Courageously Staying in The Church of England

From Church Society –

“Lee Gatiss, Chris Moore and Ros Clarke discuss what it takes to stay in the Church of England and faithfully contend for the gospel.”

– Listen here.

Have the bishops put the LLF Travelator into reverse?

“Just over two years ago, an Anglican Futures blogger adopted the concept of the ‘Travelator’ as a way of explaining how the process of changing the Church of England’s practice and teaching about sexual relationships works.

The blog explained how David Porter, the then Archbishop of Canterbury’s Strategy Consultant, ensured that the process would itself become the outcome, by legitimising the questions being asked and preventing any ‘end point’, other than the introduction of blessings and/or same-sex marriage, with the expectation that those who disagree are required to ‘walk together’/ ‘agree to disagree’.

Just like a Travelator – once the first step is taken, there is no way off.

Today, however, some are suggesting that the House of Bishops’ latest statement represents a reversal of the Travelator. If this were true it would be a cause for great rejoicing amongst orthodox Anglicans throughout the Anglican Communion.…”

– Is the LLF Travelator really going into reverse?

Anglican Futures has six reasons why it isn’t.

Churchgoers vow to stop donating to collection plates if cash goes towards slavery reparations

“Six in 10 Anglican churchgoers would divert their donations elsewhere if Church [of England] funds were allocated to slavery reparations, a new study has found. …”

– Report from GBNews.

Church’s net zero crackdown forces parish to rip out new boilers

“The Church of England has ordered a parish to rip out new gas boilers because they are not ‘sustainable’.

Christ Church Chineham, in Basingstoke, Hants, spent £18,200 last year replacing two failing gas boilers, with the new ones expected to last for at least two decades.

But the parish will now be forced to remove the system and pay for an eco-friendly replacement after a church court ruled it had not ‘adequately explored more sustainable options’ before installing them. …”

– Report from The Telegraph, via Anglican Mainstream.

MPs tell incoming archbishop to halt £100 Million reparations plan

“A cross-party group of 27 Members of Parliament and peers have called on the Archbishop-designate of Canterbury, the Rt. Rev. & Rt. Hon. Sarah Mullally, to intervene and halt the Church of England’s proposed £100 million slavery reparations fund.

In a letter first reported by The Sunday Times of London (28 Dec. 2025), the parliamentarians warn that the plan—known as ‘Project Spire’—risks setting a ‘worrying precedent’ by encouraging other institutions to divert charitable resources to political or symbolic causes. …”

– George Conger reports at Anglican Ink.

What are the (Church of England) bishops up to now?

“On Tuesday, 16th December, the House of Bishops of the Church of England announced that ‘more time’ was needed to finalise its ‘proposals on the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process’.

While they said that the decisions they took in October had not been ‘contested’, they ‘identified some areas where further clarification is needed and agreed to continue work on a letter to the Church summarising LLF and setting out an agreed position.‘ Later in the press release it was explained that the text of the letter would ‘take the form of a statement from the House,‘ which would have a degree of authority in any future dispute.

Archbishop Stephen Cottrell also reassured the Church that the bishops ‘remain on course to bring proposals to Synod for consideration in February.’

This has led many observers to scratch their head and ask ‘What are the bishops up to now?’

Of course, unless there is a leak from the House of Bishops, the Church will need to wait until January to find out for sure. Meanwhile, this blog explores the possibilities that arise from a careful reading of the both the statements and the theological and legal advice the bishops received.…”

– Curious. Read it all at Anglican Futures.

But see this post at Church Society from 7th November 2025: Why we can’t have the Prayers of Love and Faith after all.

Image: Archbishop Stephen Cottrell speaking at the Church of England’s General Synod in February 2025.

Four CofE vicars highlight why their churches are turning to the Ephesian Fund

From The Church of England Evangelical Council:

“The Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) has released four short films promoting the Ephesian Fund, featuring vicars from churches across the country, which have chosen to channel their financial giving through the initiative.

Launched in November 2023, the Ephesian Fund was created in response to the House of Bishops’ decision to depart from the Church’s historic and biblical teaching on marriage and sexual ethics, and to commend the Prayers of Love and Faith. The fund enables churches and individuals to direct their giving, including parish share, towards ministries that affirm an orthodox evangelical understanding of Christian doctrine. …”

– For examples of Church of England parishes taking steps to direct resources for gospel ministry.

Centre of gravity shifts from Canterbury to Abuja – with Paul Donison

From The Pastor’s Heart, a special edition featuring an interview with Gafcon General Secretary Bishop Paul Donison –

“Paul Donison responds to global reaction to Gafcon’s reset of the Anglican Communion and its declaration that Canterbury’s time is over.

The Lord is removing his Spirit from the Canterbury–Lambeth lampstand, and the centre of global Anglicanism is shifting from London to Africa.

The average Anglican today is not English, not Western, not male — she’s a young African woman in her twenties, probably Nigerian. The Anglican Communion is now catching up with that reality.

Since the Gafcon Primates’ announcement on 16 October 2025 — declaring that Canterbury is out and that the Bible will be the foundation document for a reordered Global Anglican Communion — reaction has been electric: claims of schism, conflict in Ireland, tensions in ACNA, questions about women’s orders, realignments in England, silence from some primates, and fresh courage from others.

And what does this mean for a blended province like Australia?

Gafcon General Secretary Paul Donison joins us with an update on plans for the Global Bishops Gathering in Abuja, Nigeria, 3–6 March 2026.”

– Watch or listen here.

Bishop Donison is speaking at Moore College on Wednesday night at 7:30pm:

Anglo-Catholicism — Church Society podcast

From Church Society:

“Lee Gatiss and Ros Clarke discuss the ongoing influence of Anglo-Catholicism, co-belligerence and doctrinal differences.”

Lee Gatiss observes, “Ironically, since they started as an anti-liberal movement, the Oxford Movement / Anglo-Catholicism helped to pave the way for liberalism in the Church of England by making it possible to ignore and sideline other doctrines and practices and get away with it.”

An introduction to what Anglo-Catholicism is and how it affects the Church of England today – well worth your time.

See also their previous podcast – on Roman Catholicism.

Why we can’t have the Prayers of Love and Faith after all

“The Church of England has finally published the theological papers and legal advice that the House of Bishops saw before its October meeting.

At that meeting, the bishops gave in to the inevitable and concluded that they weren’t going to be able to go any further without going through the proper legal processes. Just what was in the papers that led to this about-face?

The papers consist of three theological papers produced by the Faith and Order Commission (FAOC) and one legal paper produced by the Church of England’s Legal Office. …”

– At the Church Society website, Michael Hayden shares what has been learned from the information released by the House of Bishops.

His conclusion: “Those of us opposed to the whole project have been saying for years now that they can’t do what they’re attempting to do, and they certainly can’t do it in the way they’ve been attempting to do it. These papers only confirm what we’ve been saying all along.”

“No repentance, but the Lawyers told us we can’t do it – yet”

“The Church of England has halted its plans to introduce ‘wedding’ services for same-sex couples after the bishops finally accepted long-resisted legal advice that it is not possible to do so without the approval of two-thirds of General Synod.

Plans to allow clergy to enter a same-sex civil marriage have also been scrapped owing to the legal complications, ongoing divisions on the issue and the confusion that bringing in the reform by itself would sow. …

The upshot is that the Church of England will continue, for the time being at least, officially to hold to traditional biblical teaching on marriage – while liberals will continue quietly to flout it and make use of the ‘blessings’ fudge they got in under Welby.”

– This Daily Sceptic article has news and commentary.

(Our headline is a very rough summary. Image: The Church of England’s General Synod in February 2023)

The Anglican Communion – has the ship sailed?

“It was telling that Madeleine Davies, Senior Writer at the Church Times, gave short shrift to the idea that the unity of the Anglican Communion was high on the priority list for those selecting the new Archbishop of Canterbury.

Her response on BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme, was simple – ‘That ship has already sailed.’

It seems almost everyone involved would agree.

The Anglican Consultative Council certainly thought so – their decision to chose representatives of tiny, liberal provinces to be the voice of the ‘Anglican Communion’ on the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) gave no indication that they were looking for unity. …”

– From Anglican Futures.

Image: The Mary Celeste – a ship with no crew or passengers.

“Archbishop” — Church Society podcast

From Church Society:

“In this extra-long episode of the Church Society podcast, Lee and Ros talk about the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the newly announced appointment of Bishop Sarah Mullally as the 106th person to hold that office.”

– Listen here.

“Keep the pattern”

“Friends in Christ, last Friday, the appointment of a new Archbishop of Canterbury was announced, Dame Sarah Mullally, the first female in the role. Previously she had been chief nursing officer in the UK’s National Health Service (the youngest person ever appointed to that role). Her experience and training appears to be much more in management (both secular and ecclesiastical) than in parish ministry work.  …”

– In his Minister’s Letter to the Cathedral congregations, published on Thursday, Dean of Sydney Sandy Grant shares some reflections on what is most important in a bishop.

Why are Christians hung up about Sarah Mullally? An explanation for those outside the church

“Sarah Mullally is to be the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, which has upset a number of Christians, especially in the Anglican community here and abroad, and particularly in Africa. Though if you aren’t a Christian, you may be confused as to why many are unhappy with the appointment. Most of the negative commentary is either written for a church audience, and hence does not explain precisely why this statement or that stance is such a problem …”

– At The Critic, Peter Leach, Minister of Grace Church, Coventry (part of the International Presbyterian Church) helpfully explains some of the reasons behind the unhappiness over the appointment of the new Archbishop of Canterbury.

Next Page →