ST LAURENCE, COMBE, OXON Around 1395, the monks of Eynsham Abbey had the church at Combe rebuilt. Previously down by the Evenlode, now it is up on a hill, nearly all Perpendicular – a bit like East Anglia. Inside, and [...]

Tom Sutcliffe on sex and gender All actresses are of course also actors. But only some actors (namely women) are actresses. Readers may not have noticed that obituaries of actresses in The Guardian have for some time scrupulously avoided using [...]

THE PAUL DEBATE: CRITICAL QUESTIONS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE APOSTLE N. T. Wright SPCK, 120pp, pbk ISBN 978 0281074112 £14.99 ‘If you want to understand Paul, you must first love him,' says Bishop Lindsay Urwin OGS. He is quite right – [...]

Christopher Smith on those Ash Wednesday cup-cakes Do you ever get the feeling that the modern world is finding it difficult to grow up? I've just been sent a flyer by the Redemptorists for their new publication called Pope Francis [...]

Jeremy Taylor on Holiness Arthur Middleton Holiness is not only an advantage to the learning of all wisdom and holi ness, but for the discerning of that which is wise and holy from what is trifling and useless and contentious; [...]

Spiritual Friendship Andy Hawes is Warden of Edenham Regional Retreat House At the Last Supper, Jesus said: ‘I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you’ (John 15.15). The relationship [...]

Does the Christian faith offer a clear answer to the question, ‘Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the EU?' Does Anglo-Catholicism? For those who want to emphasise the Church of England's connectedness with Christian Europe and (as a [...]

PAINTING THE MODERN GARDEN: MONET TO MATISSE Royal Academy until 20 April. When the critics previewed the 2016 exhibitions calendar, this show was derided. The reason? Impressionists and gardens are bound to be a winner with Middle England, the audience [...]

Our chef looks forward... Easter Day is on the horizon and a feast must be planned and prepared. Last year’s Lamb and Chocolate Hotpot was not an unqualified success, so I thought that this year I’d revert to serving the [...]

William Davage attends the latest meeting of the General Synod Bureaucratic Succession Anglo-Catholics have had an ambivalent relationship with the General Synod. John Henry Newman thought that the Oxford Movement began with the Assize Sermon of John Keble, in which [...]