Author Archives: fluff35

About fluff35

I blog on a range of subjects arising from various aspects of my life. On https://theretiringacademic.wordpress.com, I focus on my reactions to early retirement and think about aspects of teaching and research which I hope will be stimulating to those still working in higher education. On https://shared-conversations.com, I blog as an authorized lay preacher in a pretty standard parish church of the Church of England, who needs to write in order to find out what she thinks. I took part in the Oxford/St Albans/Armed Forces C of E 'Shared Conversations' in March 2016, worked on the Living in Love and Faith resources from 2017 and was elected to General Synod in October 2021, and continue to try to reflect on some of the issues. On https://mistakinghistories.wordpress.com I share my thoughts on various aspects of the history of medicine and the body. I have also written for The Conversation UK on https://theconversation.com/profiles/helen-king-94923/articles

A Betjeman moment

Posted on January 24, 2016 by fluff35

Truth or unity? woolliness or schism? Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged catechism, Church of England, Creed, Divorce, John Betjeman, schism | Leave a comment

What is sex anyway?

Posted on January 20, 2016 by fluff35

… in church circles, the normal response I get is on the lines of ‘Don’t be so silly, we all know perfectly well what we’re talking about here.’ Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged civil partnership, desire, House of Bishops, Jessica Martin, John Sentamu, masturbation, Pilling Report, Prince William, sexuality, sexually active, Shared Conversations, technical virginity, York | 10 Comments

A tale of two Primates

Posted on January 18, 2016 by fluff35

Source: A tale of two Primates

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Waiting for GAFCON

Posted on January 16, 2016 by fluff35

It’s been a strange week, waiting to see whether the GAFCON churches would walk out of the Primates’ meeting, listening to the media herald this as the end of the Anglican Communion, wondering what a world without the Anglican Communion … Continue reading →

Posted in Church of England and gender | Tagged Anglican Communion, Bible, Coptic Church, GAFCON, Leviticus, menstruation, Michael Curry, Primates2016, repentance, Shared Conversations, women | Leave a comment

Putting ourselves into boxes

Posted on December 29, 2015 by fluff35

And the H-word isn’t one I’d like to aim at those with whose views I disagree. Continue reading →

Posted in Shared Conversations | Tagged Arian, Bible, Blogs, Catholic, Church Union, clobber texts, evangelical, General Synod, heresy, Jesus, joke, liberal, listening, Shared Conversations, Trinity, women, women bishops | 3 Comments

Under the umbrella: living with difference

Posted on December 14, 2015 by fluff35

Peter Facey: Washout at the New Forest Show 2007 © Copyright Peter Facey and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. One of the questions raised by the Church of England’s current disagreements on sexuality concerns how far it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Shared Conversations | Tagged liturgy, sexuality, Shared Conversations, women | 2 Comments

Good disagreement?

Posted on December 1, 2015 by fluff35

So I’ve been thinking about the goal of the Shared Conversations process, ‘good disagreement’. This has meant some reflecting around the theme of conflict management, and I’ve been following up some references to ‘integrative complexity’. If you have a low … Continue reading →

Posted in Shared Conversations | Tagged Bible, Christ the King, Digitalnun, Evensong, Hebrews 13, Integrative complexity, Jeremy Timm, preaching, role of preacher, York | 3 Comments

Eucharist (not?)

Posted on November 25, 2015 by fluff35

I’m by no means the only person blogging on the Shared Conversations, although so far I’ve only found one, Charlotte Gale, using a blog before the event to reflect on her participation. One of the post-Shared Conversation bloggers is Richard Ashby, whose … Continue reading →

Posted in Shared Conversations | Tagged Blogs, chalice, communion, eucharist, Shared Conversations, women, women bishops, women priests | 1 Comment

Constructing the self and the other

Posted on November 15, 2015 by fluff35

… will we be able to understand sufficiently the back-stories we all bring to this meeting? And who constructs our stories anyway? Continue reading →

Posted in Shared Conversations | Tagged extremism, Islam, Merry Opera Company, Messiah, Paris, Role play, Shared Conversations | Leave a comment

How did I get here??

Posted on November 7, 2015 by fluff35

I used to be on General Synod, and I keep up with national church stuff. I mention the former GS membership because it may go some way to explaining the latter, as the latter seems pretty unusual – I get … Continue reading →

Posted in Shared Conversations | Tagged Bible, Blogs, gender, General Synod, Lay ministry, Pilling Report, reader, sexuality, Shared Conversations, women | 2 Comments