Crisis, What Crisis?

Crisis? What Crisis? Governance of the Church of England

In a little over twelve months, Justin Welby will have retired as Archbishop of Canterbury. In this first essay Martyn Percy looks at the issue of classism and governance in the Church of England that underpin its operations.  His The Crisis of Colonial Anglicanism: Empire, Slavery, Revolt and the Church of England is published by Hurst Publishing on January 16th.

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Don’t Always Follow the Sacred

The famous psychologist Jonathan Haidt once said that to understand the governing narratives of our time, we needed to “follow the sacredness… find out what people believe to be sacred, and when [you find that, and the people gathered], there you find rampant irrationality”.  Rampant-Sacred-Irrationality [RSI] is also the acronym for Repetitive Strain Injury.  They have some similarities, the most obvious of which is that they are painful and exhausting.

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Fig-leaves

For many people, new revelations about former Prime Minister Boris Johnson allegedly entertaining all and sundry at Chequers during Covid restrictions might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Only a few months ago, the sight of him ducking and diving and weaving at the March Parliamentary Privileges Committee Hearing was enough to make even his most seasoned fans squirm. What were these farewell gatherings (parties) for? How many came, and who attended?  How much drink was consumed? Really? Boris, ever-the-bluffer, looks distinctly uncomfortable. Not so much the proverbial rabbit caught the headlights as a single stray hare found out trespassing on the stadium grass when someone turns on the floodlights.

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