In the document, published on the diocese of Guildford’s website last week, Bishop Watson suggests that the decision not to use Canon B2 to introduce services of blessing for same-sex couples, but instead to allow their introduction after simple majority votes in the Houses of the General Synod, has caused several problems.

The most significant, he writes, is that “we have bypassed a serious attempt to discern the mind of the Church . . . so dramatically raising the theological and emotional stakes.”

Bishop Watson refers to a paper published by the Church’s Faith and Order Commission, which says that there is no agreement on the nature of the disagreement between those who support changes and those who oppose them. Many, Bishop Watson writes, believe that the disagreement is about “the role of scripture in shaping our theology, liturgy and daily life”.

Read it all (registration or subscription).

“Integrity” has been “trumped by expediency” in the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process, the Bishop of Guildford, the Rt Revd Andrew Watson, has saidhttps://t.co/p463Nl4rR2

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) May 7, 2025

In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship–be it JC or Allah, be it YHWH or the Wiccan Mother Goddess, or the Four Noble Truths, or some inviolable set of ethical principles–is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive.

If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. On one level, we all know this stuff already. It’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, epigrams, parables; the skeleton of every great story. The whole trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness.

Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. But the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they’re evil or sinful, it’s that they’re unconscious. They are default settings.

They’re the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that’s what you’re doing.

–David Foster Wallace, 2005 Kenyon College Commencement Speech, cited by yours truly in a recent Adult Sunday school class

David Foster Wallace, who died 6 years ago today, on the meaning of life http://t.co/NeQqH6lQaj pic.twitter.com/xSVLhVwmeX

— Maria Popova (@themarginalian) September 13, 2014

For the third year in a row, Americans are less satisfied with their personal freedom than the rest of the world, including their peers in other wealthy, market-based economies.

In 2024, 72% of Americans said they were satisfied with their freedom to choose what they do with their lives, in line with where this sentiment has been since it plummeted in 2022. The 2024 level remains well below the 2007-2021 U.S. average of 83%.

While Americans have been less satisfied in recent years, satisfaction with personal freedom has remained higher and steady worldwide. A median of 81% across 142 countries and territories expressed satisfaction with their freedom in 2024.

Read it all.

For the third year in a row, Americans are less satisfied with their personal freedom than the rest of the world, including their peers in other wealthy, market-based economies. pic.twitter.com/JknalRrSr6

— Gallup (@Gallup) May 14, 2025

In the past few years, Americans have grown generally more positive toward the Bible, but that doesn’t mean they’re reading it more.

According to a Lifeway Research study, U.S. adults increasingly view the Bible as a book worth reading multiple times, but few have actually done so.

More Americans describe the Bible as true, life-changing and helpful today, compared to a 2016 Lifeway Research study. Additionally, more than 2 in 5 Americans (44%) say the Bible is a book to read over and over again, up 4 points from the previous study. Yet 9% say they’ve read it all more than once, unchanged since 2016. Still, half of Americans have engaged with the Bible beyond just a few stories.

Read it all.

NEW RESEARCH: In the past few years, Americans have grown generally more positive toward the Bible, but that doesn’t mean they’re reading it more. https://t.co/AQ1x8mDsLd

— Lifeway Research (@LifewayResearch) May 13, 2025

Lyrics:

Haec dies quam fecit Dominus;
Exsultemus etlaetemur in ea,
Alleluia, Alleluia
Haec dies quam fecit Dominus;
Exsultemus etlaetemur in ea,
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia.
(Psalm 118:24)

Risen Christ,
faithful shepherd of your Father’s sheep:
teach us through your Spirit to hear your voice
and to follow your command,
that all your people may be gathered into one flock,
to the glory of God the Father (slightly edited; KSH).

Good Morning from Surfside Beach, South Carolina 🌅🏖️@EdPiotrowski @jamiearnoldWMBF @AndrewWMBF @liamswx @scwxpix pic.twitter.com/uwOSN7nRZw

— Cathy Kelley (@catsunrisechick) May 14, 2025

In these days he went out to the mountain to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles; Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came forth from him and healed them all.

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

“Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh.

“Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

“But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation.

“Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger.

“Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

“Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

–Luke 6:12-26

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday from Newton Wood, North Yorkshire 😊 pic.twitter.com/Rrqegunm2E

— Nicky (@Nicky13Johnson) May 14, 2025

Bp Robert Innes writes–‘The consecration brought together bishops, clergy and lay people from many different countries, as well as local Roman Catholic and representatives. On the right of the photo is Bishop Antony Ball, Ashley’s predecessor, who is now the Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome. North Africa is a neighbouring diocese to Europe – it is only 125 miles from Tunis to the coast of Sicily – so I was pleased to be able to support their ministry personally as well as on behalf of the Anglican Communion.

Bishop Ashley Null is a serious scholar who retains an academic post in Berlin, and is a world leading authority on Thomas Cranmer. He had designed the liturgy to reflect Cranmer’s theological insights. Dressed in a Canterbury cap (one needs a hat in the North African sun), Bishop Ashley could quite easily have been mistaken for a reincarnation of Cranmer himself. 

The consecration was the centre-piece of a celebratory weekend in Tunis, that included concerts and visits to the ancient sites. Of course, as Archbishop Samy reminded us in his sermon, Christian ministry in the Islamic context of North Africa is hard, and the consecration is really just the honeymoon ahead of likely sacrifice and possible suffering.’

Read it all.

Congratulations to the Rt. Rev. Dr. Ashley Null: the new Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of North Africa! pic.twitter.com/Xlxz0IsYie

— Richard Tarsitano ⚓️ (@GodRemembrancer) May 13, 2025

Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;
Death is strong, but Life is stronger;
Stronger than the dark, the light;
Stronger than the wrong, the right.
Faith and Hope triumphant say,
Christ will rise on Easter-Day.

While the patient earth lies waking,
Till the morning shall be breaking,
Shuddering ‘neath the burden dread
Of her Master, cold and dead,
Hark! she hears the angels say,
Christ will rise on Easter-Day.
And when sunrise smites the mountains,
Pouring light from heavenly fountains,
Then the earth blooms out to greet
Once again the blessed feet;
And her countless voices say,
Christ has risen on Easter-Day.

Up and down our lives obedient
Walk, dear Christ, with footsteps radiant,
Till those garden lives shall be
Fair with duties done for Thee;
And our thankful spirits say,
Christ arose on Easter-Day.

–Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)

The end & the beginning: Resurrection & Annunciation at the second level of Grünewald's astonishing Isenheim Altarpiece, 1515. Today is his day. pic.twitter.com/P1CfIsU8Vc

— Dr. Peter Paul Rubens (@PP_Rubens) August 31, 2024

Are we helping create the tools of our own obsolescence?

If that sounds like a question only a depressive or a stoner would ask, let us assure you: We are neither. We are early AI adopters.

We stand at the threshold of perhaps the most profound identity crisis humanity has ever faced. As AI systems increasingly match or exceed our cognitive abilities, we’re witnessing the twilight of human intellectual supremacy—a position we’ve held unchallenged for our entire existence. This transformation won’t arrive in some distant future; it’s unfolding now, reshaping not just our economy but our very understanding of what it means to be human beings.

We are not doomers; quite the opposite. One of us, Tyler, is a heavy user of this technology, and the other, Avital, is working at Anthropic (the company that makes Claude) to usher it into the world.

Both of us have an intense conviction that this technology can usher in an age of human flourishing the likes of which we have never seen before. But we are equally convinced that progress will usher in a crisis about what it is to be human at all.

Read it all.

An epic essay just up in @TheFP by Tyler Cowen and Avital Balwit.

AI Will Change What It Is to Be Human. Are We Ready?

Read it here:https://t.co/wfwh9gwyAN

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) May 12, 2025

Christ Church, Mount Pleasant Holds Prayer Walk

Read it all.

The Latest Edition of the #Anglican Diocese of #SouthCarolina Enewsletter https://t.co/9PWacX8pwQ #parishministry #lowvountrylife #parishministry #faith pic.twitter.com/sQFVzy4jNU

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) May 13, 2025

You may listen directly here:>

Or you may download it there.

The ruins of Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire pic.twitter.com/TeBUyxN1ca

— Grizzlegutweed the Bear (@Grizzlegutweed1) May 13, 2025

Loving God, we bless thy Name for Frances Perkins, who in faithfulness to her baptism envisioned a society in which all may live in health and decency: Help us, following her example and in union with her prayers, to contend tirelessly for justice and for the protection of all, that we may be faithful followers of Jesus Christ; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

#OtD On This Day, March 4: Francis Perkins Named Secretary of Labor https://t.co/2BTOnivHlr pic.twitter.com/A25k6FH9Rd

— IL Labor History Soc (@ILLaborHistory) March 4, 2025

O Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, nor shadow of turning; who abidest steadfast as the stars of heaven: Give us grace to rest upon thy eternal changelessness, and in thy faithfulness find peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

–Daily Prayer, Eric Milner-White and G. W. Briggs, eds. (London: Penguin Books 1959 edition of the 1941 original)

🌸🌿🌼 Guten Morgen 🌼🌿🌸
Man liebt nicht nur etwas, weil es schön ist, sondern etwas wird auch schön, weil man es liebt.
(Robert Musil)
Einen wunderschönen Dienstag wünsche ich euch allen. pic.twitter.com/5zJeCO6NvZ

— Brigitta Neurauter (@BrigittaNeurau2) May 13, 2025

He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent. For in him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And you, who once were estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Colossians 1:15-23

Hardly A Cloud. 16°C and a pleasant afternoon. Swifts have arrived. pic.twitter.com/ZPYzB6z3UZ

— Yorkshire Wolds Weather (@WeatherWolds) May 13, 2025

But you, most holy Lord, why do you ask her why she weeps? Surely you can see; her heart, the dear life of her soul, is cruelly slain. O love to be wondered at; O evil to be shuddered at; you hung on the wood, pierced by iron nails, stretched out like a thief for the mockery of wicked men; and yet, “Woman,” you say, “why are you weeping?” She had not been able to prevent them from killing you, but at least she longed to keep your body for a while with ointments lest it decay. No longer able to speak with you living, at least she could mourn for you dead. So, near to death and hating her own life, she repeats in broken tones the words of life which she had heard from the living. And now, besides all this, even the body which she was glad, in a way, to have kept, she believes to have gone. And can you ask her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” Had she not reason to weep? For she had seen with her own eyes — if she could bear to look — what cruel men cruelly did to you; and now all that was left of you from their hands she thinks she has lost. All hope of you has fled, for now she has not even your lifeless body to remind her of you. And someone asks, “Who are you looking for? Why are you weeping?” You, her sole joy, should be the last thus to increase her sorrow. But you know it all well, and thus you wish it to be, for only in such broken words and sighs can she convey a cause of grief as great as hers. The love you have inspired you do not ignore. And indeed you know her well, the gardener, who planted her soul in his garden. What you plant, I think you also water. Do you water, I wonder, or do you test her? In fact, you are both watering and putting to the test.

But now, good Lord, gentle Master, look upon your faithful servant and disciple, so lately redeemed by your blood, and see how she burns with anxiety, desiring you, searching all round, questioning, and what she longs for is nowhere found. Nothing she sees can satisfy her, since you whom alone she would behold, she sees not. What then? How long will my Lord leave his beloved to suffer thus? Have you put off compassion now you have put on incorruption? Did you let go of goodness when you laid hold of immortality? Let it not be so, Lord. You will not despise us mortals now you have made yourself immortal, for you made yourself a mortal in order to give us immortality.

And so it is; for love’s sake he cannot bear her grief for long or go on hiding himself. For the sweetness of love he shows himself who would not for the bitterness of tears. The Lord calls his servant by the name she has often heard and the servant knows the voice of her own Lord. I think, or rather I am sure, that she responded to the gentle tone with which he was accustomed to call, “Mary.”

Read it all.

#DomingodeResurrección #DomingodeGloria

"Noli me tangere", c. 1525.
Antonio Allegri da Correggio. pic.twitter.com/SyXiuO3Ibl

— María José Martínez (@mjosemagi) April 20, 2025

From there:

Not darkness but twilight
In which even the best
of minds must make its way
now. And slowly the questions
occur, vague but formidable
for all that. We pass our hands
over their surface like blind
men feeling for the mechanism
that will swing them aside. They
yield, but only to re-form
as new problems; and one
does not even do that
but towers immovable
before us.

Is there no way
of other thought of answering
its challenge? There is an anticipation
of it to the point of
dying. There have been times
when, after long on my knees
in a cold chancel, a stone has rolled
from my mind, and I have looked
in and seen the old questions lie
folded and in a place
by themselves, like the piled
graveclothes of love’s risen body.

You may listen directly here:

Or you may download it there.

'Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in holy splendour.'

Psalm 29:1-2 pic.twitter.com/8OjEUcwOFM

— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) May 11, 2025

Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life:
raise us, who trust in him,
from the death of sin to the life of righteousness,
that we may seek those things which are above,
where he reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Hello …
Good start to the week,
Good Monday
✌️✨#MondayMorning #NewWeek #sunrise #grandrising #StormHour #GoodVibesOnly #StormHour #jefinuist #outerhebrides #Scotland pic.twitter.com/minLyyXYkO

— DaliMach (@frenchscotjeff) May 12, 2025

On a sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath?” And Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” And he said to them, “The Son of man is lord of the sabbath.” On another sabbath, when he entered the synagogue and taught, a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” And he looked around on them all, and said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

–Luke 6:1-11

Good morning everyone wishing you a lovely day 😀a quiet early morning seat to enjoy the beauty of the river Derwent before the start of yesterday’s wonderful walking from Bakewell 💚#PeakDistrict pic.twitter.com/UXPIjafwGo

Jesus of Nazareth was certainly dead by the Friday evening; Roman soldiers were professional killers and wouldn’t have allowed a not-quite-dead rebel leader to stay that way for long. When the first Christians told the story of what happened next, they were not saying: “I think he’s still with us in a spiritual sense” or “I think he’s gone to heaven”. All these have been suggested by people who have lost their historical and theological nerve.

The historian must explain why Christianity got going in the first place, why it hailed Jesus as Messiah despite His execution (He hadn’t defeated the pagans, or rebuilt the Temple, or brought justice and peace to the world, all of which a Messiah should have done), and why the early Christian movement took the shape that it did. The only explanation that will fit the evidence is the one the early Christians insisted upon – He really had been raised from the dead. His body was not just reanimated. It was transformed, so that it was no longer subject to sickness and death.

Let’s be clear: the stories are not about someone coming back into the present mode of life. They are about someone going on into a new sort of existence, still emphatically bodily, if anything, more so. When St Paul speaks of a “spiritual” resurrection body, he doesn’t mean “non-material”, like a ghost. “Spiritual” is the sort of Greek word that tells you,not what something is made of, but what is animating it. The risen Jesus had a physical body animated by God’s life-giving Spirit. Yes, says St Paul, that same Spirit is at work in us, and will have the same effect – and in the whole world.

Read it all.

Noel Coypel. The Resurrection of Christ pic.twitter.com/VgCr09A3Ac

— David 🔺🔻🔺 (@paradise919400) July 7, 2017

O God, whose Son Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd of your people: Grant that, when we hear his voice, we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

It was a bit of a good sunrise this morning and a gorgeous start to Sunday. Taken in Glastonbury at 05.15am. pic.twitter.com/NHKFz6YVyc

— Michelle Cowbourne (@Glastomichelle) May 11, 2025

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.

“Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.’

“Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it.”

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

–Matthew 7:15-29

Good morning
Sunday Yellow
Buenos días
Domingo Amarillo #SundayYellow pic.twitter.com/ePVBYhmWu4

— 🌱Mystic Mel (@Melshenny1) May 11, 2025

God of life made new in Christ, who dost call thy Church to keep on rising from the dead: We remember before thee the bold witness of thy servant Nicolaus von Zinzendorf, through whom thy Spirit moved to draw many in Europe and the American colonies to faith and conversion of life; and we pray that we, like him, may rejoice to sing thy praise, live thy love and rest secure in the safekeeping of the Lord; who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

OTD 1760: Count Nicholaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, founder of the Moravian Brethren and a pioneer of ecumenism and mission work, dies in Herrnhut, Germany.

By his death the Moravians (which themselves only numbered in the hundreds) had sent out 226 missionaries around the world. pic.twitter.com/B3jKgooUob

— Jeffrey Perry® (@JeffreyPerry09) May 9, 2023

O Thou, who didst manifest thyself in the breaking of bread to thy disciples at Emmaus: Grant us ever through the same blessed sacrament of thy presence to know thee, and to love thee more and more with all our hearts.  Abide with us, O Lord, that we may ever abide in thee; for thy tender mercy’s sake.

Over The Gate. 18°C and a gentle breeze. Rowan in leaf. pic.twitter.com/pLmhRQjsA7

— Yorkshire Wolds Weather (@WeatherWolds) May 10, 2025

After this he went out, and saw a tax collector, named Levi, sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he left everything, and rose and followed him.

And Levi made him a great feast in his house; and there was a large company of tax collectors and others sitting at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” He told them a parable also: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it upon an old garment; if he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new; for he says, ‘The old is good.’”

–Luke 5:27-39

Have a wonderful weekend … everything is so lush and green and with a blue sky it’s just perfect 😍@theroyalparks #BushyPark pic.twitter.com/QTHys3p8ep

— Ruth Wadey (@ruths_gallery) May 10, 2025

Bishop Rob served his curacy in Appleby Deanery before moving to the parishes of Dalston with Cumdivock, Raughtonhead and Wreay. He was Bishop’s Chaplain for three years and Director of Ordinands for two. From 2010 he was the Vicar of Holy Trinity Kendal and assistant Rural Dean for seven years prior to his move to the Diocese of Newcastle in 2020 to take up the position of Residentiary Canon Director of Mission and Ministry. He returned to Cumbria in 2022 following his appointment as Bishop of Penrith.

He was born and raised in Birkenhead on Merseyside and attended Birmingham University to study Ancient History and Archaeology, later completing his MPhil research in Archaeology. After working as an archaeologist, he worked for a church in Birmingham and then as a project manager in an IT firm before training for ordination at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford. He is married to Emma. The couple have three children: Ollie (23), Jemima (21) and Hal (19).

Bishop Rob and Emma are touring the county today, starting at Carlisle Cathedral before visiting Ivegill CE Primary School, where their children were once pupils. They will later meet staff and ecumenical leaders at the Diocesan offices, Church House, in Penrith before visiting a social action programme at St Mary’s Westfield. From there they will meet members of the farming community in Rampside in the South Lakes as well as members of the South Lakes Poverty Truth Commission before attending St Lawrence’s Appleby for Evening Prayer.

Read it all.

"It is such an honour to have been nominated as the next Bishop of Carlisle and to be able to continue to serve this county that I love."

The Bishop of Penrith, Rob Saner-Haigh, will be the 68th Bishop of Carlisle.

Read more at https://t.co/b3wCkmy9LI.

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) May 9, 2025

The Church of England (C of E) is in trouble. This is an odd ecclesiastical moment. The pope is dead, the Archbishop of Canterbury has gone. Not since 1691 have both seats been empty. But those seats will be filled. A far more anxious emptiness is in the C of E’s pews. Adult church attendance in England has fallen by over a third in 15 years; just a little over 1% go to services weekly, according to the C of E’s own numbers. A rise in churchgoing among the young is mainly a Catholic phenomenon. The C of E closes 20-odd churches each year.

Critics sense a spiritual vacuum too: in its failure to resolve international squabbles over its stance on gay marriage and in its cover-up of appalling child abuse. On January 6th, the former archbishop Justin Welby, who many felt failed in his handling of that scandal, laid his curving staff on the altar at Lambeth Palace. The process of selecting a replacement has begun.

Whether or not you believe in God, this matters, to bureaucracy and to Britain. Britons might be a Godless lot—in the 2021 census less than half called themselves Christian, down from almost 60% in 2011—but Britain itself is not. The c of e is not merely a church but an established church. England is one of around 20% of countries (from Tuvalu to Denmark) with a state religion. It is institutionally ecclesiastical.

Read it all.

Adult church attendance in England has fallen by over a third in 15 years; just a little over 1% go to services weekly, according to the Church of England’s own numbers. It closes 20 churches every year https://t.co/tj8gl0bjjd

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) May 9, 2025

When a man is not truly seeking the Lord, he wants short sermons, and these of a high literary order, or else adorned with attractive rhetoric. But when he is, with his whole heart, seeking for the Savior, he is not so concerned about polite phrases and ecclesiastical correctness. He looks eagerly for a practical direction how he may come to Jesus, and he will take that from any man or woman, be their station what it may. Let him be a chimneysweep, if he will lead me to Jesus, I will follow.

So it was with this holy woman. She desired to find the Lord and she was altogether absorbed in that one pursuit. She speaks as if everybody was equally intent upon the one theme. For instead of mentioning the name Jesus, she says, “If thou hast borne him hence.” Why, Mary, what are you talking about? “About Him,” says she. But who is this of whom you speak? Ah, friends! to her there was but one “him” in all the world, just then! Oh, to be thus absorbed!

Such was the desire of Magdalene to find the Lord Jesus, that she feared no ghastly sight. Let her know where the body is laid and she will be there. That body, which had bled so much from its five wounds, must have been a heart-breaking sight to a tender-hearted woman, but she is not dismayed. Let
the body be how it may, it is the flesh and blood of her dear Lord and she must pay it homage. Wounds or no wounds, she would behold it. A wounded Christ is altogether lovely in the eyes of His redeemed. His blood, flowing for me, clothes Him with a royal crimson robe in my eyes. I fear nothing, so long
as I may but come to Him. Dear hearts, if you long for salvation, you will not find fault with those who preach the doctrine of the cross, the wounds, the blood! You will not kick at the doctrine of a crucified Savior, your Substitute condemned at the bar of justice. You want Jesus who died. You must behold
Him for yourself by faith and no ridicule of the vain, or sneer of the proud, or cavil of the doubting, can make Him uncomely in your eyes.

Notice that she dreads no heavy burden. She says, “I will take him away.” Why, Mary, you could not bear away so great a load! You would fall beneath the weight of a man’s corpse! You are not strong enough for the sad task! Ah! but she thought that she could bear the blessed burden and she meant to try!
She would have accomplished it. Faith laughs at impossibility and cries, “It shall be done.” But love actually performs the deed. A heart that is burning with love has about it a seven-fold energy, whose capacity it would be hard to calculate.

Read it all.

Titian, Christ and Mary Magdalene (Noli me tangere), c. 1511-15 pic.twitter.com/rZbJueN5Ah

— Rachel Harmeyer (@rrharmeyer) April 1, 2018