Church of England 'Must Curb Its Attacks on the City'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Church of England must resist igniting a 1980s-style war of words with the Government over its attacks on the City, according to a senior banker and church official.

Ken Costa, a former bank chairman and head of a newly appointed Church committee charged with rebuilding links with the financial sector, has warned against a repeat of the bitter row that broke out after the publication of the clergy's landmark Faith in the City report 25 years ago.

At the time, the report provoked fury among senior Conservatives by levelling some of the blame for economic and spiritual decline at the door of the Thatcher administration.

Mr Costa, the chairman of the St Paul's Initiative, established by the Church to open up a debate on ethical capitalism, said the clergy's response to the ongoing protests outside St Paul's Cathedral must not turn into a "reheated Faith in the City".

In his first public comments since his appointment, Mr Costa insisted that a flourishing banking sector was "essential to any successful economy" and that financial incentives are "both valid and effective".

He also said that stiffer regulation of financial services was not necessarily the solution to the global economic crisis, saying, "you cannot regulate into existence a culture of honesty, integrity, truthfulness and responsibility". » | Graeme Paton | Monday, November 07, 2011

Ken Costa, a one-time Marxist turned City banker, seems to be saying that the Church should do and say nothing. So he wants the Church to shut up to allow the banksters to continue their theft and corruption, eh? I say that if the Church wants to be taken seriously, it should step up its attack on these fraudsters, not shut up.

In my opinion, it is time for bankers to have a code of ethics, just as doctors have in the Hippocratic Oath. Then, if they are found to be engaging in foul practice, they can have their licence to work in the banking sector taken away from them. – © Mark

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Church Leaders Accuse Bankers of Losing Their 'Moral Moorings'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Church of England has launched a fierce new attack on bankers accusing them of greed and having "slipped their moral moorings".

A series of senior figures stepped up their attack on the City in an assault that comes a week after the Church refused to evict protesters from outside St Paul's Cathedral in central London.

They spoke of a financial sector which sets a moral tone for a society which had become "scandalously unfair".

The interventions included:

• A call in an article in The Sunday Telegraph today for fundamental reform of how the financial world works. It was made by Ken Costa, a former bank chairman and the Church’s newly appointed leader of an initiative to build links with the City;

• The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, said executive salaries were creating a gulf between rich and poor that made “societies less cohesive” and called for an end to official honours for financiers;

• Dr Giles Fraser, the cleric who quit as canon chancellor of St Paul’s over plans to evict protesters, said there was “financial injustice” that had to be addressed;

• A report written by Dr Fraser on behalf of a think tank endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is to be published tomorrow, claiming the City’s reliance on technology was dehumanising its values. » | Jonathan Wynne-Jones and Kamal Ahmed | Saturday, November 05, 2011

This is all the result of Reaganism and Thatcherism. The Old Gipper and the ol' 'Milk Snatcher' have a lot to answer for. In Britain, Maggie Thatcher institutionalised greed; in the US, Reagan did the same. – © Mark

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St Paul's Cathedral Announces Closure Due to 'Occupy' Protesters
It seemed a gesture of Christian tolerance when a clergyman at St Paul’s Cathedral told police to allow anti-capitalist protesters camped outside to continue their demonstration.

Read article here

Women Bishops Would Humanise Priesthood, Says Archbishop of Canterbury

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Women should be allowed to become bishops in the Church of England to “humanise” the priesthood, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

Dr Rowan Williams warned the Church hierarchy to prepare for the “culture change” that would come with the “full inclusion” of women.

Removing the bar to women’s ordination as bishops would help reverse the “creeping bureaucratisation” and “box ticking” that too often undermines the work of the Church, Dr Williams suggested.

His comments came as reforms allowing women to become bishops came a step closer to passing into Church law.

The 44 individual dioceses have until mid-November to hold ballots among members of their local synods, or assemblies, on whether to support plan.

The reforms have already proven highly divisive, contributing to hundreds of worshippers and clerics, including five bishops, leaving the Church of England to become Roman Catholics this year. » | Tim Ross, Religious Affairs Editor | Monday, October 03, 2011

The Anglican Church is already an irrelevance; the Archbishop of Canterbury is in the process of making it more irrelevant still.

The Church has been feminized over the years; and the more feminized the Church has become, the more the pews have emptied.

If Jesus had wanted there to be female priests and bishops, he'd have ensured that at least one of his disciples was a woman. He didn't do this; so it is pretty clear to me that this was not his intention.

Some people will say at this juncture that there were no women disciples because society back then was different. That's true. But Jesus was a revolutionary; so if he had wanted women to go out and preach the Gospel, he'd have made sure that his message was clear that they should. There is no doubt in my mind that this will bring no benefit to the Church. In fact, it will weaken an already weak Church even more.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is a man with his own liberal agenda. It appears that his agenda is more important to him than the survival of the Church.

Christianity is already dying on its feet in this country. Rowan Williams is only helping it along to its final resting place.

The Anglican Church – my own Church – has held little attraction for me for a very long time. This measure to introduce female bishops will make the Church still less attractive to me.

A feminized Church will be a weak Church. And as for his wanting to "humanise" the Church... Hasn't the Church been 'human' enough throughout the centuries? What a load of tosh, bunkum, and poppycock! – © Mark

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Anglican Church Faces 'Piece by Piece Dissolution', Warns Archbishop
THE GUARDIAN: Rowan Williams tells warring factions to pull together for crucial General Synod vote on church's future

Rowan Williams speaking at the General Synod. Photograph: The Guardian
Dr Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, warned of the risk of "piece-by-piece dissolution" of worldwide Anglicanism in a heartfelt personal plea today to warring factions in the Church of England.

At the opening of the church's general synod in London, he called for all parties to put aside their disputes and agree on a fresh framework for settling differences across the 70 million-strong international communion.

The synod votes tomorrow on the Anglican covenant, which has been seven years in the making, and sets the Church of England at a crucial crossroads. The church is already facing probable defections to Roman Catholicism by some priests opposed to the ordination of women bishops.

The covenant was devised in response to divisions caused by the US Episcopal Church's decision to endorse the election of the openly-gay bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson, and it has to be endorsed by all 38 previously autonomous provinces of the communion across the world. The vote will be crucial as not only is the Church of England the mother church of the communion, but Williams is its spiritual head. A senior church official told the Guardian: "There is no Plan B. If this falls, the communion is in ruins."

In advance of the vote – which is technically to refer the covenant to dioceses for consultation – supporters and opponents have indulged in heated rhetoric; liberal Anglicans claimed it would spell the end of individual churches' autonomy and subject decisions of the Church of England to the prior approval of reactionary churches such as the homophobic conservatives of equatorial Africa. Gregory Cameron, the Bishop of St Asaph in Wales, the canon lawyer mainly responsible for drawing up the covenant, likened opponents to the BNP. Read on and comment >>> Stephen Bates and Riazat Butt | Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Queen Opens Church General Synod Amid Signs of Change
BBC: After a special service at Westminster Abbey later, the Queen is to open the Church of England's General Synod.

The synod gets the honour of a royal inauguration because this is the established, state church and the Queen is its supreme governor.

The synod - the Church's legislative body - is the only institution outside parliament that can make laws, even if it does have to get its decisions approved by a special parliamentary committee.

One of the most important laws likely to emerge in the synod's five-year term starting on Tuesday is the introduction of women bishops.

It has already been a debate that has deeply divided traditionalists from progressives, and led some on the Catholic wing of the Church to say they will take up the Pope's offer of a place in the Roman Catholic Church.

To many outside the Church - and to some Anglicans as well - so much anguish and dispute over what they regard as a logical progression from the ordination of women priests 16 years ago is unaccountable.

But for traditionalists - from both Anglo-Catholic and Protestant backgrounds - there is something fundamental at stake.

Some see it as part of a struggle for the soul of the Church, suggesting that the future starting with this new synod will bring in a more liberal Anglicanism which has less time for traditionalist values.

They point to the growing "feminisation" of the Church as a cause for concern. >>> Robert Pigott, Religious affairs correspondent, BBC News | Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Church of England Is 'Like a Coffee Chain Going Out of Business', Defecting Bishops Warn
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A bishop who is defecting to Rome has likened the Church of England to a coffee chain that is going out of business.

Five bishops have announced that they are converting to Roman Catholicism in protest at liberal Anglican reforms and urged others to follow their path.

One likened the Church to a chain of coffee shops that is losing customers while a second accused it of adopting an increasingly “lax” attitude towards issues of morality, such as homosexuality and abortion.

As first reported in The Daily Telegraph, three serving and two retired traditionalist bishops announced that they are resigning in order to convert to Roman Catholicism.

The defections come as hundreds of worshippers prepare to take up the Pope’s offer to join a new section of the Roman Catholic Church which is being established for Anglicans who cannot accept liberal reforms such as the ordination of women bishops.

The new body, known as the English Ordinariate, is expected to be finalised next week and to begin operation as a full part of the Roman Catholic Church next year.

The Catholic Church in England and Wales welcomed the decision made by the Bishops of Ebbsfleet, the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham; Fulham, the Rt Rev John Broadhurst; Richborough, the Rt Rev Keith Newton; and two retired bishops, the Rt Rev Edwin Barnes, honorary assistant bishop of Winchester, and the Rt Rev David Silk, honorary assistant bishop of Exeter.

In a joint statement the bishops expressed their “dismay” and “distress” at recent liberal reforms to the Church, in particular the ordination of women priests and plans for the consecration of women as bishops. >>> Tim Ross, Religious Affairs Editor | Monday, November 08, 2010

The Cracks Are Now Showing in the Church of England
THE TELEGRAPH: A parish in Kent is shifting allegiance to Rome and, with many more likely to follow, Anglicanism is feeling the strain. Tim Ross reports.

Shortly after eight o'clock one spring morning in 2007, an earthquake struck the parish church of St Peter in Folkestone, bringing down the gable-end of the south transept.

Three years later, the 19th-century church, which opened as a chapel for local fishermen, has caused tremors of its own, becoming the first parish in England to declare its intention to defect to Rome. Within hours of the news emerging last Friday, the Bishop of Fulham announced that he, too, will take up the Pope's offer to join a new structure within the Roman Catholic Church for disaffected Anglicans.

Some are now talking openly of an "exodus" from the Anglican Communion next year, with thousands following Folkestone's lead. The Archbishop of Canterbury, from whose back yard the revolt has sprung, can be in little doubt about the seriousness of the threat. >>> Tim Ross | Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Church of England steht vor der Spaltung
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Konservative Anglikaner machen gegen die vor zwei Jahren beschlossene Bischofsweihe von Frauen mobil. 1300 Anglikaner drohen mit dem Austritt.

Hundreds of Traditionalist Clergy Poised to Leave Church of England
THE TELEGRAPH: Hundreds of traditionalist clergy are set to leave the Church of England over plans to introduce women bishops.

Leading Anglo-Catholic clergy warned that the failure to provide concessions to opponents of the historic reform would force many of them to defect to Rome.

In a highly-charged debate at the General Synod, the Church’s parliament, members rejected a compromise deal put forward by the archbishops of Canterbury and York which would have averted a schism.

The archbishops’ plans would have seen the creation of a new class of male-only bishops to look after conservative evangelical and Anglo-Catholic parishes opposed to female leadership in the Church.

Canon David Houlding, a prebendary at St Paul’s cathedral, estimated that as many as 200 traditionalist clergy could leave the Church, taking thousands of worshippers with them.

“People’s patience is running out and many will now be asking whether they should try and practice their Catholic faith in the Church of England,” he said.

“The vote was a severe blow to the archbishop [of Canterbury] and it has pushed us closer to the door.” >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Monday, July 12, 2010

A Divided Church Faces Its Darkest Hour
THE TELEGRAPH: By rejecting a compromise over women bishops, the General Synod has plunged the Anglican Church into crisis. Jonathan Wynne-Jones reports.

Humiliated: the authority of Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has been wounded by his defeat in the Synod Photo: The Telegraph
On Saturday night, the Archbishop of Canterbury suffered the most humiliating defeat of his time in office when the Church rejected his compromise deal over women bishops. It followed a week in which Rowan Williams had found himself at the centre of a storm over the blocked appointment of Jeffrey John, the homosexual Dean of St Albans, to be Bishop of Southwark.

Castigated by liberals who accused him of betraying his old friend by not securing his promotion, the Archbishop arrived at the General Synod in York also facing a mutiny over his plans to avert an exodus of traditionalists opposed to women's ordination.

On the eve of one of the most pivotal debates in the Church's recent history, liberal bishops had met to discuss how they would derail proposals put forward by Dr Williams and Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York.

They were well aware of the impact that their rebellion would have on Dr Williams's authority. But they were still prepared to take drastic action because of their despair at his suggestion that a new tier of male-only bishops should be created to minister to traditionalists. This would undermine the role of women bishops, they believed. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones | Monday, July 12, 2010

Split Looms for Church Over Women Bishops
THE TELEGRAPH: The embattled Archbishop of Canterbury has suffered a devastating blow to his hopes of averting a split in the Church of England over the introduction of women bishops.

Plans put forward by Dr Rowan Williams urging a compromise over the issue were rejected last night by members of the General Synod, including some of his most senior bishops.

The last-ditch proposal was designed to prevent an exodus of traditionalist priests, who are now likely to defect to the Roman Catholic Church.

It represented a significant gamble by Dr Williams, who was heavily criticised by liberals last week after Dr Jeffrey John, the homosexual cleric, was blocked from becoming Bishop of Southwark. Dr John's nomination to the post was revealed by The Sunday Telegraph last week.

The failure by the archbishop to gain sufficient support for his plan is likely to be viewed as a further dent to his authority.

Groups within the church have been campaigning for female clerics to be treated equally and to be allowed to become bishops, without any concessions that would undermine their ministry.

But their proposals have been opposed by traditionalists and evangelicals who do not believe making women bishops is in accordance with biblical teaching. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, July 10, 2010

Gay Cleric Blocked from Becoming Church of England Bishop
THE TELEGRAPH: An openly homosexual cleric has been blocked from becoming a Church of England bishop, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

Members of the Crown Nominations Commission, which includes Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, rejected calls for Dr Jeffrey John to be made the next Bishop of Southwark.

The Dean of St Albans, who is in a civil partnership with another priest, was on the shortlist for the post and was considered to be a front-runner for the job.

David Cameron had been made aware of his nomination and is believed to have been supportive of promoting the homosexual cleric.

However, a secret meeting of senior Church figures has decided to overlook Dr John amid fears that his consecration would have provoked a split in the Church.

Conservative Anglican leaders had warned that evangelical parishes would not recognise him as a bishop and instead would seek “alternative episcopal oversight”.

But the snub will infuriate liberal clergy who believed he was the outstanding candidate and that his appointment would signal a move towards greater inclusion for homosexuals in the Church. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones and Martin Beckford | Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Related article here

Gay Cleric in Line to Become Bishop in Church of England
THE TELEGRAPH: An openly-homosexual cleric has been nominated to become a senior bishop, in a move that threatens to provoke a damaging split in the Church of England.

A confidential meeting, chaired by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has approved Dr Jeffrey John, the Dean of St Albans, to be on the shortlist to be the next Bishop of Southwark.

He is understood to be the favoured candidate.

Dr John is a hugely divisive figure in the church after he was forced to stand down from becoming the Bishop of Reading in 2003 after it emerged he was in a homosexual, but celibate, relationship.

Promoting him to one of the most senior offices in the Church would trigger a civil war between liberals and conservatives and exacerbate existing divisions within the Anglican Communion. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, July 03, 2010

Vicar 'Conducted Sham Marriages for Illegals'
THE TELEGRAPH: A vicar conducted hundreds of sham marriages to help illegal immigrants gain residency in Britain over a four-year period, a court heard.

The Rev Alex Brown, 61, and co-defendants Michael Adelasoye, 50, and Vladymyr Buchak, 33, are accused of preying on Eastern Europeans desperate for money and Africans who were willing to do anything to stay in the country in a ''massive and cynical scam''.

Between July 2005 and July 2009, Brown presided over a total of 383 marriages at the Church of St Peter and St Paul in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, a 30-fold increase compared to the 13 he had conducted over the previous four years.

The three men went on trial at Lewes Crown Court yesterday charged with conspiring to facilitate the commission of breaches of immigration laws.

Opening the case, prosecutor David Walbank told jurors the three paid money to nationals from EU member states such as Switzerland [sic], Iceland [sic] and Norway [sic].

In return for the money they were expected to wed African nationals, mainly Nigerian, in order for them to become permanent residents in Britain.

''This case involves a massive and systematic immigration fraud," said Mr Walbank.

The court heard how Buchak, a Ukrainian national who had himself been living illegally in the country since at least 2004, was responsible for ''cajoling and persuading'' the Eastern Europeans into the marriages of convenience. >>> | Friday, June 11, 2010

Is This Really What the Church Is About? Anglican Bishops Back End to Ban on Gay Civil Partnerships in Church
Franck Bordese, left, and Guy Bentham had their union blessed by the Rev Andy Pakula, centre, a Unitarian minister. Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: Gay couples could soon be allowed to “marry” in church after a decision by Anglican bishops and other clergy to support a relaxation of the ban.

Senior bishops in the Lords have told The Times that they will support an amendment to the Equality Bill next month that will lift the ban on civil partnership ceremonies in religious premises. The amendment would remove the legislative prohibition on blessings of homosexual couples and open the door to the registration of civil partnerships in churches, synagogues, mosques and all other religious premises.

In a letter to The Times a group of Church of England clerics say today that religious denominations should be allowed to register civil partnerships on their premises if they wish.

It would be up to individual denominations whether to offer civil partnership ceremonies.

The Church of England, which along with the wider Anglican Communion is divided over gay ordinations and same-sex blessings, will maintain its official ban. But if the legislative prohibition is lifted, as seems likely, the Church’s own ban is likely to be ignored by some clergy. >>> Ruth Gledhill, Rosemary Bennett | Tuesday, February 23, 2010

General Synod: Church of England Exodus Feared Unless Women Bishops Plans Changed
THE TELEGRAPH: Conservative clergy have warned of a mass exodus from the Church of England and a sharp drop in its income unless divisive plans for the introduction of women bishops are changed.

On the first day of the gathering of the Church’s governing body, the General Synod, Anglo-Catholics claimed that “large numbers” would leave for Rome if their demands for concessions are not met.

Meanwhile 50 serving priests belonging to Reform, the evangelical group, signed an open letter saying that the situation could force them to cut off funding for dioceses and spend their money on training new vicars outside the Church instead.

The established church, which introduced women to the priesthood in 1994, is committed to ordaining female bishops as well but the process has been held up by the entrenched positions of both supporters and opponents of the historic move.

Liberals argue that women should be introduced to the episcopate on the same basis and with the same powers as men, otherwise an unfair two-tier system will develop.

However conservatives claim they were assured back when women priests were introduced that provisions would be made for them, similar to the “flying bishops” that currently cater for parishes that cannot accept the oversight of female vicars, when the next step was taken.

They want either an entirely new “men-only” province that could cover the whole of England, or extra junior bishops in dioceses who had not ordained women bishops and who would be answerable only to an Archbishop. >>> Martin Beckford | Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Rowan Williams Issues 'Profound Apology' to Gay Christians
TIMES ONLINE: The Archbishop of Canterbury issued a “profound apology” to the lesbian and gay Christian community today.
In a powerful address to the General Synod, Dr Rowan Williams warned that any schism within the Church would represent a betrayal of God’s mission.

But he made clear that he regretted recent rhetoric in which he has sought to mollify the fears of the traditionalist wing of the church.

The Archbishop is from the Church’s liberal wing and a man who once espoused equal rights for gays within the Church. More recently he has adopted a conservative line for the sake of Church unity.

Today he said: “There are ways of speaking about the question that seem to ignore these human realities or to undervalue them.

“I have been criticised for doing just this and I am profoundly sorry for the carelessness that could give such an impression.”
Addressing the even more contentious debate over gay ordinations — something which threatens to split the Church farther [sic] with the expected consecration in May of Canon Mary Glasspool, a lesbian, as a bishop in Los Angeles — Dr Williams said it had not been helped by those who ignored the fact that many worshippers were gay, as well as many “sacrificial and exemplary priests”.

He made it clear that there was blame on all sides of the argument that has brought the Church to the brink of splitting. He pleaded for Anglicans angry over gays and women bishops to cease fighting, admitting that he and other bishops might have to settle for a two-tier communion. >>> Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent | Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Prize Comment of the Day:

Why is 'God' so concerned with what men do with their willies? There must be hundreds of issues more deserving of attention in the world today than this. Too many men in dresses getting hot under the collar.

Surely a religion where you are encouraged to worship a naked man (and his dad) should be a haven for the gay community. I can't believe the church doesn't need the bodies on a Sunday either.

I think I might get burnt at the stake now. – Gaberdine Dog, [Source: TimesOnline/Page 3 of comments]

Church to Vote on Greater Rights for Partners of Gay Clergy
THE TELEGRAPH: The Church of England is poised to give greater recognition to homosexual clergy in relationships, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

A proposal to give the partners of gay priests some of the same rights that are awarded to priests' spouses is likely to spark a new row over homosexuality.

Bishops and senior clergy will debate at next month's General Synod whether the Church should provide same-sex couples with the same financial benefits as are awarded to married couples.

Traditionalists have expressed strong opposition to the move, which they claim would give official recognition to homosexual relationships.

They warn that affording equal treatment to heterosexual and homosexual couples would undermine the Church's teaching on marriage.

At present, the Church bars clergy from being in active gay relationships, although it bowed to pressure to allow them to enter civil partnerships on the condition that they are celibate.

Liberals believe that the motion, to be unveiled this week, could be a major breakthrough in securing rights for gay clergy.

It calls on the Archbishops' Council, chaired by Dr Rowan Williams, to introduce changes that would "provide for pension benefits to be paid to the surviving civil partners of deceased clergy on the same basis as they are currently paid to surviving spouses".

However, there are serious concerns over the effects that such a change would have on the Church's finances as well as on the thin hopes of maintaining unity in the Anglican Communion, which is deeply divided over the issue of homosexual clergy. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, January 16, 2010

Wishing Happy Christmas 'Could Be an Obscenity' Warns Bishop
THE TELEGRAPH: Wishing people a Happy Christmas could be seen as an "insult" or even an "obscenity" as not everyone is in a position to celebrate, a bishop has warned.

The Right Reverend Humphrey Southern, the Bishop of Repton, said it was a "hollow" greeting to make to those who were suffering.

People should not "simply make a cocoon of happiness for ourselves and our loved ones" at Christmas, he said.

Writing in the monthly Derby diocese newsletter, he said: "This is the 'Happy Christmas' month. Yet to many that greeting will be hollow, coming as an insult, or even an obscenity."

The bishop, 49, went on to ask: "What can 'Happy Christmas' mean in a family whose father has been killed in a military operation in Afghanistan that fewer and fewer people understand (still less support)?

"How do you wish 'Happy Christmas' to a community in the Indian Ocean who can probably count on the fingers of a couple of hands the number of Christmases they will see before their home disappears under water, victim to global warming?

"What could it possibly mean to the victim of bullying, ostracism or racial intimidation in your workplace or neighbourhoods or community?" >>> Stephen Adams | ay, November 27, 2009

Church of England Set to Lose a Tenth of Its Clergy in Five Years
TIMES ONLINE: The Church of England is facing the loss of as many as one in ten paid clergy in the next five years and internal documents seen by The Times admit that the traditional model of a vicar in every parish is over.

The credit crunch and a pension funding crisis have left dioceses facing massive restructuring programmes. Church statistics show that between 2000 and 2013 stipendiary or paid clergy numbers will have fallen by nearly a quarter.

According to figures on the Church of England website, there will be an 8.3 per cent decrease in paid clergy in the next four years, from 8,400 this year to 7,700 in to 2013. This represents a 22.5 per cent decrease since 2000. If this trend continues in just over 50 years there will be no full-time paid clergy left in Britain’s 13,000 parishes serving 16,000 churches.

Jobs will instead be filled by unpaid part-timers, giving rise to fears about the quality of parish ministry. Combined with a big reduction in churchgoing, the figures will add weight to the campaign for disestablishment. >>> Ruth Gledhill and Tim Glanfield | Saturday, November 28, 2009

Vatican's Lack of Warning on Anglican Priests 'Inexcusable' Say [sic] Carey
THE INDEPENDENT: The former Archbishop of Canterbury today branded as "inexcusable" the Catholic Church's failure to warn his successor of their plans to admit disaffected Anglican priests.

Lord Carey of Clifton told The Times that he was "appalled" that Dr Rowan Williams only learned of Rome's intention to publish a new Apostolic Constitution to allow the move two weeks ago.

"I think in this day and age, this was inexcusable that Rome decided to do this without consultation.

"He should express his unhappiness with the process."

He said that he was taken by surprise by the development although he admitted that he had been aware of "a number of bishops going to Rome and having conversations".

But he told the newspaper that the move was "worth considering."

"There are a number of deeply worried, anxious Anglo-Catholics who do not believe they have a constructive future with the Church of England with the ordination of women as bishops.

He added: "This could go a long way to helping."

Hundreds of Church of England priests who oppose the ordination of women have been meeting yesterday and today and are expected to discuss the issue.

Forward in Faith will hear from a number of Bishops as part of their annual conference including a keynote address from Rt Rev John Hind, the Bishop of Chichester who has staunchly resisted the move.

The Vatican said earlier this week it would allow groups of Anglican clergy and faithful who wished to enter into full communion to do so while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical life.

Traditionalists within the Church of England have previously warned they might leave over issues such as the consecration of women bishops and gay priests. >>> Laura May, Press Association | Saturday, October 24, 2009

Lord Falconer Suggests Archbishop of Canterbury’s Stance on Assisted Suicide Lacks Christian Compassion
THE TELEGRAPH: Lord Falconer has suggested that the Archbishop of Canterbury’s stance on assisted suicide lacks Christian compassion.

The former Lord Chancellor claimed Dr Rowan Williams should not want the relatives of terminally ill people to be prosecuted for helping them end their lives.

He called on the Church of England to take part in a wider discussion on assisted dying, even though it has been at the forefront of opposition to possible changes in the law.

Lord Falconer is the latest high-profile legal figure to speak out in the polarised debate over whether anyone who helps a loved one end their suffering should face jail.

His attempt to amend current laws – which make aiding and abetting suicide a crime punishable by up to 14 years behind bars – failed in the House of Lords in July. He wanted to remove the threat of prosecution for people who help relatives travel to “suicide clinics” such as Dignitas in Switzerland, as long as two doctors had certified they were terminally ill and had made their decision rationally. >>> Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Friday, September 11, 2009