Justin Welby, the leader of the Church of England, has said the most stressful job he has done was as a parish priest, and that clergy need to be better supported.

Speaking at the C of E’s ruling body, the synod, in a debate on clergy wellbeing, the archbishop of Canterbury spoke of the “stresses and challenges” of being a priest.

“The hardest work I’ve ever done, and the most stressful, was as a parish priest – mainly because it was isolated, insatiably demanding and I was on the whole working without close colleagues – and that wears people down,” he said.

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The world’s largest coal mining companies need to show how they will reduce their carbon emissions to meet global climate targets under the Paris accord, according to an investor-backed group led by the Church of England.

Only two of the 20 largest listed coal companies — Rio Tinto and Brazil’s Vale — have long-term targets for reducing their emissions, according to a report published on Tuesday by the Transition Pathway Initiative, a coalition of investment funds with £4tn under management.

Three coal companies, DMCI Holdings, Inner Mongolia Yitai Coal, and Shougang Fushan Resources Group, do not even acknowledge climate change, the study said. The report comes after the Paris climate change agreement to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels came into effect last November.

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if you havent seen this u need to take the time only 4 minsish-America's #opioidcrisis: The grandparents' burden https://t.co/zxgQvaWdNO

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) July 12, 2017

Jean and Terry Childs had exciting plans for their retirement. Then their daughter died of an overdose and they found themselves caring for two of their grandchildren.

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More and more Americans are spending their golden years on the job.

Almost 19 percent of people 65 or older were working at least part-time in the second quarter of 2017, according to the U.S. jobs report released on Friday. The age group’s employment/population ratio hasn’t been higher in 55 years, before American retirees won better health care and Social Security benefits starting in the late 1960s.

And the trend looks likely to continue. Millennials, prepare yourselves. Better yet, consider this and this, so you have a choice in the matter when your time comes.

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"This is a dream come true – to be in the semi-finals at #Wimbledon makes it even more special"

– Sam Querrey pic.twitter.com/Yhzv6lYSGM

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 12, 2017

The 22 bishops present considered the cumulative experience of this consultation since it first met in London in 2010. Growing organically from 12 in the first gathering, some 49 bishops have now been involved in the process. We remain entirely committed to this vital work with one another, as we are convinced of the unique productivity and value of our gathering. We considered how our configuration could best facilitate our conversations as we look to the next Lambeth Conference. We heard a report on the evolving plans for Lambeth 2020. We identified biblical, theological and pastoral roles of testimony and how it is vital both to the life of the church and the effective proclamation of the gospel in each of our dioceses.

We recognized much we have valued in the dialogues, which have changed our ministries and our lives:

A new understanding of the Anglican Communion has led to renewed commitment to its flourishing.
Myths and stereotypes, misunderstandings and propaganda have been broken down. It is clear we have so much more in common than the issues that divide us and threaten our unity at this time.
It has been important to visit local church ministries and worship in local parishes. We have learned how others are engaged in the work of building up the church and in living the Gospel. We have learned new ways to engage mission.
There have been surprises:

Listening first hand to someone is very different from reading about each other.
In spite of our differences there has been mutual respect, deep friendship, hard-won growth of trust and deep commitment to one another and to this dialogue.
There is a personal cost in embracing the other, but much enrichment, and this has led to a fuller articulation of our own identity and stronger commitment to our common faith in Christ Jesus.
In our roles as bishops, in very different contexts, we share many similar concerns.
There is unity in the Anglican Communion’s diversity.
God brings about our own transformation through loving relationships, and this has happened to us in the course of these dialogues.

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Born in Isfahan, Iran, Guli’s family was among those forced to leave the country in the wake of the Iranian Revolution in 1980, when she was just 14. She attended Nottingham and Bristol Universities and was ordained in 1998, serving in Southwark diocese. Among other positions, Guli was Chaplain to the Royal Academy of Music in London for 2 years.

‘I had quite an unusual upbringing, I think it’s fair to say,’ she says in a video recorded by the church. ‘I grew up very much between and betwixt a number of different worlds I think. Obviously Iran is primarily a Muslim country and that was our wider context.’ At school she was the only Christian in an entirely Muslim environment, but at home she was immersed in the church.

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I do remember how many folk on the other side of the argument about 10 or so years ago were at pains to point out this was about blessings, not marriage–marriage was not going to be touched. We were not fooled by that, even then.

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(For an earlier post on this topic please see this blog post from 2007).

Later in his career, Crapsey gave a sermon at the Third Presbyterian Church in the city of Rochester. This was a “breech of church discipline and significant of the fact that [he] was no
longer a high-churchman, holding that the Episcopal Church was the only church…”…. The bishop forbade Crapsey of preaching there but he “told the bishop that the Third Presbyterian Church was within the confines of [his] parish and if these, [his] parishioners, were in the darkness of error it was [his] duty to dispel that darkness by the light of truth….”

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Almighty God, we bless thy Name for the life and work of Nathan Söderblom, Archbishop of Uppsala, who helped to inspire the modern liturgical revival and worked tirelessly for cooperation among Christians. Inspire us by his example, that we may ever strive for the renewal of thy Church in life and worship, for the glory of thy Name; who with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Blessed Lord, who for our sakes wast content to bear sorrow and want and death: Grant to us such a measure of thy Spirit that we may follow thee in all self-denial and tenderness of soul. Help us by thy great love to succour the afflicted, to relieve the needy, to share the burdens of the heavy laden, and ever to see thee in all that are poor and destitute; for thy great mercy’s sake.

The next day, as they were on their journey and coming near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. And he became hungry and desired something to eat; but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heaven opened, and something descending, like a great sheet, let down by four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “No, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has cleansed, you must not call common.” This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

–Acts 10:9-16