"If you felt nothing when the choir sang Handel’s Zadok the Priest at the king’s anointment, you are either an algorithm or half dead." Impressive from
@guardian
Every time I walk through the Gladstone Link in the Bodleian I hum the Imperial March to myself and steel myself to write golden words about the eighteenth century, just as Lord Vader would expect.
Note the press lauding Tutu as ‘the last of the political preachers’ when spending the rest of the year denigrating bishops for being too involved in politics.
A bittersweet joy to commend my beloved stepmother Jenny to God today. She rescued me as a teenager from emotional oblivion with affection and love and taught me that everybody has a story that deserves a tender hearing. She was also outrageously naughty. I’ll miss her hugely.
I personally can’t wait to kill myself to support a healthier economy and relieve pressure on our national shrine, the NHS. Happy Easter from
@thetimes
Quite extraordinarily, I have a book contract to write a popular history of global Anglicanism that I fervently hope will be the prelude to a million-dollar HBO series with much travel in which I will wear A Hat. Or, more realistically, more invitations to local WIs.
Having achieved my life-goal to bring dogs into cathedrals, I am now focussed on BEES and how they need to be basically swarming around English cathedrals as a prophetic sign of ecological hope. Please advise.
After some manoeuvring of the Cathedral chess pieces, I am now the Precentor at Chichester - a great privilege, and one that finally justifies my listening to Christmas carols midsummer.
Very much anticipating that my fashion formula for my 40s will also include dressing as a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. Easy wins. 👏🏻👏🏻
Church of England, well-known defender of LGBT people and supposedly an ardent campaigner against modern slavery, advocates displacing worship of the infant Christ with showing the Qataris’ morally odious World Cup final. Bravo!
Interesting to see how many people are crossing themselves before The Queen's coffin and what this tells us about the nature of 'secular' Britain, not least in relation to the Monarchy at a time of transition.
I failed to take many photos of the treasures at the St Francis exhibition
@NationalGallery
today but was MUCH enchanted by this modern woodcut of Francis’s sermon to the birds by Andrea Büttner (2010). V privileged to have a tour from the curator Joost Joustra.
A real treat to host
@RevRichardColes
speaking about his novel, the priesthood and his faith with his characteristic humanity. Wonderful to have him in the Diocese.
@Cbookfest
@ChiCathedral
What a Christmas gift to all those gay Anglo-Catholics priests and bishops currently refusing to offer blessings to their many same-sex couples in their congregations.
NEW: In a new declaration, the Vatican's doctrinal office officially opens the possibility for priests to provide simple blessings to same-sex and "irregular" couples, outside of a liturgical context, as long as the church's traditional understanding of marriage is made clear.
In a minority report in the latest CofE disputes, Dolly Parton tells us ‘the Kingdom of God is within you’ and sings a song in a homemade chapel that I suspect will be an inspiration for many vicars live-streaming.
‘Clergy should read books, or else accept the only logical alternative, which is to promise never to preach again‘: Church of England has prioritised leadership skills over theology, says Dean of Southwark from
@churchtimes
One of those rare things - a book written by a professional theologian that (rightly) hits the big-time. John Barton's History of the Bible on
@BBCRadio4
at the moment
Interestingly, on my sick bed, the Canon Treasurer has brought me tortellini and tiramisu while the Precentor has brought me kimchi, kombucha and kefir. Not sure if I’m delirious or actually living in a Grimm fairy tale
Very sorry to hear of the death of Jimmy Dunn: a giant of New Testament scholarship, a wonderfully wise and gentle presence, and a much loved citizen of Chichester. May he rest in peace and rise in glory with Christ, of whom Jimmy was such a faithful witness.
After lunch at Campion Hall I discover Dorothy Sayers’s birth place. Come and hear a lecture about her
@ChiCathedral
tomorrow at 6.30pm given by Dr Mark Philpott of Keble College Ox
I feel a probably quite irrational sense of pride in today establishing the email address theology
@chichestercathedral
.org.uk. I feel like it’s the beginning of a diocesan revival in theology. Sadly I haven’t worked out how to access the inbox.
Proposed prayers asking for God's blessing on same-sex couples as they give thanks for their civil marriage or civil partnership are published today.
Read the draft texts that will be discussed by
@synod
at .
All are very welcome at a special Choral Evensong Sunday 6 Oct 3.30pm when the Revd Dr Dan Inman will be installed as the new Canon Chancellor of Chichester Cathedral
@churchofengland
@ChichesterDio
@engcathedrals
My top-tip for Anglicans today: use the sunshine and go for a lovely long walk, look at the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, kick a tree, scream on a hilltop, let it all out.
To quote Bishop George Bell: ‘The first supreme aim [of a church] is, by its own beauty and by the religious services held within it, to give continuous witness to things unseen and eternal, and to offer continuous and reverent worship to Almighty God.’
Hugely excited to be joining
@ChiCathedral
in the autumn and very touched by the kind words of colleagues and ordinands today; I'm v grateful to God to call
@ChichesterDio
home.
Not sure whether I should suggest to Chapter that the Cathedral procures a cat. Reckon it could rake in c.30k p.a. in revenue and soft toys. Or peacocks? Maybe a mongoose.
We’ve to keep pushing on that. This is music for everyone, not a select few who know their crotchets from their quavers!! That’s boring and naff!!
#bbcproms
Remembering my brother Mark and praying for a world where everyone, especially young men, can talk about their mental health more freely
#WSPD2020
@TogetherSussex
@ChiCathedral
Just returned from a week advising on a BAP. Remain deeply impressed by Ministry Division (/of Magic) and its staff, who are meticulously professional and whom, being invisible, are rarely thanked. Hooray for them!
Prayers for everyone starting their formation for ordained ministry this week. Don’t take yourselves too seriously; say the Offices accompanied by a good deal of silence; and sustain your interests (or develop new ones) beyond the Church of England.
What a joy to be at
@Westcott_House
for the start of term. So many inspiring people from all around the world giving themselves to the ministry of Christ.
‘Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts…’ - CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Tomorrow morning we (finally!) return the Eucharist to the High Altar at Chichester Cathedral. Prayers appreciated for our serving team and clergy (I’m the only one who remembers it…!)
I've got to start studying Latin again twenty-one years after an A-Level. How do classicists suggest I refresh my learning without being put into the beginners' class when I start my course in the autumn?? I'm making a stab at the Metamorphoses