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1 week ago | 
churchtimes.co.uk | Francis Martin
“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 said. The way in which changes have been introduced has “significantly dented trust in the House of Bishops”, he writes in a newly published pamphlet.
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2 weeks ago | 
churchtimes.co.uk | Francis Martin
ALMOST half of Christian Aid’s staff could be made redundant under proposals, announced on Tuesday, to channel resources to local partner organisations instead. “Our job in many cases now is to add our weight to waves of change being created by other people, not necessarily creating the waves ourselves,” the charity’s chief executive, Patrick Watt, told the Church Times.
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2 weeks ago | 
churchtimes.co.uk | Francis Martin
CAREFUL consideration should be given to whether abolishing the seal of the confessional might lead to the reporting of fewer abuse cases, the Bishop of Manchester, Dr David Walker, told the House of Lords on Tuesday, during a discussion of proposals to introduce mandatory reporting for child sexual abuse.
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2 weeks ago | 
churchtimes.co.uk | Francis Martin
THE House of Bishops has responded to last year’s review of the process by which the Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Philip North, was appointed. The process had been challenged by the campaign group Women and the Church (WATCH). Bishop North has previously said that he believes the ordination of women to be an area on which the Church of England should not be at variance with the wider Church, in which the ordination of women is not universally agreed.
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3 weeks ago | 
churchtimes.co.uk | Francis Martin
AN ISRAELI military inquiry into the killing of 15 emergency workers in Gaza last month (News, 2 April) concluded on Sunday that “professional failures” and an “operational misunderstanding” by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were to blame. The Palestine Red Crescent Society and the UN, whose staff members were killed, have criticised the report for seeking to confine blame to troops on the ground.
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3 weeks ago | 
churchtimes.co.uk | Francis Martin
A MINORITY of the Board of Deputies of British Jews broke ranks last week to make public criticism of Israel’s conduct of the Gaza War. Thirty-six of the roughly 300 Deputies, in a letter to the Financial Times last week, criticised the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, its approach to democracy, and its encouragement of illegal settlements in the West Bank.
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3 weeks ago | 
churchtimes.co.uk | Francis Martin
THE Church of England has been “humbled by the truth” of its implication in the transatlantic slave trade, the Archbishop of York told a UN forum this week; but he said that scripture and the example of Christ “give us hope for our world and hope that we can do better”. Archbishop Cottrell was speaking in New York on Monday, during a session of the United Nations’ Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, which was co-hosted by the Anglican Communion.
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3 weeks ago | 
churchtimes.co.uk | Francis Martin
POPE FRANCIS wished a crowd in St Peter’s Square “Happy Easter” on Sunday, in what was to be his last public appearance before his death on Monday morning. The Pope spoke briefly from a balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, greeting those who had gathered, before his Easter address was read out on his behalf.
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3 weeks ago | 
churchtimes.co.uk | Francis Martin
THE coincidence of Easter Day falling this year on the same date in the calendars used by Eastern and Western Churches should be a spur to greater unity in a world of conflict, Easter messages issued by church leaders have said. Meanwhile, the King’s Easter message, published on Maundy Thursday, focused on the “paradox” of humanity’s capacity for “both great cruelty and great kindness”.
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4 weeks ago | 
churchtimes.co.uk | Francis Martin
“WE BELONG, and this is our home,” members of the congregation at the Church of England Evangelical Council’s (CEEC) alternative to a chrism eucharist were told on Wednesday evening. There were about 40 people present at the service in St James the Less, Pimlico, in London. Of them, two-thirds were clergy. The retired Bishop of Willesden, the Rt Revd Pete Broadbent, the only bishop present, preached. A further 70 attended an online service held on Tuesday, the CEEC says.
