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(Mark Tooley) Tucker Carlson Is Resurrecting Christianity’s Ugly Tradition of Antisemitism

Tucker Carlson’s platforming of antisemitic social influencer Nick Fuentes, who proclaims “Christ is King,” evinces the reemergence of antisemitism in American Christianity. For the last 85 years, World War II and the Holocaust have made antisemitism publicly unacceptable in American Christianity, prior to which it was often acceptable.

For example, at the 1924 Methodist governing General Conference, the church’s prominent Prohibition chief, Clarence True Wilson, blamed the “filth” of films and theater on Jewish “degenerates, all of one race but of no religion, who have corrupted everything their filthy hands have touched for 2,000 years.” He warned: “No nation that has let them control its finances but has had to vomit them up, sometimes with bitter persecutions, to get the poison out of their system.” Wilson faulted German Jews for their “controlling interest in our liquor traffic.”

The audience for Wilson’s remarks included hundreds of Methodist leaders plus the church’s bishops. Yet there’s no record that his speech was controversial. Wilson continued as head of the denomination’s Washington, D.C. office on Capitol Hill for another 11 years. Methodism was then America’s biggest Protestant denomination. And its political influence was such that it was the main force responsible for persuading America to adopt Prohibition, with Wilson its chief advocate. So his anti-Jewish speech did not come from a marginal figure and likely represented the views of millions of Protestants, many of whom joined in the 1920s Ku Klux Klan resurgence, which made Jews, along with Catholics and Blacks, its chief targets.

American Christianity, and America, have been blessed that antisemitism across 85 years has mostly been taboo. But the memories of World War II and the Holocaust are fast fading. And revisionism about both, promoted by Carlson and Fuentes, among many others, is increasingly common. Human nature being what it is, demons once expelled often return and must again be exorcised.

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Posted in * Religion News & Commentary, America/U.S.A., Church History, History, Judaism, Other Churches, Religion & Culture

(Critic) Fleur Elizabeth Meston–Assisted suicide is a national tragedy in the making

Week two of the assisted suicide Bill Select Committee in the House of Lords showed that when Parliament hears from those most at risk, the Bill’s argument collapses. Disability rights campaigners, human rights experts, and mental health specialists gathered to reveal the dangers, shattering the illusion of effective safeguards.

The week began with evidence from leading palliative clinicians, care providers, and a representative from Age UK. Dr Sam Ahmedzai, a pro-assisted suicide doctor, acknowledged that “there will be mistakes and casualties” if the Bill passes. Even he, an assisted suicide fan, could not hide the reality. People would die who should not.

Baroness Hayter, a stalwart of the pro-camp, unwittingly admitted that it is very hard to safely legislate for introducing assisted suicide. Pro-assisted suicide Justice Minister Sarah Sackman floundered, offering evasions and vague complaints about the current law’s “conundrums” and “real difficulties” but few answers. Sackman’s silent sidekick, Paul Candler, spoke for less than 30 seconds during the 75-minute session.

A senior representative from Mind outlined threats to suicide prevention efforts. Dr Sarah Hughes said that Mind simply cannot support the Bill in its current form. Jurisdictions that have legalised assisted suicide have seen the law expand quickly, she said, and assessments by video call are utterly insufficient. Cherryl Henry-Leach, Chief Executive at Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse, summarised this well by stating, “It will be very difficult to deliver assisted dying safely”.

Paralympic legend and member of the House of Lords Tanni Grey-Thompson delivered one of the committee’s most emotional interventions. She branded the Bill “a danger to disabled people,” explaining through obvious emotion how parents fear how their adult children with Down’s syndrome will be treated if they outlive them. Baroness Grey-Thompson dismantled the Bill’s six-month prognosis safeguard, calling it “arbitrary” and a “best guess,” and warned it would not protect disabled people at all. She told her fellow parliamentarians that no disability organisation supports the Bill.

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Posted in * Culture-Watch, Aging / the Elderly, Death / Burial / Funerals, England / UK, Ethics / Moral Theology, Health & Medicine, Life Ethics, Parish Ministry, Politics in General

(Local Paper) In South Carolina, evictions are the ‘scarlet E’ that never go away

Valerie Ferebee rummaged through the front seat of her car searching for a pack of cigarettes as she sat outside Tanger Outlets. Everything she and her husband Milton own is in their Ford EcoSport, so it took her a few minutes to find them.

The four-door crossover has been their home for more than a year.

Once she found the Newport Menthol Greens in a side pocket, she pulled one out to light. She took a drag and considered their living situation.

“Disgusting. Degrading. Shameful. Humiliating,” she said. “I mean, I don’t know what word to use … I feel sort of stuck.”

Valerie and Milton are just two of thousands who have been evicted in the Charleston area. North Charleston once had the highest eviction rate in the country in 2016 with more than 3,600 tenants being evicted, according to data from Princeton University’s Eviction Lab.

Read it all.
Posted in * Economics, Politics, * South Carolina, Economy, Housing/Real Estate Market, Personal Finance

A prayer for the day from the Pastor’s Prayerbook

Lord of all power and might, fill our lives with the joy of thy Word and the courage of thine apostles, that having caught the vision of thy Kingdom we may proclaim it with power and a glad heart, to the salvation of men’s souls and the creation of a better order more conformed to the pattern of thy Kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

–Robert W. Rodenmayer, ed., The Pastor’s Prayerbook: Selected and arranged for various occasions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1960)

Posted in Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Bible Readings

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.

“Have you understood all this?” They said to him, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

–Matthew 13:44-52

Posted in Theology: Scripture

(C of E) New infra-red heating system helps a village church in the diocese of Ely with a missional heart to provide a warm welcome

The church is medieval (the earliest parts are 900 years old) but is not a place that rests on its historic laurels. It wants to welcome people and “express the love of God”.  

According to Roger Goodden, who is in charge of the fabric of the church, St Andrew’s  “is simply wishing to link with and be a friend to the rest of the community and to spread the gospel.”  

Oakington is a village in South Cambridgeshire, with a population of just 1,400 and St Andrew’s aims to share the presence of God with the rural community. As part of this call, the church hosts a summer garden party, a harvest and other concerts organised by the community, and performances from visiting choirs. 

If you’re going to do these things, you need a good heating system, not just a missional heart. “The better the facilities, the more welcoming we are as a church”, says Roger.  

Formerly, the church was heated by electric panels on the back of the pews. These dated back to the 1990s and had become notoriously unreliable.  

“The whole system was subject to breakdowns,” says Roger, “and whole sections of pews could lose their heating….” 

Read it all.

Posted in Church of England, Ecology, Energy, Natural Resources, England / UK, Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture

(Axios) Anthropic says its Claude models show signs of introspection

Anthropic says its most advanced systems may be learning not just to reason, but to reflect internally on how they reason. These introspective capabilities could make the models safer — or, possibly, just better at pretending to be safe. The models are able to answer questions about their internal states with surprising accuracy.

“We’re starting to see increasing signatures or instances of models exhibiting sort of cognitive functions that, historically, we think of as things that are very human,” Anthropic researcher Jack Lindsey, who studies models’ “brains,” says. “Or at least involve some kind of sophisticated intelligence,” Lindsey tells Axios. 

Read it all.

Posted in Science & Technology

Prayers for the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina this week

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * South Carolina, Parish Ministry, Spirituality/Prayer

Richard Hooker on Richard Hooker’s Feast Day

But I am besides my purpose when I fall to bewail the cold affection which we bear towards that whereby we should be saved, my purpose being only to set down what the ground of salvation is. The doctrine of the Gospel proposeth salvation as the end, and doth it not teach the way of attaining thereunto? Yes, the damsel possessed with a spirit of divination spake the truth: “These men are the servants of the most high God who show unto us the way of salvation” [Acts 16:17] — “a new and living way which Christ hath prepared for us through the veil, that is, his flesh,” [Heb 10:20] salvation purchased by the death of Christ.

–Learned Discourse on Justification (my emphasis)

Posted in Christology, Church History, Church of England, Soteriology, Theology

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Richard Hooker

O God of truth and peace, who didst raise up thy servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Church of England (CoE), Spirituality/Prayer, Theology

A prayer for the day from E. M. Goulburn

O Blessed Jesus, who hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, and hast consecrated us in baptism to be temples of the Holy Ghost: Make us, we beseech thee, both in body and soul, meet for thy dwelling place; that our hearts may be houses of prayer and praise, of pure desires and holy thoughts of thee, whose we are and whom we serve, and to whom be glory, now and for evermore.

Posted in Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Bible Readings

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world, and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

–Matthew 13:36-43

Posted in Theology: Scripture

A Prayer for All Souls Day

O God, the Maker and Redeemer of all believers: Grant to the faithful departed the unsearchable benefits of the passion of thy Son; that on the day of his appearing they may be manifested as thy children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever. Amen.

Posted in Death / Burial / Funerals, Spirituality/Prayer

A prayer for the day from the Church of England

Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love
in the hearts of the saints:
grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Posted in Church of England, Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Bible Readings

And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass which is alive in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O men of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be of anxious mind. For all the nations of the world seek these things; and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things shall be yours as well.

–Luke 12:22-31

Posted in Theology: Scripture

A Prayer for All Saints Day from the Church of England

Almighty God,
you have knit together your elect
in one communion and fellowship
in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord:
grant us grace so to follow your blessed saints
in all virtuous and godly living
that we may come to those inexpressible joys
that you have prepared for those who truly love you;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Posted in Church Year / Liturgical Seasons, Spirituality/Prayer

A prayer for the day from Christina Rossetti

O Lord, because we often sin and have to ask for pardon, help us to forgive as we would be forgiven; neither mentioning old offences committed against us, nor dwelling upon them in thought; but loving our brother freely as thou freely lovest us; for thy name’s sake.

Posted in Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Bible Readings

Now when Sanbal′lat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he ridiculed the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brethren and of the army of Samar′ia, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” Tobi′ah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn back their taunt upon their own heads, and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from thy sight; for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.

So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its height. For the people had a mind to work.

But when Sanbal′lat and Tobi′ah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ash′dodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry; and they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God, and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

–Nehemiah 4:1-9

Posted in Theology: Scripture

(Church Times) Clergy conduct batted back by Parliament to C of E General Synod

At that hearing, Mr [Edward] Dobson said that the “starting point” was that evidence was to be taken in private, on the grounds that this would better protect children and young adults, and that the question whether the default should be for public hearings had been considered by the Synod (Synod, 12 July 2024).

The Measure, given final approval in February (News, 14 February), will now have to be considered further. The intention is that it will replace the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003.

Redress Scheme reviewed. The Ecclesiastical Committee took evidence this week on the Measure to introduce the Redress Scheme for abuse survivors, which was finally approved by the Synod in York in July (News, 18 July). Despite the raising of concerns at a hearing on Tuesday about a data breach by the law firm administering the scheme, the Committee is expected to give the Measure the green light to become law.

In August, it was announced that the email addresses of people who had signed up for updates on the scheme had been disclosed in a data breach by Kennedys, the firm administering the scheme (News, 29 August).

Read it all.

Posted in Church of England, England / UK, Ethics / Moral Theology, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Pastoral Theology, Politics in General, Religion & Culture

(RU) Facing A Growing Climate Crisis, India’s Christians Lead the ‘Green Revolution’

Across India’s sprawling landscapes, Christian organizations are stepping up with urgency and creativity to confront the mounting challenges posed by climate change. 

Their work spans everything from solar-powered schools and rural farming projects to national climate declarations and interfaith advocacy, positioning faith-based groups at the forefront of India’s green revolution.

India’s Catholic institutions have become unlikely climate champions. In the western provinces, Jesuit Father Frazer Mascarenhas coordinates the Ecology Platform for the Jesuit West Zone: “About 60 institutions have achieved zero electricity bills for quite some time and demonstrated that it is a viable project to save the only home we have — the fragile Earth,” Mascarenhas explained in a recent interview. 

Vinayalaya, a Jesuit-run center in Mumbai, is now fully powered by solar energy. The project aims to solarize all 110 Jesuit schools, seminaries and residences in four provinces by 2027.

Read it all.

Posted in Ecology, Energy, Natural Resources, India, Religion & Culture

(Ryan Burge) Most Churches Aren’t Growing — What We Can Learn from Those That Are

I’ve been around churches my entire life—specifically evangelical ones. There’s a certain kind of conversation that happens among pastors and denominational leaders, usually in almost hushed tones: Did you hear about how [insert church name] added a thousand new attendees last year? Someone will inevitably chime in with another example of a church experiencing rapid growth. Before long, the discussion circles back to the same question: “How in the world do they do that?”

For most pastors, leading a church through that kind of explosive growth will never happen. A good year might mean adding ten or fifteen new members. More often, the reality is stagnation—or even a slight decline. And there’s a good reason for that: most churches just aren’t that big. The FACT study (PDF) found that about 70% of congregations have fewer than 100 people in regular attendance. The National Congregations Study concluded that the average church has just 70 active members.

So when we hear about a church adding a thousand new members, it’s so rare it almost sounds impossible.

For the last decade, Outreach Magazine has published a list of the “fastest-growing churches in America.” They gather this data by contacting thousands of churches via email, asking them to report two numbers: their average attendance in February/March of the previous year and their current average attendance. Outreach then runs calculations and spot checks to confirm the numbers are accurate before publishing the Outreach 100 list.

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Posted in Evangelism and Church Growth, Parish Ministry

(The Citizen [Harrisonburg, Virginia]) Church, meet creation, head on

It’s time for worship at Church of the Lamb. Dress for the weather because the service is outdoors most of the year.

That also means Basil the rooster crowing during the sermon. Or Joan of Arc, the pastor’s family cat, threading through your legs.

The worship space is an open barn in Penn Laird, a rusty but sturdy 75-year-old sheet-metal structure, where cattle once fed and left a surplus of manure.

It’s an Anglican community, 31 acres, that hums with social activities as well as labor on behalf of Rockingham Abbey, which sustains the property ecologically and markets farm goods and international coffees.

The congregation got its start in Elkton, then moved to Redeemer Classical School in Keezletown, then moved outdoors at Redeemer because of COVID, and finally to the barn in May 2023.

Read it all.

Posted in Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), Liturgy, Music, Worship, Parish Ministry

Friday food for Thought from CS Lewis

“Most of [us] have never really faced the facts about ourselves until we uttered them aloud in plain words, calling a spade a spade.” ⏤ C.S. Lewis, The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Vol. 3, from a letter to Mary Van Deusen on April 6, 1953

Posted in Anthropology, Church History

A prayer for the day from Frank Colquhoun

Hear us, O Lord, as we come to thee burdened with our guilt, and bow in faith at thy feet.  Speak to us thy word of absolution; say to our souls, Thy sins be forgiven thee; that with good courage we may rise up and go forth to serve thee, now and all our days, to the glory of thy holy name.

Posted in Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Bible Readings

In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Ar-ta-xerx′es, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing else but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live for ever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lies waste, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “For what do you make request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may rebuild it.” And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah; and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house which I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.

–Nehemiah 2:1-8

Posted in Theology: Scripture

(Premiere) Bp Philip North–Resist the worldly pressure to always pick a side. Jesus shows us a better way

We meet against a backdrop of serious threats to national unity and social cohesion. One of our priests described to me a few days ago how his community has become a “town of two flags” with one half festooned with the flag of St George, the other with the flag of Palestine.

We have seen huge marches for Palestine or against immigration. We are seeing growing anger with politicians and the political establishment and the accelerated rise of populism. So many people seemed to be locked into a mood of anger. Then, three weeks ago, two people were killed in a terrorist-inspired attack on a synagogue in Manchester. 

Against such a backdrop, a world that understands only binaries demands that we take sides. But of course, for us as Anglicans, such binary choices are incredibly difficult to take. We are on the ground in every community so we hear and try to understand every voice.

We understand the desperate fear of asylum seekers driven from home, often for professing Jesus as Lord, and we want to offer a safe place.

Read it all.

Posted in Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops

(BBC) Visitors take in Truro cathedral’s ‘big’ Mars sculpture

The artwork featured detailed Nasa images of the planet and at an approximate scale of 1:1million, each centimetre of the internally-lit sculpture representing 10km (6.2 miles) of the surface of the planet.

The piece is on show until 2 November, with tickets to it also offering free entry to the cathedral.

One boy who spoke to the BBC while with his family said: “I didn’t expect it to be that big.”

Read it all.

Posted in Art, Church of England, England / UK, Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture, Science & Technology

(DG) Stephen Nichols:John Wycliffe–The Morning Star of the Reformation

In On the Truth of Sacred Scripture, Wycliffe called for the Bible to be translated into English. According to Roman Catholic law, translating the Bible into a vulgar, common language was a heresy punishable by death. It is almost impossible to imagine why a church would want to keep God’s word from people, unless that church wanted to hold power over the people. Wycliffe was more convinced of the power of the word of God than the power wielded by the papal office. Consequently, he and a group of colleagues committed themselves to making the word of God available.

Not only did the Bible need to be translated; it also had to be copied and distributed. This was before the printing press (invented in 1440), so copies had to be made painstakingly by hand. Despite the challenges, hundreds of the Bibles were produced and distributed to Wycliffe’s troop of pastors, who preached across England as the word of God made its way to the people. Wycliffe’s followers came to be called Lollards. They were enclaves of reform not only in England, but across Europe.

These efforts in translating, copying, and proclaiming the Bible in English were driven by a singular motive, expressed by Wycliffe this way: “It helps Christian men to study the Gospel in that tongue which they know best.” In his final years, Wycliffe endured falling out of favor with the church and nobility in England. Of course, he had long ago fallen out of favor with the pope. Yet, Wycliffe declared, “I am ready to defend my convictions even unto death.” He remained convinced of the authority and centrality of Scripture and devoted to his life’s calling to help Christians study the Bible. Having suffered two strokes, John Wycliffe died on December 30, 1384.

Read it all.

Posted in Church History

A Prayer for the Feast Day of John Wyclif

O God, whose justice continually challenges thy Church to live according to its calling: Grant us who now remember the work of John Wyclif contrition for the wounds which our sins inflict on thy Church, and such love for Christ that we may seek to heal the divisions which afflict his Body; through the same Jesus Christ, who livest and reignest with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

(Church Times) Anger voiced over House of Bishops’ Living in Love and Faith decision

The Bishops decided that there must be further synodical processes for stand-alone services of blessing for same-sex couples and for reconsideration of the bar on clerics’ entering into same-sex marriages.

“Episcopal authority has never been weaker since the 17th Century,” wrote the Rector of St Giles’s, Newcastle-under-Lyme, with Butterton, the Revd Joshua Penduck, in a blog post. He suggested that there had been a lack of due process, attributable to “stupidity”, a “rush to create a new settlement”, and “a lack of honesty about what such a process could achieve”.

“The fact that the legal advice has only just been released is a mark of how needlessly painful the process has been,” he wrote. LLF had benefited nobody: neither the LGBTQ+ community nor conservatives who were “weary, exhausted and feeling vulnerable”. “There is now less cohesion in the Church of England than ever before.”

Bishops had “come to sound less like episcopal centres of unity and more like powerful activists”, he suggested.

Read it all.

Posted in Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Parish Ministry, Same-sex blessings, Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion)