"The Church of England welcomes transgender people and wholeheartedly wishes for them to be included in the life of the Church," the Bishop of Norwich, Graham James, said on behalf of the House. "On the matter of whether a new service is needed, the House of Bishops has decided that the current service that is used to affirm baptism can be adapted.
"Clergy always have the discretion to compose and say prayers with people as they see fit."
Read moreBecause false teaching is becoming ever more entrenched in the Church of England, Reform is surely now needed more than ever.
The occasion of its founding in 1993 was the General Synod's vote in 1992 to ordain women as priests, a move its founders believed to be contrary to Scripture. With same-sex blessings now on the agenda at the General Synod, there is a real danger that the Church of England could end up changing its currently sound doctrine on marriage.
Read moreThe Reformation had placed an emphasis on the individual's need for salvation and faithfulness to the gospel -- a faith no longer mediated by the lofty metaphysics of priests and popes, but characterised by immanence, comprehension, and direct relationship with the divine. As Protestantism fragmented, a remnant retained their missionary zeal and a moral fervour.
Read moreBishop Michael Nazir Ali, in a talk to supporters of Christian Concern which became an article published in Church of England Newspaper on the same day, 21st December, came to a very different conclusion. The traditional family pattern has not been unfairly promoted at the expense of other domestic arrangements. Rather, "The family has been under sustained attack in this country for the last 50 years.
Read moreI believe that the Ozanne Foundation is promoting false teaching which if followed will put the eternal souls of many professing Christians in peril.
It is not that I refuse to write for publications where revisionist views are aired. Newspapers are not pulpits. They are forums for debate.
Read moreHe has been named as chair of the Ozanne Foundation, whose director Jayne Ozanne is a high-profile Anglican activist for LGBT inclusivity. In July Ozanne introduced a motion to the CofE's General Synod calling for a ban on gay 'conversion therapy'.
The charity's trustees and council of reference include the Dean of St Paul's, David Ison, Rev Steve Chalke, Ben Bradshaw MP and the Dean of St Albans, Jeffrey John.
Read moreIt is hoped that the wider community can feel welcomed into the church
Its website encouraged people of all nationalities to attend the services.
They said: "We usually have at least six nationalities represented in the congregation on a given Sunday.
"Whatever your background you can be assured of a warm welcome to our services and our Parish life."
Read moreWith more than 12,000 CofE churches listed and attendance figures continuing to fall, locals groups are facing a battle to keep parish buildings, described as the 'jewel in the crown of our built heritage', open.
The report suggests the buildings be adopted by the whole community rather than just the dwindling congregations who attend them.
Read moreThe former Chief Nursing Officer, who spent 35 years working in the NHS, will succeed Richard Chartres and become the 133rd person to hold the role.
Speaking on the late night BBC analysis show Bishop Thomas said: "Whereas with women bishops we decided as part of the negotiations that it was not one that ought to cause disunity, it ought to be one where we could agree to disagree, the issue of sexuality is different."
Read moreThe CofE has just monumentally outdone Bishop Wright's criterion for selecting bishops by appointing an über-bureaucrat to England's third-most important ecclesiastical throne. Wherever the new Bishopette of Londonistan goes, people will serve not only tea, but chunky slices of gooey chocolate cake swathed in the swaddling clothes of the icing of niceness. Dame Sarah Mullally might as well wear a tea cosy instead of a mitre!
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