Awards for distinguished service to the church
Four new Honorary Canons were installed at Christ Church Cathedral and two people were admitted to The Order of St Frideswide by the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, in a service on Saturday 14 May.
The awards recognise the dedication and pioneering and innovative work of lay and ordained people to the Diocese of Oxford and the wider church across a variety of areas of ministry and mission, including providing expert financial education to children and young people and supporting refugees and asylum seekers in Berkshire.
The Order of St Frideswide is named after the renowned patron saint of Oxford. Founded in 2001, by the then Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Richard Harries, it admits just two or three people each year. Honorary Canons become part of the Cathedral’s College of Canons, playing an important role in bringing experience and wisdom to promote the life and mission of the Cathedral.
A Letter to The Times (July 2020)
Dear Sir,
The Portable Priest, Rev Pat Allerton's outreach, (Wednesday, June 10th), reminds me of when, as a child, I used to cycle on Sunday afternoon across Hyde Park to listen to the methodist minister, Lord Donald Soper, at Speakers Corner. Like Rev Allerton, Lord Soper, also gathered many around him as, from his soapbox, he engaged in robust and inspiring open-air preaching. Maybe in the post-COVID-19 era, the Church of England could encourage not only the continuation of online service but also outside ministry as well?
Yours,
Post Hollywood – Brave New World?
This week the world has seen a dramatic fall from grace for one of the movie industry’s highest-profile producers. We all know the story by now: the one where the movie mogul is said to have used his power and might to sexually abuse young vulnerable women. What happens in Hollywood was not an incident isolated to one man, one industry, one country. We should not be surprised at the reality of sexual harassment and rape is an issue that affects all ages, all genders, all backgrounds, all races, all ethnicities, all places of work, and many homes all over the world.
Walking Beside Our Neighbour
Everyone of us has been appalled and deeply shocked by the wicked terrorist attack in Manchester. We abhor the horror; we mourn the terrible loss, and the deliberate targeting such young, innocent lives. The aim of the attack was to create a climate of fear designed to shatter peace and tear communities apart. Despite the destructive aims, the opposite has occurred. Yesterday’s one minute silence, a time for prayer and reflection, showed the Mancunians — all people, all races, all religions — standing together.
Learning From our Disagreements
I would like to thank Bishop Stephen Cottrell for his Presidential Address to the Chelmsford Diocesan Synod on 11th March 2017. It was beautifully written, considered and a very clear working out of his current position in regards to LGBTI inclusion within the Church of England. What I found interesting in this address was that he also referred to the situation surrounding the Bishop of Burnley, the Rt. Rev. Philip North’s appointment to the See of Sheffield. They are of course very different theological and pastoral topics but they do share two common factors.