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Recent Posts
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Tag Archives: General Synod
Back on General Synod after all these years…
Today I attended the online count on Zoom and discovered that I have been elected to the House of Laity of General Synod to represent Oxford Diocese for the next five years. It’s still sinking in… The elections work by … Continue reading
Counter-cultural Cranmer?
As a historian, I am disturbed by the email’s statement that “Cranmer wrote these prophetic words: ‘What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies’”.
Because, quite simply, he didn’t. Continue reading
Posted in Church of England and gender, General Synod
Tagged elections, General Synod, Thomas Cranmer
2 Comments
Being winsome
What do Christians mean when they use the word ‘winsome’? And is it as sweet and innocent as the word may suggest? Continue reading
Rewriting your history: thinking about the Winchester case
What does the ‘stepping back’ of the Bishop of Winchester tell us about history and about power?
Continue reading
Posted in Living in Love and Faith, Shared Conversations
Tagged autobiography, bishops, deacons, General Synod, history, testimony, Tim Dakin, Winchester
1 Comment
Waiting for publication: the week before Living in Love and Faith
What was it like being part of Living in Love and Faith? And what is it like waiting for the final publication? Continue reading
Stopping: and starting?
After several years in which it has played a major part in my life, as of 29 April the ‘Living in Love and Faith process’ (LLF) has now officially been put on hold. Those of us on the various working … Continue reading
Posted in Episcopal Teaching Document, Living in Love and Faith
Tagged abuse, coronavirus, COVID-19, General Synod, homosexuality, marriage, ordination, selection, sexuality
2 Comments
Seeing the tree in the woods
So, in the last month, that Episcopal Teaching Document, a.k.a. the ‘Teaching Document on human identity, sexuality and marriage’, has developed a name of its own. It’s now Living in Love and Faith: Christian teaching and learning about human sexuality and … Continue reading
Being officially ecumenical: chocolate, mints, the Church of England and the Conference of European Churches
This week, the Church of England General Synod is discussing union with the Methodists. One of my favourite jokes ever is the ‘guy on a bridge‘ one, which is all about church divisions and micro-divisions. Union, or separation? Is reunion … Continue reading
Nothing new here: how the human sexuality debate repeats the women priests debate
Should a sheep among wolves wear her wolfskin coat? Continue reading
Posted in Church of England and gender
Tagged General Synod, Guildford, history, ordination, sexuality, women
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Getting into a muddle about sex: lifelong virginity and the Louden amendment
For various reasons, I’ve been going through some of the papers I kept from my stint on General Synod; eight complicated years which included the Higton debate, the AIDS debate, and the various stages of the legislation to permit women … Continue reading
Posted in Shared Conversations
Tagged Church Fathers, clitoris, erotic, General Synod, homosexuality, Jubilee Group, Rowan Williams, sexuality, Tony Higton, virginity
1 Comment