Are we already an Islamic country?

"Christian Britain is dead" said The Rt Rev Paul Richardson, a bishop of our established church, the Church of England. But the Queen is still Defender of the Faith, a faith based on love which shaped our nation, a love that now dare not speak its name.The latest incident of...

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Prepare the way before the people of the Lord.

Reflection in this season of Advent has led to hope, trust and despair. Despair that the Anglican church many of us have known and loved is departing from the Universal Church, trust in the unity offered through the Ordinariate, and hope that if that journey is made, it is steered in accordance with Christ's example alone.I came across the...

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UK Gay Men Want Church Weddings

An interesting statistic from care2 crossed my desk this morning: "A survey of gay men in the UK has found two fifths want a church wedding". Looking at the results, the study also reveals that "almost two thirds (60%) of gay men feel the Government should enforce the lifting...

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"Alice in Wonderland" - Wales Edition

Journeying into what has become for me one of the most fertile areas in the blogshere, I have heard of two more harebrained ideas in support of what is now the main aim of the Church in Wales, to be relevant to society.The first was in a letter to clergy of the...

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Lords debate: Situation of Christians in the Middle East

An interesting debate took place in the House of Lords yesterday. Opened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, he drew this tribute from Lord Mackay of Clashfern: "My Lords, I would like very warmly to thank the most reverend Primate for the opportunity of having...

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Words, words, words

The words that resonated with me most in the first ordinations I attended many years ago were from Isaiah 6:8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ?Whom shall I send? And who will go for us??And I said, ?Here am I. Send me!?Profound words but time has moved on....

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Boarding for Pickledom?

Unusual for Mr Pickles he got himself in a rightpickle when he failed to get Eamonn Holmes on board for his latest brainwave of spending £448million scrounged from other budgets to avoid 'squandering £9billion' on problem families. Now why didn't someone else think...

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Water Aid update

Some welcome cheer from Water Aid. International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell this week announced that he plans to attend the High Level Meeting of the Sanitation and Water for All partnership in Washington in April. In an email message Water Aid said...

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NHS dementia

Photograph: Wpa Pool/Getty ImagesAll smiles but the reality is different. The latest depressing report illustrates the plight of patients in NHS hospitals with dementia. Can anyone be surprised? There have been endless reports of problems in the NHS and care homes where...

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Spare a thought for our persecuted fellow Christians this Christmas

Many of us are now looking forward to a cosy celebration of Midnight Mass followed by a hearty Christmas dinner so spare a thought for other Christians who are beingpersecuted throughout the world. Some will be thankful that their lives have been spared after their place...

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"We are all in this together." (20)

 Source: realsociologyBy his own admission Danny Alexander has confirmed that Government attacks on tax-paying public servants (average pension £5,600 compared with his £26,403 if he leaves at the next election before picking up lucrative directorships in the...

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A step too far

"Margaret Thatcher deserves every honour – apart from a state funeral" runs the headline in Peter Oborne's piece for the Telegraph. As David Cameron says, 'let me be absolutely clear', I have no problem with the second part of that headline. Where are the unifying acts that...

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Alan Turing's stamp of approval and petition for a pardon.

One of the greatest tragedies of all time is the avoidable death and consequent early loss to civilization of Alan Turing, the master codebreaker and visionary responsible for the computing technology we have today. The most gifted man of his generation, regarded by some amongst the most gifted in the history of the world, he committed suicide after...

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Mean-minded gender politics v. traditional Anglican faith

Readers may have observed that I find it difficult to be 'slow to anger' where the Anglican church is concerned today. What makes me particularly angry is the complete absence of compassion for men and women in the church who, in common with the majority of Christians, simply...

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New Years Honours farce

While most people in this country and others are still licking wounds our bankers inflicted, one of the beneficiaries of our nation's downfall has beenhonoured with a knighthood. Personally I don't give a toss how much charitable work he or other undeserving recipients...

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How to live, not how to die

"You matter because you are you.You matter to the last moment of your life,and we will do all we can,not only to help you die peacefully,but also to live until you die."Dame Cicely SaundersLong before she consented to become my wife, Mrs Briton worked in the Royal...

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Archbishop's heretical mentor

" 'WOMEN have an important role to play in leading the Church in Wales', Archbishop Barry Morgan has said ahead of its governing body’s examination of the issue next year. Speaking to the Western Mail, Dr Morgan said he was holding on to the hope that the church will accept...

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The Church of England Lunch Party

The Church of England has announced plans for the big lunch party in association with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. From the Church Times: Churches are being encour­aged to take their trestle tables and tea urns out to the street and to host a “Big Jubilee Lunch”...

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The bizarre world of the Church in Wales

When Canon Jeremy Winston was appointed Dean of Monmouth transferring his many undoubted talents to the Cathedral Church of St Woolos in Newport, many people in Wales and beyond were heartened that one of their brightest stars had, at last, received belated recognition,...

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The two faces of Islam

Spot the difference?The picture on the left shows what is left of another burnt-out church, this one in Zanzibar. Just one of many atrocities against Christians carried out in over 50 countries around the world with little or no comment let alone condemnation.The second...

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Unemployment: Conman and Dobin to the rescue?

Conman and his faithful companion Dobin who is often taken for a rideDevoid of any policies to create growth and employment for alost generation, the government media machine is rumoured to be looking to heroes of yesteryear such as the Lone Ranger and Tonto, Batman and...

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The "Religion of Peace" (2)

Photo: ReutersThe latest estimate of deaths resulting from bombings by Islamists in Nigeria has risen to 162. Where is the condemnation from Muslims who keep telling us that Islam is a religion of peace. Where are the voices which are quick to cry "Islamophobia!" at every opportunity...

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“There is no place for you in this church.”

The Very Rev Jeremy WinstonDean Of Monmouth Sept to Nov 2011Not as they would have intended but nevertheless they have had their way. Thepurple-obsessed, mean-spirited women who, not content with being ordained into the sacred ministry, complained bitterly about the appointment...

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The fate of the Church of England?

In all conscience, how can feminism supersede Christ's example and the tradition of the Holy Catholic Church?Synod has lost its way in making rules contrary to the Apostolic faith. The ordination of women separates Anglicans from the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic...

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We will all be changed

A further drop in Church of England attendance has been reported.Average Sunday attendance fell from 944,400 in 2009 to 923,700 the following year, continuing the long-term downward trend. Hardly the result one might have expected after the church decided to make itself...

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Steps

After man first set foot on the moon, mankind was left with the historic statement, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". Everyone understood that the statement was not intended to exclude women but to encompass all humanity in the technological advancement of mankind which has seen men and women astronauts venture...

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The plain truth

?I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me?Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father?And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall...

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Lifebelt

Picture: DAVE PERRY Church of England general synod debates female bishops - day three live @17.58.Riazat Butt thanks God she is a Muslim. Here is what she had to say:"Wow. OK. Well, in true Anglican fashion we are almost back to square one. General synod has voted to allow...

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It is finished

"Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.The Church of England has been reminded in various Synod debates this week that the timeless faith of believers has little relevance in their 21st...

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Lent: Always we begin anew

Photo credit Mazur/catholicchurch.Org.Uk"So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes." Daniel 9:tigaAnglicans who regard themselves as 'Catholic and Reformed' face a new dilemma this Lent now that...

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For the beauty of the earth

These days I don't watch much television with programmes such as Prisoners Wives  offered as 'Entertainment' -(Lou  vows to give up her life of crime for Mason's sake [!], Gemma helps the police build the case against her husband, and Francesca reluctantly...

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The women who oppose female bishops

It is rare to read of opposition to women bishops when the trendy think they have a monopoly on truth. Never mind that they do not understand the argument, substituting secular values to fill the theological vacuum they so readily display.How refreshing then to read of the stand...

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Balderdash!

"Women priests are treated as second-class Christians, suffering from institutionalised sexism and racism within the Church of England, female clergy claim." Well they would claim that, wouldn't they? That is the whole thrust of their argument. What utter balderdash. Even the...

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More feminist claptrap

Have you ever wondered why there is no Feast of the Female Genital Mutilation of our Lord?Could it be that, fortunately, Jesus "had a body which appeared externally to be unremarkably male" even if He had "one of the intersex conditions which might nonetheless have had...

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Forward in Faith

Yesterday's news that the Chairman of Forward in Faith, Bishop John Broadhurst, is to resign as Bishop of Fulham to seek entry to the Ordinariate has been intensified by today's news that 'traditionalists' have made gains in the Church of England General Synod elections which...

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Togetherness

A step in the right direction again thanks to Pope Benedict X...

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Is Christianity its own worst enemy?

“The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12: 30-31Even lapsed...

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Thanks be to God!

Mario Gomez falls to his knees giving thanks to God for his freedom along with the 32 other miners after being trapped for 69 days half a mile beneath Chile?S Atacama Desert. Sixty-three year old Mario was the oldest of the trapped men. He suffers from silicosis and is now in...

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Three religions, one God!

From the Vatican Synod today, an interesting report "that Christians are not called to fight against Islam. On the contrary, the interventions by Synod Fathers and Muslim guests expressed the need to work together to stop extremism and ensure full citizenship for Christians...

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Encouraging sounds

From a Rome Reports video: "Middle East patriarchs fight for peac...

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Christian - Muslim dialogue

Jerusalem, JerusalemTwo reports today from the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East. The first from the Catholic News Service in which two bishops at synod question the effectiveness of dialogue with Muslims. The second from the Catholic News Agency which focuses on political Islam with its "increasing pressure throughout the region from extremist...

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The Way paved with good intentions?

From the Catholic Herald, Muslim scholars address Synod of Bishops."Ayatollah Mohaghegh Damad said the Koran’s view of Christian-Muslim relations is one of “friendship, respect and mutual understanding,” even though there have been “dark moments” in the relationship over the...

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Israel's response to Vatican pleas

Pope Benedict XVI has held a mass at Saint Peter's Basilica to mark the close of the two-week special synod of bishops on the Middle East. In his homily he said that conflicts, wars, violence and terrorism have gone on for too long in the Middle East and one must never resign...

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Vatican Synod for the Middle East: The key?

CNN reports that Roman Catholic bishops for the Middle East have concluded their two-week conference with a call for the international community, especially the United Nations, to work "to put an end to the occupationdanquot; of Palestinian territories.Canadian Press gives a...

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