There are rascally voices around who want to undermine the church
Justin Welby, Stephen Cottrell, joint article in The Spectator, 11 February
There are no plans to dismantle the parish network. We are committed to our calling to be a Christian presence in every community. . . Yes, there are hard decisions currently being made across many dioceses. Overall some stipendiary posts will be lost. But that isn’t the same as making clergy redundant
Ibid.
The aim is to make each parish and each Christian community sustainable. If that doesn’t happen, there really will be no Church of England. And to do it requires generosity and sacrifice
Ibid.
We need an overarching concordat between Church and State on managing church buildings so that congregations can be set free for ministering to people’s souls
Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Rochester, The Daily Telegraph, 9 February
If you don’t find this a high crime and misdemeanour, you have set a new terrible standard for presidential misconduct in the United States of America
Jamie Raskin, Democratic House impeachment manager, on Donald Trump’s involvement in the 6 January storming of the Capitol, 10 February
Regular Twitter is so much shouting, and nonsense, and people competing with each other to have the most inane, offensive or garbage opinion of the day. . . Religious Twitter is OK. Good, actually. Entering religious Twitter feels like wandering into an animal sanctuary after sitting courtside at an MMA match. It’s a safe space. On religious Twitter, I watch nuns share hand-knitted jumpers. “Lovely!” other nuns reply. “I bet that is so cosy!”
Sirin Kale, The Guardian, 11 February
Later, an hour of silence in a garden. . . a still-consecrated space next to All Hallows’ Church in Copperfield Street [in Southwark], near the flat. My prayers are interrupted by the staff of the Church of England’s Pensions Board on a treasure hunt.
Claire Gilbert, after a visit to the Cancer Centre: entry for 11 July 2019, from Miles to Go Before I Sleep (Hodder, published 18 March)
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