Religion news 24 September
Archbishops warn of division hunger and isolation in second coronavirus wave; Churches call on the EU to be compassionate towards refugees; Autumn equinox at Stonehenge witnessed by a drone.
Anglican
Archbishop preaches localism
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s call for a more localised response to covid19 is welcomed for valuing the parish – the ‘church’s little platoons’. But commentators suggest the church itself has swung towards central command.
First, a panic, but Welby insists: new Covid restrictions will not shut the churches
Religious worship is exempt from the new Covid19 restrictions which limit social gatherings to six people.
Christ Church Oxford timeline
By Tim Wyatt The Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, has been embroiled for several years in a protracted and bitter […]
Oxford dean cleared by abuse investigation
The embattled Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, the Very Rev Martyn Percy, has been cleared by a Church of England safeguarding investigation.
The Puritans’ pursuit of ‘further light’ has been abandoned by much of modern American evangelicalism
The Pilgrim fathers shaped the emerging American story through their religious convictions and strong belief in the common good and social gospel, now abandoned by much of modern US evangelicalism.
Faiths join the rebellion to halt world’s extinction
Faith activists join together to surround parliament as part of the Extinction Rebellion protests against climate change. \Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, was among the protesters.
We see the warts of the Puritan legacy but the Pilgrims had a positive side, too
Professor Frank Bremer has spent his life researching the Puritans who settled in the new world. On the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s voyage, he reviews their attempts to create an exemplary society.
400 years on: the Puritans who took their faith to the New World
Jonathan Petre tells the story of the Puritan separatists who left Plymouth for the new world in September 400 years ago, later to be joined by ‘saints’ from Suffolk, as the American dream began.
Holiness and desire: how the C of E can keep the conversation open
Holiness and desire lie at the centre of the church of England’s wrangling over sexuality. In an RMC zoom briefing, Jessica Martin argues entrenched disagreements leave no space for complexity.