Three cheers for Sir Richard Branson

If Virgin Rail had not moved for a judicial review into the award to First Group of the West Coast Main Line franchise the public would probably have remained unaware that the Department for Transport badly miscalculated after the assurances of the Transport Secretary, Patrick...

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Stuffed!

  "This stinking fish has been a long time on the slab. Back in 1992, the church voted to admit women to the priesthood, but this was only agreed upon the intervention of the then Archbishop of York, Dr John Habgood, who insisted that there were ?Two integrities? Within...

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Welsh Primate abandons twin integrity

News from Llandaff Cathedral insiders:In his newly created role of Acting Dean of his own Cathedral, the dictatorial Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Llandaff, Dr Barry Morgan, has decreed that the Cathedral Office is not to publish the names of officiants at each of the Cathedral...

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An emasculate conception

" Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."In 2005 a new version of the Gospels invited readers to believe that Jesus Christ was a woman known as Judith: "And Joseph went to Bethlehem, To be enrolled with Mary, his wife,...

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Church in Wales looks to Nonconformists in survival plan

In concert: Tabernacle Chapel, Morriston - 'The Cathedral of Welsh Non-Conformity'Wales has effectively been a Nonconformist country since the mid nineteenth century but the Church in Wales has maintained a parish system for the hundred years since disestablishment - until now....

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Rowan buckles under feminist pressure

Photograph: Paul Hackett/ReutersNo price is too high it seems to satisfy Rowan's longing to see women bishops in the Church of England. His 'unfinished business' of making satisfactory provision for all has been gradually whittled down in the House of Bishops to one word, respect....

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Relentless self-publicist fuelled by personal ambition

"Relentless self-publicist fuelled by personal ambition" was the description of Gerald of Wales used by the Archbishop of Wales in a 'withering critique' of one of the nation’s most renowned historical figures in a lecture at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in August, 2012....

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Fight the Good Fight

There are those who have given up the fight, there are many who are weary of the fight, but there are others who will continue to fight the good fight to save the Church they love.It is now clear that Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals in the Church of England have been betrayed....

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Charity Bags

Photo: BBCAlmost daily we have a 'charity' bag or leaflet pushed through the letter box. Most boast of their giving to a registered charity which benefits by around ?50 per tonne of clothes collected. What is not said is that a tonne of clothing is sold for ?1,000. There is...

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Misogyny

Thanks to Alan's Angle for his reporthere on Tackling Sharia Misogyny. The graphic descriptions of the way women are treated under Sharia law in this country serve to highlight the absurdity of the charge of misogyny thrown at those of us who oppose the ordination of women on theological grounds.A clue to this phenomenon may be found in the recent...

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Catholic revival?

Well perhaps not but welcome news indeed.Breaking News from Forward in Faith.Next Bishop of Fulham announcedOct 30, 2012It has been announced this morning from 10 Downing Street that the Chairman of Forward in Faith, Bishop Jonathan Baker, is to be the next suffragan Bishop...

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Enough is enough

After watching Dr Inge'svideo I was left with the feeling that if people believe what the Bishop of Worcester says in his 'Enough Waiting' contribution they will believe anything. That is no disrespect to the bishop. I am sure he fervently believes what he says but it does not...

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Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morningWe will remember the...

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Where do we go from here?

After lengthy speculation, Downing Street has confirmed that Justin Welby is to be the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. God help him, he will need our prayers. FiF has welcomed the appointment which is encouraging but on the downside his appointment has also been welcomed by...

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Who do they think they are kidding?

The Bishop of Sheffield has taken his turn in Archbishop Rowan's Enough Waiting campaign with the usual self-affirming assertions:"In 1805, Admiral Nelson sent the most famous signal in naval history to the fleet: England expects every man to do his duty.I believe our country...

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Ordering and teaching of the Church of England

 "Knowledge of the Canons by the Clergy is essential for the right ordering and teaching of the Church of England." ERIC KEMP (former Bishop of Chichester)From the Church of England web site which boasts 'a Christian presence in every community'. Perhaps 'a presence in...

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Bishops: a loss of trust

The desperate methods being employed to secure the ordination of women to the episcopate are now an embarrassment to the Church of England and in some respects look like a re-run of the vote in the Church in Wales in 2008 when their bishops thought they could ride roughshod...

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WATCH OUT!

You have to hand it to them, the campaign by Women and the Church (WATCH) has been well executed but it is entirely self-centred. It is misplaced in a Christian setting because it looks inward with the aim of satisfying their own desires regardless of the effect on others in...

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A sense of proportion

In the face of claims by advocates of the ordination of women that they now command a majority in favour of women bishops in Synod we should retain a sense of proportion. Using published figures the Anglican Communion accounts for just 6% of the total membership with whom we closely identify in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic...

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Sorry Rowan but you are wrong this time

I have long been an admirer of Rowan Williams and never thought I would have to write this but I have to admit to being gravely disappointed by his Enough Waiting campaign which is designed to achieve a 'Yes' vote for women bishops regardless of the ramifications. It smacks...

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There is only One Lord

 Readers who have clicked on this icon in the right hand column will have seen a short video clip (here) with the quotation: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." As Greg Koukl says, there is never a suggestion...

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Lying and cheating for Christ!

In yesterday's entry I referred to the open letter to The Independent signed by over a thousand clergy from the Church of England supposedly giving the biblical case for women bishops when there is none. The letter has attracted some well deserved criticism here, here and here...

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Honoured and lauded, for what?

"The former Church of the Good Shepherd building is now the Islamic Awareness Center."Photo: Jamie DeanArchbishop Justin has welcomed news that the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, is to be awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity by...

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The Joker has it, the Joker has it

As expected, the Church of England has overwhelmingly approved a fast-track scheme which could see its first women bishops appointed this year after being told it has run out of male clerics who are "up to the taskdanquot; - see Telegraph article here.It came from a member of...

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Softening up Synod

Credit: Telegraph - women bishops vote by 2015 at the earliest Photo: ALAMYFrom the Telegraph: Final hurdle for women bishops to overcome - Church of England General Synod meets amid hopes of swift end to years of wrangling over women bishops ? But row looms over the precise...

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Guiding Synod

The General Synod yesterday approved a private members motion on a new promise introduced by Girl Guides UK in September 2013. Guiders, ex-guiders, lay and ordained queued to speak, mainly in favour of the motion. One woman priest went so far as to claim that she owed her...

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Opinionated obfuscants

Over the weekend I read a couple of articles offering opinions which made me despair of the direction that Anglicanism is taking. 'God loves you'; a simple message contorted by groups desperate to validate their own rencana at the expense of others. The emphases below are mine....

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Sacred cow

Feminism: the sacred cow of the modern Anglican ChurchForget the golden calf -"We Christians must face it: The Bible is hugely misogynistic" so stop 'reading it like 'a car manual' and 'reconcile the Bible with the present day'. So says Jemima Thackray (a chaplain...

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Morgan's organ (2)

Photo Credit: Llandaff CathedralFrom Anglican Communion News Service (here): "Llandaff Cathedral now has one of the finest organs in Europe". For the next six days more informationhere with Newsreader Huw Edwards trying out the £1.5m organ.Ruined after Reformation,...

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The crunch

Original picture Tony WillsFor some days now, looking out of our kitchen window around breakfast time I have been watching the antics of a couple of male blackbirds. A female is busying herself around the garden but soon she will make her choice of mate. One of the males...

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