Parish decline and pioneer ministry

I recently read a piece over on Unherd by the Journalist/Priest Giles Fraser on ‘The neoliberal revolution within the Church’ which I’d normally have passed over but something in this has made me want to dig deeper into the claims it makes. I normally like some of the stuff Fraser writes, but in this instance …

‘If the Church of England really is a hallway…’ and other thoughts

It wasn’t long since I stepped away from the discernment process that lockdown began in the UK. A lot of my thinking about Church since then has been rendered pretty abstract since we can’t actually go anywhere, especially given we spent Easter in lockdown this year. Yet I can’t help but wonder what things will …

O God, You are my God

O God, You are my God;Early will I seek You;My soul thirsts for You;My flesh longs for YouIn a dry and thirsty landWhere there is no water.Psalm 63:1 Not too long ago I wrote about my experience going through the discernment process for Priesthood in the Church of England. I mentioned that an outcome of …

Magisterial Christianity after Conformity

The quote “No Bishop, No King” comes from King James I, who gave us the King James Bible, and comes from an event known as the 1604 Hampton Court Conference. This conference was a meeting between Puritans and Anglicans and from it a plea emerged from the former party to obtain toleration whilst maintaining a …

Opposition to Incense in the Early Church Fathers and Anglicanism

There was a recent thread in a patristics group I contribute to on the topic of incense in the early church. As a topic it was never one I paid massive attention to but I found the ensuing discussion really fascinating. It’s not something done in my own tradition but I figured it might be …

The Many Rooms of the Anglican House: The Problem of the Infallible Interpreter and Why I Am Still An Anglican

Recently I’ve been reflecting on an awareness in myself to chafe at the idea of considering myself an Anglican. It’s been an uncomfortable feeling but I’ve noticed it has start to colour my interactions with others. On reflection I can't help but describe it as a side effect of this extended period of cognitive dissonance …

Egalitarianism and the Church of England

Awhile ago I wrote something about my developing views on women in ministry yet I hadn’t really thought out how this impacts how I interact with my church, The Church of England. Women’s Ordination CS Lewis on Women's Ordination In an immediate sense I am conscious of how lukewarm many of the arguments for a …

What does Sheffield have to do with Jerusalem?

I recently heard the news that a friend of mine had been accepted for ordination within the Church of England. This would normally be good news but I have not been able to shake the sense of conflict I experienced over the decision. The reason why? To be honest, its because she is a woman. …

Getting to grips with the Book of Common Prayer

I have to catch myself sometimes, I never thought I'd be this kind of Christian. Even a couple of years ago I was a fairly generic brand of miscellaneous evangelical. I'm still trying to work through what I think and where its leading me, part of this is getting my head round the challenge and …

Liberalism and schism in the Church of England

Not too long ago I had written out a post on liberalism, particularly in the Church of England. It was precipitated by a mixture of a piece in the Telegraph and some interactions my wife had with a liberal anglo-catholic friend. However after reading Anthony Smith's take on the Telegraph article I've found myself reforming my views on the …