Showing posts with label Church of England. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Church of England. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Friday, March 08, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury voiced opposition to same-sex couples adopting children and insisted that the Bible is “clear” that gay couples should not have sex, previously unpublished writings show.
Justin Welby also privately warned of a crisis facing the Church of England as a result of dwindling numbers and financial pressure which could even pose “serious questions of viability” within the next seven to 10 years.
And he openly questioned the formality of the Established Church, wondering aloud whether Jesus would have approved of “big buildings” and elaborate clerical dress.
His comments are disclosed in the first biography of the new leader of the world’s 77 million Anglicans, who will be formally enthroned in Canterbury later this month.
It charts his transformation from a highly paid City oil executive to life on a clerical stipend before his rapid promotion through the ranks of the Church.
It also reveals some of the most unguarded comments of the future Archbishop yet published, dating from his time as a little known parish priest just over a decade ago.
More recently, he voiced frustration at being branded a homophobic “European Taliban” for advocating traditional views on sex.
Archbishop Welby comes from the evangelical wing of the Church of England, which espouses traditional views on such issues. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Friday, March 08, 2013
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
BBC: The Church of England and Church in Wales will be banned in law from offering same-sex marriages, the government has announced.
Other religious organisations will be able to "opt in" to offering ceremonies, Culture Secretary Maria Miller told MPs.
David Cameron has said he wants churches in England and Wales to be part of the plans.
But Mrs Miller said they had strong opposition and would not be included.
Labour, which is backing the government's plans, applying to England and Wales, urged ministers not to be "too reserved" in promoting the changes.
The Church of England and Roman Catholics, among other denominations, have voiced opposition to same-sex marriage.
But some religious groups, including Quakers, Unitarians and Liberal Judaism, are in favour. » | Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned the Church of England it has a “lot of explaining to do” after the rejection of plans for women bishops.
In a measured but devastating address to the General Synod, Dr Rowan Williams said that there was no doubt the church has “lost credibility” in society because of the vote.
He acknowledged that to many it would appear that the Synod was being held “hostage” by certain minority groups opposed to change.
And he said that, irrespective of rules preventing the measure coming back for debate for several years, “parking” it would not be an option.
His comments came after almost three quarters of the General Synod voted in favour of allowing women to become bishops but the measure fell short of final approval by just six votes in one strand of the Synod, the House of Laity. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor, and Richard Alleyne | Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Friday, November 09, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The new Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby offered an olive branch to the gay community saying he will re-examine his opposition to same-sex marriage.
The new Archbishop of Canterbury offered an olive branch to the gay community despite reaffirming his opposition to same-sex marriage.
Justin Welby, the Bishop of Durham, pledged to examine his own thinking on homosexuality "carefully and prayerfully" and spoke out against "exclusion".
Be he said he supported the Church's current stance on redefining marriage. "I support the House of Bishop's statement in the summer in answer to the government's consultation on same sex marriage.
I know I need to listen very attentively to the LGBT communities, and examine my own thinking prayerfully and carefully. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Friday, November 09, 2012
Related »
Justin Welby, a former oil executive who was made a bishop just over a year ago, has been appointed the next leader of the Church of England, Downing Street confirmed on Friday morning.
A statement on the website of the prime minister's office said the Queen had nominated Welby. A press conference at Lambeth Palace is taking place to announce that the 56-year-old bishop of Durham will be the 105th man to sit on the throne of Saint Augustine, succeeding Rowan Williams[.]
Welby will be enthroned as archbishop of Canterbury in Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013. He said: "To be nominated to this post is both astonishing and exciting. It is something I never expected, and the last few weeks have been a very strange experience.
"It is exciting because we are at one of those rare points where the tide of events is turning, and the church nationally, including the Church of England has great opportunities to match its very great but often hidden strengths.
"I feel a massive sense of privilege at being one of those responsible for the leadership of the church in a time of spiritual hunger, when our network of parishes and churches and schools and above all people means that we are facing the toughest issues in the toughest place." » | Lizzy Davies | Friday, November 09, 2012
THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: Justin Welby: a pragmatic priest in turbulent times: An evangelical conservative, the new archbishop of Canterbury will not run up against the suspicion of the church's reactionaries ¶ It was not through a puff of white smoke but through the suspension of booking at Ladbrokes that providence made itself known. For the identity of the new archbishop of Canterbury to emerge in this way is embarrassing, but then embarrassment is nothing new for the Church of England. In recent months fellow churchmen have torn themselves asunder over Occupy, and for far longer they have obsessively observed the injunction of Salt-n-Pepa: let's talk about sex. The divisive preoccupation with gay clergy and gay marriage crowds out much other discussion, and at times prevents the church being heard on anything else at all. And, all the while, the relentless withering of the congregations continues. » | Editorial | Thursday, November 08, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
The Rt Rev Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham, says the sector must be rebuilt “from the ruins” of the financial crisis to become something that “helps people rather than being there for people to help it”.
Bishop Welby, who is a member of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, called for the introduction of formal banking qualifications, for the Government only to only support financial institutions that have a “clear and explicit social value”, and to offer an easier tax regime and lighter regulation for banks that demonstrate a “social purpose”.
Speaking at a conference in Zurich, Switzerland, Bishop Welby said: “At the moment clearly these are merely ideas in the mist.
"But one principle seems to me to be clear, we cannot repair what was destroyed in 2008, we can only replace it with something that is dedicated to the support of human society, to the common good and to solidarity.
"Financial services are crucial to human development, but they only do their job when the work they carry out is done in a way that is truly a service." » | Graham Ruddick | Saturday, October 27, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
The Dean of St Albans, Dr Jeffrey John, accused the Church of England of hypocrisy on the issue of homosexuality and said it “frankly, doesn’t deserve to be listened to”.
Dr John, who is in a celibate civil partnership, was twice in line to become a bishop but his appointment was blocked because of opposition from conservatives within the Church.
It emerged earlier this year that he has examined the possibility of suing the Church for discrimination because of his treatment. He recently described it as the “last refuge of prejudice”.
In a highly critical positing on the website of the Out4Marriage campaign, which backs the change, Dr John accuses his own Church of failing to have a Christian attitude to gay marriage.
“I am sad because the Church that I love and serve is opposing it, when it should be rejoicing at it,” he said. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Monday, July 23, 2012
Saturday, June 02, 2012
The Rt Rev Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, said promiscuity, separation and divorce have reached epidemic proportions in Britain and that the Jubilee was an opportunity to think about the kind of environment being bequeathed to future generations.
He said although people were better off since the Queen’s accession to the throne in 1952, material progress had come at the expense of equality and communal life.
Writing in a Bible Society pamphlet, Dr Chartres says: “Britain is indeed a better place today materially than ever before, but that material progress has been at the expense of our relationships with one another, our communal life. Within families, within communities, within society as a whole, our relationships are more strained, more fragile, more broken than we care to recognise.” » | Patrick Sawer | Saturday, June 02, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Campaigners for women in the episcopacy in the Church of England are considering whether to vote the plan down themselves, with some privately condemning it as a “compromise too far”.
Others say that the concession would give legal status to the view that women bishops would carry a “taint".
Yet traditionalists also voiced disappointment at the measure, which they said falls far short of the assurances they say they need, and warned the Church is facing a “terminal” crisis.
It comes after the Church’s House of Bishops met behind closed doors in York to give its approval to the long-awaited legislation. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
The outspoken Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, was born in Uganda and is the only black bishop in the Church of England. A former aide, who is about to become the Church’s director of communications, said there was a “stark contrast” between the way Dr Sentamu was portrayed and the treatment of other bishops.
“At its best, the besmirching of John Sentamu has revealed that strand of snobbery which views outsiders as lacking class, diplomacy or civility — in other words 'not one of us,’” said the Rev Arun Arora.
“At worst, it has elicited the naked racism which still bubbles under the surface in our society, and which is exposed when a black man is in line to break the chains of history.” His allegation of an “anonymous whispering” campaign against Dr Sentamu has the potential to be hugely damaging to the Church.
It recalls the last time that the Church sought a new Archbishop of Canterbury, in 2002, when the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, then Bishop of Rochester, was described as a “Paki Papist” by an unidentified cleric.
Dr Sentamu has spoken in the past about his experience of racism but stressed that any abuse came from outside the Church.
However, two bishops who spoke to The Sunday Telegraph on condition of anonymity drew, unprompted, on Dr Sentamu’s African birth in their criticism — one likening his temperament to that of an “African chief”. » | Richard Eden and Edward Malnick | Saturday, April 21, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Church of England should “rejoice” at the prospect of marriage between homosexual couples rather than fear it, senior bishops and clergy have said.
In a public letter, the influential members of the Anglican Church claimed that “God’s grace” was at work in allowing same – sex couples to marry.
The group, including members of the General Synod, the CoE’s governing body, dismissed “mistaken” impressions that church leaders were “universally opposed to an extension of civil marriage”.
Instead, they argued that same-sex couples who wanted to “embrace marriage should be a cause for rejoicing in the Christian Church”.
They wrote: "Recent statements by church leaders past and present may have given the mistaken impression that the Church is universally opposed to the extension of civil marriage to same-sex couples. We believe that does not adequately reflect the range of opinion which exists within the Church of England.
“The Church calls marriage holy or sacramental because the covenant relationship of committed, faithful love between the couple reflects the covenanted love and commitment between God and his Church.
“Growing in this kind of love means we are growing in the image of God."
They added: “That there are same-sex couples who want to embrace marriage should be a cause for rejoicing in the Christian Church.”
"We believe that the Church of England has nothing to fear from the introduction of civil marriage for same-sex couples. » | Andrew Hough | Saturday, April 21, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Rowan Williams is to step down as archbishop of Canterbury at the end of 2012 to take up a university position at Cambridge
The archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is to resign and return to academia as master of Magdalene college, Cambridge.
Williams, 61, will leave at the end of December in time to start his new role next January.
His time in office has been marked by a slowly growing schism in the worldwide Anglican church, which he has failed to heal. Williams has been attacked by conservatives for his liberal views on homosexuality and by liberals for failing to live up to these principles.
But he has been respected on all sides for his gifts as a preacher of great eloquence and flashes of clarity. » | Andrew Brown | Friday, March 16, 2012
Related »
THE GUARDIAN: Rowan Williams: from least loved to cleverest man in the Church of England – The archbishop of Canterbury's views on female and gay clergy caused hostility but his intelligence was undeniable » | Amelia Hill | Friday, March 16, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has announced he is to step down after ten years as he admitted that the row over homosexuality in the Church has been a "major nuisance".
Dr Williams, 61, will leave at the end of December to take up a new role as Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge next January. The Queen, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, has been informed.
His reign has been plagued by bitter rows over gay clergy and women bishops that have left him struggling to prevent the Church from unravelling.
Explaining his reasons for leaving, Dr Williams admitted that "crisis management" was not his "favourite activity" but denied the rows over homosexuality had "overshadowed everything".
But he said: "It has certainly been a major nuisance. But in every job that you are in there are controversies and conflicts and this one isn't going to go away in a hurry. I can't say that it is a great sense of 'free at last'."
Dr Williams said his successor would need the "constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros". » | John-Paul Ford Rojas | Friday, March 16, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Lynne Featherstone directly challenges the role of the Church in the debate over homosexual weddings, saying it does not “own” marriage.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Miss Featherstone says the Government has a right to change the definition of marriage and pledges to challenge those who “want to leave tradition alone”.
Citing the words of the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, who is a prominent opponent of the Coalition’s plans to allow same-sex couples to marry, she insists that how marriage is defined is up to “the people”.
In a direct address to the Christian opponents of the proposed changes, she says: “We understand how strongly some religious groups feel about the issue, which is why we are listening and we want to work with them.
“But there is a range of other views we need to listen to as well.
“I want to urge people not to polarise this debate. This is not a battle between gay rights and religious beliefs. This is about the underlying principles of family, society and personal freedoms.” » | John Bingham, Social Affairs editor | Friday, February 24, 2012
My comment:
One way out of this impasse would be for the UK to adopt a Swiss-style system in which everyone who marries has to marry in what we would call a registry office. That makes them married in the eyes of the law. Then, in Switzerland, if people feel so inclined, they are also entitled to have a second ceremony in a house of worship, making them married in the eyes of God. The former is a legal must; the latter, a preference. If the UK adopted this system, much of this debate would become irrelevant. – © Mark
This comment appears here too.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Mr Cameron, who has publicly pledged his support for gay marriage, is facing a growing backlash from within his own party over the proposal to redefine the legal definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.
He is now facing the prospect of an open breach with prominent religious figures – just a week after leading Conservatives voiced their support for Christianity following a series of court rulings which reinforced the secularisation of Britain.
Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, yesterday joined Lord Brennan, the barrister and peer, to launch the “Coalition For Marriage”, a new cross-party campaign [to] designed derail the plans for homosexual marriage.
A clutch of Church of England bishops and other Christian groups have already pledged their support for the alliance which is seeking hundreds of thousands of signatures on a petition to maintain the current definition of marriage.
Crucially, the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church yesterday threw its support behind the campaign, raising the prospect of support from the more than a million devout Catholics in England and Wales.
It is understood that leading bishops are considering issuing a pastoral letter to parishes across urging them to support the campaign. » | John Bingham, Social Affairs Editor | Monday, February 20, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Reverend Mark Sharpe, 44, claims parishioners slashed his tyres, smeared excrement over the family car, strewed broken glass over his drive and even poisoned his pet dog.
Rev Sharpe said he and his wife Sara, 43, were forced to install CCTV cameras at the rectory to protect themselves and their four children after their post was tampered with and internet and phone connections were cut.
Eventually they moved away and yesterday Rev Sharpe began a claim of constructive dismissal against the Church of England.
The vicar, who was ordained in 2001, initially moved to the rural Teme Valley South Ministry in Worcestershire in January 2005, after resigning his previous job as a Navy chaplain.
He had left that post after claiming he was ''continually'' exposed to violent hardcore pornography and won an employment tribunal against the Ministry of Defence for sexual harassment in 2006. » | Nick Britten | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
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