One of the largest churches in Edinburgh has voted to split from the Scottish Episcopal Church amid tensions over its decision to become the first Anglican body in the UK to endorse gay marriage. St Thomas’ is the latest evangelical parish to quit the official Anglican church in Scotland and back a rival splinter movement…
Marriage canon change ‘elevates gender and sexual identity above all other considerations’
Contribution by Rev Sydney Maitland to the General Synod’s debate on same-sex marriage on 10 June 2016. ‘When our world says Achieve Yourself, the gospel says Deny Yourself.’
Scottish Episcopal Church takes first step towards same sex marriage
The Scottish Episcopal Church took the first step towards allowing same sex marriage when its General Synod approved a change to the Church’s canon on marriage at a meeting in Edinburgh today (10 June). A first reading of a motion to remove the doctrinal clause which states that marriage is between a man and a…
Video: Archbishop Welby’s fury at cinema ban on ‘offensive’ Lord’s Prayer
Britain’s biggest cinema chains have banned the screening of a film in which the Archbishop of Canterbury and members of the public recite the Lord’s Prayer – because they say it could be offensive to movie-goers. Odeon, Cineworld and Vue have refused to show the one-minute film the Church of England planned to run in…
Only Christian faith will save Europe, Anglican bishop says after Paris attacks
A retired Anglican bishop who now works on behalf of persecuted Christians worldwide has a message for those who believe the answer to preventing more Islamic terrorism is promoting secular values: Only Christianity can save Europe from the radical Islamists threatening it. Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, who is originally from Pakistan, writes at The Catholic Herald:…
Turning Syria’s hopeless, despairing and angry young people into Ambassadors for Peace
A Syrian Anglican priest has launched an innovative educational programme which is helping to turn young Syrian adolescents away from their feelings of hopelessness, despair and anger, and into Ambassadors for Peace who then help to teach younger generations of Syrians. The programme began last year in Lattakia, a town on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, and…
Bishops’ prayers and compassion after Paris terrorism
In the wake of a series of terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday evening (13 November 2015) our two Anglican congregations in the French capital are planning special acts of worship on Sunday. There are two churches serving Central Paris, St George’s in Rue Auguste-Vacquerie and st Michael’s in Rue D’Aguesseau. Rev Andrew Bigg, Assistant…
Prayers and solidarity after Paris attacks
Church leaders around the world have offered prayers and messages of solidarity after the series of terrorist attacks in Paris last night which left at least 127 people dead and many more fighting for their lives. “I am deeply shocked by the terrible tragedy which has befallen the city of Paris,” the head of the…
Video: A conversation with the Archbishop of Canterbury
A half-hour interview conducted by Tom Gjelten, Religion and Belief correspondent for NPR, for the Council on Foreign Relations, Justin Welby covers doctrine and how issues are perceived differently in the West and the Global South, with the ramifications of ordaining an openly gay bishop.
Video: Archbishop Justin Welby on the role of business in society
The Archbishop of Canterbury spoke to the BBC today of the need to “affirm the significance of those who generate and create wealth”. But Archbishop Justin Welby stressed the need for companies to contribute to the society in which they operate, saying that tax “is part of solidarity”. “Tax is saying ‘I belong to this…
Archbishop of Canterbury’s New Year Message
‘My hope and prayer is that we are the kind of country that goes on looking outwards; that is full of a generous spirit.’
Archbishop Justin Welby’s Christmas greeting
The Archbishop of Canterbury has sent a Christmas message to ecumenical partners and heads of churches around the world. ‘Then Herod sent the wise men to Bethlehem saying, Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so I may also go and pay him homage.’ (Matthew 2.8)…
