The Spectator Podcasts. Have the health & safety bishops betrayed the people of God? Damian Thompson & Gavin Ashenden.
Press here for the link to the podcast.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/have-the-churches-been-betrayed-by-their-bishops-
Damian Thompson writes:-
“Last week I was sent a copy of a devastating 7,000-word letter accusing the Catholic bishops of England and Wales of grossly mishandling the coronavirus crisis by lobbying the government for a complete shutdown of their own churches, even for private prayer. The author called herself (or, more than likely, himself) ‘Fiona McDonald’ – and used a heavily encrypted email service in order to avoid being tracked down.
McDonald claimed that the bureaucrats of the Bishops’ Conference were sending out misleading and even untruthful messages about the church lockdown, claiming that it was forced on them by the government. It quoted a letter from Richard Moth, the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, which contradicted this. Writing to his priests, Bishop Moth reported that ministers only agreed to the blanket closure of churches after Jim McManus, the Catholic bishops’ healthcare adviser, begged them to do so.
As you’ll hear in this week’s Holy Smoke podcast, McDonald really stuck the knife into the Church’s officials, producing document after document calling into question their integrity. They brushed it off with an assurance that they were monitoring the situation.
But today’s Holy Smoke isn’t just about a dispute between Catholics (which, I’m told, is about to get spectacularly nastier).The Church of England, too, stands accused of bungling its response to the Covid19 pandemic – and in much the same way, subjecting ordinary clergy and worshippers to the diktats of bureaucratic control freaks.
I’m joined again by Dr Gavin Ashenden, a former chaplain to the Queen, who hopes that this fiasco will force both Anglican and Catholic churches to reform themselves after the pandemic is over.”
The abuse of Sex Money and Power in the C of E. Radical Inclusion played out in Derby Cathedral.
As Marie Antoinette will always be remembered for her phrase “Let them eat cake” Archbishop Justin Welby may be remembered for his call to transform the Church of England by ‘radical inclusion.” Continue reading “The abuse of Sex Money and Power in the C of E. Radical Inclusion played out in Derby Cathedral.”
Ely cathedral and the great apostasy.k
Ely cathedral has promised to fly the gay rainbow flag this weekend.
Mark Bonney, the Dean of Ely explained. Continue reading “Ely cathedral and the great apostasy.k”
A distorted church;- where ‘trans’ stands for transsexual not transformation – and stagnation replaces salvation.
It has been said that we don’t get ideas; they get us.
Two announcements have been made recently from within the Church of England. One was that they looked to increase the quota of ethnic and other minorities ordained to the Christian priesthood, and the other was the promotion of transgendered people as clergy.
The struggle to tell the truth about Jesus. Welby, Curry and the integrity of the Gospel.
Michael Curry is a superb preacher and a delightful man. And if everything wrong in the world could be put right by charm and beauty and wit, we would have nothing to worry about. Continue reading “The struggle to tell the truth about Jesus. Welby, Curry and the integrity of the Gospel.”
Michael Curry & the Royal Wedding. A star-turn offers the world ‘Christianity-lite’.
The world is rightly talking about Michael Curry’s wedding sermon. It was a ‘tour-de-force’. He is very good at preaching. But it also offers us all an insight into the dramatic difference between the two kinds of Christianity that are at odds with each other in the Anglican Communion.
We will call them for the moment, ‘Christianity-max’, and ‘Christianity-lite’. Continue reading “Michael Curry & the Royal Wedding. A star-turn offers the world ‘Christianity-lite’.”
‘Secularism & the Church of England: The Future For Orthodox Anglicans Committed to the Gospel and the Catholicity of the Church’. Gavin’s paper at the Oxford Anglican Patrimony conference:-
A Conference On Anglican Patrimony
On The 50th Anniversary of The Publication of Archbishop Michael Ramsey’s ‘Gospel And The Catholic Church.
Secularism & the Church of England:
The Future For Orthodox Anglicans Committed to the Gospel and the Catholicity of the Church.
‘The Gospel and Catholic Church’.
This conference has rightly set out to look both backwards and forwards. Back to the inspiration of Ramsey’s interpretations of the symbiotic mutuality of Gospel and Catholicity, and forward to discern how Gospel and Catholicity can be faithfully expressed in a culture that has begun to turn aggressively on both Gospel and tradition.
My own experience of both began when I grew up in the Cathedral precincts of Canterbury when Michael Ramsey was Archbishop. It was he who confirmed us in the mother Church of the Cathedral, and he who prowled around the precincts among us, not unlike an ancient benign Patriarch, blessing shyly whatever or whoever he came across. Continue reading “‘Secularism & the Church of England: The Future For Orthodox Anglicans Committed to the Gospel and the Catholicity of the Church’. Gavin’s paper at the Oxford Anglican Patrimony conference:-“
Meghan Markle, Justin Welby & The Use And Abuse Of Baptism.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has announced that he is going to baptise (and confirm) Meghan Markle at a private ceremony in a private chapel at Kensington Palace, very soon.
Ms Markle has let it be known that she is becoming an Anglican out of respect for her future grandmother-in-law, and her position as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Continue reading “Meghan Markle, Justin Welby & The Use And Abuse Of Baptism.”