Lambeth Conference: going from ‘resolutions’ to ‘calls’

The question of who will be attending Lambeth which was explored in the first article last week is distinct from, but connected to, the question of where Lambeth is going, what it will do, what outcomes are being sought. The significant recent development here is the announcement that the Archbishop of Canterbury has decided that this Conference … Continue Reading

Will this summer’s Lambeth conference unite the Church?

“Rowing, not rowing” was the Economist’s elliptical, intriguing headline (9th Jan 2016), prior to the make-or-break 2016 “Primates’ Meeting” of the Anglican Communion concerning the looming rift over issues of sexuality. The subheading was: “The archbishop of Canterbury tries to save the Anglican Communion.” This alluded to Justin Welby’s undergraduate experience as a cox of the first … Continue Reading

Who is going to Lambeth? Where is Lambeth going?

The Lambeth Conferences opens on July 26th, just over a month away. In recent days there has been quite a flurry of activity—including two announcements from the Archbishop of Canterbury—which has highlighted some of the challenges that it will face.  The first communication was the text of a letter sent on 27th May by Archbishop Justin and Archbishop … Continue Reading

‘Staying in the room where it happens’? A response to Lucy Winkett’s defence of establishment

A 2003 survey found that 42% of Anglican clergy and 35% of laity favoured a complete severance of constitutional ties between the Church of England and the state. Whatever the comparable figures today, it is reasonable to assume that a substantial minority of English Anglicans continue to harbour significant doubts about the church’s established status. … Continue Reading

Henry Martyn (1781-1812) in Cambridge: Spiritual Nurture and Ministerial Formation

Much has been written about Henry Martyn. The Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide (CCCW) Library has a range of books by different authors, for example David Bentley-Taylor, C. D. Bell, Jim Cromarty, Barbara Eaton, Kellsye Finnie, John Martyn, Constance Padwick, Jesse Page, John Sargent, George Smith and Vivienne Stacey. A number of these focus on … Continue Reading

Reflections on the Public Purpose of Marriage

My intention in writing this article is to explore long-standing legal principles of marriage and their scriptural endorsement as a means of delineating the over-arching public reason for marriage. I will also provide examples that demonstrate how this public reason is being undermined by the re-definition of marriage. The repeated and inevitable result is that … Continue Reading

Gay Christians, ACNA and GAFCON

Quarrels about words? In my years involved in dialogue and debate relating to sexuality, some of the most depressing moments have been when those who broadly share my views concerning biblical and church teaching speak and act in ways that I find really unhelpful, even damaging, and impossible to support.  Reading the Pastoral Statement on … Continue Reading

The Regions and Tribes of Evangelical Theology: The Future

This is a fool’s endeavour. Over the last seven articles, I have tried out a new anthropological/geographical slant for mapping out the various branches of Evangelical theology in the 21st Century. I have used the terms ‘regions’ and ‘tribes’. Like any typology, it is very reductive. Some of the theologians discussed don’t even remain fixed … Continue Reading

Redemptive Justice: a Gospel framework for the Church of England’s on-going conversation with survivors of church-related abuse.

In the November 2020 General Synod debate on the IICSA Report about sexual abuse, there were proper calls for the conversation between survivors of church-related abuse and the Church of England to be marked by – among other things – justice, truth and reconciliation.  In a personal contribution to that conversation,  David Atkinson (former Bishop … Continue Reading