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  • 22 Oct 2007
    Women - equal but different?

    The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney has set out his view of women as 'equal but different'. Savi Hensman traces the patriarchal assumptions behind this position, and questions its claims to biblical authority.

  • 17 Oct 2007
    Being agents of transformation

    What we need in the Church is not less ambition, but more, argues Giles Fraser. We are charged with the most ambitious calling of them all: to be agents of God’s all-transforming love to the world.

  • 17 Oct 2007
    Anti-gay stance distances church from the young

    For many years now, high profile Christian leaders have been saying that homosexuality is destroying the church, says Tim Nafziger. It turns out that it may be their homophobia that is isolating the church from young people and many others.

  • 17 Oct 2007
    We need fully inclusive chaplaincies

    Chaplains in the public sphere can play an important role in offering spiritual and pastoral support, says Andrew Copson. But they must be open to all, including the non-religious, who are unfairly marginalised in current arrangements.

  • 16 Oct 2007
    Amnesty, abortion and the abuse of women

    There is a continuing row between Amnesty International and the Vatican over access to abortion by women who have been abused and raped. Here AI explains its policy and contests representations of it by some critics and campaigners.

  • 9 Oct 2007
    Business should feed the human spirit

    Peter Heslam looks at the late Anita Roddick's legacy, and her argument that because it has surpassed both church and state in power and influence, business should assume moral leadership in society. It has to shift its emphasis from the material to the spiritual, she declared.

  • 5 Oct 2007
    How American churches are waging peace

    An international ecumenical team representing the World Council of Churches has left the USA encouraged by the signs of hope and commitment after meeting with American Christians struggling with issues of gun control, war and a culture of violence.

  • 2 Oct 2007
    How religions can be a force for democracy

    These days, it can so easily feel as if religion is an anti-democratic force in our polity, writes Giles Fraser. No one votes for Bishops in the House of Lords, for example. So it's worth remembering that in this country, as indeed in many others too, religion was the nursemaid of democracy.

  • 2 Oct 2007
    Christian heritage and a marriage of inconvenience

    Even in modern Europe, there is an undercurrent of racism often linked with the notion of preserving 'a Christian heritage' says Savi Hensman. Minority groups are excluded and people are made to feel insecure. A better theology and practice of God's radical grace is needed.

  • 28 Sep 2007
    Burma's spiritual revolt against repression

    The key role of a long spiritual heritage of disciplined and creative non-violence should not be ignored as a factor in current attempts to overthrow brutal dictatorship in Burma, says Gene Stoltzfus, a founder of Christian Peacemaker Teams.