#CognitivePsychologist
in Identity & Moral justice/ judgement development. Interdisciplinary academic forager. Formerly the Archbishopsβ Adviser for MEAC.
I have been bleeding about 100 followers weekly, despite gaining lots of new followers consistently. I gather a lot of academics and activists are experiencing this. I wonder if an algorithm of key words are triggering a glitch or bot infestation.
Some of the most interesting, informative, important voices on here are being quietened. We may be fighting against the tide - but please follow
@GreenJennyJones
and RT
Excited to share some news! Deeply honoured to be invited to be an Hon. Canon of
@LivCathedral
, to be anchored to this extraordinary vessel of worship that quietly marks the offices of the day from morning prayer to evensong, calling my city to Christ!
Praying friends, please keep me in your prayers as I make some very difficult professional decisions this weekend. Pray for good discernment and for the Lord's unfailing providence, for what I suspect will be a long period of difficulty and bleak choices.
Praying friends, can I ask you keep my mom's health in your prayers. Her health has deteriorated enormously in the last couple of weeks and I haven't seen her in person for a significant amount of time. And please pray for my brother who bears the burden of her welfare alone.
I must say that if there has been one Bishop in the House who is most frequently called to navigate Charybdis & Scylla, it has to be +
@bishopSarahM
, and goodness she is incredible! Prayers for her ministry of these impossible tasks.
#LLF
"Until this is defeated everywhere, it's not defeated anywhere."
The Archbishop of Canterbury says he is concerned by the "us first" nature of conversations around the Covid vaccine.
@ShelaghFogarty
β
@JustinWelby
Eternal Shepherd who has sought these your servants, consecrated today as the Bishops of Barking, Loughborough & Willesden, grant unto them the fire of the Pentecost and the healing breath of the comforter in truth, justice & unity for the Church as faithful envoys of the gospel.
I challenge the narrative that claims the Anglican communion is unequivocally against
#equalmarriage
. Taboos and criminalisation of LGBQT+ is a colonial European introduction to many GS cultures. And even now many of these AC churches are as divided on this as we are.
#LLF
#Synod
For those who are trying to grasp the widely varied views on human sexuality across the Anglican communion, this paper by the Rt. Rev'd KeerthisiriFernando, Bishop of Kurunagala & PresidingBishop in the Church ofCeylon,
may be of interest.
#LLF
#synod
I know this makes me a sad academic, but I'm thrilled that my contributions and alliance with
@durham_uni
these last couple of yrs have been formally recognised. Mostly this means superb library access and I hope fab collegiate events at one of my favourite T&R depts.
#SmallJoys
...my kind and generous former theology professor Dean
@ianmarkham
has offered my bruised soul a sabbatical and a place to rest, regroup and write at
@VTS_Seminary
, as a Dean's Scholar researching Racial Justice in the Anglican Communion in the grain of our Anglican Ecclesiology.
Dear
#MeghanMarkle
,
Thank you for offering to meet & comfort mourners this week. We grieve the mean, racist & dehumanising slights we've seen you endure as you do this. So many of us hold you in prayer and are inspired by your grace, compassion & dignity at this time of loss.ππ½
Dear
#MeghanMarkle
thank you for offering to meet & comfort mourners today. I'm so sorry you received mean, racist & dehumanising treatment. You have so many supporters here in the UK. I apologise for the minority who show so little dignity & respect in this time of loss.
Ahead of
#GeneralSynod
discussions on
#LLF
, the annual reminder that suggesting the 'Global South' has a uniform view about sexuality is deeply patronising. To scapegoat the diverse views of GMH peoples and the
#GlobalSouth
as uniform, IS neo-colonialism at its worst.
Sigh!!!!!
Weary of seeing GMH views in the Anglican Communion scapegoated as a voice against
#EqualMarriage
. There is extraordinary variance and a spectrum of differences among UKME/ GMH people (including silenced
#LGBTQI
+ voices around the Global South) on
#sexuality
.
#LLF
#Synod
#PLF
Rather delighted to share that I have been invited to deliver the annual
#MichaelRamseyLecture
at 6.00 pm, on the 24th of April at
@durhamcastle
@durham_uni
.
I will be speaking about how the Church's racialised past has shaped us in the 21C, and its impact on the CofE today.
I know this makes me a sad academic, but I'm thrilled that my contributions and alliance with
@durham_uni
these last couple of yrs have been formally recognised. Mostly this means superb library access and I hope fab collegiate events at one of my favourite T&R depts.
#SmallJoys
Painful viewing for a penitent church this evening. I can only pray to the one who makes the impossible, possible, that justice might flow like a river to transform us, and a Peace that passes all understanding might wrap this beloved ecclesia in its redemptive Love.
I must admit my heart swelled with pride a little to see this extraordinary black woman,
@ShermaraFletche
,
@ChurchesEngland
represent us with such dignity & eloquence at the funeral. I am also grateful that CTE is a place that nurtures talented Black Women.ππ½
#LausDeo
Delighted and so very proud that Shermara Fletcher read so eloquently at the Funeral of HRH Queen Elizabeth II. She represented the Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches & Churches Together in England
@ChurchesEngland
CTE so well. π
#QueenElizabethII
#ChurchesTogether
Dear
@ChurchTimes
Thank you for the apology, but a better response would be to reflect on why a Christian publication might still be trading in the 'stock of tropes & stereotypes' for a cheap laugh, while speaking to a church that still fetishizes, diminishes and mocks otherness
We apologise for last weekβs St Gargoyleβs cartoon. Tropes are the stock in trade of cartoons, but this was clearly a misjudgement. We have removed the cartoon from our site. Editor
Reading through the liturgy for the collation, I'm moved beyond measure. As an invisible lay woman who's given the better part of her life to serve the Anglican Church,
@churchofengland
,
@LivDiocese
and its various parishes, suddenly I feel cherished and moved to tears.
#LausDeo
Excited to share some news! Deeply honoured to be invited to be an Hon. Canon of
@LivCathedral
, to be anchored to this extraordinary vessel of worship that quietly marks the offices of the day from morning prayer to evensong, calling my city to Christ!
Centuries-old racism and white supremacy are a root cause of the suffering of black and minority ethnic communities here, in the USA and around the world.
We must pray and work together for a new and more just society.
Further to a another difficult pastoral conversation earlier this morning, I thought I would share this.
I share this cartoon often, but now is a time to listen to the moral of this my
#ChurchofEngland
family.
Be vigilant because our concept of justice is at stake.
#perspective
Today, I start this new role
@churchofengland
finally able to give my full attention to a calling that has long pursued me. Please keep this ministry and all that lies ahead in your prayers. A big thank you to all who have written to me and offered your support; it means so much!
Delighted that Dr Sanjee Perera will be the new Archbishopsβ Adviser on Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns. Prayers for her as she prepares for this vitally important role.
@indyfromspace
#WorstAcademicAdviseIFollowed
; 'Don't publish yet! (when I had multiple publication contract offers), wait till you finish your PhD, so that it might count towards the RAE in the dept.
Eternal Shepherd who has sought this your servant
@BpBurnley
, announced today as the +Blackburn, grant unto him the wisdom & courage to kindle the heart of the church, navigating the challenges ahead with the compassion of Christ on the Cross, as a faithful envoy of the gospel.
Delighted to accept this role and looking forward to working with ++
@JustinWelby
++
@CottrellStephen
, CMEAC, and various divisions, aspects & networks within the
@churchofengland
! Please keep me and all those who will be working alongside in this vital ministry, in your prayers.
Delighted that Dr Sanjee Perera will be the new Archbishopsβ Adviser on Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns. Prayers for her as she prepares for this vitally important role.
I would appreciate a RT of this plug for the annual
#MichaelRamseyLecture
at 6.00 pm, on the 24th of April at
@durhamcastle
@durham_uni
.
I will be speaking about how the Church's racialised past has shaped us in the 21C, and its impact on the CofE today. Do join us if you can.
Rather delighted to share that I have been invited to deliver the annual
#MichaelRamseyLecture
at 6.00 pm, on the 24th of April at
@durhamcastle
@durham_uni
.
I will be speaking about how the Church's racialised past has shaped us in the 21C, and its impact on the CofE today.
Thank you to all good wishes flowing in. I am in meetings till quite late, but will respond to you all individually! Please do keep this ministry and all of us involved in it in your prayers. ππ½
This tweet by
@giles_fraser
is beautiful and the best of our squabbling church family mired in doctrinal paradox. While we each hold passionately to our dogmatic nuances and our quest for justice, be it in gender, race, ability or sexuality, justice without love is brutality.
Eternal Shepherd who has sought this your servant
@BpBurnley
, announced today as the +Blackburn, grant unto him the wisdom & courage to kindle the heart of the church, navigating the challenges ahead with the compassion of Christ on the Cross, as a faithful envoy of the gospel.
If you would like to borrow the
#WindRush
Cope, please do email me. I would like to see it used across the country. Especially in those places that has a special connection to the
#WindRushGeneration
or even if you would merely like to mark this debt..
So it seems I have passed a test that tells me I have the required competence to live in a country that I've lived and contributed to, for more than half my life and near a quarter century. Now I only have to pay a couple of Β£1000 in fees not to mention legal costs.
#LifeInTheUK
Praying friends keep me in your prayers, I suspect the next couple of hours may determine much for the shape of my life hereafter. Pray for my test anxiety, my peevish pedanticism and frustration at poorly worded test questions. Lol
#CatalystTests
Listening to International news coverage of the
#SriLankaAttacks
, I'm frustrated that
@BBCPolitics
etc. don't seem to fully grasp (and make clear) that
1. There were no preexisting tensions between Muslims & Christians.
2. The scale & the strategy behind this OBVIOUSLY external.
Praying folk, please keep in your prayers the launch of the
#AntiRacismTaskforce
report this week, and the response, engagement & stakeholdership in the recommendations. Also pray for ++s
@JustinWelby
@CottrellStephen
and various parts of the church that might enable this change.
"Our work is not a battle in a culture war but rather a call to arms against the evil and pernicious sin of racism. Our mandate flows not from identity politics but from our identity in Christ."
The February update from the Anti racism Taskforce
Delighted that 11 Commission members have agreed to join the Racial Justice Commission. They represent complex interests and expertise, bringing a rich experience. We pray for a transformation in our Church that will bring hope to the world.
Friends, I am aware that twitter has gone a little mad with dms and tweets of congratulations, but I am celebrating with my excellent mentor Prof.
@AnthonyGReddie
over a bottle or two. I will respond to tweets and DMs soon.
A brilliant catch-up with +
@_mikeroyal
this evening, over homemade paratha, and Sri Lankan curry. Congratulations again to this brilliant human being who has been announced as a regional bishop in the apostolic pentecostal church today.
Writing my very 1st intercessions for a service today. Despite the many year's spent serving the CoE, and writing about liturgy AND WRITING LITURGY, I had to come to
@SSFandLharborne
before I was invited to pray for the Church. I am grateful for this tender overture of belonging.
Weary of seeing GMH views in the Anglican Communion scapegoated as a voice against
#EqualMarriage
. There is extraordinary variance and a spectrum of differences among UKME/ GMH people (including silenced
#LGBTQI
+ voices around the Global South) on
#sexuality
.
#LLF
#Synod
#PLF
@revheath
Synod, can I add that this kind of stereotyping creates deeply damaging default assumptions about our GMH bishops, clergy, ordinands & laity, when they seek appointments in liberal parishes. It's painful to us who deeply affirm a calling to equal marriage.
#LLF
#AnglicanCommunion
@revheath
Synod, can I add that this kind of stereotyping creates deeply damaging default assumptions about our GMH bishops, clergy, ordinands & laity, when they seek appointments in liberal parishes. It's painful to us who deeply affirm a calling to equal marriage.
#LLF
#AnglicanCommunion
When you promise yourself you are not going to EVER tweet about the Church of England, and or engage in
#AnglicanTwitter
politics, and fail miserably!! AGAIN!!!
Now that I've been a month in my new role, it seems I need an updated pinned tweet. Please note this is my personal twitter account where I post tweets on a wide variety of interests from Lepidoptera, birds, moss, gardening, stained glass, psychology & theology. Views are my own.
Delighted that Dr Sanjee Perera will be the new Archbishopsβ Adviser on Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns. Prayers for her as she prepares for this vitally important role.
Because too many laptops around me were identical, I thought I needed to put a sticker on mine so I could tell them apart. 40 stickers later, it looks like it belongs to a 12 Yr old girl. I may need to buy a new laptop.
And since the CoE UKME/GMH community is now overwhelming my twitter DMs and phone with messages asking whether I am OK and what I am doing next, I am delighted to announce that I will be doing NOTHING for a while, and I don't know what next yet, but....
@RobGMacfarlane
Spent this summer chasing rivers all over the world, from Virginia to Cornwall. But none stole my heart as much as the modest streams of the Yorkshire Dale's, which gently flow through the damp meadows as if scurrying away to a secret rendezvous. My naiad soul is satisfied.
I must admit I am sad to see this statement
@CPASnews
. Despite my Anglo-Catholic roots, CPAS camps across the country have been a big part of my formation over the yrs. I'm not sure I can in good conscience encourage young people to engage with it anymore.
If I look at the most vivid, glorious and god breathed moments of my life in the last couple of decades, it was at
#Criccieth2
(pathfinder) &
#Criccieth3
(CYFA)
@CPASVentures
camps with young people from across the country. Book now & share with your church friends with children.
It has been a really difficult and anxious week as I speak to my brother and mother about the riots in our home city. An anxiety deepened by the fact that the Rajapaksa house is across the water from us on Bolgolda Lake. Please keep the country in your prayers.
One of my great pleasures this last year has been working with
@revmaryhawes
as we conspired everything from inclusive Sundayschool materiel to children & young people's publications & events. Her passion & expertise for inclusive children & youth ministry will be deeply missed!!
@RobGMacfarlane
@SaveUKTrees
The Heritage Twin Tree in our school 'back garden' in Sri Lanka, which was a great age already, 118 years ago when the school moved to 'Flower Rd, Colombo 7'. It is a tree that has seen many generations bud, blossom and come of age, and holds the sorority secrets of generations.
Thank you for publicly acknowledging this. ππ½ It is important senior clergy acknowledge the rampant misogyny in the Church of England that women have to endure.
We announced the appointment of our new Precentor
@priestwendy
for
@CburyCathedral
last weekend. Just so saddened by the abuse she has received. Determined to shape a a cathedral which addresses misogyny, entitled power and prejudice because the love of Jesus requires that.
Today I am a little sad for the
@churchofengland
, and the damage we do to ourselves and to our
#LGBTQI
brothers and sisters. This is not living in love or faith. Anything but Love without condition and faith that God is bigger than human prejudice will not suffice.
#LLF
#Equal
The Church of England bishops seem to want to bless the idea that some people are second class citizens and second class Christians. And if that isn't a change in doctrine, I really don't know what is.
#llf
#plf
#bonkerstheology
A prayer for Black History Month.
We have launched a collection of liturgical resources for churches to use in services, Bible studies, youth work and events at .
#BlackHistoryMonth
ChampagneπΎand takeaway with Prof
@AnthonyGReddie
to celebrate his recognition of distinction
@UniofOxford
and for receiving the title professor of black theology
@OU_TheoReligion
. I'm still trying to process the fact that this is the 1st appointment of its kind in its history.
Eve Pitts: the
@churchofengland
's 1st Black female vicar and one of its fiercest critics, modelling the fierce Love of the compassionate Father, challenging, pruning and nurturing the mother church; Shepherding with Grace.
@kehinde_andrews
@guardian
@Eva_GBTheatre
@bishopSarahM
Yes, watching these extraordinary women leading the Church gives me hope. Fifty yrs ago, no one could imagine that women could have such episcopal authority and grace. How grateful I am, that we as a Church learns and evolves, and admit our lack of grace and faith in our errors.
Sometimes I struggle with calling in this church which in the late 90s suggested there weren't enough Black churches in the CofE for an Asian woman to be a viable candidate for ordination. As I prepare 11 Holy week sermons, I'm reminded perhaps providence finds a way.
#LausDeo
Speaking out for the poor, the immigrant, the marginalised, the vulnerable, the widow & orphan, if this was not the calling of archbishops, I'm not sure whose it is. In the long tradition of many abps before them, I'm grateful for every word
@CottrellStephen
&
@JustinWelby
speak.
To those criticising
@JustinWelby
and
@CottrellStephen
speaking out on politics Iβd say 2 things
- Desmond Tutu βWhen people say the bible and politics don't mix, I ask them which bible theyβre readingβ
- Theyβre in the House of Lords, whose job is to hold government to account
I would appreciate a RT of this plug for the annual
#MichaelRamseyLecture
at 6.00 pm, on the 24th of April at
@durhamcastle
@durham_uni
.
I will be speaking about how the Church's racialised past has shaped us in the 21C, and its impact on the CofE today. Do join us if you can.
I don't get a lot of opportunity to celebrate my SriLankaness. But today my complicated sense of belonging & national identity found satisfaction in this union of nations, that has overcome a complicated past, to celebrate a shared belonging & mutual flourishing.
#CommonwealthDay
Tea on the lawn with my former bishop. I managed to go upstairs 3 times for plates and fed
@paulbayes
Christmas pudding on cotton napkins in the end. Covid brain is not conducive to hosting high tea, but it did not prevent a lovely heart to heart with this brilliant shepherd.
@ArchdofAston
@augustineihm
@JustinWelby
@churchofengland
A reoccurring issue for
#BAMEordinands
. One of the issues they raised when I was exploring ordination was that the number of parishes I could serve in was limited, as there weren't many 'black parishes' in the CoE. I realise now that my vicar was shielding me from this rejection.
Having spent a month overlapping in the Archbishops' Advisor role with the excellent Rev.
@ChigorChike
, while I completed various orientations, trainings and meet & greets, I begin my role in earnest this week. Please pray for me and for the Church, her disciples & ministries!
Today has been one of those days with difficult and heart breaking pastoral cases (n=3) and I'm grateful for good friends who have done nothing but listen to me rant and rave about systemic racism these last months. Watching Sound of music to recover...
11 sermons and 3 packed train rides and a taxi rides later, I am home, and I am never leaving my cosy little apartment again!
(also thank you Gloucester, you have been marvellous!)
Final Easter Sunday sermon is now written, and I can enjoy the grace of
#Easter
as my journey with
@GlosCathedral
comes to an end. Thank you to all who walked with me this week
@glosdioc
, as we engaged with some heavy-duty populist doubt, Biblical scholarship, and deep theology.
Preparing some materiel for
@RiponCuddesdon
and reflecting on the fear, joy & trauma ordinands face in formation, which is brutal, dangerous and terrifying, but always captive in Grace.
PRAY for all our residential TEI communities forming priests in the kindling of HIS breath.
As I live among ordinands, I find occasion so often to write out his poem in cards and gifts, as friends and neighbours are ordained, that it is committed to memory. It captures the ontological transformation that remains a mystery, that I can never quite put into words...
There was no well, but we gathered together, and some of us even wept a little. But mostly we prayed in the presence of the one who called us in remembrance of that Nazarene carpenter who shed his blood for our salvation.
#LausDeo
I'm sure I wasn't the only one who had tears in my eyes at points during the inaugural zoom meeting of
@TheCollegeCAW
tonight. In the liturgy of the churches I serve, we often say in faith "we are not alone", but it doesn't always feel that way. Tonight that felt absolutely true.
Another piece of encouraging news from
@churchofengland
as its Social Impact Investment Programme today announced its first investment, a Β£1.6 million commitment to the Women in Safe Homes fund.
Read here;
This morning I felt like 2 decades rolled back in the flicker of an eye, as I stood outside the library waiting for it to open. Once this was a cause for incredible embarrassment, now I'm OK at being thought of that swot, given I have made a living from being a nerd.
#Sabbatical
A little inebriated by the
@VTS_Seminary
library today! Curated with sophisticated precision, it is a glorious ocean that could drown the thirst of every parched scholar exploring humanity's discourse on the divine.
#LausDeo
#SabbaticalLife
3/ ... every relational microaggression, every structural inequity. Today, alongside +
@Guli_FD
, Bishop
#RoseHudsonWilkinson
is a symbol that means something to us. This double blessing is a name place at the table in my Father's house, is a song in my mother tongue.
#ITooAmCofE
Deeply inspired by the Rt. Hon, Lord Paul Boateng's approach to the commission. Grateful for his prayerful, gospel driven approach, which may be the balm we need to heal.
#LausDeo