As we approach the feast of ‘The Blessed Virgin Mary’ in the calendar, I offer my annual repost of the exploration of whether the Assumption is actually something recognised and celebrated by the Church of England.
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The feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew is much briefer than in the other gospels. But he draws extensively on images from the Old Testament, and focuses on Jesus, the one who invites us, provides for us, and invites us to follow him.
The Sunday lectionary reading for the Trinity 9 in Year A is Matt 14.13–21.
The epistle is the fascinating and pivotal passage in Paul, Romans 9.1–5 (though you need to read on to the next couple of verses). The video discussion of that passage can be found here, and is also linked at the end of this article.
We have now moved beyond the third section of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew, on the kingdom of heaven in chapter 13, and are immersed once more in Jesus’ ministry and engagement with those around him, which extends to the end of chapter 17, before we reach the fourth section of teaching in chapter 18.
The phrase ‘coming on the clouds’ is commonly misread as referring to Jesus’ return at the end of the age—when reading it in context and noticing its source in Daniel 7 paints a very different picture.
The discussion at the end of the LLF process
February 13, 2026 by Ian Paul
Yesterday in Synod, we spent five hours (yes, five!) on what is likely to be the final debate on the Living in Love and Faith process (LLF), the Church of England’s damaging and divisive debate on sexuality launched by Justin Welby in 2017. Following what was widely seen as a volte face by the House of Bishops in October—both in terms of what they said and their belated commitment to transparency—they offered this motion as ‘settlement’ for the process:
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The Archbishop of York to move:
That this Synod:
a) recognise and lament the distress and pain many have suffered during the LLF process, especially LGBTQI+ people;
b) affirm that the LLF Programme and all work initiated by the February 2023 LLF Motion and subsequent LLF Motions will conclude by July 2026;
c) thank the LLF Working Groups for their committed and costly work, which will now draw to a close with the conclusion of this synodical process;
d) commend the House of Bishops in establishing the Relationships, Sexuality and Gender Working Group and Relationships, Sexuality and Gender Pastoral Consultative Group for continuing work.’
As is customary for this debate, both ‘sides’ (excuse the shorthand) viewed it with deep suspicion—revisionists because it understated their pain, and showed no real signs of sorrow, and the ‘orthodox’ because clause (d) seemed like a hostage to fortune, leaving the door ajar for future possible change and further damaging debate. Indeed, Steven Croft, bishop of Oxford, had said as much in the Tuesday afternoon Questions session, talking about ‘affirming’ bishops (as if those believing the teaching of Jesus and the doctrine of the Church were somehow ‘denying’) and an ongoing process.
Belonging and interdependence in the body of Christ in 1 Cor 12 video discussion
The NT epistle for Epiphany 3 in this year C continues reading 1 Cor 12.12–31a. Here, Paul expands his themes of unity and diversity of ministry, but shifts the register from 'gifts of the Spirit' to 'members of the body'.
In doing so, he makes surprising use of an existing metaphor from ancient politics, but inverts the usual assumptions about hierarchy and importance. All are valued, and all have something to contribute, and being part of the body of Christ trumps lower, political, allegiances.
Come and join Ian and James as they explore these questions!
Full written commentary behind the discussion can be found in the next article on the blog.
Ian's new booklet What is Sex For? can be bought on the Grove website here.
The video on the gospel reading for this week or Luke 4.14–21 (The 'Nazareth Manifesto') can be found here.
The written commentary on this passage can be found here.
The post Belonging and interdependence in the body of Christ in 1 Cor 12 video discussion first appeared on Psephizo.
In any relationship, it takes time to understand and get to know someone, and even with people we know well, there are times when we gain particular insight into their character by something they do or say which gives us fresh insight into who they are. This seems to be how the Transfiguration functions for the three disciples, and offers key insight into who Jesus is. Is it an insight we have yet gained for ourselves?
What is an ‘inclusive evangelical’? |
There was a small social media storm last week when the newish group ‘Inclusive Evangelicals’ issued a letter, with 600 signatories, supporting progress in authorising prayers of blessing for same-sex couples, rooted in the conviction that ‘prayerful reading of scripture has led us to an inclusive position on same-sex relationships.’ I infer from this that ... Continue Reading The post What is an ‘inclusive evangelical’? first appeared on Psephizo. |
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Prayers of Love and Faith:
The C of E’s Brexit moment?
Andrew Goddard writes: When serving on the Co-ordinating Group of Living in Love and Faith (LLF) from 2017 to 2020 there were inevitably parallels drawn at various points between our work and the contemporaneous national Brexit debate. How was the way we were handling in the Church of the England the complex, seemingly irresolvable, and divisive issues with which we were wrestling both similar to and different from the ways Parliament, Government and the nation were wrestling with the complex, seemingly irresolvable, and divisive question of the future shape of our changed relationship with the European Union?
For me, one significant contrast was that we were not as a church rushing into a simple binary (“In/Out”) decision with limited understanding and no preparation for implementing an outcome that changed the status quo and with which many would be deeply dissatisfied. We were preparing resources to enable a serious, informed process of theological discernment by helping people to understand and engage well with those with whom they disagreed. Our remit was not to offer theological evaluation of the different views or recommendations as to the way forward. We decided not to set out either summaries of different theological positions to show their internal theological coherence or options as to possible practical ways forward for the church. Instead we concluded the book with edited transcripts of conversations which we had among ourselves about the issues we had worked together on over three years. These we hoped would draw out some of the key points and articulate them in a relational format which might help others have difficult but fruitful conversations. The downside was that this meant there remained quite a large gap to leap between the largely descriptive and educational work of LLF and the formulation and articulation of concrete answers to the contested theological and practical questions it explored.
What has happened?
A year ago, after thousands of Anglicans had engaged in such conversations, Listening with Love and Faith and a more detailed technical report appeared alongside a reflective essay, Friendship in the Body of Christ. Although some have claimed this revealed majority opinion in favour of change that must now be swiftly implemented as the mind of the church (much as people argued that the Brexit referendum revealed support for a particular form of Brexit that people must now accept and political leaders implement), as I have argued previously, this is a misrepresentation of the whole LLF learning exercise, the questionnaire participants completed, and these published materials.
The bishops then made the significant step from conversation and mutual learning to deliberation and decision-making. What has happened since then is more difficult to piece together because very little of the process and the work supporting it has been made public. However, the following appear to be key aspects of it and raise serious questions as to how fit for purpose the process has been in a number of key respects.
An already limited timeframe for reflection together was shortened by the death of Queen Elizabeth which led to the cancellation of the first 3-day residential discussions planned for September. It was therefore not until the end of October and the beginning of November that there was “the first opportunity that the bishops as a whole have had to come together and really to talk as a whole” in this discernment and decision-making phase of LLF (Bishop of Grantham in the video released after the residential). This meeting was quickly followed by the Bishop of Oxford publishing his case for same-sex marriage in Together in Love and Faith (responded to by Vaughan Roberts) and a number of other bishops developing a statement supporting the Church of England’s received doctrine of marriage (shared with bishops in late 2022 but not released publicly until early 2023).
The post Prayers of Love and Faith: The C of E’s Brexit moment? first appeared on Psephizo.
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Is awe the defining human passion? |
Marc Lloyd writes: If the chief end of human beings is to 'glorify God and enjoy him for ever' (from the Westminster Shorter Catechism), it should come as no surprise if modern science finds us to be hard-wired for awe. This is indeed the claim in Awe: The Transformative Power of Everyday Wonder by Dacher Keltner (Allen Lane/Penguin, 2023).
Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. He has long studied the emotions and was a consultant on Pixar’s Inside Out movie. He focuses on teaching happiness and The Good Life, and has come to see seeking awe as key.
In this study, Keltner seeks to consider awe scientifically, culturally and personally, particularly reflecting on the death of his brother. There are forty pages of end notes but they are not flagged in the main text. The book describes numerous scientific studies, many of which yield stories of awe. Sometimes you might feel the net has been cast rather widely or we have wandered from awe itself a little. I wasn’t bored, but neither did I think every section necessary. The book is less of a practical 'how to' guide than I expected.
The Presence of the Transcendent
Awe is defined as “the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world.” (7) Typically it is evoked by what Keltner calls “the eight wonders of life”: the moral beauty of others (their courage, kindness, strength or overcoming); collective effervescence (which Durkheim saw as the emotional core of religion, especially as expressed in collective movement e.g. in ritual dance or ceremony); nature; music; visual design; the spiritual or religious; birth and death; and epiphanies (pp 11-17).
Keltner recognises the etymological and historical connections between awe and the awful (p 19) but he tends to distinguish awe from fear, whilst recognising that some theologies and cultures may connect them more closely than the modern West. The biblical God evokes both awe and fear, for example.
Typically we feel awe two or three times a week. Just a couple of minutes of awe a day can make us happier and healthier. Awe tends to make us more humble and self-forgetful, less neurotic, controlling and competitive, more open to new ideas and experiences, kinder, more generous. Keltner sees an evolutionary value to awe in promoting community and cooperation. There is a whole chapter on evolution as well as numerous other mentions of Darwin and his theory but creationists could ignore all this without losing much of the value of the book.
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In Exodus 20 is this list that is commonly referred to as ten commandments. But later in the book of Deuteronomy, we have this other li...
