A SURVEY carried out by Christian Research on behalf of Forward in Faith suggests that more than 69 per cent of Anglicans want to see women bishops “as soon as possible” or “within the next five to ten years”. Of the remaining 31 per cent, half want to see a consensus among all other Churches […]
Category: Church Times
Praise for clerics’ input during riots
THE violent disturbances that broke out in many English cities in August 2011 “made unprecedented demands on clergy, their staff, and the networks they were involved in”, is the finding of a new report, published by the Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs Council. The report Testing the Bridges, which seeks to understand the role […]
Marriage ads approved
THE Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has rejected complaints against four advertisements placed by the Campaign for Marriage coalition. The adverts had appeared in Country Life, The Daily Telegraph, and two blogs. The ASA said that 24 complainants had challenged whether the claim “70% of people say keep marriage as it is” in the advertisements could be substan-tiated. […]
Women-bishops supporters might send measure back
THERE are growing signs that a procedural motion will be tabled to delay the women-bishops legislation when it goes to the General Synod for final approval next month. Under Section 94 of the Standing Orders, a motion can be moved from the floor of the Synod to send the draft Measure back to the House […]
Pope’s butler held over leaks to media
THE Vatican is still in shock after the arrest of the Pope’s butler last week on allegations that he had leaked secret documents to the Italian media. Pope Benedict XVI’s personal valet, Paolo Gabriele, was arrested on Wednesday of last week after confidential documents were found in the Vatican flat that he shares with his […]
House of Bishops amends women bishops Measure
A group of six senior Synod officials were expected to announce yesterday (Thursday) that the House of Bishops’ two amendments to the draft measure permitting the ordination of women to the episcopate were not significant enough to warrant a reference back to the dioceses, paving the way for General Synod to consider final approval when […]
Principal on ‘leave of absence’ after more redundancies
Wycliffe Hall, the Evangelical theological college in Oxford, was tight-lipped this week about the sudden departure of its Principal, the Revd Dr Richard Turnbull. Rumours started circulating about his absence on Friday. The college’s council finally issued a statement late on Wednesday afternoon to assert that he had not been dismissed. In its statement, the […]
The Church in Wales Governing Body
The Governing Body (GB) of the Church in Wales, similar to the General Synod of the Church of England, met in Llandudno on the 18th and 19th April. I was there for the Church Times and produced a number of reports, including: Church seeks Welsh-speakers to fill language gap THE Governing Body (GB) of the Church […]
Climate threat to Britain’s ancient buildings
A combination of the prolonged spells of extremely cold weather during the winters of 2009/10 and 2010/11; and the recent dry summers is posing a significant risk to the nation’s historic buildings. The church of St John the Baptist has stood for around 1,000 years in Woodhurst, near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, but last week part […]
Pupils escape Lichfield Close blaze
An exploding laptop is being blamed for a fire that tore through a historic part of Lichfield Cathedral School, although the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service says that investigations into the cause of the blaze are continuing. More than 200 children, aged between eight and 12, were moved to safety after the fire broke out […]