NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is suprise…surprise and fear…fear and surprise…. Our two weapons are fear and surprise…and ruthless efficiency…. Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency…and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope…. Our *four*…no… *Amongst* our weapons…. Amongst our weaponry…are such elements as fear, surprise….
Couldn’t resist a little bit of Monty Python, considering that the lay General Synod representatives voted through a measure for Heresy Trials at the recent General Synod as reported by The Times and the Telegraph last week. In order to prepare for the prospect, the BBC provides a handy summary of ten points of Church doctrine of which you may or may not be aware.
The debate in the comments following the list is interesting reading, specifically over whether or not Church of England priests have to follow the 39 articles to the letter. The point being that in amongst the articles are points that trip up all parts of the Church to some extent, as the BBC article makes clear.
The simple percentages listed in the the Telegraph offer the prospect of a busy time for the trials if they are brought in… If you want to explore the figures further, the original article, plus a large amount of other relevant material is referenced on the Study on Doctrinal Diversity page at the Sea of Faith Network website.
I just came across this article on the Ekklesia news feed, and on first reading was open mouthed with amazement at the comparison of campaigners for Women Bishops with the IRA!
As the article says, this was originally reported in the Guardian, so quite how this will be percieved in the wider world I don’t know, although it is worth noting that since there are large numbers of people who attend Church of England Churches who aren’t aware that there are parts of the Church where women priests aren’t welcome, Reform coming out with a statement such as this may be regarded at the very least as a bit odd.
One interesting side note, in the article the Archdeacon of Lewisham,
Rev Christine Hardman, mentions The Da Vinci Code, and the effect it’s publishing has had, specifically Dan Brown’s claims over it’s truth. Certainly I have come across people who have read, and been convinced. Of course anyone who watched the recent Channel 4 documentary will be aware that the claims of truth are somewhat shaky with key parts of the evidence being admitted to be a hoax, however with a large number of people having taken on board the themes of the book, specifically the supression of womens role in the Church, it does provide an interesting lens through which many people will be viewing the attitude of Reform in the current debate.
Beth picked up a nice uplighter and reading lamp from a clearance sale at Homebase last year. All was going well until the halogen bulb in the uplighter blew, so she went back to the small store in Camberley to buy a replacement bulb, to be told that they no longer stocked the bulb as there was no call for it. It is worth noting at this point that they were still selling the same uplighters…
Anyway, I tried to find the bulb today in various of the bigger stores in Reading. The Reading branch of Homebase also don’t stock the bulb, nor do B & Q, the self proclaimed largest lighting retailer in the UK. I even tried a couple of electrical stores, and finished off a Tesco. All of them had either the right sized bulb – 117mm linear halogens – but in the wrong wattage, or the right bulb electrically – 240v 150w – but in 78mm. In the end I gave up and came home, and ended up paying more in postage than the cost of the bulb to buy one from an internet retailer!
Incidentally, if anyone knows somewhere that stocks 117mm 150w 240v linear halogen bulbs in the Reading area, can they let me know!
As you may know, Beth’s parents are over visiting, and since they are staying with us, we had to clear out our front bedroom. Anyway, I took a picture near the beginning, and a picture now, and used a freeware tool called MorphX to transform between the two images. Note that the file is quite big, so it may take a little while to download.
Before I get a load of comments about the state of the before picture, it is worth mentioning that this wasn’t at the beginning of the process, as I only had the idea part way through. By this point the Mac had already been moved out (usually sits on the right of the picture where the other desk ended up in the after picture), plus at this point a lot of the paper and magazines had been cleared from downstairs into here and were in the process of being sorted.
Thoughts from, and the lives of a Canadian and a Brit living in the UK.
