Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

The new Church of England service for transgender people has been criticised by more than 2000 clergy in an open letter. A big concern is the possible effect it could have on children. In all, 2,155 bishops, priests and lay people of the Church signed the letter, which condemns the recent guidance that the C...

Women’s ordination – 25 years on The day that women first became priests in the C of E Jeremy Hunt speaks on behalf of persecuted Christians Who cares for the Vicar?  Signs & Symbols:  the bells, the bells! Concern for the homeless on our streets Violence towards clergy on the rise The next 30 years...

Twenty-five years ago this month, women were ordained as priests in the Church of England.  As the BBC commentator on the first service in Bristol Cathedral I was prepared for disruptions from demonstrators, but it proceeded reverently and without a hitch.  The only protest was outside, where a group of approving Roman Catholic women held...

It was 25 years ago, on 12 March 1994, that the first 32 women priests in the Church of England were ordained. It happened in Bristol Cathedral, and Bishop Barry Rogerson ordained them in alphabetical order; so Angela Berners-Wilson was considered the very first woman to be ordained. The daughter of a priest, she is...

The Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has been voicing his deep concern for Christians facing persecution worldwide.  He has warned that a “misguided political correctness’ must not inhibit the Government’s response to religious persecution, and that ‘with Christianity on the verge of extinction in its birthplace, it is time for concerted action that begins to turn...

The Church of England is looking into ways of giving more support to vicars. You may wonder why, as it looks a nice life: house provided, regular salary, job security – and only one day’s work a week! But from my own personal experience I can assure you it’s not like that. In my working...

Last month we thought about ‘crossing ourselves’ and in a way I wanted to continue that by asking ‘when would you cross yourself?’ I can recall people doing it almost superstitiously at times of danger, seeing an ambulance rushing on the road or even as a sign of gratitude at good news. Many sign themselves...

The Bishop of Manchester, Dr David Walker, has said that the level of street homelessness in the city is now worse than anything he has seen in his lifetime. The Bishop said that in the past the reasons for people to be homeless seemed to have been relationship breakdown or mental-health issues.  But now the...

It can be risky being ordained: ten per cent of C of E clergy who filled in a recent   government-funded survey have said that someone had been violent towards them during the past two years.  In one in five cases, the violence had resulted in the clergy being injured. The survey was carried out on...

How will the world change with respect to religion over the next 30 years?  What will the map of world religions look like in 2050? A link-up between the Global Christian Database in Gordon-Conwell University and Operation World staff on the Lausanne website suggests the following trends in relation to population: A third of the...

Two words that do not occur in the Hebrew Old Testament – adolescence and retirement.

The Rectory St James the Least My dear Nephew Darren So, your vicar has appointed you to be the magazine editor; I wonder what you have done to offend him.  I appointed our magazine editor 20 years ago, after her dog dug up my rose bed. Sadly, she seems unaware that I gave it to...