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Where is the Church’s Prophetic Voice?
“Many of us like to think we would, or even do, speak truth to power, but when we’re actually confronted with it, either in ourselves or our colleagues, we struggle to recognise it for what it is. After twenty-five years of worshipping and, latterly, discerning in the Church of England, I see plenty of power,…
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An open letter to Natalie Elphicke, MP for Dover and Deal
Dear Ms. Elphicke, I was shocked and alarmed to see your recent tweets and accompanying video regarding “illegal entrants” at St. Margaret’s Bay yesterday. I understand that this is a cause célèbre for you as MP of Dover and Deal, perhaps as a result of some voters in the constituency feeling that there may be…
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Reflections on Remembrance & Nationalism
Today I went to a Remembrance service at a war memorial followed by one at a church. At both, the national anthem was sung, and other nationalistic sentiments were expressed in word and song. It goes without saying that Remembrance is an incredibly important and significant time for many people and for the society we…
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It’s time for Christians to speak out against the Conservative Party, not just Boris Johnson
In an article for the Guardian, the ‘recovering journalist’ and Church of England priest George Pitcher has rightly attacked Boris Johnson, pointing out his many character flaws. Johnson, says Pitcher, is ‘a serial liar, philanderer and shirker’, ‘spendthrift, ‘incompetent beyond belief’, ‘a provocateur of racism and hate crime’. Pitcher is quite obviously right, yet, the…
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Milkshaking Fascists: Why Christians Need to Rethink Violence
Christianity has a long history of often heated discussion around violence, from absolute pacifism to the just war tradition and, indeed, some positions that can only be described as ‘warmongering’. There is, however, one aspect of violence which unites many of these differing factions: physical violence committed by the individual in situations other than self-defence. Who,…
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What is Politics?
There is a sentiment common around election time that if you do not vote, you have no right to criticise. This is an understandable reaction, but whilst it is certainly true that one fairly consistent aspect of living in a ‘liberal democracy’ is a lack of voter turnout, it would be wrong to equate this…
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Navigating Academia as an Undiagnosed Autistic
What is it like to go to university with undiagnosed #autism? How does the diagnostic process affect this? #REDinstead
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Has the Church Abandoned the Poor?
In April 2018, Philip North, Bishop of Burnley expressed the opinion that there was “a widespread perception among northern DDOs [diocesan directors of ordinands] that candidates from working-class backgrounds with northern accents are victims of prejudice” in the selection process for ordination training. Bishop North has, in recent years, become one of the sharpest critics…
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Does the Church of England Face “Disestablishment by a Thousand Cuts”?
In 2000, the then future Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, predicted that before long the Church of England would experience “disestablishment by a thousand cuts”.1 This did not happen during his tenure as Archbishop, and as we shall see, for various reasons it seems even less likely to happen under the current Archbishop of Canterbury,…
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Helmets, Museums, and Colonialism: What the Staffordshire Hoard Can Teach Us About Ourselves
Who looks after and displays historical artefacts matters. Britain still flexes its colonial muscles, it just does so by using its cultural and academic influence more than its military influence.
Bread and Rosaries 