Safeguarding in the Church of England could be broadened to include anyone harmed or at risk of harm in a church context, after the C of E’s National Safeguarding Team (NST) launched a consultation.

The fresh approach is a result of recommendations from the Charity Commission, which has pointed out that the “Church does not treat allegations of abuse from an adult not assessed to be ‘vulnerable’ as a safeguarding allegation”. Its own guidance says that trustees “must take reasonable steps to protect from harm all people who come into contact with their charity”.

The consultation, What is Safeguarding?, focuses on the code of practice Safeguarding in the Church, the subject of a consultation in April and May. Until now, it has been referred to as Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults. The change of title follows recommendations from the Commission that the NST review definitions of safeguarding and vulnerable adults.

“It is very important to note that this document is in the very early stages of thinking,” the NST says in a preface.

Read it all.

Church of England’s definition of safeguarding could be broadened https://t.co/rheEMJAw4y

— Simon Sarmiento (@simonsarmiento) June 11, 2026

Thirdly, this raises the question about the three descriptors that have been chosen in the motion and what they mean, especially if they are to include within their scope sexual relationships. 

A classic statement advocating same-sex unions (and later marriage) is that by Jeffrey John which was entitled Permanent, Faithful, Stable. These three terms are also in need of more careful definition but how significant is it that both “permanent” and “stable” are lacking here? What conclusions are to be drawn from the fact they have been replaced simply by “committed” with no explanation as to the nature or level of that commitment?

There has been a long concern about occasional and non-exclusive male same-sex sexual relationships being acceptable, including among gay Christians (see for example the 1997 work of Andrew Yip whose research with gay male Christian couples found “the majority of couples were expectationally and behaviourally non-exclusive; the recently deceased leading campaigner Malcolm Johnson expressed surprise in his Diary of a Gay Priest that “a third are physically faithful—or say they are!”). Leaving that question open is one reason the LGCM statement quoted above offered no criteria as to when expressing love fully in a sexual relationship was entirely compatible with the Christian faith (see Sean Gill, The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (Cassell, 1998), pp. 12-13).

In a world of rapidly changing sexual norms there is now much wider discussion and acceptance of “ethical non-monogamy” (ENM). As briefly explained in this “ethics explainer” from The Ethics Centre this is distinguished from “infidelity” and “cheating”. Here it is not unreasonable to ask whether those in such an ENM form of relationship might nevertheless still be able to be classed as in a “committed, faithful, intimate” form of relationship.

Read it all.

Helen King's motion for General Synod: a help or a hindrance? https://t.co/cIA8Evq875 via @psephizo

— Simon Sarmiento (@simonsarmiento) June 2, 2026

Things were different amongst Christians. The Early Church challenged the contemporary pagan culture by insisting on the same standard of sexual ethics for both men and woman. The first Christians believed, based on the teaching of Genesis 1 and 2, that marriage was to be between one man and one woman, that marriage was the only legitimate setting for sexual activity and that a single standard of sexual fidelity was required of both men and women.

That is why men are told to ‘abstain from unchastity’ (1 Thessalonians 4:4), why Paul forbids man having sex with prostitutes (1 Corinthians 6:12-20) why a bishop has to be a ‘one woman man’ (1 Timothy 5:9) just as good wives were expected to be ‘a one man woman’ (1 Timothy 5:9).To quote Larry Hurtado:

‘The decisive step taken early Christian sexual teaching was to bring males under the same sort of behavioural requirements that in the larger cultural setting were expected of ‘honourable’ women. In the matter of marital fidelity in chastity, it seems that for early Christians what was good for the goose was also thought good for the gander!’[8]

In addition, the early Christians universally rejected abortion and infant exposure.

In the words of the second century Epistle to Diognetus, ‘They [Christians] marry like everyone else and have children, but they do not expose their offspring. They share their food but not their wives.’[9]

Thus, far early Christianity was in line with Jewish tradition. However, it departed from the Jewish tradition by also holding that intentional singleness (known then as ‘virginity’), and the celibacy that went with it, was not only acceptable but, in fact, a more excellent form of Christian discipleship than being married….

Read it all.

Martin Davie–Assessing two different visions for the future of the Anglican Communion https://t.co/F3so2u4TtA 'The difference between the two views of the future of global Anglicanism put forward by the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals and The Abuja Affirmation is that the former holds… pic.twitter.com/LXTgMmiuOZ

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) March 16, 2026

The Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, has welcomed a poll of more than 10,000 people which suggests that a majority in all 632 parliamentary constituencies oppose the proposed law on assisted dying being revisited without full scrutiny and approval by both chambers.

Dr Hartley was on the House of Lords select committee that examined the Private Member’s Bill brought by the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater in October 2024 (News, 18 October 2024), and spoke against it before it was defeated earlier this year in the Upper House (News, 1 May). She told the Church Times that the poll “confirms that the public does not support the suggestion of bypassing the House of Lords in order to force through an unsafe Bill”.

She said: “This would mean using a procedure never used for a Bill of this kind and acting against the advice of medical professionals, disability groups, and the concerns of all those who want to see legislation that is safe and workable.

“For a Bill of this magnitude in terms of societal change, the highest level of scrutiny is imperative.”

Read it all.

The Bishop of Newcastle has welcomed a poll of more than 10,000 people which suggests that a majority in all 632 parliamentary constituencies oppose the proposed law on #assisteddying being revisited without full scrutiny and approval by both chambershttps://t.co/1fB16bi9sv

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 10, 2026

On June 3, a debate about the silent genocide of unborn children with Down syndrome exploded on social media. The unlikely catalyst was an X post by YouTube influencer Jesse “McJuggerNuggets” Ridgway. For months, the Ridgways had been producing and posting news of their pregnancy for a massive online audience, including their pregnancy announcement on March 29, a gender reveal (a boy), ultrasounds, and finally, a disturbingly personal video of the grief-stricken couple finding out their baby likely had Down syndrome. 

The journey culminated in Ridgway’s announcement that the couple had decided to abort the baby at twenty-one weeks. (Last year, a preemie born at twenty-one weeks in Iowa survived.) Ridgway listed the health problems his son might have suffered from—heart defects, hearing challenges, learning disabilities, decreased lifespan—and concluded: “Down syndrome isn’t a ‘blessing.’” He assured his “fans” with autism and Down syndrome that “we appreciate you,” but said that the abortion “will be beneficial for our family” and that “thankfully, we had a choice.”

The post has been viewed over 24 million times and has garnered 18,000 mostly negative comments. Many were livid at Ridgway’s openly eugenic justification for having his unborn son destroyed; hundreds posted stories, photos, and videos of their loved ones with Down syndrome, expressing their gratitude for their love, lives, and contributions. The photos put faces to society’s most endangered population—as Ridgway pointed out in his post, around 90 percent of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are killed in the womb.

Read it all.

This is unspeakably evil, but I give the guy credit for speaking about it directly in public. Most of our eugenic killing simply goes on on the down low, which is how throwaway culture flourishes. When brought to light, they can be named for what they are. https://t.co/CLhEitDBTu

— Charlie Camosy (@CCamosy) June 4, 2026

Nineteen-year-old Olivia’s profile picture shows a demure and innocent-looking young woman with long blonde hair styled in beachy waves. She’s wearing a short, cleavage-exposing nightdress and her biography says she’s “deeply caring, supportive and attentive” and “sleeps on the floor… until you call her. Then silence. Obedience”.

While Olivia may appear to be an online dater looking for love, she isn’t real – not in the conventional sense of the term. This prospective love match is actually one of a growing trend of “AI girlfriends”: realistic-looking artificial intelligence “bots” created by “companion apps” – services that are being advertised on online games played by children and on platforms they watch, such as YouTube.

New research has revealed that one in five boys aged 12-16 is either in or knows of a boy their age who is in a romantic relationship with an AI companion. A report carried out by men’s organisation Male Allies UK and published last month spoke with more than 1,000 boys aged 12-16 in focus groups in 37 schools – public and state, grammar and comprehensive, and across a range of Ofsted ratings – up and down the country. Peer-to-peer focus groups were set up where boys could speak freely, with the aim of diving into their behaviour and attitudes, and it was the boys who wanted to talk about AI technologies. The findings make stark reading: eight in 10 boys (85 per cent) have had a conversation with a chatbot, with 43 per cent saying they talk to bots so they can ask questions without feeling embarrassed. More than a quarter (26 per cent) say they like the attention and connection over real-life equivalents, and (36 per cent) admitted that they prefer speaking to AI chatbots rather than to their family and friends at times.

Read it all (subscription).

🦔One in five boys aged 12 to 16 is in or knows someone in a romantic relationship with an AI chatbot, according to a Male Allies UK study of over 1,000 boys across 37 UK schools. 85% have talked to chatbots and 26% prefer the attention to human connections.
The top companion…

— Hedgie (@HedgieMarkets) June 8, 2026

[Mr Funmi Ojetayo’s] professional experience includes senior legal positions with Florida A&M University, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Florida Department of Management Services. As Deputy General Counsel for the Department of Management Services, he led the agency’s litigation function and provided counsel on significant legal matters. He currently serves as a Partner at Allen, Norton & Blue, P.A., in Tallahassee, Florida, where his practice focuses on labor and employment litigation and appellate advocacy.

In addition to his legal training, Mr. Ojetayo holds a Master of Divinity degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He completed his pastoral residency at Incarnation Anglican Church in Tallahassee in 2022 and currently serves as Discipleship Pastor at Four Oaks Church East.

While under consideration for the appointment, Mr. Ojetayo disclosed that he has a brother who serves as a rector within Bishop Julian Dobbs’ diocese. As Mr. Ojetayo has no personal involvement in the matters under review, and his appointment is based on his professional qualifications and experience, the province deemed this not to be a conflict of interest.  

Read it all.

https://t.co/NzE22DL2Qe

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) June 3, 2026

The visitation recorded concerns about the spiritual life of the cathedral, noting that “the spiritual dimension of Chapter’s work appears less visible than might be expected.” It continued: “Theological reflection in decision-making is limited and shared prayer outside formal worship is infrequent.”

While the daily offices and Sunday services are “offered with dignity and care”, the cathedral has “limited awareness of the needs and well-being of its congregation”, the report says. Home communion reaches “only a small number of people”, and visiting “relies almost entirely on a few individuals”.

The cathedral’s relationship with the community “feels distant and strained” the report says. “Many residents perceive it as focused on tourists rather than locals. This disconnect has led to frustration, missed opportunities, and weakened trust.”

Among senior clergy, working relationships have become “strained, creating an environment that makes collaboration and effective decision-making difficult”. Stipendiary clergy must commit themselves to gathering daily for shared prayer.

Read it all.

Interesting that one of the recommendations here was that the clergy commit themselves to gathering daily for shared prayer – something that was infrequent outside formal worship. The spiritual dimension explored.https://t.co/wI26w8NIUW

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) May 28, 2026

The South Carolina standing committee also criticized Bishop Ashey for other comments he made during the lecture that “prognosticat[ed] about the outcome” of the pending case against Archbishop Steve Wood and “promoted falsehood” about its complainants. Ashey is advising Wood as he awaits trial on canonical charges of personal and sexual misconduct.

In a lengthy retraction sent to the church’s bishops a week later, Ashey apologized for his speculation that Wood would be exonerated and for his “inaccurate” portrayal of the complainants, some of whom now belong to the Diocese of South Carolina, as “aggrieved” terminated employees. Of the complainants formerly employed under Wood at St. Andrew’s Church, Mount Pleasant, none were terminated, and all resigned, though Wood asked most of them to stay, one complainant told TLC.

While the province contends that the Council is without authority to govern the court’s protocols with regard to the Ruch documents, the Council’s main item of business at its June meeting will be a vote on a comprehensive Title IV revision that fully restructures the church’s disciplinary bodies and their procedures.

If passed, the new canons will phase out the current seven-member Court for the Trial of a Bishop and replace it with a tribunal from which smaller panels are drawn, and will introduce norms of public trial procedure=—two features also found in Episcopal Church canons.

Read it all.

New for @Livng_Church: The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina calls for the release of documents related to the trial of ACNA Bishop Stewart Ruch as the church's fraught process for revising Title IV comes to a vote.https://t.co/zzTJB5SM4h

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) May 20, 2026

“This Easter, can we let Jesus teach us to be good stewards of our grief? This Easter, can we let Jesus teach us to be good stewards of our grief? That ought to strike you as odd.
That’s a very strange combination of words, stewardship and grief. I’ll let you in a little secret about ministers. We are not very easy to deal with.
Langley has my deep sympathy. But one of the things about our life is that we have to preach on a regular basis, and whenever we have to preach, we have to get something from the text. And the thing is, if I don’t hear from God, you can’t hear from me.
And part of the problem is, if it’s Thursday and I’m still wrestling, that’s a problem. Friday, I’m at the near panic stage. But you do not want to be at my house when I get to Saturday, and I still have nothing to say.”

“And this past week, that’s exactly where I was. And past the near panic stage. And I was thinking as I was sitting there in my office yesterday, I was talking to the woman who cuts my hair in Summerville, who’s a Christian, and I was thinking, there have been millions of sermons.
Think of that, millions of sermons in the history of the church preached on this passage. Next year will be my 40th year. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve preached on the passage, probably 15 or something.
So I’ve got to get something fresh out of it. So I said, Lord, come on, this is not working. And I’m sitting there and I’m praying and I’m looking.
And I mean, I’ve read this thing, I don’t know how many times, and all of a sudden, click. And what the New Testament says about preaching, by the way, is rightly dividing the word of truth. And the thing is, it’s like cutting a diamond.”

“You can sit there and look at the text on Monday and Tuesday and not see it, and Friday you still don’t see it. And all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit shows up and boom. And then it just opens like magic.
Well, there I was sitting, and it all of a sudden came open. Now, let me tell you how important this passage is before I get into this. I was reading JC.
Ryle, the late great bishop of Liverpool in the 19th century, and he said something really fascinating about this passage that I want to start with. This is one of the great bishops in the whole history of the church. Listen to what he says about this story.

He says this, the history contained in these verses is not found in any other gospel, but only that of Luke. Of all the 11 appearances of Christ after his resurrection, none is perhaps so interesting as the one described in this passage. And I completely agree with him.

And one of the things that’s got to bother all of us is, it sticks out like a sore thumb, it’s unlike any of the others. What is it“doing in there? And there’s all sorts of reasons.

I mean, they are great resurrection stories, post resurrection narratives, all through all the gospels. But this one is unique. And so if you think about it and ask the question why it’s in there, there’s all sorts of answers.

But what came to me yesterday, which I never noticed before, is there’s one really, really, really important reason why it’s in there. And that is, it’s the only one that really shows how Jesus deals with the depth of people in incredible grief. This is a story about grief, not general grief, not superficial grief.
This is the story about people whose lives have been dashed on the rocks of reality. This is a story about people who are disappointed, dejected and nearly in despair and desperate. They’ve not just lost motivation, they’ve lost all hope.

And the question that we have to ask ourselves is, why are they there and how does Jesus bring them out of it? So those are my two questions. Why are they there and how does Jesus bring them (and by extension, us) out of it?”

You may listen directly here:

Or you may download it there.

Rembrandt van Rijn
Supper at Emmaus pic.twitter.com/B11NtKd3rg

— Marysia (@marysia_cc) April 19, 2026

The Anglican Church in North America has chosen to retain Lathrop GPM to conduct a restricted and nontransparent review of the Title IV proceedings surrounding Bishop Stewart Ruch, and in that choice the truth of the matter is already disclosed, not at the end of the process but at its beginning. The terms will not be released. The findings are not promised to the light. The scope has been drawn with a care that ensures the most decisive questions will never quite arrive where they must be answered. One need not wait for conclusions. The arrangement itself speaks with sufficient clarity.

What presents itself as sober inquiry carries the unmistakable grammar of preemption. There will be interviews, reports, careful language, and the appearance of discipline, yet all of it unfolds within limits that have already been secured against the possibility that the truth might actually do what truth does, which is to judge, to expose, and to reorder. The structure is not neutral. It is already an answer. It ensures that whatever is said will be said in a way that does not require the institution to become something other than what it presently is.

The choice of Lathrop GPM makes this plain in a way that no further argument can improve. A firm known for defending institutions against claims of abuse has been entrusted with examining an institution under precisely such a shadow. One might search for a more transparent declaration of intent and fail to find it. This is not a tension to be resolved. It is a coherence to be recognized. The task is not to discover a truth that might unsettle the body under examination but to render events intelligible within a horizon that preserves that body’s continuity. While the conclusion has not been written in detail, its boundaries have been drawn with precision.

Even the most modest traditions of law would find this intolerable. The idea that judgment must be free from the control of those who stand to be implicated is not an advanced refinement. It is the bare minimum required for justice to exist at all. 

Read it all.

Re: Ruch trial aftermath: The Ex. Committee has appointed a subcommittee to "oversee a third-party review of the provincial administration" of the Ruch matter. They have not yet determined the scope of the review but will "retain a qualified firm or individual to complete it." pic.twitter.com/U1CXTUnENM

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) January 17, 2026

The province’s intent to exclude the trial court’s processes from the coming review represents a source of “deep concerns” for the Anglicans for Truth, Renewal, and Accountability (ATRA), a grassroots group formed in 2025. A December open letter issued by ATRA, which gathered over 200 clergy and lay signatures, called for an independent post-trial review with a clear scope and a promise of eventual publication.

In a March 25 statement, ATRA echoed the Diocese of South Carolina in calling for the Executive Committee to publish its contract with Lathrop GPM “to answer some important remaining questions.”

“Who will have control over the final report? Will the final report be made public? Does the firm hired have a fiduciary duty to the Province, meaning ‘a legal duty to act solely in another party’s interests,’ which constrains the firm’s ability to pursue truth independently? Who will have access to and control over the information gathered by the firm?” the ATRA statement asked.

According to Harris, the province intends to publicize the findings of the report, though has not determined in what format. It does not intend to publish its contract with Lathrop.

ACNAtoo, the advocacy group formed in 2021 in response to allegations of abuse in Bishop Ruch’s diocese, criticized the denomination’s choice of Lathrop to conduct the review. The group called Lathrop’s participation “inappropriate” in light of the firm’s “deficiencies” in investigating sexual misconduct allegations against Mike Bickle, former leader of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City; its legal defense of Roman Catholic bishops and dioceses in civil sexual assault cases; and its use of “scorched earth” tactics against victims described by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Roes, VandeHei, and Price also stated concern to TLC regarding Lathrop’s “track record of defending religious institutions in sexual abuse lawsuits,” and expressed a desire for those overseeing the post-trial review to work to earn the confidence of the church’s members.

Read it all.

New for @Livng_Church: Lathrop will review the process that ended in a controversial acquittal of Bp Stewart Ruch, but the court record of the ACNA's chaotic trial will remain under wraps.https://t.co/kFRSWZZjbx

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) March 27, 2026

Social media interactions are, by definition, public and social, and not private. Clergy are held to a
higher standard of responsibility in their use of these platforms. Being clergy is an honor, privilege,
and responsibility that comes with influence, but also requires discretion and often sacrifice of our
rights, obligating us to wise self-censorship and self-control. I expect all social media posts by our
clergy to adhere to the highest standard of Christian decorum. All that we do reflects on our Lord,
His Church, our Diocese, and our ministry.
To that end, I first offer five (edited) questions that Archbishop Emeritus Foley Beach requires his
diocese to ask before posting anything…

1. Is it the truth? Along with that, ask: Why is it my responsibility to speak this truth or address
   this situation?
2. Have I talked to the person before I post about the person?
3. Will it benefit all concerned?
4. Do my words reflect well on Jesus Christ and on His Church?
5. Will I someday need to apologize and confess what I have written as a sin?
   These helpful questions can serve as a beginning point and a filter for online interactions. From
   there, I offer a few wise policies, developed by my friend and fellow bishop, Alex Farmer, for the
   clergy of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese. (Again, I have edited these for our situation.)
6. Never post, repost, favorably comment on, or like content that reflects poorly on Christ
   Jesus and his Church, other clergy, or yourself.
7. Follow the same rules of courtesy and mature behavior you would observe in any face-toface interaction.
8. Think about consequences and how your message might be perceived before you post.

Read it all.

I used to think the main damage from social media was to youth mental health. Now I believe that the global destruction of the human ability to pay attention may be even larger.

A meta-analysis shows the damage, to adults as well as teens, from TikTok+https://t.co/YS0dkQTdj0 https://t.co/a8bSMQyW60

— Jonathan Haidt (@JonHaidt) November 15, 2025

When the former Archbishop of Canterbury the Rt Revd Justin Welby spoke recently about his mental health (Quotes, 6 March), his honesty was striking.

Speaking to Gyles Brandreth on the podcast Rosebud, he reflected on the failures surrounding the Church of England’s handling of abuse allegations, and revealed that he had sought professional help. “I’ve been seeing a psychotherapist for a considerable period of time, and a psychiatrist: very helpful,” he said. He went on to say that therapy was not about excusing mistakes, but about confronting them honestly: “It’s not about saying, ‘Oh, it didn’t matter,’ . . . quite the reverse. How does one live with such a failure?”

That candour should have been welcomed. Instead, it prompted a deeply damaging column in The Daily Telegraph by Celia Walden, who asked: “What’s the point of God if even Justin Welby is seeing a therapist?”

Reading her article left me shocked, distressed, and very upset at such ignorance about mental health. I felt shamed and triggered. As a serving clergyman who has lived with serious mental-health challenges, I felt guilty and embarrassed simply for seeking help. Her column was extremely damaging, heartless, and cruel, and lacked any compassion for clergy and people of faith who live with mental illness. It implied that faith alone should replace therapy: a view that is both wrong and pastorally reckless.

Read it all.

"I have never told someone with cancer to refuse chemotherapy and to 'just pray'. I have never suggested that insulin betrays belief. So, why is mental health treated differently?" ✍️ Mark Edwards #mentalhealth #JustinWelby https://t.co/FTUYk6BqKd

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) March 13, 2026

The future shape of the Global Anglican Communion is being debated this week in Abuja, Nigeria. At the GAFCON conference, more than 400 bishops and global leaders are working through the logic of the proposal that could lead to a new Global Anglican Communion — a fellowship grounded in the authority of Scripture and historic Anglican doctrine.

On Day 2 of the conference, Dominic Steele speaks with key leaders including Vaughan Roberts (Oxford), Julian Dobbs (ACNA), and Richard Condie (Tasmania), along with presenters from Uganda, Brazil and Nigeria.

They discuss: • The implications of the Church of England’s current trajectory • The logic behind a reordered global communion

• The mission opportunity for global Anglicans • What this could mean for churches in the UK, North America and Australia

Watch and listen to it all.

A sermon is not “an op-ed for a newspaper”, the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Williams has said. “You are not just there to comment on current affairs, and I am always rather wary when I hear a sermon which is dominated by what’s in the media to the extent that you are not quite sure whether anything more than a general moral perspective is coming out of it.”

He offered the comments in a new podcast, Preaching Well, launched by the Bishop of Loughborough, the Rt Revd Saju Muthalaly, who said that he had created it because “the Church urgently needs voices who can speak God’s truth with clarity, mercy, and conviction.” He hoped that it would “build confidence in preachers and encourage those who long to proclaim the gospel in ways that stir hope, deepen faith, and lead us towards Jesus Christ”.

Lord Williams is the first guest in the new series. Sermons should help the congregation to “look more clearly at the nature of the God that has addressed us”, he said. “Then bits of the contemporary jigsaw begin to fall into place a bit more. . . If that’s the kind of God we believe in, then there are some reactions and engagements with the world around us that will make sense and some that won’t.”

A sermon “prompts people, encourages people, to a certain level of self-awareness”, he said, “so that somebody might go out from listening to sermon and be able to say not just ‘I have never thought of that,’ but ‘I have never seen that in myself.’”

Read it all.

A sermon is not “an op-ed for a newspaper”, the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Williams has said. He offered the comments in a new podcast, Preaching Well, launched by the Bishop of Loughborough, the Rt Revd Saju Muthalaly 🎧#Sermon #RowanWilliams https://t.co/8RKZylcfyb

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 26, 2026

The Archbishop of Canterbury has suspended the Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Revd Stephen Conway, from ministry, while a complaint to the National Safeguarding Team is investigated, it was announced on Friday.

A statement on the diocese of Lincoln’s website said that the complaint had also been referred “to the appropriate statutory authorities”.

Bishop Conway has been Bishop of Lincoln since 2023 (News, 24 May 2023). For more than a year beforehand, he was Acting Bishop of the diocese, in addition to being Bishop of Ely.

His suspension by the Archbishop of Canterbury follows the House of Bishops’ Code of Practice. The Suffragan Bishop of Grantham, in Lincoln diocese, Dr Nicholas Chamberlain, will be performing the function of the diocesan Bishop in Bishop Conway’s absence.

Read it all.

The Bishop of Lincoln has been suspended pending investigation; Dr Nicholas Chamberlain will serve as Acting Bishop. #LincolnDiocese https://t.co/qNlWmLqumE

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 20, 2026

‘There are three ideas currently supported by those in the Church of England who take a liberal approach to marriage and sexual activity (including members of the House of Bishops) and which are being pushed as part of the Prayers of Love and Faith process that cannot rightly be seen as a development of the Church of England’s doctrine…

The first idea is that it would be right to bless same-sex couples who are in a sexually active relationship either in normal church services or in special ‘standalone’ or ‘bespoke’ services.

The reason that this would not be a development of doctrine is that the doctrine of the Church of England, as we have seen, is that all forms of sexual activity outside heterosexual marriage are forms of the sin of fornication which all Christians are called to avoid committing (and for which those Christians who have committed it are called to repent, confess and receive absolution as they would with all other forms of sin). It is not an explanation of the Church’s doctrine on this matter to say that those who continue to be in a relationship involving the sin of fornication should be able to have this relationship blessed by the Church. Rather, saying this would contradict the Church’s doctrine in one of two ways. It would involve saying either (a) that fornication is not a sin or (b) that sin does not need to be met with a call to repentance, confession, absolution and amendment of life but can instead be the object of prayers of blessing.

The second idea is that those who are in same-sex sexual relationships should be admitted to, or allowed to continue to exercise, ordained ministry.

The reason that this would not be a development of doctrine is that the Church of England’s doctrine, as set out in the 1662 Ordinal is that it is an integral part of the calling of those who are ordained to be: ‘diligent to frame and fashion your own selves, and your families, according to the doctrine of Christ; and to make both yourselves and them, as much as in you lieth, wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Christ.’  It is not an explanation of the Church’s doctrine to say that being in a same-sex sexual relationship is compatible with providing a wholesome example and pattern to the flock of Christ. As in the previous example, it would instead contradict the Church’s doctrine by in this case suggesting either (a) that being in a same-sex sexual relationship is in accordance with ‘the doctrine of Christ’ or (b) that the requirements for ministerial conduct set out in the Ordinal no longer matter.

The third idea is that the Church of England should accept that marriage can rightly be between two people of the same sex as well as two people of the opposite sex. This again would not be an explanation of the Church ‘s doctrine, but rather a contradiction of it. One cannot say both that ‘The Church of England affirms, according to our Lord’s teaching, that marriage is in its nature a union permanent and life-long, for better or worse, till death do them on the part of one man and one woman’ and also say that a relationship between two people of the same-sex is a marriage. The only way one can consistently say that a relationship between two-people of the same-sex is a marriage is if one has a different understanding of the nature of marriage. The idea that a doctrine of marriage that teaches that marriage is between two people of the opposite sex could be ‘spacious’ enough (as the bishops put it) to include same-sex relationships simply does not make sense.

What all this means is that the development of doctrine, rightly understood, rules out rather than permits these innovations which liberals wish to introduce, and which members of the House of Bishops are proposing.

Read it all.

How can we know what God is like and what his will is for our lives? Dr. Martin Davie, author and Anglican theologian, will explain how a careful reading of one of the Thirty-Nine Articles can provide us with answers. Register for this free event at https://t.co/2GO6OL0uPr. pic.twitter.com/Q5GTHbbswA

— Trinity Anglican Seminary (@TASeminary) September 6, 2024

A new approach to outsourcing church safeguarding to an independent body was endorsed overwhelmingly by the General Synod on Wednesday afternoon.

Despite some speeches that called for a greater sense of urgency, or urged the Synod to revisit the idea rejected last year of also moving diocesan safeguarding teams to a new external organisation, members overall welcomed the latest thinking on independent safeguarding.

Dame Christine Ryan, the independent chair of the Safeguarding Structures Programme Board, which is piloting this work, said that, after months of conversations and consultation, it had become clear to her that the Church of England was “ready to change” and had a “deep commitment” to doing “what was right”. Nevertheless, actual change was happening far too slowly, she concluded.

Regulators, Parliament, and the public would no longer tolerate incremental improvements, she warned. She had, therefore, drawn up a new model for independent safeguarding which would simplify matters, restore trust, and end the “invidious” situation in which the Church acted as both “pastor and judge” in safeguarding cases.

Read it all.

A new approach to outsourcing #churchsafeguarding to an independent body was endorsed overwhelmingly by the General #Synod on Wednesday afternoon#churchnews #churchtimes https://t.co/hdXsDti9jm

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 11, 2026

Other business includes proposals to outsource Church of England safeguarding to a new independent body, which were approved in principle last February (News, 14 February 2025); but implementing that decision has not been straightforward.

The plan originally approved last year called for the National Safeguarding Team (NST) to be transferred to a new independent charity, and a second outside organisation to be set up to scrutinise all church safeguarding. Diocesan and cathedral safeguarding teams would remain employed by their respective dioceses and cathedrals.

Since, then, however, the working group has concluded that this would require years of ponderous legislative processes. Survivors and others wish to move faster, and so a new model has been drawn up, a Synod paper explains.

One new independent body would be created — provisionally titled the Church of England Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). It would be overseen by a board, which would have a majority of non-church members.

Read it all.

A new model for quasi-independent #safeguarding is on the General Synod’s agenda next month, as are urban #poverty and the parliamentary ping-pong about the Clergy Conduct Measure#Synod #synodagenda #clergyconduct #churchnews #churchtimes https://t.co/YROYOjEi5M

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) January 26, 2026

[Audrey] Luhmann said the report by Husch Blackwell found Ruch sent emails attempting to coordinate legal representation for Rivera and authorized the priest at Rivera’s church to ask the victim’s family about dropping charges against Rivera, but specifying it should be done without pressure. But the court, which assigned minimal weight to that report, describes Ruch’s decisions at the time as “pastoral judgment exercised in real time, without the benefit of hindsight.”

The order also acknowledged that Ruch ordained Presbyterian Pastor Joshua Moon to the priesthood in 2020, despite knowing that Moon previously pleaded guilty to and served a 90-day sentence for attempting to solicit a prostitute. Ruch installed Moon as rector of a church plant, where Moon was later suspended from pastoral ministry for life after a female deacon reported him for making an unwanted sexual advance. The female deacon told The Washington Post that Ruch chastised her for being alone with Moon.

“The outcome of Moon’s ministry, while grievous and contrary to the hopes invested in him, does not negate the thoughtful, conscientious, and vigilant approach Bishop Ruch employed with the information available at the time,” the court wrote.

A person who assisted the prosecution acknowledged that whether the evidence against Ruch met the clear and convincing threshold for conviction was a legitimate question but said it was incorrect to claim there was no evidence. The source asked to be referred to anonymously due to concerns about negative repercussions.

“They should have seen a pattern of failing to properly vet and have accountability for these leaders in his diocese,” the person said. They also said fear of retribution and lack of legal authority in the church court to subpoena witnesses or materials created barriers for calling witnesses; The Living Church reported that other witnesses disputed the court’s characterization of their knowledge of Ruch’s conduct.

Read it all.

As the denomination looks ahead to two additional bishops’ trials, the precedents set by the Ruch trial will have substantial bearing on the upcoming proceedings. https://t.co/zHTGehgzWj

— RNS (@RNS) January 24, 2026

Still, finding enough volunteers for the ministry is a challenge. Many people will help with Christmas caroling events at the retirement homes or attend special classic-movie nights that Twilight Hope puts on at facilities. But only a few volunteers come out consistently.

Some people find long-term care facilities intimidating. “I think it’s because there’s weird smells, there’s scary noises, sometimes there’s bells going off,” [Stephanie] Smith said. “Some of the facilities feel like hospitals, and that freaks people out.” 

Yet she believes those feelings fade quickly. “Once you get in there, and once you get over that, and once you start to get to know the people, you’re gonna fall in love with them,” she said. “They’re so wise. They have whole histories behind them, a life to share.” 

She noted that residents especially enjoy when children visit. One volunteer, Jake Alger, has been serving and bringing his children with him for the past 18 years. His youngest is 6 and is a favorite among the residents.

“Jesus tells us to love our neighbor, and the reality is a lot more of our neighbors are going to be older,” Smith said. “There’s a real sense
of urgency.”

Read it all.

(CT) Some people find long-term care facilities intimidating. “I think it’s because there’s weird smells, there’s scary noises, sometimes there’s bells going off,” Smith said. “Some of the facilities feel like hospitals, and that freaks people out.”

Yet she believes those…

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) January 16, 2026

It is not my habit to comment on the contents of sermons in this blog. However, the Dean of St Edmundsbury, The Very Reverend Joe Hawes, used his sermon at St Edmundsbury Cathedral last Sunday to comment on the Living in Love and Faith process[1] and it seemed to me to be important not to let the points he made about this subject go unchallenged.

The Dean makes five points in relation to the LLF process, and I shall consider each of them in turn.

The first point he makes is that he feels able to affirm:

‘… with heartfelt certainty, that although I get it wrong pretty regularly and need to hearken to the Baptist’s cry to repent, who I am in my creation, is essentially what God intended. That I am not an aberration, a mistake on God’s part, but, like all of you, a gift from God, and trying in my life, to be a gift back to God through loving service.’

The question that this statement raises is who the Dean thinks God created him to be. If he means that his creation as a male human being made in the image and likeness of God is willed by God and is ‘very good’ (Genesis 1:31), I don’t think that there is anybody in the Church of England, even those who the Dean calls ‘hard line fundamentalists,’ who would disagree with him.

If, however, what the Dean means is that he was created by God to be a gay man then there would be many who would rightly disagree with him. This because, to quote Sean Doherty (who is himself same-sex attracted):

‘God did not create straight women, straight men, gay women and gay men. God created two sexes, with the capacity to relate to one another sexually.’ [2]

This truth is taught in the creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2 and, as Paul notes in Romans 1:26-27, it is also taught by nature in the sense that the observation of human biology teaches us that human beings have bodies that are designed to engage into the kind of ‘one flesh’ sexual union with a member of the opposite sex that has the capacity to produce offspring.

In the light of this truth the Pauline teaching that same-sex sexual attraction and the same-sex sexual activity that results from it are a result of the Fall makes perfect sense. If human beings are created to have sex with members of the opposite sex, it follows that desires and actions that are contrary to this must be seen not as a reflection of God’s original creative intention, but as a result of the distortion of the created order consequent upon demonic and human rebellion against God.

Read it all.

I have just published a new blog post, 'Why the cupboard is bare – a response to the reflections of the Dean of St Edmundsbury'https://t.co/fzxq2YZ4wr

— Martin Davie (@MartinBDavie) December 13, 2025

‘We are aware that an assessment such as we request raises practical questions and anxiety about what might be revealed. We ask you to remember alongside us that, in the words of our Lord, “there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open” [Luke 8:17]’.

Read it all.

Out of love for the church and concern over the crisis, scandal, and abuse; we call for a fully independent, third-party assessment in the ACNA.
We invite all current or former ACNA clergy and laity to read and sign our open letter: https://t.co/NFEbBmH7p6

— anglicanrenewal (@anglicanrenewal) December 17, 2025

 “Where among our bishops, are those with the courage to act from love?” the Dean of Bristol, the Very Revd Mandy Ford, asked on Sunday, as the House of Bishops prepares to finalise decisions on the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process.

She joined the Dean of St Edmundsbury, the Very Revd Joe Hawes, who — alongside organisations campaigning for greater inclusivity for LGBTQ+ people — last week called on the Bishops to change their minds (News, 11 December).

On Tuesday, the Bishops are due to confirm decisions announced in October, which would effectively forestall the introduction of stand-alone services of blessing for same-sex couples and maintain the current ban on clergy entering same-sex civil marriages (News, 17 October).

Read it all.

Temperature rises ahead of Bishops’ formal vote to put the brakes on same-sex marriage https://t.co/Wjh3LQN2up

— Simon Sarmiento (@simonsarmiento) December 15, 2025

A complaint against the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, was “not taken forward or appropriately followed up”, Lambeth Palace said in a statement on Thursday.

The claim related to the diocese of London’s and Bishop Mullally’s handling of an abuse allegation, Premier Christian News reported on Monday. The complainant, referred to as Survivor N, filed the complaint in March 2020.

The statement from Lambeth Palace said that, “due to administrative errors and an incorrect assumption about the individual’s wishes, the complaint was not taken forward or appropriately followed up.”

Bishop Mullally, who is now the Archbishop-elect of Canterbury (News, 3 October), said in a separate statement that Survivor N had been “let down by the processes of the Church of England.

“While his abuse allegations against a member of clergy were fully dealt with by the Diocese of London, it is clear that a different complaint he subsequently made against me personally in 2020 was not properly dealt with.”

Read it all.

A complaint against the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, was “not taken forward or appropriately followed up”, Lambeth Palace said in a statement on Thursday#churchnews #churchtimes https://t.co/1i96m3OSl7

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) December 11, 2025

The crisis facing the ACNA is fundamentally a crisis of integrity, stemming directly from this unwillingness to speak plainly. For the Church, confession is not merely an institutional duty; it is the covenantal key to healing.

Our tradition holds that true restoration is rooted in specific, humbling admission. The Apostle James lays out the standard for the community of faith:

“Therefore, confess your sins one to another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16, ESV)

The Failure to Confess for Healing

By substituting abstract spiritual language for concrete admissions, the bishops prevent the very healing they pray for. Healing—for the wounded, the Province, and the College itself—requires a clear definition of the injury and the sin. A nebulous confession attempts to bypass the painful process of public truth-telling.

The College’s statement reads like a carefully worded legal brief designed to limit exposure, rather than a pastoral lament seeking forgiveness. This is where the corporate double speak does its deepest damage. By using generalized terms, the bishops are engaging in semantic evasion—a classic tactic of risk management—that seeks to confess only what is legally or institutionally unavoidable. We see a leadership that is prioritizing image control over truth-telling, sacrificing its spiritual integrity for the sake of its organizational stability.

Read it all.

Has the ACNA College of Bishops' effort at confession been undermined by its method of communication? Fr. Randall Graf writes "we needed specific admissions of procedural failures, suppressed information, or concrete acts of omission." https://t.co/kh66Y1hW5z

— Jeff Walton (@jeffreyhwalton) December 10, 2025

The House of Bishops will make a final decision on the future of standalone same-sex blessings when it meets again on December 16 but Bishop Philip Mounstephen said the theological and legal advice made clear that any changes will need to be “done properly according to the norms of our governance”.

Addressing a recent meeting of the Winchester Diocesan Synod, Bishop Philip Mounstephen said that questions over how such changes could be made without changing the official doctrine of the Church of England – which upholds marriage between a man and woman – proved to be “the game changer”. 

He said the theological and legal advice had brought the House of Bishops “face to face with the sheer constitutional difficulty of making such changes”.

Read it all.

The Bishop of Winchester has defended the recent decision of the House of Bishops to pause plans to introduce standalone same-sex blessing services https://t.co/OD99QBXeo5 #anglican #bishops #anthropology #parishministry #ethics #21stc #pastoralpractice #doctrine

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) December 8, 2025

A Gathering Marked by Prayer, Repentance, and Reflection

We assembled in a moment that demanded humility and seriousness. Throughout our time together, we prayed the Offices and portions of the Litany, allowing the reading of the Scriptures and the rhythms of prayer to shape our conversations, anchor our reflections, and keep the cross of Christ before us.

As we reflected on our shared episcopal ministry, including the many ways God has borne fruit through it, we acknowledged areas where we have not fully met the high calling entrusted to us. We recognized moments of weakness in our relationships with one another, instances where our courage has flagged, and occasions when we lacked attentiveness or care for the flock committed to us. In humility, we sought forgiveness from the Lord and from one another. We also recognize that, at times, these weaknesses have fallen short of the expectations the Province rightly has for its leaders. In a spirit of honest repentance, we express sorrow for the hurt that these shortcomings have caused, and we ask the clergy and people of the Anglican Church in North America to forgive us where we have not lived up to the sacred trust placed in us.

Matters Requiring Honest Assessment

During our meeting, we heard from those bishops who had prior awareness of the presentment that was later filed against Archbishop Steve Wood. This required us to engage in forthright conversation about the responsibilities of episcopal oversight, the need to speak truthfully among ourselves, and the necessity of guarding the integrity of our common life. We did not pass over these matters lightly. The discussion was undertaken with seriousness, candor, and a commitment to rebuild confidence where it has been shaken.

We acknowledged that there is a lack of clarity in certain areas of our disciplinary canons. This lack of clarity has contributed to confusion and frustration within the Province. We noted with gratitude that the proposed canonical revisions presently before the Church begin to address these ambiguities and strengthen our accountability to one another and to the people of God. It was clear throughout our deliberations that there is a significant deficit of trust toward the College of Bishops. We received this soberly. We recognize that trust cannot be demanded, and we will endeavor to grow in grace so that, by God’s help, we may become increasingly trustworthy.

Read it all.

Back in November, Bp Chip Edgar of ACNA's Diocese of South Carolina wrote: "I’ve asked the College for a unified, public apology for these disparaging statements." The public will need to decide whether this bishops' statement today fits the bill. https://t.co/BwyKbo04lt pic.twitter.com/AVMFkrRDXI

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) December 6, 2025

While almost three-quarters of the clergy participating in a ten-year study agreed that they were fulfilling their sense of vocation, 40 per cent felt isolated in their ministry, a report published this week reveals.

Lord, for the Years, the fifth and final panel survey report for the decade-long Living Ministry study, observes: “While the feeling that one is fulfilling one’s vocation can be sustaining through all sorts of other challenges to wellbeing — and being unable to do so can feel devastating — pursuance of a calling can also lead to physical, social and material sacrifices which may be detrimental to wellbeing.”

The study, launched by the national Ministry Team in 2017, was designed to gather evidence about “what enables ministers to flourish in ministry”. In total, more than 1000 clergy, from groups ordained in 2006, 2011, and 2015, or who entered training in 2016, have participated (News, 24 February 2017).

The authors caution that the data should not be used in general terms as representative of all clergy. The four key challenges to well-being observed across the study are listed as: tiredness, isolation, demoralisation, and financial anxiety.

Read it all.

While almost three-quarters of the clergy participating in a ten-year study agreed that they were fulfilling their sense of vocation, 40 per cent felt isolated in their ministry, the final Living Ministry report says.https://t.co/86ZCXErdQk

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) December 5, 2025