For two weeks in a row, I have been very slightly irritated by one of the advertisements in the Church Times newspaper. They are by a UK government adoption agency . The advert takes up a quarter of the page and contains a photo of a boy who is on the adoption list with details of him like his ethnicity, likes, dislikes etc.
I found the public parading of this little two year old boy very distasteful. He is not a piece of meat on sale to be paraded by those who are supposed to have his well being at heart. Surely there must be a more dignified way of dealing with sensitive matters like these…..
It was reported in the most recent Church Times that a new Archbishop’s secretary for appointments has been found. For the uninitiated, the secretary of appointments is the one who manages the process for the appointment of bishops, deans, and other senior posts in the Church of England.
Some people within the Church of England are a little surprised by the appointment as the post which has been vacant for only about 2 months doesn’t seem to have been advertised. Furthermore they are irked by the revelation that it is an internal appointment!
Personally, I find it strange that in the Church of England, clergy have to apply for new positions; something which I am not familiar with because in Scotland the clergy receive what is known as a “call”. Meanwhile administrative positions appear to require no such applications.
I dread that what happens inside the Church mirrors the secular government!
There was an article in last week’s Church Times about a £4.8 million Innovation Fund that has been launched by the Archbishops’ Council.
As I read the article, I quickly realised that rural churches will never be able to qualify for one because the projects must support the official Vision and Strategy for the 2020s; the priority of becoming a Church which is younger and more diverse.
In rural parishes like ours, We do not have young families moving into our villages. The problem is so acute that one of our village primary schools has already closed down.
As for diversity, rural areas tend to be quite traditional which is why the parish churches tend to be more middle of the road CofE than very high or very low.
What rural churches really need is priests of good calibre but sadly the Church of England is unwilling to fund that and prefers to waste her money away.
One of the websites that I often dip in and out off is called Thinking Anglicans. It is a good place to get sensational Church of England news.
On Friday, as I was looking through their website, I discovered that they have appointed a new Bishop of Loughborough. At the tender age of 42, he will be the youngest Bishop in the Church of England.
It was on the same website that I saw that the Bishop of Ely is to become the Acting Bishop of Lincoln. I understand from the press release that the Bishop of Ely is to split his time betweeen Ely and Lincoln. The current Bishop of Lincoln is due to retire at the end of the year; it is this Bishop who was suspended for 20 months following a safeguarding scandal.
Just out of curiosity, I had a look at the Diocese of Lincoln’s website. There I found out that they have 2 Suffragan Bishops plus an Assistant Bishop. By the way, I don’t know what an Assistant Bishop does. With three senior clerics, why do they need the Bishop of Ely? The Bishop of Ely is widely known in the Church of England as a very able and God fearing man. Aren’t the rest of the Bishops meant to be like that too?
Maybe its about time that the Church of England as part of their box ticking exercise, stop appointing inexperienced 42 year olds as Bishops and start appointing people who are genuinely suited for the job!!!!
I was pleasantly surprised to see in the Church Times that there is a Christian boarding school near Bath.
One day, over our evening meal, the Mhinisteir and I were commenting on how difficult it must be to be a parent in 21st century Britain where children are being taught all kinds of “funky” stuff in school. It must be particularly difficult for parents with strong religious beliefs.
For a split second, the Mhinisteir and I were thankful that we don’t have children so therefore no grandchildren!
In case you are interested in the Christian boarding school. Their details can be found here.
The Church of England was rebuked at a recent inquest held into the death of a former priest. It mishandled inquiry into false child abuse allegations. The priest took his own life as he could not cope with the investigation. How is one supposed to cope when they are not even told of the nature of the investigation! How cruel! He is not the first priest to have died because of the CofE’s negligence and sadly he won’t be the last!
I think I have said enough on this matter in my previous posts so I won’t say anymore.
However, I would urge all CofE clergy to join the Church of England Clergy Advocates (CECA) who are members of the Faith Workers Branch of Unite the Union. There is a monthly membership fee but I am reliably informed that it will be money worth spent.
The Mhinisteir is a member. If you are a clergy or know of a clergy, please encourage them to join. They will provide clergy with all the necessary support including legal support should (God forbid!) the clergy require it.
By joining, you will also in a small way (through the membership fee) be able to support falsely accused clergy like the Chancellor of Lincoln.
POSTGRADUATES PASTOR screamed the advertisement in the latest Church Times. Hang on a minute. What on earth is a postgraduates pastor?
I was intrigued by the title and decided to read further. This church is a Church of England but just that they don’t seem to be very proud to be part of the CoE because there is no where in the advert this is mentioned. I had to go to their website to get this information and even then it is in very small print at the bottom of their webpage.
Anyway, back to the main story… They are basically looking for a Vicar for postgraduate students! Why? Will their usual Vicar not do? The advert ends by saying that many of these students have the potential to be future world leaders!
This jogged my memory to the time when the Mhinisteir was an ordinand in Edinburgh. We used to worship in a Church of Scotland that used to call itself a professional church meaning it was a church for high flying professionals! Its no wonder that the homeless man outside the church never came in!!!!
Last week, I came across three newspaper articles about the present Church of England that really echoed my sentiments, two in the latest Church Times and the third in the Daily Telegraph.
The first, in the Church Times by Canon Angela Tilby writing about the Dean of Windsor and the manner in which he conducted the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral.
The second by The Rt Revd David Wilbourne commenting on the Archbishop’s search for a Chief of Staff! Something which I wrote about recently.
The third and final piece appeared on Thursday’s Daily Telegraph. This article is by their columnist Calvin Robinson. I never read anything by Robinson but this article about the Church of England and its woke culture is quite spot on.
I was slightly irked to see an article entitled “Will you help train a priest in Africa?” in the latest Church Times. The Church Times has a fund called the TAP (Train a priest) Fund. My understanding is that it is mainly used to support priests in the UK.
I am not at all suggesting that we shouldn’t share our resources with Christians in the wider world but it just seems so ill timed when the COE (Church of England) is cash strapped and there are talks of clergy losing their jobs.
This is a subject that has been on my mind for the past 24 months. I try and support the Mothers Union by buying greetings cards in bulk as I am always writing to people. However, I am always bothered by “foreign” faces at the back of these cards and on their websites. The Mothers Union was started to help local women and it has now evolved into an international charity. I also know that Mothers Union helps 100s of families in the UK so why only focus on their international work? Is it because that’s what sells? Does it make one feel good about supporting someone in a third world country?
Maybe we prefer to help “others” while we ignore the poor who are right at our doorstep!
Secret Diary Of A Church of England Vicar's Wife 