Although the practice of confession is rarer in Anglican churches than it is in Catholic ones, it is still present within the Church of England. Canon law dictates that anything heard in confession must be kept secret and the issue was raised by the independent inquiry into sex abuse in March which expressed concern that paedophiles could confess their abuse and go unreported.
Read moreInstead of formal debates or legislation, synod discussions on sexuality will take place behind closed doors in group settings, avoiding publicity around a head-to-head debate. At the upcoming synod meeting in July, an afternoon will be set aside for private seminars and workshops, around half of which will cover sexuality.
Read moreFirstly Martyn Percy, Dean of Christ Church Oxford, in an essay for Modern Church outlines familiar criticisms of the 'evangelical' leadership of the C of E, and proposes a very different model for the Church's engagement with the world. He begins by reflecting on two best-selling publications.
Read moreIn an interview with the Guardian ahead of the royal wedding, Welby acknowledged that disestablishment -- separating church and state, and removing the C of E's official status -- would be a "complicated process".
"Would disestablishment be a disaster? No," he said, adding: "Nothing's a disaster with God."
Read moreCivil partnerships legislation was introduced in 2004 to give same-sex couples legal recognition of their relationship without changing the definition of marriage. But the Marriage (Same-Sex couples) Act in 2013 allowed gay couples to marry, or convert their civil partnership into a marriage.
This meant that in 2016 there were just 890 civil partnerships registered in England and Wales, down from 6,305 from 2007 to 2013.
Read moreSurprisingly, though, the protestors seem to have missed something important: there is considerable recent evidence that the Archbishop of Canterbury himself may actually share their views!
Read moreHow about Nicky Gumbel, pioneer of Alpha, a tool that has been used for evangelism across the world? I am not a fan of Alpha. But Gumbel's church has grown to one of the largest in London, with a vision for planting new churches.
Read moreIn short, the letter appears to be defending the biblical understanding of marriage against the new, secular one. Letters in the Church Times have now been written, and petitions signed, opposing this position. Is Canterbury standing firm for orthodox Christian teaching against the liberals?
Read moreSUGDEN: Given that the conflict in Syria is becoming Iran versus Israel, with Syria as a platform for Iran, what did you gain of the views of the churches about the struggle in and for Syria?
LANGRISH: It's more than a struggle between Iran and Israel. There's a world war going on in Syria at present with so many parties using proxies. There's Iran, Israel, UK, France, USA, USSR and Turkey.
Read moreThe conference was told that renewal was needed in the face of the rejection of the influence of the Jewish Christian tradition on western society through deceptive totalitarian definitions of justice, equality and fairness.
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