The Church of England is facing questions over its role in converting hundreds of asylum seekers, including the Liverpool suicide bomber, to Christianity in an attempt to help them avoid deportation. Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, is understood to be appalled at the “merry-go-round” of failed asylum seekers changing religion and using other tactics to Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Church of England’
Anglicans create a Virtual Reality service
Monday, November 15th, 2021
The ‘Blessing of the Light’ service St Stephen Walbrook, City of London, is believed to be the first Virtual Reality (VR) service conducted by the Church of England. The evening service was recreated in 3D for an online liturgy last month. The Blessing of the Light gives thanks for Christ the light of the world Read more
Looking for radical solutions to Church of England decline
Monday, July 12th, 2021
Petertide — the days around the feast of St. Peter on June 29 — is traditionally one of the most joyful seasons for the Church of England, a time for the ordination of new priests and deacons. But this year’s Petertide has been marred by what many have interpreted as an attack on the future Read more
Church of England’s purging of school hymns is reckless cultural destruction
Thursday, May 20th, 2021
It’s a long-standing joke that the Church of England exists largely to remove any idea of religion from our national life. The more the Church has sought to make its services more “inclusive” and “relevant”, the more Christians have converted to other denominations where they think things are done properly (notably Roman Catholicism), and the more those curious Read more
Church of England must shortlist minority ethnic candidates for bishop roles
Thursday, April 29th, 2021The Church of England must include at least one candidate from a minority ethnic background on shortlists for bishops and other senior roles in a drive to rid the church of “racial sin”, a report says. All governing bodies within the church, including parish councils, should have at least 15% of minority ethnic representation by Read more
Church of England delays decision on same-sex marriage and LGBT rights
Thursday, November 12th, 2020The Church of England has vowed to consider its stance on LGBT+ rights issues such as same-sex marriage by 2022 in a major new publication – but critics have accused it of being all talk, no action. Three years in the making, the Church of England has published a set of resources titled Living in Read more
Voice-controlled app answers questions about God
Thursday, May 30th, 2019
A voice-controlled app called Alexa has answered tens of thousands of questions about the Christian faith since it was launched last year. The Church of England says so far more than 75,000 people have engaged with its app (or skill), “Alexa Skill”. People with a smart speaker, such as an Echo, or with Alexa on Read more
Reputation valued over abuse victims’ needs
Thursday, May 16th, 2019
The Church of England put its reputation above the needs of sexual abuse victims, UK’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has found. The IICSA says there was a serious failure of leadership by the former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey (1991-2002) in the church’s handling of the case of a bishop who eventually went Read more
Working party upholds seal of confession law
Thursday, May 9th, 2019
A Church of England (C of E) working party says the Archbishops’ Council and House of Bishops must decide if C of E church law should change so priests can breach the seal of confession. The working party’s focus was on whether the law could be changed to enable priests to report the abuse, or Read more
Synod says Sunday services no longer compulsory
Monday, February 25th, 2019
A Church of England synod has decided to put aside a centuries-old requirement for every church in every benefice to celebrate the weekly Sunday services. The synod says the rules will be amended to say morning and evening prayer need only be held at “at least one church within a benefice, which might include multiple Read more