Category: Church

Church

Welby: Church Safeguarding’s Greek Gift

BY ANDREW TETTENBORN Nemesis overtook the Archbishop of Canterbury this week. He resigned on Tuesday, following overwhelming calls for him to go following the publication of the Makin Review, a report commissioned by the church over his conduct of the John Smyth abuse affair. But there is an irony here. There is a strong argument that this wasn’t really the slam-dunk resignation matter everyone made … Continue reading Welby: Church Safeguarding’s Greek Gift

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Church, Politics

Reverends & Refugees

BY STEWART SLATER “F**k you, Nigel. You f***ing ghoul.” My faith (if it ever existed) was long gone by the age of 9, (the Almighty’s weekly unwillingness to answer my prayer that enough snow would have fallen to prevent my parents from attending church seemed, to my childish mind, conclusive and irrefutable proof of his non-existence), but even I know enough about our ostensible national … Continue reading Reverends & Refugees

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Church

A Turbulent Priest

BY STEWART SLATER “Politicians want to talk about moral issues and bishops want to talk about politics.” While this was undoubtedly true when uttered by Sir Humphrey Appleby in the 1980’s (Mrs Thatcher being the very model of a moralising politician), the times, they have a’changed. Mr Sunak is no-one’s idea of a fire and brimstone tub-thumper, Mrs Truss, well she wasn’t around for long … Continue reading A Turbulent Priest

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Church

A Post-Christian Britain

BY STEWART SLATER There was, as there so often is, an irony. For barely a week before the census revealed that England and Wales are no longer majority Christian, the nations’ footballers (in alliance with other European teams) decided to mimic their religious forebears by declaring their beliefs universal and attempting to impose them on the recalcitrant natives of a far-off land. It was no … Continue reading A Post-Christian Britain

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Church

Thy Kingdom Come in Face Masks

THE CITY GRUMP A little over a weekend ago I was at that traditional gathering of vintage car racing petrolheads known as the Silverstone Classic. As is also traditional, the weather was dire, with the rain and the wind rolling in across the flat Northamptonshire countryside. Just as I was wondering whether to put on yet another layer of clothing in came a text message … Continue reading Thy Kingdom Come in Face Masks

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Church, Opinion

Decentralise Not Decolonise

BY JAKE SCOTT Anglicans are a dying breed. The 2011 census found that only 15% of Britons considered themselves to be Anglican – nearly half that at the turn of the century. This figure fell even further to 12% in 2018. The 2021 census will almost certainly return an even lower percentage, as young adults increasingly feel that faith has no place in their lives. … Continue reading Decentralise Not Decolonise

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Church, Opinion

Render Unto Caesar

BY DOMINIC WIGHTMAN The advantage of church closures this year during lockdowns has been the emergence of Masses and other church services online. “How can virtual services be a positive?” I hear you traditionalists and conservatives chuntering. Well, first up, you can be as rude as you like about a priest’s sermon real-time, without having to put up with the death stares from the blue … Continue reading Render Unto Caesar

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