical process that respects the principle of bishops not acting on their own but always as bishops in synod. Alongside this they are also effectively tearing the Church of England away from the Anglican Communion and wider church catholic.

These are not minor technical matters. These actions threaten to dissolve part of the glue that holds the church together and enables bishops to act as a focus of unity. The bishops appear to be abandoning precious gifts that have helped preserve, structure, and cultivate our often fragile common life together across our differences. They are disregarding and undermining well-established, tried and tested, theologically and pastorally (not simply legally) founded principles and practices that enable “good disagreement.” It is, however, only by living within their constraints that bishops will nurture trust and embody integrity, especially as we navigate contentious proposed changes in our teaching and practice.

It is a serious matter for the church to err on marriage and sexuality. That, however, is a problem in one specific, albeit vitally important, area. These developments, and how episcopal and archepiscopal power is being used — on the sole basis, it seems, that these means are necessary to reach the desired end goal — are much more serious. They go beyond a single, possibly reversible, error of judgment, to weaken and potentially destroy core features of Anglican identity and essential characteristics of any healthy ecclesial body.

Read it all.

Grateful to the Covenant website at @Livng_Church for publishing my latest summary of the CofE processes around LLF and the serious and deeper questions they raise. https://t.co/6dmXAZWjAn

— Andrew Goddard (@goddardaj) October 4, 2023

Meg Munn criticises the Council, not for pulling the plug on the ISB, but for not doing it soon enough. She singles out Justin Welby as the one who has undermined her role and not been robust enough with the other two members—something confirmed by Justin’s extraordinary distancing himself from the Council’s decision during Questions, giving the clear impression that he was throwing the rest of the Council under the bus in the face of negative publicity. Her comments about Steve and Jas are damning:

Read it all.

What has contributed to the lost of trust across the Church of England? How was that evidenced in last week's meeting of General Synod? What can be done to restore the trust we need to work together?https://t.co/dL5ruZuVfM

— Dr Ian Paul (@Psephizo) July 14, 2023

Let me begin with some words from Pope Francis –

“In today’s world, the sense of belonging to a single human family is fading, and the dream of working together for justice and peace seems an outdated utopia. What reigns instead is a cool, comfortable and globalised indifference, born of deep disillusionment concealed behind a deceptive illusion: thinking that we are all powerful, while failing to realise that we are all in the same boat… How wonderful would it be, even as we discover faraway planets, to rediscover the needs of the brothers and sisters who orbit around us.”i

With this in mind, I want to turn to the prayer that Jesus taught his friends, the Lord’s Prayer as we call it. Just the opening word is a powerful and challenging declaration of solidarity; a defiant rebuke to all who would reduce us to isolation from each other and from God.

For if this God to whom we pray is ‘Father’ – and, yes, I know the word ‘father’ is problematic for those whose experience of earthly fathers has been destructive and abusive, and for all of us have laboured rather too much from an oppressively, patriarchal grip on life – then those of us who say this prayer together, whether we like it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not, even if we determinedly face away from each other, only turning round in order to put a knife in the back of the person standing behind us, are sisters and brothers, family members, the household of God.

That little word ‘our’ is a revolution.

Read it all.

And we're off and running. The Church of England General Synod session for July 2023 begins with prayer, and then a presidential address by the Archbishop of York on the Lord's Prayer. @cofe. @CottrellStephen @synod #GeneralSynod #ChurchofEngland pic.twitter.com/qMpHOxE0wI

— Bruce Bryant-Scott (@bbryantscott) July 7, 2023

The report of the Archbishops’ Commission on Families and Households, ‘Love Matters’, was launched by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York on 26th April at Coram’s conference centre in London. This was a very appropriate venue in which to emphasise the importance of supporting children and families.

Over 120 people came to hear about the Commission’s messages and recommendations. It was a joyous occasion, rendered particularly special by the presence and contributions of pupils from four schools representing different faiths and members of the Family Justice Young People’s Board (FJYPB).  These schools and the FJYPB had previously taken part in the Commission’s evidence-gathering activities. Their personal stories and reflections demonstrated the enormous value of listening to and learning from young people. Their contributions at the launch can be heard on the Commission’s YouTube channel.

Read it all.

The sacked members of the Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB) have this week given their side of the story, disputing the version given by the Archbishop of York last weekend.

On Wednesday of last week, it was announced that the Archbishops’ Council had terminated the contracts of two of the three members of the ISB, and was moving to disband the body entirely (News, 23 June).

Archbishop Cottrell defended the decision in an interview on Sunday on Radio 4, in which he blamed “a breakdown in communication” for the ISB’s demise. On the same programme, however, the ISB’s lead survivor advocate, Jasvinder Sanghera, said: “It is not true to say this has happened because of a breakdown in relationships.”

On Tuesday, the other sacked ISB member, Steve Reeves, questioned the view that there had been a breakdown of trust, as suggested by Archbishop Cottrell and the secretary-general of the Archbishops’ Council, William Nye.

Read it all.

On Tuesday, ISB member Steve Reeves questioned the view that there had been a breakdown of trust. “When they say ‘trust’, I don’t think they mean trust in the way that your average person on the street does. What they mean is obedience,” Mr Reeves said.https://t.co/QZjeqoYtGi

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 29, 2023

The Church of England has sacked a panel of experts who provided independent oversight of how it dealt with abuse.

The Archbishops’ Council confirmed it was “ending the contracts” of all three board members – acting chair Meg Munn, Jasvinder Sanghera and Steve Reeves.

The latter two recently claimed the Church had been obstructive and interfered with their work.

The Church said relations between them and senior bishops had “broken down”.

Read it all.

I will be asking the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Andrew Selous MP, to request a briefing for MPs & Peers on *what on earth is going on* with the ⁦@churchofengland⁩ & safeguarding. https://t.co/eI9XNwPyi5

— Ben Bradshaw (@BenPBradshaw) June 22, 2023

Social care is facing a “very, very distressing situation”, the Archbishop of York has told Parliament as he urged Government action to tackle the crisis.

Speaking at Westminster, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell painted a bleak picture in the region he represents, with vulnerable people not receiving the support they need, while recruitment and retention of staff was “appalling”.

The senior church leader raised his concerns as ministers were also pressed over reports that a promised £500 million investment in the adult social care workforce could be at risk.

Read it all.

“In the cities of Hull and Middlesbrough, which I serve, I see so many people in need of care+not receiving it.

“I discover recruitment+retention R appalling. I find care workers having 2 use food banks so they can feed their families" https://t.co/A7GECquy24 #socialcarecrisis

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) March 27, 2023

A spokesman for the diocese of York said this week: “The sender has taken some trouble both with identifying their chosen pseudo-sender and the intended victim. In many cases the sender has used an untraceable Gmail address, or texted from an equally untraceable pay-as-you-go or ‘burner’ mobile phone.”

At least one person is believed to have lost £1000 in the con and another only narrowly avoided losing a similar sum when they became suspicious after being asked to supply the voucher codes.

The diocesan spokesman continued: “It seems this is a national trend with similar reports from other Church of England dioceses. We have reported one specimen case to North Yorkshire police who have passed it over to Action Fraud, a national police scheme. Incumbents may like to consider advising their church officers and PCC members that: ‘I will never ask you by email to spend your own money for the church’.”

A joint unit of Northumbria, Cleveland, and Durham police has issued an alert over similar issues in the northeast, saying: “Clergy will never ask you to give them money, vouchers, or personal banking details directly, even to help someone in need . . . Even if they’re saying you’ll be refunded, it is a scam.”

Read it all.

Scammers have for a second time impersonated the Archbishop of York and other clergy to ask priests and church staff to buy them Amazon vouchers and online gift cards https://t.co/uHDbKQn5Ez

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) March 21, 2023

The Archbishops’ Commission for Racial Justice has released the second of its biannual Racial Justice reports.

Mandated to drive ‘significant cultural and structural change on issues of racial justice within the Church of England’, the Archbishops’ Commission for Racial Justice (“ACRJ”), headed by The Rt Hon Lord Paul Boateng, is charged with monitoring, holding to account and supporting the implementation of the forty-seven recommendations of the Archbishops’ Anti-Racism Taskforce which were laid out in the Taskforce’s comprehensive 2021 report From Lament to Action.

In his foreword letter to the Second Report, Lord Boateng singles out for praise the Church Commissioners for their “ground-breaking work” in the forensic audit undertaken on Queen Anne’s Bounty and its links with transatlantic chattel slavery. The Commission welcomes the £100 million of funding to deliver a programme of investment, research and engagement over the next nine years, but caveats that there is much further work to be done as this is “not the end of the story” [Slavery, p 23].

Lord Boateng welcomes the arrival in December 2022 of the Director of the Racial Justice Unit, but expresses continued disappointment at the time it has taken to establish the Unit and comments: “This has inevitably impacted negatively upon our own work and on the progress made across the Church of England in delivering on the recommendations of From Lament to Action”.

The Second Report draws particular attention to the witness heard from representatives of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Christians about the “indifference, neglect and outright hostility” at the hands of both church and state. General Synod in 2019 urged dioceses to establish a chaplain to the communities. The Commission heard that twelve such chaplains have been appointed and calls for the remaining dioceses to do likewise in ensuring the GRT community receives pastoral, advocacy and educational activities. On the latter, the Church of England’s “Leaders like us” programme will have a part to play and the programme will be scrutinized by the Commission over the course of its work…

Read it all.

CoE Archbishops’ Commission on Racial Justice releases Second Biannual Reporthttps://t.co/lyT8Ngw1ha pic.twitter.com/xDOn5angEG

— Anglican Ink (@anglicanink) February 24, 2023

The message of the Christian faith is two edged. It is both kinds of comfort.

It is the resolute message of God’s enduring support for us, right in the midst of the fragility and transience of human life, its difficulties, its challenges and its horrors, a reminder of God’s commitment to the world. It is tough love and tough comfort.

And then it is a message of such sweetness, such sublime tenderness, such understanding of our humanity because in Christ God has climbed inside our humanity and God is like a Shepherd who feeds his flock and gathers the lambs in his arms.

It is this message we receive at Christmas.

It is this message we are called to share.

This Christmas feels harder than ever. Our world feels fragile. There is war in Europe. A cost of living crisis is hitting the poorest disproportionately. Our health service seems to be creaking at the seams. Public sector workers feel forced to strike. The impact of climate emergency ever more visible and pressing. In parts of East Africa, they haven’t had any proper rain for nearly three years. In Northern Kenya, an area I know well, 80% of their livestock has died.

I am not here to offer political analysis. But I do want to offer hope.

Read it all.

God is coming among us as one of us: this is the great Christmas proclamation; God’s word made flesh in Jesus Christ. Read my sermon from today’s Eucharist @York_Minster https://t.co/aSAnkDLtuq

— Stephen Cottrell (@CottrellStephen) December 25, 2022

Despite falling congregations and less inherited affiliation to the church, a recent survey by Savanta Com Res shows that 46% of the population – nearly half – had contact with their local church. The most common reasons were weddings and funerals, and of course carol services at Christmas. But 30% of those who had contact with the church – that is about 7 million people, a staggering 13.7% of all UK adults – had contact through toddler groups, lunch clubs, and food banks.

This is an incredible service to the nation. It is rooted in and flows from a belief in the God who in Jesus Christ comes among us as one who serves.

You probably wouldn’t expect an Archbishop to say otherwise, and while there have been some concerns recently that the parish church is somehow under threat in the Church of England at the moment, let me say this clearly. Yes, putting clergy into parishes costs a lot of money, as does the necessary infrastructure to train, support and house them. Church buildings are also costly. But the Church of England is very committed, not only to support and revitalise the local church, not only do all that we can to sustain clergy numbers, but also plant and establish new worshipping communities, particularly in areas of new housing and in many of the most deprived urban, rural and coastal areas.

This mission imperative to be the church for everyone everywhere is at the heart of what it means to be the Church of England, and therefore of our current vision and strategy.

And why? Because we want everyone to hear the good news of God’s love for them in Christ. To hear the song of the angels announcing peace on earth. And to provide the caring and transforming presence of a Christian community in every human community, large and small.

Read it all.

This Christmas, Christians want everyone to hear the good news of God's love for them in Christ. To hear the song of the angels announcing peace on earth. Read @Telegraph article in full: https://t.co/I7A1wpbJoL

— Stephen Cottrell (@CottrellStephen) December 18, 2022

The Archbishop’s Mission Enabler for the North is a new and exciting role which will focus on revitalising parishes and planting new churches across the Northern Province.

The role was made possible following a successful bid to the Strategic Development Fund and will focus on the northern dioceses’ goal to establish hundreds of new worshipping communities over the next decade. It will also have a particular emphasis on working with the most deprived communities and seeking to help the Church become younger and more diverse.

Commenting on the appointment, the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell said, “This is an exciting time in the life of our church and this role has emerged after much prayer and collaboration with Diocesan Bishops and Theological Education Institutions across the Province. Mark brings with him a wealth of experience around empowering individuals and teams to flourish and is passionate about revitalisation of the church in the UK. I very much look forward to working with Mark as we seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in this pioneering role.”

Mark will work with the 12 dioceses of the Northern Province to produce a bold and achievable strategy supporting step-change in church planting and parish revitalisation, alongside church mission agencies, established church networks and Theological Education Institutions.

Read it all.

Delighted to announce the appointment of The Revd Canon Dr Mark Powley as Mission Enabler for the North. Mark will work with the 12 dioceses of the Northern Province to produce a bold & achievable strategy supporting parish revitalisation. https://t.co/Uw6hkL9oJH

— Stephen Cottrell (@CottrellStephen) December 1, 2022

A ledger stone, honouring the cathedral’s founding father St Wilfrid, will be dedicated by Archbishop Stephen at the end of a service that will have celebrated the incredible life and mission of St Wilfrid of Ripon.

Throughout this year, in marking the 1350th anniversary of the dedication of Ripon’s crypt by St Wilfrid, the cathedral community has been telling the story of this remarkable missionary bishop with art installations, son et lumieres, lectures and worship.

Wilfrid, a man of great vision, motivation, courage and faith, not only built up the church and brought countless people to faith but also helped the church on the fringes of Europe become more up to date and better connected. This became symbolized in the way he brought Roman influence to bear on the building of a stunning church in Ripon.

Read it all.

Come along tomorrow at 7pm for ‘Wilfrid, Willibrord and the Expansion of Christian Europe’, by Prof James Palmer, Professor of Mediaeval History @StAndrewsUniv The lecture on St Wilfrid is free – you can talk to Prof Palmer afterwards over a glass of wine @RiponDean @moreRipon pic.twitter.com/PZLvTdgNQR

— Ripon Cathedral (@riponcathedral) October 5, 2022

And where did this come from? This way of being a monarch that was more about service than rule?

At her Coronation, as I’ve already heard said several times, in perhaps one of the most poignant moments of the service, she steadfastly walked past the throne upon which she would sit and knelt at the altar, giving her allegiance to God before anyone else gave their allegiance to her.

Echoing those comforting words of scripture from the Book of Lamentation, which is itself a book written out of the heart of the profoundest grief and tragedy, the Queen said this in one of her Christmas broadcasts –

“Each day is a new beginning… I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give of my best in all that the day brings, and to put my trust in God.”

And let’s not forget that today is September the 11th, a day etched into the corporate memory of the world as we remember another day of horror and sadness when so many died.

And this is what we do. As we remember, as we grieve and mourn in our families, across our world, and in the household of our nation we tell our stories. And how do we make sense of the end of life and of death? How do we live our lives well in the time that is remaining to us? Well, we can do no better than follow the example of Her Late Majesty the Queen, who each day put her trust in God. There’s nothing sensational or mystical about this. The Christian life is a life of simple discipline where each day we choose to live a certain way. Each day we choose to love our neighbour as ourselves. Each day we choose to love God.

Read it all.

Standing at the head of The Queen's coffin as she Lies-in-State is the Westminster Cross

It is the processional cross most often used at church festivals and special services in Westminster Abbey. It is made from silver gilt and was first used in the Abbey on Christmas Eve 1922 pic.twitter.com/KV8urtuQTs

— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) September 14, 2022

In the public square our words will often be misunderstood, misinterpreted and misquoted. People will think we’re woke, naïve, misguided, too left wing, too right wing, too liberal or too conservative. We will be applauded for taking a moral stand, and pilloried for getting involved in politics. At the same time. On the same issue. But, knowing very well that we will sometimes get it wrong, what we are trying to be, is faithful to Jesus.

In personal witness we will sometimes meet scorn, apathy, even hostility. That which means most to us, will be considered trivial, laughable and neanderthal by some. But when we do share the gospel, we will find ourselves standing on the holy ground of other people’s stories – and their pain – and often we won’t have the words to say, such as when we’re ministering to those whose lives are cut short, or taking the funeral of a child. Our hearts will be pierced, and like Mary standing at the foot of the cross, our witness will be a silent vigil and a determination to abide.

We will carry a towel, not a flag.

We will issue an invitation, not a summons.

We will, wherever possible, roll away stones.

In overseeing and resourcing the church for ministry, a responsibility that we all share, we will have to make painful and difficult decisions. In facing up to mistakes, we will be humbled, especially by our failings to safeguard the Church or to root out racism or even just to communicate well, and show kindness to each other, in these things, we will be pierced and broken.

Read it all.

The Presidential Address to #Synod from @CottrellStephen may be read here:https://t.co/Uje08XtWeV pic.twitter.com/PeuotVraJB

— General Synod (@synod) July 8, 2022

The Government’s “offshoring” policy, under which the first people are due to be deported to Rwanda as early as Tuesday, “should shame us as a nation”, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and 23 other bishops, have said.

The policy was included in the Nationality and Borders Act, which came into law in April despite objections and attempted amendments from bishops and other peers (News, 29 April). It was explicitly criticised by Archbishop Welby in his Easter sermon (News, 27 April), and reportedly by the Prince of Wales last week, who is said to have called it “appalling” in a private conversation.

Last week, campaigners failed to win an injunction against the policy in the High Court, which ruled that it was in the “public interest” for the Government to carry it out. An appeal on Monday was rejected for the same reason. A full hearing on whether the policy is lawful is due to take place next month.

In a letter due to be published in The Times on Tuesday, the full complement of bishops who sit in the House of Lords have written: “Whether or not the first deportation flight leaves Britain today for Rwanda, this policy should shame us as a nation.” The letter continues: “The shame is our own, because our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries.”

Read it all (registration or subscription).

BREAKING: The entire senior leadership of the Church of England (every bishop in the House of Lords) has joined to decry the Rwanda scheme as "an immoral policy that shames Britain" in letter to @TheTimes https://t.co/HUIciprbGu

— Kaya Burgess (@kayaburgess) June 13, 2022

Amid all the pomp, pageantry and pleasure the Platinum Jubilee brings, it is easy to forget that at its heart, the Coronation seventy years ago was a religious event. And while television cameras may have been granted access to Westminster Abbey, one moment was hidden from public view. Her Majesty was anointed with oil and afforded a time of stillness and reflection before God. She was also given a Bible by Archbishop Fisher and reminded that scripture is ‘the most valuable thing this world affords’.

Geoffrey Fisher was the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time. He came alongside Her Majesty as she prepared for the spiritual journey that lay ahead. One of the treasures in the Lambeth Palace library is the book of devotions, which he prepared and presented to Her Majesty all those years ago. It includes prayers, passages of scripture and daily meditations.

For Her Majesty, the Coronation was an intimate encounter between a monarch and her God, a moment where the Queen would be called by name and given a lifelong vocation. It marked a moment where her personal relationship with Christ met the national events and public moments that remind us that this country, its laws and customs and culture, is shaped by the Christian faith.

Read it all.

“While I may not have attended every event in person, my heart has been with you all; and I remain committed to serving you to the best of my ability, supported by my family."https://t.co/PJowamwNTr

— The Yorkshire Post (@yorkshirepost) June 6, 2022

In this exile for the past two years and in this fast, everything that challenges our world and everything that we depended on to sustain our Christian life was suspended, but Christ remained. His love endured.

There we were, on our own, cut off in the upper rooms of our homes and unable to go to church, and Christ found us.

I see this in Craigie Aitchison’s images of the isolated Christ, who comes to us in our isolation, showing us that we don’t actually need anything else, and that in the end all the things we enjoy – material blessings, other people, the worship and comfort of the church, the sacraments themselves – all of them will cease.

Or to put it another way; He is Risen. This is the great Easter hope. In his dying and rising, we find our identity as those who are redeemed and restored by Christ. We find ourselves within the life of the God who now bears the scars of passion.

Or rather, Christ finds us. He comes to us, as he came to Mary Magdalene, and he asks why we’re crying and who we’re looking for.

He has returned to take us with him. Like Mary and like Elizabeth who will be baptised in just a moment, He know us by name. He shows us what really matters.

Read it all.

We greet the risen Lord with joy, proclaiming Alleluia, Christ is risen, he is risen indeed! To read my Easter Day sermon @York_Minster https://t.co/GaxGi4QQ8B

— Stephen Cottrell (@CottrellStephen) April 17, 2022

Archbishop Stephen Cottrell joined the Bishop of Carlisle, the Rt Rev James Newcome, who is currently completing a Lent walk across the Diocese of Carlisle, with the two meeting a local marathon man fundraiser and spending time with members of West Cumbria Ukrainian Appeal.

The Rev Nicky Pennington hosted the pair as they also met parishioners and school children in the Crosslacon Team (Cleator Moor, Cleator, Arlecdon and Frizington) before later heading to Ennerdale.

Archbishop Stephen and Bishop James were able to bless two vans laden with goods and medical supplies just before local people waved the drivers off on their journey to a refugee camp in Poland.

Archbishop Stephen said: “There’s nothing good about this war in Ukraine: it’s barbaric, it’s evil and I pray that it will soon stop. But what I see time and again is that where there is horror and evil, good can come from it. That’s been shown by this community who have come together and said ‘The people in Ukraine are our sisters and brothers’. Those vans will be a lifeline to some refugee families.”

Read it all.

Archbishop of York praises Cumbrian community spirit | The Archbishop of York https://t.co/YuSIxcrNrN

— phil edwards (@edwasp) March 18, 2022

How should we respond?

Well here’s three things all of us can do –

Be prepared to make sacrifices ourselves. Sanctions on Russia will also affect us. We have to be ready to pay that price.
Offer generous humanitarian aid. Just think for a moment what it’s like to be a young family living in the middle of Kyiv at the moment, sheltering from bombs in metro stations, fearing for the future. We must offer help.
Be ready to welcome Ukrainian refugees into our country. And, make it easier for them to come.
And, for me, there’s a fourth. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I will be praying.

Yes, for an end to the madness of war and a withdrawal of Russian forces; but also because we people of faith believe prayer changes things, beginning with ourselves.

"Russia invading Ukraine is a terrible, barbarous, illegal act."

The Archbishop of York @CottrellStephen has called on the government to impose the "stiffest possible sanctions" to isolate Russia and "offer safe routes for refugees" from Ukraine 🇺🇦 https://t.co/kbcNORvJB9

— ITV News Calendar (@itvcalendar) February 27, 2022

Read it all.

Speaking in an emergency debate in the House of Lords on Friday morning, Archbishop Cottrell condemned Vladimir Putin’s “flagrant disregard of the Ukrainian people’s legitimate right to self-determination”.

“Jesus urged his followers to be ‘peacemakers’, not simply peace-lovers,” he told peers. “This is an important distinction, because it is a call to action.

“The horrors being visited on Ukraine must must be a wake-up call for us that peace is something you need to work at.”

Archbishop Cottrell continued: “We must use all our diplomatic muscle and energy, stringent economic sanctions, and focused political will to force Russia to step back from this aggression, withdraw its troops and silence the guns, not least because effective sanctions will mean many innocent Russians suffer as well. Our actions must be swift and cohesive if they are to be decisive.”

Lasting peace “requires a new commitment to international instruments of law and order, accountability and investment so that we make peace and choose peace, not just hope to keep it.”

Read it all (registration or subscription) and you may find his speech in full there.

“Jesus urged his followers to be ‘peacemakers’, not simply peace-lovers. This is an important distinction, because it is a call to action. The horrors being visited on Ukraine must must be a wake-up call for us that peace is something you need to work at.” https://t.co/DmtifHfxWu

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 25, 2022

Placing our trust in Jesus Christ, the author of peace, we pray for an urgent ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/hrPRc44PDB

— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) February 24, 2022

Church leaders could be appointed to full-time cabinet-style roles such as “Brexit bishop” or “Covid bishop” under proposals seen by The Times for the biggest overhaul of how the Church of England is run in centuries.

The ecclesiastical map of England could also be redrawn via mergers between the 42 dioceses, the creation of new constituencies for bishops based on cities or counties and the appointment of senior “regional” bishops to oversee large areas of the country.

The church has been accused of wanting to form a “shadow government” because of proposals that some senior bishops could be detached from geographical regions to serve as spokesmen or women on political matters.

A consultation document commissioned by the church’s three top leaders, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Bishop of London, sets out a wide range of ideas for “significant changes to the shape, structure and number of dioceses and bishops”.

Read it all (subscription).

FULL STORY:

Biggest overhaul in centuries to how Church of England is run, under proposals seen by @TheTimes

Could see:

– bishops as cabinet-style spokespeople on political issues (eg: "Brexit bishop")
– mergers of dioceses
– new bishop constituencieshttps://t.co/h5heiHI0eV

— Kaya Burgess (@kayaburgess) February 7, 2022

The Church of England keeps asking its gay members to go against their convictions and consciences.

Her most recent victim is the new Archbishops’ Appointments Adviser Stephen Knott. He is a gay man who has married his partner in another member church of the Anglican Communion, the Scottish Episcopal Church. He clearly disagrees with the Church of England’s apostolic teaching that marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman: he has signaled that in what is surely the most public and permanent way possible. And yet the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have asked him to take charge of the process of appointing the Church of England’s most senior leaders (deans, bishops, and archbishops) who are all duty bound to teach that he cannot be married in the sight of God. How can they have asked him to do something that must be so troubling to his convictions and conscience?

Perhaps he feels, or they have indicated, that this situation won’t be for that long. That soon, post Living in Love and Faith, he will be able to help appoint people who will be able to “bless” his same-sex marriage (indicate the Church of England’s half-hearted acceptance of it), or even allow people like him to get married as Anglicans south of the border too. If so, it is my convictions and conscience that the Church of England is going to trample on next – I am a gay Anglican who lives in the light of historic teaching that marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman. As a result, I am single and celibate, in the reassuring knowledge that this is what my church has consistently asked of people like me. Am I soon to be told that, somehow, we’ve got it wrong for centuries? At what cost to me and my many spiritual forebears? I’m increasingly uncertain as to whether that matters to the archbishops when they appoint someone like Stephen Knott to such a senior and influential position.

Some will say that neither Stephen Knott nor myself need to worry too much because neither of us are clergy and it is only the ordained, and not lay officeholders, in the Church of England, who need to live in the light of the Church’s official teaching on marriage. This is an idea that has gained traction in recent years as part of an uneasy unofficial settlement that has kept liberals and traditionalists together. The Church of England’s victims this time have been gay clergy who have been disciplined when they have, like Stephen Knott, entered into a same-sex marriage (celibate civil partnerships are permitted). He will now, in theory, be partly responsible for making sure that no ordained man or woman in his position gains preferment in the Church of England – unless his appointment signals a change in the rules. How he can be asked to do this beggars belief, how gay clergy can put up with one rule for him and another for them also strains too many people’s convictions and consciences once again. He, I, may not be ordained but we are both in positions of authority in the Church of England and so surely need to be living in the light of her teaching in all areas of faith and conduct?

What is the solution to this personal struggle for so many of us?

Read it all.

What key questions are raised, about the process and the Church as institution, by the recent announcement of the new Archbishops' Secretary for Appointments?https://t.co/dbbqTMmMbr

— Dr Ian Paul (@Psephizo) January 20, 2022