Festus Martin Sargeant, who defrauded the Diocese of London of £5.2m whilst drawing a not insignificant £86,000 salary and taking extensive time off for ‘cancer treatment’, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on 19 December to five years in [...]
Christopher Smith It was a strange moment when my then curate looked over his computer at me on a February day ten years ago and said, ‘The Pope’s resigned’. We had one of those daft exchanges—‘What do you mean, [...]
An autumnal visit, amid the brown falling leaves, speckling the grass, to a parish church, set in an extensive graveyard, proved a revelation. The present building includes evidence of a church in the 12th century but there is written evidence [...]
Stephen Race I didn’t look at my watch, but I reckon I became a bishop around about midday on St Andrew’s Day 2022 in York Minster. It was wonderful being surrounded by so many people in such a beautiful [...]
Congratulations to the Rt Revd Philip North who was announced on 10 January as the next Bishop of Blackburn. Currently serving as the Bishop of Burnley in the same diocese, he succeeds the Rt Revd Julian Henderson who retired earlier [...]
Simon Cotton celebrates Somerset towers The magnificent tower of Bishop’s Lydiard church (1) would be a highlight if found in many other English counties; here in Somerset it is one of many, with similarities to others like Ile Abbots [...]
Living in Love and Faith has been a major exercise in learning and listening undertaken by the Church of England, not only about the question of same-sex relationships but on many issues touching on our understanding of the human person, [...]
Peter Anthony meditates on the Transfiguration How mad do you have to be to want to be ordained? It’s a serious question. Just how out of your mind have you got to appear if you want to become a [...]
For Emma Ineson, Lent is a good time to think about the theology of failure The neglected liturgy in the Church of England, from the BCP, called, ‘A commination or denouncing of God’s anger and judgements against sinners’, involves [...]
Barbara Ross looks ahead to the Third Sunday of Lent and its Gospel Reading of the woman at the well The symbolism of water is of major importance in the Gospel of John, as it is in the Hebrew [...]