Category: Religious News

THE Dioceses Commission has announced that it will continue with a scheme to reorganise three Yorkshire dioceses, producing a detailed proposal in the autumn. One of the three, the diocese of Wakefield, argued that the three dioceses should remain independent. An earlier draft of the Commission’s scheme proposed the dissolution of the dioceses of Wakefield, Ripon & Leeds, and […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]