He ranged over the murderous attacks in Peshawar and Nairobi and the suffering and courage of Christians in Nigeria. He was surprised at the way the WCC meetings in Korea held together an extraordinary diversity of people united by the love of Jesus Christ. He announced that from January a Catholic order with an ecumenical and teaching vocation will be created, initially with four members, at Lambeth.
Read moreThe news was revealed on day one of a three-day meeting of the ruling general synod at Church House, Westminster.
In July, the Archbishop of Canterbury said he would "specifically target" homophobic bullying in Church schools.
The Bishop of Oxford, the Right Reverend John Pritchard, revealed the collaboration on Monday afternoon, in answer to a question from members of the synod.
Stonewall said the Church had initiated discussions earlier in the autumn.
Read moreAmid the anger over the outcome of that vote last November, there were calls for Parliament to step in or even for the Synod to be dissolved.
The issue of women bishops will be top of the agenda when the Synod is meeting for three days in London next week.
Read more'Don't overstretch yourself and end up with an enormous debt hangover.'
Archbishop Welby's warning comes as it was revealed that Britons will spend an average of £28.70 on each present this Christmas - an increase of £1.70 on the figure for 2012.
Read moreInstead, he urged families to "show" love and affection rather than try to "buy it".
In his first comments on the festive period since becoming the Anglican leader, the archbishop acknowledged: "It's a cliche of modern life that someone gets up and says Christmas is becoming very materialistic, as though it wasn't 300 years ago."
Read moreSpeaking to The Sunday Times, a Church of England source warned that if the secularists' bid is successful it would hasten the removal of Christianity from public life.
Arun Arora, the Director of Communications for the Church of England, said: "As a flawed publicity stunt, this attempt to politicise the coronation is sadly misguided and deeply misjudged by an increasingly desperate campaign group of barely 10,000 members."
Flawed
Read moreIn a formal legal opinion being circulated to peers, he savages the proposals as opening the way for the outright "suppression" of anything deemed "potentially annoying" with only "vague" justification.
The proposed safeguards to prevent abuse of the new system are "shockingly" weak, he writes.
Read moreRecent research on Anglicans suggests that there is indeed a gap between official and popular opinion in the Church of England but that it is not the one that Kelley would have predicted.
Read moreFortunately for Bishop Nick, this was not actually the case. The supposed source was a press release from the Church of England announcing their new Pilgrim discipleship course. The course has been designed in particular for new Christians who want to grow in their faith and become more mature disciples of Jesus. The press release mentions that the course offers an approach of "participation, not persuasion".
Read moreHe spoke of being part of a wider "catholic tradition", adding: "I've learnt over the last 10 years about the great sacrament of reconciliation: confession.
"It is enormously powerful and hideously painful when it's done properly ... it's really horrible when you go to see your confessor - I doubt you wake up in the morning and think, this is going to be a bunch of laughs.
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