Which gospel shall be preached this Harvest? And which will the congregation hear?

Oct 13, 2019 by

by Martin Sewell, Archbishop Cranmer: We are now well into the season when our priests planning their services and delivering sermons in churches and schools to celebrate and give thanks for Harvest time, and in doing so they will be treading a thin line whatever they do or preach. They should, of course, be setting worship within the traditional context of hymning the harvest home with gratitude, for Christians believe ‘All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above, then thank the Lord,...

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Bishops in Bully Pulpit: Get Naked in Cathedrals but Mind your Language in Parliament

Sep 30, 2019 by

Bishops in Bully Pulpit: Get Naked in Cathedrals but Mind your Language in Parliament

by Jules Gomes, Rebel Priest: On June 1, 1599, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London banned the printing of satires, epigrams, and unlicensed histories and plays. Archbishop John Whitgift and Bishop Richard Bancroft also demanded the burning of other works that gleefully flung verbal dung at their dunce caps. Many of these works of comical gusto imitated the Roman satirist Juvenal. Such an “indecorous mode of social representation, was simply too ideologically destabilising for...

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Ely Cathedral holds a special service to bless and celebrate animals

Sep 23, 2019 by

Ely Cathedral holds a special service to bless and celebrate animals

by Archbishop Cranmer: Did any cathedral or parish church hold a service to celebrate animals before the Vicar of Dibley did so on 15th December 1994? The Rev’d Geraldine Granger was visited by a distraught villager whose had been bereaved at the death of her much-loved Carl at the tender age of three. “Dear Lord,” she said at the graveside. “You have seen fit to take Karl from us. We commend his soul to You, and we pray that You welcome him into the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s hard to understand...

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‘Absolute theological bankruptcy’: Union Theological Seminary students confess climate sins to plants

Sep 19, 2019 by

‘Absolute theological bankruptcy’: Union Theological Seminary students confess climate sins to plants

by Jon Brown, Washington Examiner: Students at Union Theological Seminary prayed to a display of plants set up in the chapel of the school, prompting the institution to issue a statement explaining the practice as many on social media mocked them. “Today in chapel, we confessed to plants,” the nation’s oldest independent seminary declared Tuesday on Twitter. “Together, we held our grief, joy, regret, hope, guilt and sorrow in prayer; offering them to the beings who...

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Roll up, roll up for Crazy Cathedral Capers

Sep 19, 2019 by

Roll up, roll up for Crazy Cathedral Capers

by Alan Ashworth, The Conservative Woman: BONKERS bishop delivers his sermon at Norwich Cathedral from half way up a helter skelter. The Rt Rev Jonathan Meyrick tells his flock that ‘God is a tourist attraction’. The mitred mountebank delivers a rendition of the Bee Gees song Words before zooming, arms raised in triumph, to the bottom of the brightly lit fairground attraction. Meanwhile at Rochester Cathedral, they are playing crazy golf on a nine-hole course set up in the central aisle. At...

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Southwark Cathedral criticised for hosting scantily clad London Fashion Week show described as ‘antithesis of Christian gospel’

Sep 18, 2019 by

by Jack Hardy and Gabriella Swerling, The Telegraph: Southwark Cathedral has been accused of promoting the “antithesis of the Christian gospel” by allowing its nave to be used as a catwalk to sell clothes. British designer Julien MacDonald brought his collection to the place of worship on Monday night as part of London Fashion Week, turning the aisle into a parade of scantily dressed models. It was described by the 48-year-old British designer as a “celebration of women” and attracted...

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