On the Changing Attitude Facebook page, a recent post has pointed to a Guardian article about the guidance given to Synod members in their forthcoming Shared Conversations. Comments on this have revealed quite a sharp disagreement between those who are feeling optimistic about change coming in the church, and those who suspect the whole exercise …
Author: Jeremy Pemberton
Church of England priest, musician, academic, father and grandfather. Married to my husband, retired.
Lamenting Orlando
Sometimes place names get meanings they would rather not. From now on, Orlando will always mean the Pulse massacre - the biggest loss of life in any American mass shooting in modern times. It will live like Sandy Hook, or Dunblane, or Hungerford in our consciousness of horror and terror. But it will not be as puzzling …
Wedding days
We are off to a wedding today. It is going to be a huge joy to share in Laura and Richard's special day, notwithstanding what looks like very damp weather. There will be laughter and tears, meeting of old friends and new, and all the other good things that go to make up a wedding …
Shared Conversations come to an end
Apart from the attenuated version which General Synod members are going to be put through in July, the Shared Conversations are over. This £300K exercise has brought together groups of dioceses and their representatives for three-day residential meetings to allow people from all sides of the church to talk, and more importantly to listen to …
Why project Europe matters
I am reading about Boris telling us that leaving is a win-win. I am not only interested in trade, Boris, important as that is. I am doubtful that leaving will do anything but harm our economy for a good many years. But what I care about is creating and sustaining the conditions that overcome suspicion …
Shared Conversations – Talking in Circles
Getting together with fifty or so other people, only a few of whom you already know, to talk about sex and religion for three days is, frankly, not something that any sane person would really want to do. We did it because the Church of England has decided the way forward over the issue of …
From The Quire 