George Austin wonders why Church House is so coy about recent attendance figures AH 1970 - I REMEMBER it well! It was the year Robert Runcie became Bishop of St Alban’s; the year I was inducted by him as Vicar [...]

Psalms’ length "AND WHATEVER HAPPENED to the Psalms?" Dare to raise that question aloud, as I did recently at this year’s conference of Church Society, and two things will follow. The immediate effect is a murmur of warm assent around [...]

ST BARNABAS ST. BARNABAS was not one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, but he is generally included among the Apostles, like Ss. Matthias and Paul. St. Luke gives a thumb-nail sketch of his character in Acts 11:24, when he describes him [...]

Andrew Burnham replies to Kevin O'Donnell REPLY TO Kevin O’Donnell’s gentle and eirenic piece should be itself no less gentle and eirenic in tone. There can be no doubt that labels have their limitations. People can and do believe in [...]

Kevin O'Donnell pleads for an abandonment of stereotypes I WRITE AS SOMEONE who has struggled with the ordination of women from various angles - theological and ecumenical, and who has accepted the vote as ‘the mind of the Church’. That [...]

Francis Gardom observes that old habits die hard "REBUKE A WISE MAN and he will love thee", says the Book of Proverbs. If what follows is seen as a rebuke it must be with this saying in mind. Those who [...]

Pete Broadbent gives an Evangelical perspective WE ALL HAVE our memories of the tragic events of 1988. I used to sit behind Garry Bennett in Synod, and enjoyed his dry humour and occasional asides. It came as a real shock [...]

WAITING FOR GODOT THE ANNUAL MEETING of the Episcopal Synod of America, the Episcopal counterpart of Forward in Faith, has just ended. The legislature extended greetings to other Anglican bodies in this country and welcomed representatives from the other resistance [...]

THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT about Bishop Jack Spong’s intentions for Lambeth 1998. He sees it as a contest and he is sure he can win it. And thus far the Bishop of Newark has made excellent progress. Round one [...]

UPLOAD YOUR HEARTS Members of the Prayer Book Society are cock-a-hoop. When the Society launched its computer package some good while ago a gift copy was duly despatched to Lambeth Palace. A kind letter of thanks was duly received and [...]