Study criticism of the direction the Church of England over the past decade, and certain words are certain to appear: “centralised”, “technocratic”, and “bureaucracy” among them. The agreed wisdom in these quarters is that, under the previous Archbishop, power was increasingly assumed by a managerial centre — at national and diocesan level. The Church’s leadership turned to secular, corporate wisdom in a bid to reverse numerical decline, and the parish suffered. Cuts to stipendiary clergy have been the most obvious indicator.

It is a narrative that was debated in the General Synod in July, when the announcement of funding plans for the next three years brought to the surface disagreements about how the Church Commissioners’ funding — £11.1 billion at the last count — should be distributed. Calling for more to be distributed directly to dioceses rather than as grants for which dioceses must bid, the Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Revd Richard Jackson, urged members to “put your faith in the local”.

“Do we still have faith in the parish system — or are we going to let it wither on the vine, to be replaced with regional centres and lots of forlorn empty buildings? That is where the current trajectory will take us,” he warned.

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As the annoucement of the next Archbishop of Canterbury approaches, @MadsDavies asks whether it is time to review the drift towards managerialism #primatesportfolio #archbishopofcanterburyhttps://t.co/IBevNbmLUX

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 25, 2025

Canon Dr Roland Riem, interim dean of Winchester Cathedral, said: “We had a heartfelt word from retired Baptist minister, James Grote, in notices on Sunday, plus an unfurling of CCA’s banner. Then we had conversations over coffee.

“Let us be very mindful that in the Christian tradition there is an uncomfortable prophetic element and we must take heed of that.”

The Cathedral is in the advanced stages of installing solar panels on its works yard roof, with plans to extend the scheme to four additional roofs in the Cathedral estate.

Other sustainability measures include measures to conserve energy, water usage, all waste to be recycled and many sustainable traders.

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Cathedral taking climate change action after rooftop protest https://t.co/Uek0535Jfm

— Hampshire Chronicle (@hantschronicle) September 25, 2025

At home and abroad, Britain’s economy is in the dog house. Inflation is sticky, debts and deficits are high, and productivity growth is low. Yields on long-term government debt are above those in any other big rich economy. Four in five Britons say the government is mismanaging the economy; Ray Dalio, a hedge-fund manager, says the country is in a “debt doom loop”. As we report, the infrastructure and housing projects that were supposed to be the engine of growth are turning out to be a sorry disappointment.

Some of the doomsaying is overdone. Britain is not in a recession. Critics say the government crushed the private sector with tax increases in 2024, but the economy grew faster in the first half of 2025 than any other in the G7 group of big rich countries. Retail sales have been solid; unemployment remains low; and the service sector is strong. Britain’s structural strengths—its best universities, the City of London and the English language—are enduring. In many ways, including its birth rate and artificial-intelligence research, Britain can look to continental Europe and count its blessings.

Except, that is, for the public finances. Britain’s net public debts have risen from 35% of GDP in 2005 to 95%. Financial crises and the pandemic caused much of the increase but even today, when there is no emergency, the government is borrowing over 4% of GDP a year. America and France also have big debts and deficits, but borrow in deep currency blocs. Britain is alone, with higher interest rates and a rising welfare bill.

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At home and abroad, Britain’s economy is in the dog house. Even with a huge majority and plenty of time, Labour is drifting towards a fiscal crisis https://t.co/YfTB1sIFvg pic.twitter.com/XNyeUYuqOw

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) September 25, 2025

An experimental treatment for the first time slowed the devastating progression of Huntington’s disease, gene therapy company uniQure announced Wednesday, a rare hopeful advance against a cruel genetic disease that robs people of control of their bodies and minds in the prime of life.

People with Huntington’s often develop symptoms in their 40s and progress to severe disability and death over about two decades, ravaged by jerky and involuntary movements, behavior disruptions and cognitive decline. About 40,000 people in the United States have symptomatic Huntington’s, which is caused by a mutated gene.

After the gene that causes the disease was discovered in 1993, there was hope that better treatments were around the corner, but many interventions were tried and failed.

“Today is a really important day in the history of how we understand Huntington’s disease and possible approaches moving forward,” said Rachel Harding, a structural biologist at the University of Toronto who was not involved in the research.

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This is what a REAL scientific breakthough looks like

Not that Tylenol stuff pic.twitter.com/iUVUVRdjEb

— Neil Stone (@DrNeilStone) September 24, 2025

O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be rich: Deliver us, we pray thee, from an inordinate love of this world, that inspired by the devotion of thy servant Sergius of Moscow, we may serve thee with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to come; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Today we celebrate St Sergius of Radonezh, who lived in the 1300s and was a founder of Russian monasticism. When he lived for a time in the wilderness as a hermit, beasts would often come to him, but leave him alone when they saw him in silent prayer. There was one bear, though,… pic.twitter.com/5qJV0JyXAM

— Jeremiah (@OnAncientPaths) September 25, 2025

O God, who hast commanded us to walk in the Spirit and not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh: Perfect us, we pray thee, in love, that we may conquer our natural selfishness and give ourselves to others.  Fill our hearts with thy joy, and garrison them with thy peace; make us longsuffering and gentle, and thus subdue our hasty and angry tempers; give us faithfulness, meekness and self-control; that so crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts, we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit to thy praise and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

An early morning SpaceX rocket launch out of Cape Canaveral, Florida has left a really cool vapor trail in the sky over Charleston! pic.twitter.com/Gwx2AX41DW

— Joey Sovine Live 5 (@JoeySovine) September 25, 2025

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two shall become one flesh.” But he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is outside the body; but the immoral man sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Good Morning World…

Have a great Thursday! ☕️😎 pic.twitter.com/DNTfWot0SH

— Cloudymamma (@cloudymamma) September 25, 2025