On Northern Ireland, Brexit and the UK

by | Jun 15, 2021 | Commentary

THERE ARE ONLY three broad ways to solve the Brexit situation in Northern Ireland, assuming that the UK is not going to rejoin the EU. First, the current arrangement, which means checks in the Irish Sea, and an effective customs border between Northern Ireland and...

On trying to obstruct action against racism

by | May 12, 2021 | Commentary

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND’S recent report on racism, From Lament to Action, has provoked many refusals. There are refusals of its central claim about institutional racism, refusals of its theological vision, and refusals of its practical recommendations. These...

Church action on racism: what is at stake?

by | May 5, 2021 | Commentary

THERE IS A NEW REPORT in the Church of England concerning how to address racism: From Lament to Action. It was published almost simultaneously with the guilty verdict on the killer of George Floyd, which has been met with strong assent from many Christians. It will be...

Ecclesial white supremacism

by | Feb 7, 2021 | Commentary

THERE IS NO right life in a world of falsehoods. This acknowledgement – one of Theodor Adorno’s best – is not a moralistic condemnation of the state of things. It is more like a statement of the facts. When one’s world is a tissue of falsehoods, intended...

Redemptive Justice? Survivors of church-related abuse

by | Feb 1, 2021 | Update

THIS new paper from the Rev Dr David Atkinson (retired Anglican Bishop of Thetford) and Dr Sue Atkinson (survivor of childood abuse, with a PhD in professional development and how groups learn to change) proposes a framework for the Church of England’s on-going...