CofE parliament in shocked silence at its first meeting since Welby resigned
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, addressed a shell-shocked, silent gathering of the church’s parliament, the general synod, on its opening day yesterday, saying these were difficult and challenging times but action was needed to bring change. It was the first meetinig of the general synod since the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, resigned over the Makin review, and the Bishop of Liverpool quit after sexual harassment claims. Stephen Cottrell has been drafted in as the interim leader until Dr Welby’s replacement is appointed. But he himself has come in for criticism for failing to deal with abuse cases properly, with the Bishop of Newcastle telling the Today programme that his actions in relation to Rev Dr John Tudor in Essex, were “abhorrent”, and therefore he should also resign. A call from synod member Sam Margrave, who has put forward controversial proposals before, to prevent the Ap of York from delivering the presidential address, was lost, despite garnering support from a fifth of the members. And when the address was delivered, it was preceded by prayers of penitence and a five-minute silence. Stephen Cottrell said he had made mistakes but was determined to lead the change the church needs. Afterwards there was, once more, silence. His presidential address speech is here. Synod is live streamed and the Margrave proposal is here
Bishop of Warrington against resignation of Archbishop of York
The Bishop of Warrington, Bev Mason, who claimed sexual harassment against the Bishop of Liverpool, has issued another pastoral letter on the opening day of synod. She spoke against calls for the Ap of York to resign: “We do not weaponise or personalise this endeavour to the detriment of individuals”. She made clear that the Archbishop had provided her with support after she made the complaint, and that she would not walk away from the church, but remained fully committed to it, saying she believed this was a “Kairos moment”. Statement in full here
Synod demands redoubling of efforts to improve safeguarding practices
General Synod debated the Makin Review into the abuse by John Smyth on 130 boys and young men whom he groomed at a Christian summer camp and through a Christian group at Winchester school. It passed a motion repenting of the failures of safeguarding outlined in the report, asking leaders to redouble work to implement better safeguarding practice. It asserts that failure to discipline the guilty, means cases cannot be historic as they have continuing impact on survivors through the church voering up the story.
Non-alcoholic wine and gluten free bread OK for communion
Bishop Michael Ipgrave has clarified earlier comments on the legality of offering non-alcoholic wine and gluten free bread for communion. Earlier he said in a written answer at synod, that the change was not within the CofE’s “settled position” that bread should be made with wheat, and wine form the fermented juice of the grape. But yesterday he said many Church of England churches do routinely offer gluten-free bread or non-alcoholic wine, and products with very small quantities of wheat or fermentation could still be classified as gluten-free or non-alcoholic. He apologised for any misinterpretation and confusion his earlier comments had caused and confirmed that communion offered in kind still counts.
Other news
Assisted Dying Bill to replace sign off by High Court judge with panel of experts
The BBC reports that Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the Assisted Dying Bill, will suggest that cases would no longer have to be signed off by a High Court judge, but instead by a panel of experts. It follows concerns that courts would not have the capacity to cope with the number of cases. Supporters say the change would make the system more robust, but opponents fear this lowers safeguards and will encourage doubting MPs to vote against the bill when it comes back to the Commons. It will be discussed in committee stage tomorrow. This Twitter feed explains the details.
Caritas warns of catastrophic consequences of Trump’s aid cut
Independent Catholic News says that Caritas Internationalis’ Secretary General, Alistair Dutton, has voiced concern over the decision to close USAID-funded programmes and offices around the world, saying the resulting harm will be catastrophic. He said the decision marks a grave threat to people’s God-given human dignity, will cause immense suffering, will kill millions of people and condemn hundreds of millions more to lives of dehumanising poverty. With an annual budget of more than 40 billion dollars, USAID has funded humanitarian and development aid in some 120 countries, especially the world’s poorest.
Secular Ireland needs high religious affiliation to keep fertility rate growing
The Iona Institute in Ireland, which promotes religion and marriage, has issued a report saying the ongoing decline in religious practice will mean that fewer people marry and have children. The paper, ‘Religion, Marriage and Fertility: Shall the Religious Inherit Ireland?’ shows that religious people are more likely than their secular counterparts to marry and have children, but if secularisation increases, marriage and fertility rates will almost certainly decline further. At present, Ireland’s fertility rate is just 1.5, below the replacement level of 2.1, and is projected to fall by more. Marriage rates have been declining since the 1970s and couples are now typically well into their 30s when they marry, if they marry at all. It concludes; “Ironically, a secular society needs a certain baseline number of religious people if it is to continue”.
US congregations lock the doors in case officials deport their pastors
The Latino evangelical Church of God of Prophecy congregations in nine US southeastern states has advised congregations to train up three lay people as leaders, in case 70 of their pastors in the country without legal status, are deported. The Religion News Service says Bishop Ebli De La Rosa has ordered congregations to livestream every service and keep the recording going in case “something happens”. Some churches are locking the doors during services. A spokesperson for the Florida Fellowship of Hispanic Councils and Evangelical Institutions, said many community members supported Trump and now feel devastated and abandoned. RNS report here
Rapid growth of Assemblies of God church in the US
Research into the growth of the Assemblies of God church in the United States, suggests it has a higher upward trend that any other main denomination, increasing its membership among Black and Hispanic people. The data, compiled and analysed by Dr Ryan Burge, associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, shows the church grew from 1.25million in the 1970s to 3.26 million in 2019. Covid brought numbers down, but regular attendance rebounded quickly. Research on Substack here
Golders Green eruv instituted this weekend
An eruv, an area enclosed by a wire boundary which makes public spaces private thereby permitting activities normally forbidden on the Sabbath, is to be instituted in Golders Green from this weekend. The eruv is made of 31 pairs of 5.5m high metal poles and connecting wires, plus 22 metal green enclosures. The project was supervised by Rabbi Shraga Feivel Zimmerman, the head of the Federation Beth Din. It means that babies can be pushed in prams and disabled people in wheelchairs can move freely, both of which are forbidden in public on the Sabbath, under Orthodox rules. Jewish News story here
