Responding to growing concern about the kinds of priests the Church of England is attracting, Anglican leaders are considering expanding its assessments of clergy candidates to include more rigorous psychological testing. Anxiety about the quality of those who aspire to become clergy is rooted in the series of child sex abuse scandals that have emerged from Anglicanism’s Read more
Transgender people are being urged in two British counties to become vicars. The move is based on Church of England fears that the church’s reputation for tacitly discriminating against them is alienating young people. Read more
An Anglican-Methodist reunion is on the cards after a Church of England general synod overwhelmingly backed plans to reunite the two churches. Although some synod members consider the moves as being controversial and threatening to the fundamentals of the Church of England, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York both backed the proposals for an Anglican-Methodist Read more
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has given Prince Harry and Meghan Markle permission to marry in church even though Markle is divorced. The Archbishop must grant a licence for marriages not held in parish churches. Since 2002, following a ruling by the General Synod, divorced people have been allowed to marry in the Church Read more
Allegations of sexual harassment and abuse among Church of England clergy must be faced, say prominent Anglican women. They say the the church must take a lead in tackling the issue. Jayne Ozanne, a senior member of the church’s ruling general synod, wrote to the Guardian newspaper about the problem. She said harassment within the Read more
Because people don’t carry cash much these days, 40 Anglican churches in the UK are offering an alternative to collection plates: passing a hand-held payment device around the pews. Read more
Latest figures show an 18% increase in the numbers attending services in England’s Anglican Cathedrals between 2005 and 2015. On average 36,700 people,adults and children, attended cathedral services each week in 2015. Almost all of the increase in attendance over the past decade has been in increasing midweek attendance. But in 2015 attendance at Sunday Read more
A Church of England vicar on an alcohol-fuelled nightclub binge told police he was from the Vatican and had diplomatic immunity. Rev. Gareth Jones of Ilford in London punched, kicked, bit and spat at a police officer and a paramedic who found him passed out in Covent Garden. Prosecutor Edward Avdin said the vicar yelled Read more
Cigarette breaks between hymns and candlelit services in pubs are among new ideas helping to revive inner-city Church of England parishes. The Church of England has implemented a plan to “plant” new congregations into historic parishes where numbers have dwindled. The plan has the backing of the Archbishop of Canterbury and senior CofE clerics. Continue reading
The first Anglican female bishop to sit in the House of Lords doesn’t like being officially referred to as “right reverend mother”. An initial version of Bishop Rachel Treweek’s writ of summons to be read aloud to the House of Lords referred to her as “right reverend father in God”. Bishop Treweek, from Gloucester, sent Read more