The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has announced that the Dioceses Commission Draft Reorganisation Scheme for the Dioceses of Bradford, Ripon and Leeds, and Wakefield will be put to General Synod.

Following in depth consultation with Dioceses affected by the proposals, the matter will now be voted on by General Synod.

Each Diocese affected has voted individually on whether they support the scheme being implemented. Bradford, Ripon and Leeds, Sheffield and Blackburn Dioceses all voted in favour of the draft scheme progressing – Wakefield Diocese voted against.

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The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, will preach at the 900-year-old Church of St Aidan, Thockrington, Northumberland, in a service of Evening Worship at 4.00pm on Sunday 12 May 2013. At the service he will give thanks for the life of Lord Beveridge who was buried in the churchyard fifty years ago in 1963.

Also present will be Lord Beveridge's two surviving step-grandsons, Mr George Gwilt and Mr David Burn, who serves as Lay Chair of Thockrington's Parochial Church Council and as a Churchwarden of the neighbouring church of St Giles, Birtley.

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Churches and Christians are being urged to mark Sunday 12th May 2013 as a special day of prayer for the media – and to contact their local newspaper, radio and TV station to find out what they would like prayer for.

The call comes from Christian charity the Church and Media Network which works to promote links between the church and the media.

The Day of Prayer is being supported by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu and the Bishop of Bradford, Nick Baines, who have both provided prayers for the event.

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Let me begin by telling you about Stephen, a mature intelligent man of 38, a successful architect, with a wife and children of whom he is very proud. A man loved and respected by his wider family and the community where he lives and in which he is a blessing to many.

This is one of the real possibilities that the future held for Stephen Lawrence who was murdered 20 years ago this Monday in an unprovoked racist attack by a gang of white youths in Eltham. An attack whose devastating effect not only tragically denied Stephen a future, but also reverberated through many lives, causing pain which cannot be calculated this side of the grave.

As we remember Stephen’s death at this time, we need to renew our determination to rid our communities of racism, hatred, fear, ignorance, stereotyping, and the advantaging or disadvantaging of others because of their colour or ethnic origin.

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I believe that we need to work to create a world free from the scandal of poverty – we need to ensure all people and communities can flourish, wherever they live.

And what is the message on the box – what is the truth of Easter we are so keen to promote?

2000 years ago a baby named Jesus came to earth. He was God’s son. He brought a message of love and taught people to serve others in all they do. This revolutionary message undermined the authorities and religious leaders of the time, so he was arrested and executed in the most painful way imaginable, crucifixion – this day is called “Good Friday”. Jesus’ body was removed from the cross and his body put in a tomb. Three days later, on Easter Sunday, the stone of the tomb rolled away and Jesus rose from the dead. Inviting all people to participate in God’s life offered freely. For Jesus Christ did for us that which we could not do for ourselves.


That’s it. A simple story of hope. Because Jesus died for all the unGod-like things we have done, we can be forgiven. We can all start anew and hope is offered for all! Hallelujah!

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Above all at the start of Justin’s new ministry I hope that we shall all be open to the constant outpouring of the Holy Spirit, renewing us in faith, in hope, and in love. Anyone becoming an Archbishop is conscious both of the heritage of faithful witness in which we stand, and of today’s challenges and opportunities to make Christ known afresh in this generation. It is a privilege and responsibility we all share as followers of Christ in this land, as we are charged, along with Archbishop Justin, with the message of the all-embracing love of God in Jesus Christ, who rose gloriously from death to life on the first Easter day. It is to this ministry that Bishop Justin has been called.

Like any Bishop in the Church of England the Archbishop of Canterbury has a role in looking out for the needs of all sections of the community, whatever their religious tradition or belief, with special attention to the most vulnerable members of our society. The Archbishop does not carry this great responsibility alone, but in his public role he rightly represents the many hours of commitment and service put in by volunteers up and down the country who strive together in their local communities for the common good.

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A motley group of British retirees adventurously going off to a retirement home in India; a home full of former musicians who use their marvellous talents in an annual fundraising concert. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel last year, and Quartet this year have been two of the most popular recent films, with veteran actors and musicians playing characters who are full of humour, intelligence and talent. And now 66 year-old David Bowie has brought out a new single to rave reviews.

Are our attitudes to older people changing a bit? I hope so. For too long they have been side-lined and discounted, their gifts and experience undervalued. Now perhaps, as our working life lengthens, we may be returning to a proper appreciation of all that older people have to offer.

Our bible reading for today is about an encounter between generations, two very devout godly people – Simeon and Anna. They are present when Mary and Joseph go to the Temple – forty days after Jesus’ birth - to give thanks for him....

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Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, told the Most Rev Justin Welby, that he would lead the Church of England amid an age of seemingly unprecedented selfishness – in a society obsessed with individualism and rights.

The New Archbishop was also formally charged with the task of providing “a voice for faith” in the face of attempts to marginalise religion.

The 57-year-old former oil executive’s election as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury was confirmed in a ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

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Our bible reading in Church today is a letter from St Paul’s to the church in Corinth, in which he is trying to encourage church-members to work together for the glory of God. Everyone has different gifts and talents, Paul tells them. Each one of you is a body-part of the whole. Don’t all think you have to be the one who leads the prayers, or the one who preaches, the one who does the flowers, or the one who plays the music. He reminds them that our bodies are a marvellous piece of collaborative and co-ordinated working. We may think our eyes are our best feature. But if we decided we just wanted to be all eye, we wouldn’t be able to hear or speak. Similarly, though our football teams need to score goals to win games, if all our players were strikers, where would the defence be!

At the end of this week of prayer for Christian Unity, we need to remember that God has given us all wonderful gifts, but he’s given them to us not just for our own pleasure, and certainly not for our personal pride, but so that we can work together to do more wonderful things than we can do alone. Saint Teresa of Avila’s poem describes the miracle of how the world is changed by each one of us using our gifts and bringing them together to serve others.

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...social care is in crisis. There are now around 800,000 older people who desperately need social care but who get no help at all.

It is of deep concern to me that pensioners who have more than £23,500 have to pay for their social care costs in full. Many older people who have saved hard, but are by no means wealthy, see their hard earned savings disappear in a matter of months.
Each year around 20,000 older people have to sell their homes to pay for care, one in two people have to pay £20,000 in care costs. One in ten people pay more than £100,000. That is a national scandal. We should all have the peace of mind that that we will be cared for in the right way when our bodies start to fail.

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God, in Jesus Christ came to save – not to judge. He lived in our unloving world, exiled from its Creator, for as long as we allowed him to. In the end, it wasn’t that Jesus rejected us because of all our failings, faults and a refusal to change, but that we rejected him. He suffered and completed God’s work of making us his friends.

If we are tempted to pull out of our Church families because there is too much hurt and lack of love – we should remember Jesus of Nazareth. He never pulled out of our human race. And God the Father is no mere spectator, approving the sacrifice and applauding the actor – Jesus of Nazareth. God’s love was the root, Christ’s death the fruit of stickability and self-sacrifice.

We are celebrating the birth of the Child of Bethlehem, with universal godly credentials. His little family did not absorb him. He was not the Son of Mary and Joseph, he was the Son of humanity and of heaven: “the Word became flesh and lived among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Jesus royalised our humanity by crowning his human nature with the Divine nature.

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Talking about the struggles faced by the working poor has become a social taboo. We would prefer to pretend that the problem wasn’t there – but sadly it is.

It is a very grim reality that needs addressing urgently by all of us.

We will not make this country stronger by impoverishing others. Whether that is by offering unpaid internships and work experience to young people – or by freezing Minimum Wage levels for the poorest – the end result is that our society, our communities and our nation become sicker and less cohesive as a result....

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We need to recognise the personal cost of crime. We need to recognise the damage, hurt and pain crime causes to victims and their families. And we need to recognise the cost to the wider society. But the harsh reality is that 75% of young offenders re-offend within 12 months - 3 out of 4 - this has to stop!...”

“Reflex prison Outreach workers and volunteer mentors provide positive role models and ‘father figures’. Their accredited education programmes provide creative opportunities for reflection and achievement, and their life skills help build ‘character’, encouraging young people to take responsibility for their actions as part of the community. With God's help, Reflex can place a worker in every Young Offenders Institution in the nation. We can turn the tide.”

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Over the years, the amount of money spent on adult social care initially stagnated and then decreased. It cannot be right that at a time when the numbers of older and disabled people are growing, there is a smaller pot of money to share amongst the growing need.

More older people are now having to face spiralling care costs just to be able to live with dignity. The generation that saved for their old age, and paid their dues, now often see all that they worked for is sucked into a vortex of social care costs.

My concern is that even when people give up all their life’s assets, achieved after a lifetime of hard work and diligence, there is no guarantee even that the quality of care they receive is assured.

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Delay in appointing a successor to the Most Rev. Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury is prompting questions about the viability of the role. Williams joined the debate last weekend, saying it was inevitable that changes would be made to lighten the archbishop’s workload.

He told the Compass Rose Society meeting in Canterbury there was clearly too much on his plate. He said there were always efforts to relieve him of a committee or two “so I get a five-minute break between meetings” but sooner or later significant changes need to be put in place.

The archbishop’s workload, effectively four jobs, will be an issue weighing on the chosen person....

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Ten years ago I was part of a movement called Jubilee 2000 which changed the way people think about debt. It challenged a deeply held principle ‘that debts must always be repaid’ by showing how, in the case of many debts owed by impoverished countries, the consequences of repayments was creating nearly unimaginable suffering.

We were not calling for an act of charity, but a realisation that the economy we had created was structured in a way which was deeply unfair, exaggerating inequality and poverty in many parts of the world. We didn’t want donations, but a change in the rules of engagement.

The change in values which the Jubilee movement effected, forced decision-makers to enact policies which went someway to redressing this injustice. $125 billion of debt was wiped out, government’s were able to start spending money in ways that benefited their people.

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In the past, the Church has divided along the tribal lines of evangelicals, liberals and Anglo-Catholics. The totemic issues which mark its dividing lines – over the acceptability of gay relationships, women priests and now women bishops – are completely settled for the vast majority of the population. Interestingly, there are suggestions that they are now being settled in the Church too; though conservative evangelicals remain implacably opposed to modern views on gender and sexuality, the terms in which they debate have subtly shifted in ways which suggest that it is only a matter of time before liberal tolerance prevails.

Instead, there is a new division inside the Church. It is between those who want a safe pair of hands to keep Anglicans together long enough for the old differences to dissolve and those who want someone who will reimagine the institution for the modern age with a bolder vision of purpose. The choice has significant implications for the rest of society....

....stalemate seems to have been reached in successive secret ballots. Welby is seen as too inexperienced and possibly too conservative and James as too liberal and a bit uninspiring. It may be time for a caretaker until the qualities of the new generation of bishops have become more clear. In the circumstances, the Church should consider the Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones.....

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At each appearance throughout the day, there are questions about whether he will wear his dog collar after it was torn up on live television five years ago in protest at Robert Mugabe’s tyranny in Zimbabwe.

The answer is an emphatic and passionate one: this protest will continue until Mugabe no longer has any influence over his people, or has shown to repent.

The one subject off limits is the likelihood of Dr John Sentamu becoming the first black Archbishop of Canterbury.

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These are the 16 members of the Crown Nominations Commission, the panel selected to appoint Dr Rowan Williams's successor as Archbishop of Canterbury....

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David Cameron may have to break the deadlock over the choice of the next Archbishop of Canterbury, according to a former member of the committee charged with nominating Rowan Williams’s successor.

The call came as sources said that the Crown Nominations Commission had agreed on the first name but was divided over the “runner-up” to submit to Downing Street. Justin Welby, the Bishop of Durham and a former oil industry executive, has secured the necessary two-thirds majority to be recommended as first choice. But members seem divided over whether the Bishop of Norwich, Graham James, or the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, should be the second choice.

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I’ve spoken at length this afternoon with Arun Arora (the Church of England Director of Communications) and it’s clear that what he was trying to communicate through various parties yesterday was not a confirmation that the CNC hadn’t decided a name but rather was simply a “no comment”. If we’ve given the impression that Arun was trying to pass on a clear message that CNC hadn’t decided on a candidate then we apologise.

We’re still left with the mysterious line in the press statement of “the work of the Commission continues”.

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The secretive panel choosing the next Archbishop of Canterbury is rumoured to have turned down the original frontrunner, the Archbishop of York John Sentamu, amid signs that it is deadlocked.

Speculation was rife last night that the 16-strong Crown Nominations Commission was not convinced the high-profile Dr Sentamu was the best candidate, and was torn between two other candidates, the Bishop of Norwich Graham James and the Bishop of Durham Justin Welby.

Sources said Ugandan-born Dr Sentamu, who had been tipped as the Church’s first black Archbishop of Canterbury, was a popular and charismatic leader, but may lack the diplomatic skills for Lambeth Palace.

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[London Bishop Richard] Chartres, a friend of the Prince of Wales, had been seen as a leading candidate. But it is understood that representatives from the Canterbury diocese objected to his refusal to ordain women, demanding that Williams’s successor be supportive of female clergy.

“I’ve been told that the Bishop of Dover is exercising a lot of influence over the whole process and that the Canterbury six [representatives from the diocese] are making life very difficult,” a senior cleric said. “They have too much say, with six out of the 16 votes, and can block anyone.”

With Chartres out of contention, the commission is thought to have reduced the shortlist to Graham James, the Bishop of Norwich, Justin Welby, the Bishop of Durham, and Sentamu.

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According to the Sunday Times, the panel has a three name shortlist:

* Bishop of Norwich Graham James, 61, a keen amateur actor and cricketer who said last week he would "hope and pray" someone else gets the job.

* Archbishop of York John Sentamu, 63, a Ugandan-born traditionalist who holds the second most senior post in the Church of England and writes a column for the Sun newspaper.

* Bishop of Durham Justin Welby, 56, a former oil industry executive who has been a bishop for less than a year.

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The choice of a successor to Dr Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury may not take place for several months, the Church of England has said.

It comes after speculation that the latest meeting of the panel given the task of nominating a new Church leader had not chosen a candidate.

Officials reiterated that the work of choosing a successor could go on throughout the autumn.

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The Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), which met last week to choose a new Archbishop of Canterbury, has been unable to agree on the two names it submits to the Prime Minister. A short statement put out by the C of E communications department on Friday does not admit this as such, but this is the only reasonable interpretation of the phrase: "The work of the Commission continues."

All meetings of the CNC are confidential, and it was a new departure this time to let it be known that a meeting was taking place. Church House staff were careful beforehand not to be drawn on whether this was the CNC's final meeting, with good reason as it now appears.

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One of the country’s leading Anglican priests has attacked the “secrecy” surrounding the appointment of the next archbishop of Canterbury, amid claims that the committee making the choice has been unable to reach a decision.

Dr Giles Fraser, former canon chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral, said there was “no good reason for secrecy. “[It] always looks like an Establishment stitch up,” he said. “We ought to have open elections.”

He spoke amid confusion over who will succeed Dr Rowan Williams as the leader of the Anglican church.

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Anglican Ink’s Peter Ould told host Kevin Kallsen that he interpreted the statement to mean the committee had deadlocked. He speculated the likely cause of the deadlock could have been the potential selection of the Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu, or Bishop of Durham, Justin Welby.

Dr. Sentamu has angered liberals within the Church of England over his robust rejection of same-sex marriage and a small but vocal minority of opponents has consistently objected to his candidacy. The Bishop of Durham has been in office for less than a year, and Mr. Ould speculated his selection for the church’s top post would be a cause of concern due to his inexperience. Sources have also informed Anglican Ink that a third contender, the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres – whose chances for selection have risen sharply in the past few weeks, has been passed over for the post.

The way forward is unclear. At the present time no further meetings have been set for the commission, but no other body is able to submit names to the Prime Minister.

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The body responsible for choosing the next Archbishop of Canterbury has failed to agree who should be the successor to Dr Rowan Williams.

Despite a three day session, aided by prayers invoked on Twitter with the hashtage #prayforthecnc, the 16-member committee has been unable to decide on who should take on the job that the present incumbent today implied was “impossible”.

A source told The Times that a decision on who should succeed Dr Rowan Williams was not expected soon. “A decision is not imminent,” he said.

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So, who will it be?

If the Commission wants to boost Anglican traditionalists, placate Africa, raise St George’s Day to an English national holiday and take a swipe at institutional racism, they’ll appoint John Sentamu, Archbishop of York. If they wish to hold a steady-as-she-goes via media, with interminably tedious increments in an inevitable direction, they’ll appoint Richard Chartres, Bishop of London. If they choose to accelerate the liberal trajectory, with a nod toward North America and an ‘inclusive’ mission which embraces all sexual proclivities and environmental causes, they could do a lot worse than James Jones, presently Bishop of Liverpool.

These aren’t the only possibilities, of course: while Sentamu is utterly colourful and wonderfully unique, you could replace the authoritative Chartres of London with Graham James of Norwich; and Jones of Liverpool could easily be supplanted by Cocksworth of Coventry. We are talking about the Church of England here: it isn’t going to be suddenly re-reformed or catholicised by anyone overnight.

If, however, the Commission is concerned to appoint God’s choice – a thoughtful and gifted communicator, deeply committed to upholding the orthodoxy of the Christian faith – ‘the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints’ – in the fraught context of cultural diversity, social upheaval, political cynicism and theological conflict, the lot must fall to Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham....

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The Church of England will almost certainly take a swing to the right as a conclave of powerful figures from within the Anglican Communion meet to decide who should become the new Archbishop of Canterbury over the coming days.

Almost all the front runners who have been put forward for the role are noticeably more conservative than Rowan Williams was before he took leadership of the church nine years ago - particularly when it comes to the thorny issue of homosexuality....

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Check it out. For those of you following this closely, you will notice there have been significant changes and movements.

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The York Fairness Commission will present its Final Report to the leaders of City of York Council on Thursday 27th September at an event at Bishopthorpe Palace.

The presentation of the report will be the culmination of months of work to see how inequality and unfairness can be tackled across York, in the face of a difficult economic situation nationally.

Whilst research shows two fifths of York residents are relatively well off, living in the best 20% of places in the country, around 13,000 residents in the City live in the most deprived 20% of the country. In addition , City of York Council must make £19.7m worth of savings over the next two years due to cuts imposed by central government.

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Whilst the British Government seem to be considering easing some sanctions against Mr Mugabe and his personal allies, I am not convinced that the time has come to weaken international opposition to the President of Zimbabwe’s irresponsible, undemocratic, lawless, and at times brutal regime. I certainly won’t be placing an order for a new clerical collar at Wippells just yet.

We cannot allow Robert Mugabe off the hook. When I cut up my clerical collar, I said I would not put it on again until Mr Mugabe had gone from office – we need to stand in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe and not forget the abuses and exploitation they have suffered at the hands of that administration.

The reason given by Her Majesty’s Government for this ‘step change’ in relations with Zimbabwe is the work going in to drafting a new constitution for that country. The recent meeting of European Union foreign ministers, which agreed to lift these restrictions on Mr Mugabe’s colleagues, have made this decision dependent only upon whether a ‘credible’ referendum is held on the new constitution. Perhaps if they had read the draft constitution they might have taken a different view.

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Would it be a bad thing if the Church of England were disestablished?

It would be a very bad thing. I don’t think that we always appreciate as a society the role that the Church of England plays in being there for us all. Being the spiritual glue that cements the social fabric of our society. It’s not just about the important role that Bishops play in the House of Lords or on state occasions, the Church of England has a far wider role than that.

Did you know that more people volunteer for church organisations than any other organisation or group in the country? Up and down the country the Church of England is present in every community, in the North and in the South, in rural and urban settings, everywhere – it has a unique role to play in maintaining and promoting community.

It’s not just about tradition, it’s about recognising that even on a basic societal level the Church of England by Law Established is looking out for those in need. As Archbishop William Temple once said, the Church is the only organisation that exists for the wellbeing of its non-members....

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Archbishop Sentamu said, “Believe in Boro is a great idea. It’s a chance for Christians across Middlesbrough to come together and show this fantastic town the difference that Jesus makes in our lives. We believe in a God who loves us all, and who reaches into people’s lives to change them from glory to glory. God isn’t distant or uncaring – he loves you - and I hope these events will show people a little of God’s love for them.”

The Revd Canon Erik Wilson, Vicar of St. Barnabas’ Church, is one of the church leaders who has organised Believe in Boro. He said, “Believe in Boro has been a great opportunity for churches of all different denominations – Church of England, Baptist, Methodist, New Frontiers and many more – to work together. . We may have different ways of doing things in our churches, but by coming together for Believe in Boro, we are saying that we are all part of a wider church family in Jesus Christ.”

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In its submission to the Government consultation on same-sex marriage, which closes on June 14, the Church of England states it cannot support the proposal to enable "all couples, regardless of their gender, to have a civil marriage ceremony".

It adds that the consultation paper wrongly implies that there are two categories of marriage, "civil" and "religious" - "this is to mistake the wedding ceremony for the institution of marriage". Changing the State's understanding of marriage will, therefore, change the way marriage is defined for everybody and, despite the government's assurances to the contrary, will change the nature of marriages solemnized in churches and other places of worship.

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The panel chosen to appoint the next Archbishop of Canterbury is facing claims that it is dominated by clerics who reject orthodox teaching.

The committee is unfairly balanced in favour of liberals who support “revisionist” moves such as the appointment of [non-celibate] homosexual bishops, traditionalists have warned.

Their intervention came as the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) met behind closed doors last week for the first in a series of meetings to decide the successor to Dr Rowan Williams.

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There has already been a lot of discussion about the amendments agreed this week by the House of Bishops to the draft Measure concerning the ordination of women as bishops. Although the senior officers of the Synod (the 'Group of Six') have determined by a majority that these amendments do not alter the substance of the proposals embodied in the Measure, much anxiety has been expressed as to their implications, and it may be helpful to set out what the House attempted and intended.

The House fully and wholeheartedly accepts that the draft legislation voted on by the dioceses represents the will of an undoubted and significant majority in the Church of England. They did not intend to make any change in any principle of that legislation or to create any new powers or privileges for anyone. They believed that, if certain clarifications and expansions of the wording were made, the Measure might be carried with more confidence, and, out of that conviction, agreed the new wording, which affects two questions....

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The Church of England was plunged into another row over gay marriage...[recently] when a cleric condemned a new statement by the Archbishop of York against gay marriage as “absolute rubbish”.

The Rev Giles Fraser, who has taken up a position in a deprived parish in South London after resigning from St Paul’s over the Occupy protest, tweeted: “Absolute rubbish from the Archbishop of York, I’m afraid.”

Dr John Sentamu had posted a paper on his own website explaining why he believed same-sex marriage to be wrong. He criticises those who attempt to draw a parallel between same-sex marriage and interracial marriage.

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Bishops in South Sudan have said that they are ready to do “all in their power” to put an end to the conflict with Sudan.

Episcopal and Roman Catholic bishops held a meeting from 9 to 11 May, attended by the Archbishop of York, Dr Sentamu. They called on the international community to implement a UN resolution that demands an immediate cessation of hostilities, and the resumption of negotiations, under threat of international sanctions.

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Following reports of my interview, in Jamaica, with Martin Beckford of the Daily Telegraph, I have received a number of letters and emails relating to the views which I shared in that interview, including an open letter from students in the JCR of my beloved college, Selwyn, Cambridge.

Media reports of long interviews are inevitably selective, and the full transcript is available here for clarification: (http://www.archbishopofyork.org/articles.php/2338/archbishops-interview-with-the-daily-telegraph).

A number of letters endorsed the points I made in that interview. Others challenged my views, raising a number of points on which my arguments differ from theirs.

I am therefore writing a general open reply to all the issues raised in these letters....

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Today marks the start of the Dying Matters awareness week, organised by the Dying Matters Coalition to encourage more open discussion about dying, death and bereavement. It’s a collaboration of over 16,000 members including hospices, care homes, charities, health and care professionals, the Church of England and other religious groups, as well as families and individuals who are themselves facing the end of life.

Our message, born from personal and professional experiences, is a clear one: unless we change our reluctance to talk about dying and plan for the future, we are unlikely to be able to die as we would want with dignity, or to support the dying and the bereaved.

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None the less, when clergy who have worked with him criticise him for "African" style, they are making a point which is not racist. The slow schism in the Anglican communion has exposed many people to a style of church leadership which they find repugnant.

The style that people object to is autocratic, and prelatical. The idea that God blesses success, and that might therefore shows forth righteousness, is embedded in a lot of African religious culture. Sentamu's younger brother, for example, is a hugely successful "Prosperity gospel" preacher in Kampala, with a mansion, a Mercedes, and a church where journalists are searched on entry. Authority, in such a church, is fawned on sooner than questioned.

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If anything, the situation has been rather the reverse. My impression is that those who have had criticisms or reservations of Dr Sentamu's candidacy have largely kept them to themselves over the past couple of years, precisely because they fear that they may have been accused of racism if they expressed them. Political correctness has served Dr Sentamu well.

Lately, it's true that some of his critics have concluded that their views are as valid and innocent as if he were a white man. And so I've heard these words: Capricious, impulsive, vain with the media and quick to temper (as well, I might add, as words such as prophetic, inspirational, generous and kind). None of these words has anything to do with Dr Sentamu's ethnicity.

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He may hail from Uganda but the Archbishop of York is one of England’s most passionate spokespeople for St George’s Day, being marked today.

It’s one of his “favourite” days in the year, Dr John Sentamu wrote in his column for The Sun yesterday.

“A day when we can celebrate everything that is great about England,” he said.

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Lord Carey of Clifton, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has condemned criticism of one of the favourites to succeed Dr Rowan Williams.

His comments came after a former aide to Dr John Sentamu — who is Archbishop of York and a candidate to succeed Dr Williams as leader of the Church of England — claimed that the Archbishop had been targeted by an “anonymous whispering” campaign. The Rev Arun Arora said: “At its best, the besmirching of John Sentamu has revealed that strand of snobbery which views outsiders as lacking class, diplomacy or civility — in other words ‘not one of us’. At worst, it has elicited the naked racism which still bubbles under the surface in our society, and which is exposed when a black man is in line to break the chains of history.”

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Dr John Sentamu has repeatedly refused to confirm whether or not he would be throwing his hat into the ring to lead the Church of England when Dr Williams steps down later this year.

But last night it emerged that he had stepped down from the body responsible for the appointment – meaning that he can formally be considered.

It follows mounting speculation that the 62-year old archbishop would not stand as a candidate due to his age and recent bouts of poor health.

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The Archbishop of York...[this week] gave the keynote address ‘Christian Citizenship Today’ at the Citizenship, Covenant and Christ Conference at Belfast City Hall.

The Archbishop explained: "Any understanding of Christian citizenship must take into account that we are citizens of Christ's Kingdom. We belong to Christ and we owe our loyalty to Him. Yet if we are tempted to conclude that this releases us from obligations as human citizens of a modern state, we need to think again."

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In his address, the Archbishop referred to depending inequality, the invisibility of poverty and the cyclical nature of poverty.

Dr Sentamu said: "We are far richer today yet misery is growing. The current recession has led to significant cuts in public spending and services with more likely in the immediate years ahead. As well as the reality of poverty and growing inequality in our country today, we also face the problem of poverty of vision. Put simply, we have lost a vision of how we might transform our society to bring about changes that we wish to see."

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Nikolai Bukharin's mistake, and the mistake of many people, then and now, is to treat the Christian faith like an ideology. Looking for Jesus Christ among the dead.

But the truth of Easter is not to be found in the grave of past experience, of pre-conceived expectations, it’s in the joy and constant surprises of new life, which Jesus brings us.

But will we recognise him when he turns up – unexpectedly – drying our tears, as he dried Mary’s in the garden by the tomb; when he breaks through the barriers we - like the frightened disciples - build around ourselves?

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The resurrection of Jesus that we celebrate today shows us that nothing is beyond God’s power to make a difference, not even death. Because He went to hell and back and that means that there is always hope.

My prayer is the same for all people. I pray that you will know that God loves you and has a purpose for you. I pray that you will be inspired to become all that God has created you to be. I pray that you will be enabled to change your environment and to make it the place that God wants it to become. The challenge starts now and it is a challenge for you and for me!

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of York John Sentamu • * Christian Life / Church Life • Church Year / Liturgical Seasons • Easter

Leading Anglicans are lobbying against Dr John Sentamu, the favourite candidate to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury, by suggesting that he is too old.

Dr Sentamu, whom liberals regard as too conservative on gay marriage, emerged as an early favourite to replace Rowan Williams when he steps down at the end of the year. But critics have privately questioned the African-born archbishop’s suitability for the role, pointing out that, at 62, he is already a year older than Dr Williams.

One insider said: “Just as the initials ABC are used to designate the Archbishop of Canterbury, the initials ABY have been used for York. But now, for those against him, they are being used to mean ‘Anyone But York’.”

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...the Church of England – and the Anglican Communion – needs someone with a pastoral touch. It needs a man – and it will be a man, because the Church of England is years away from appointing a female bishop let alone a lady archbishop – who can be fair to all points of view rather than imposing absolutes on difficult issues, and someone who can put their personal beliefs aside for the greater good.

Sentamu has come out fighting on the issue of gay marriage and has become the darling of conservatives inside and outside the Church of England. But his views alienate and polarise: there are clergy and parishioners who would love to see same-sex relationships registered in places of worship. An archbishop is not a spokesman or a pundit to be wheeled out to comment on the hot topics of the day. His job, in fact, is an impossible one: to accept that some Anglicans will never agree on the issues of gender or homosexuality while at the same time holding everyone together on common issues such as the Millennium Development Goals and the persecution of minority Christian communities around the world.

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Dr Sentamu, the sixth of 13 brothers and sisters, and a former barrister and judge, came to the UK in 1974 having fled Uganda where he was a critic of the dictator Idi Amin.
Dubbed by some as ''cleric of the people'', he is known for his high-profile interventions.
In 2007 he cut up his dog collar on live television in a dramatic protest against Robert Mugabe's rule, vowing never to wear the symbol of his office again until the Zimbabwe president had been removed from power.

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David Cameron should choose “masterly inactivity” over plans to introduce gay marriage, the Archbishop of York urged.

Dr John Sentamu said that he believed in civil partnerships but that they were not the same as marriage and people were failing to address that.

“There is a difference between civil partnerships and marriage,” he said. “That difference does not mean one is better than another.”

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The special prayer for this Second Sunday of Lent (Lent 2) invites us to admit that we “have no power of ourselves to help ourselves”; and therefore we need God to protect us “from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul.”

Lent 2 wants us to recognise our powerlessness.

There is much to be thankful for: like the advances we see in science – especially in medicine. But haven’t we also seen our spiritual poverty – having lost what makes us really human: love of God and neighbour?

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of York John Sentamu • * Christian Life / Church Life • Church Year / Liturgical Seasons • Lent

A number of Dr [John] Sentamu’s follow­ers on Twitter, including some clergy, expressed dismay at his endorsement of The Sun on Sunday. On Monday, the Bishop of Bradford, the Rt Revd Nick Baines, wrote: “All my instincts lead me to take a different view from that of the Archbishop of York on this one.”

Bishop Baines said that he did not question Dr Sentamu’s motive “for writing the article and engaging with the paper in this way”, but said: “I could not endorse the paper myself.” He went on to criticise strongly how News International, which owns The Sun, had handled the investigation into phone-hacking.

The Bishop of Swansea & Brecon, the Rt Revd John Davies, speaking on BBC1’s Big Questions on Sunday morning, said that he was “not impressed” by Dr Sentamu’s article....

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“The Anglican Church in Uganda submitted its views on David Bahati’s Private Member’s Bill formally when it was first tabled, and made clear that they were not in favour of introducing a death penalty for homosexuality. I completely support that position.

“It is important that across the world we stand in solidarity with people, flesh of our flesh, who are being in many cases victimized or demonized because of their sexual orientation...."

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What do you say to those who tell the church to keep out of politics?
I think we should all have a concern for our country. We should want what is best for the common good – and there is absolutely nothing wrong with articulating that in the public sphere. If you do not speak up then all that happens is that someone else will speak for you.

When we see injustice or bad policy being made, we have a duty to speak up. I don’t agree that Christians should stay out of politics. We should be as rigorous as anyone else, and feel able to make suggestions on how to improve difficult situations.

Is it right that some bankers gambled with our nation’s economy in a gambling casino culture? No. Is it right that we should say something about this? Yes. Why ever not?

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of York John Sentamu

Church leaders in Wakefield have secured Foreign Office funding to bring a Pakistan delegation of lawyers, police, imams and priests on a peace mission to Britain to share good practice and help heal rifts between Muslims and Christians.

Three imams, three priests, three police officers and three lawyers from Pakistan - close to the village where Christians were burned to death in 2009 - arrived in London on Sunday for a five day fact-finding tour there and in Yorkshire to learn more about how crimes are investigated, our judicial system, share good practice of interfaith work and how to build bridges between faiths.

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The author has twenty years experience of direct work with children and young people. In the foreword to the book , John Sentamu writes, ‘I strongly commend this book to all practitioners, would-be practitioners, all decision makers and opinion formers to remind them and all of us that each story told in the book represents a real person and actual circumstances.’

Andrew Williams was born in Uganda and his father remembered John Sentamu in the 1960s as a promising youth leader in Kampala shortly before Idi Amin’s rise to power....

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...the only difference between the current arrangements for “flying” bishops, who are appointed to care for traditionalists, and the new “co-ordinate” bishops proposed by Dr Williams and Dr Sentamu, would be the source of authority.

With delegate bishops, the authority to conduct confirmations and other services would come from the diocesan bishop. With the new “co-ordinate” bishops proposed by the Archbishops, it would come from Synod, giving the traditionalist male equal authority in the diocese with the female diocesan.

But Jamaica-born Ms [Rose] Hudson-Wilkin, the first black woman chaplain to the House of Commons, told The Times that this was unacceptable. “If we are going to have women as bishops then we need to have women bishops. We need to stop moving the goalposts. I am not happy with anything that only begrudgingly makes women bishops.”

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Police are investigating racist e-mails sent to Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, after he spoke out against gay marriage.

North Yorkshire Police confirmed they are treating e-mails sent to the Ugandan-born Archbishop as potential hate crimes....

A police spokesman said: “We can confirm that a complaint has been received from the office of Archbishop John Sentamu, following the receipt of e-mails containing racially offensive statements. The e-mails are being investigated as a hate crime.”

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I believe that marriage is the bedrock of society. It is a gift from God in Creation. It has a public element, a public commitment made to one another and to the community. For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. Already in marriage, there are the ingredients of stability that children are looking for.

What we shouldn't do is begin to create comparisons of the different family structures because I think that's a dead end conversation.

Marriage is in creation, whether you're Christian or not, there isn't such a thing as “a Christian marriage” - marriage is marriage is marriage. The faith of course can help support it, but we've got to honour the institution of marriage – the Holy Estate.

I've known people who were atheists who were very loving and caring in terms of that relationship. The only thing I said to them was it would be much easier if they knew that the source of romance is God.

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The archbishop of York, John Sentamu, hopes that people will pay attention to other things in his most recent interview than his attack on gay marriage. Fat chance. When he said that the government will be acting as dictators have done if it introduces gay marriage, he put himself squarely in the wrong on a matter that people care about.

Nor does he give what I think are likely to be his real, animating reasons: that he believes gay marriage is bad because it makes being gay look normal and even admirable, and because gay people should not have sex with each other. Around most of the world, and certainly in most of the Anglican Communion, these would be perfectly respectable and uncontroversial things to say. But in modern Britain they are a minority view, and certainly not a respectable one. They are not going to win a political argument – and that's what he's fighting here.

He could defend marriage for heterosexuals only on the grounds that the Bible comes out of a culture where gay marriage would be an abomination. But he doesn't. What he actually talks about in his interview is history and tradition. The trouble for him is that history and tradition are up against the argument from justice. In that contest the argument from justice will always win, unless it inconveniences too many of the powerful. Gay marriage doesn't....

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In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Dr John Sentamu, the second most senior cleric in the Church of England, tells ministers they should not overrule the Bible and tradition by allowing same-sex marriage.

The Government will open a consultation on the issue in March and the Prime Minister has indicated that he wants it to be a defining part of his premiership. But the Archbishop says it is not the role of the state to redefine marriage, threatening a new row between the Church and state just days after bishops in the House of Lords led a successful rebellion over plans to cap benefits.

“Marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman,” says Dr Sentamu. “I don’t think it is the role of the state to define what marriage is. It is set in tradition and history and you can’t just [change it] overnight, no matter how powerful you are.

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...[How] then are we to...[approach]... this King Jesus?....[In part] by understanding the significance of the birthplace of Jesus. Bethlehem is not only the Kingly City of David. It is called the ‘house of bread’. How fitting that the ‘Bread of Life’, the ‘Bread of Heaven’, was born in that city. How fitting that this king of peace would give his own life, his own flesh to feed the hungry with bread. He who would spiritually feed the world with the sacrifice of his flesh, was born in the ‘House of Bread’.

St Bede says this of Jesus’ manger throne – a cattle’s feeding and drinking trough: “He, whose throne is in the heavens, confined to the narrowness of a manger, so that he might open wide to us the joys of his eternal kingdom. He that is the Bread of Angels, reclines in a manger, that we as sanctified beasts might be fed the corn of his flesh.”

And St Cyril says: “He found that man had become a beast in his soul, and so he is placed in the manger, in the place of fodder, that we, changing from our animal way of living, may be led back to the wisdom that becomes humanity: stretching out, not towards animal fodder, but to the heavenly Bread of Life of his body.”

Let us turn from our beastly ways and turn to the God who shows us what it is to be human....

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The families of soldiers from Yorkshire killed in action or seriously injured in Afghanistan joined The Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu at a special service of remembrance and thanksgiving at Bishopthorpe Palace in York...[this past Friday].

The service, which was held in the chapel at Bishopthorpe Palace, was attended by over 50 parents and partners, brothers and sisters, Visiting and Welfare Officers from across the York Diocese.

The Archbishop said: “We should not forget our brave servicemen and women, who put their lives on the line on a daily basis. We have the best and bravest troops in the world and it is important that they know how highly they are thought of by this nation.”

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Writing an open letter to the Prime Minister and his fellow Taxpayers in England, the Archbishop has asked the Government to consider a new social covenant to protect the most vulnerable in society.

The Archbishop of York's said: “A failing of today’s society is to set the old over and against the young, in a state of mutual incomprehension. In fact, the old need the young and the young, the old. An integration of the generations is critical to a mutually supportive society. The value we are seen to place on their wisdom and the concern we show for their care are important litmus tests of whether we can build a caring as well as a confident society in the 21st century.”

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A move by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to soften the women-bishops legislation, rejected by the General Synod in July last year, might return to the Synod next February.

The Catholic Group in Synod said on Tuesday that it was likely that the Synod would be invited to debate in February a motion “calling on the House of Bishops to exercise its powers to amend the Measure in the manner of the amendment jointly proposed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York”.

The Archbishops’ amendment had sought to establish bishops accept­able to traditionalists whose auth­ority was derived from the legisla-tion — not delegated from the diocesan bishop, who might be a woman, as is proposed in the main Measure. Al­though it was defeated narrowly in the House of Clergy, it nevertheless achieved an overall majority.

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The Archbishop of York today welcomed today’s report of the High Pay Commission’s independent inquiry into high pay and boardroom pay across the public and private sectors in the UK. The Commission, established by Compass with the support of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, is calling for an end to corrosive pay deals.

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[The plenty with which we are surrounded] today is tinged with bewilderment. Drug abuse and violence are rife. Mental illness seems to have become more common, not simply better recognised, over the last generation or so. Rates of self-harm among teenage girls are also high and seem to be increasing. Personal debt has hit a record high.

So what has gone wrong? What has caused the loss of paradise? David Cameron said two years ago: "Research by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, in The Spirit Level, has shown that among the richest countries, it's the more unequal ones that do worse according to almost every quality of life indicator."

The Prime Minister was right to draw attention to this book. Its essential message, backed up by sound social science research, is that inequality damages community life and the relationships that hold us together. It shows that many social problems are more common in societies with larger income differences. Sadly, Britain is among the more unequal of the rich countries.

Read it all and it may also be found there.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • Archbishop of York John Sentamu • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • Personal Finance • Stock Market • The Banking System/Sector • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York question the rationale for a wholly or mainly elected House of Lords in their submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Government's Draft Bill and White Paper (the submission can be read on the CofE website).

Whilst welcoming the Draft Bill's proposals to provide continued places for bishops of the established Church in a partly appointed House, the Archbishops ask that the appointments process also have regard to increasing the presence of leaders of other denominations and faiths.

The Draft Bill and White Paper proposes a House of Lords of 300 members, with either 80% or 100% elected by proportional representation. If the reformed House were to retain an appointed element, there would be places for Church of England bishops, though reduced to 12 from their current 26. Bishops would not be allowed to remain in a 100% elected House under the Government's plans.

The Archbishops argue in their submission that the test of reform is whether it enables Parliament as a whole to serve the people better.

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(Please note that this is an article about the op-ed which is the post previous to this one--KSH).

The Archbishop of York has urged the Government to introduce a radical overhaul of the tax system and called for greed to be made as socially unacceptable as racism and homophobia.

Dr John Sentamu claimed many of the wealthiest in society are avoiding paying their dues in a stinging attack on the growing divide between Britain’s rich and poor.

Highlighting the growing gulf between the poorest sections of society and the nation’s uber-wealthy, Dr Sentamu also said those who have accumulated the biggest fortunes should not be included on the Queen’s Honours List.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of York John Sentamu • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Personal Finance • Stock Market • The Banking System/Sector

Top pay has been found to bear little or no relation to company performance, but even if it did, isn’t the performance of a company dependent on the work and well-being of all its staff?

Among the ill effects of very large income differences between rich and poor are that they weaken community life and make societies less cohesive.

If the concept of the Big Society is to become a reality, so that people come to know and take more care of each other, income differences must surely be reduced.

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Bishops have voiced concerns about the Government’s proposals to reform the NHS, and have demanded significant changes to the Health and Social Care Bill.

The Bill went to the Lords on Tuesday, and peers rejected a motion to delay it by referring it to a select committee. Ministers have warned that any delay could kill off the Bill, which would increase competition in the NHS with more private providers, and put GP-led consortia in charge of buying care in their areas.

The Bill has already been altered substantially after extensive criticism from NHS staff and Liberal Demo­crat MPs.

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The Archbishop of York and a number of bishops are leading the way in inviting millions back to church this weekend for Back to Church Sunday 2011 (25th September). In addition to meeting people where they’re at, at a range of public events (from Sunday car boot sales to jazz nights), they are encouraging people to send friends invitations either in person or using social media.

The Archbishop of York, the Most Revd Dr John Sentamu, Tweeted an invitation to come back to church today, Monday, 19th September. He said: "This Sunday (25th September) is Back to Church Sunday. http://www.backtochurch.co.uk . Why not invite your friends too? Pass the message on!"

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You can read about the event here. The description begins this way:

On behalf of the Restore Hope Latimer trustees, our team and all of our partner churches, a very warm welcome to On Earth As In Heaven 2011. Many hours of prayer, planning and hard work by a huge team of volunteers have enabled us to host this event once again.

On Earth As In Heaven 2008 was staged in the midst of one of the worst financial crashes of our lifetime. It was the banks, financial institutions and corporate world which felt the full blast of that initial storm; three years on and the shock waves are still affecting countries, communities and families.

Each one of us has a pilot light of hope within us. A flame which rises and falls with the situations or circumstances we are facing. At different times in our lives, the flame can be strong. Sometimes our flame of hope is weak. But each of us needs that flame – without it we are without hope; life loses meaning and purpose, people fall into despair and anger breaks out. Depression rests on those who are struggling with life and anarchy breaks out on our streets.

You may also find the full schedule over there.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • Archbishop of York John Sentamu • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • England / UK

Dr Rowan Williams is understood to have told friends he is ready to quit the highest office in the Church of England to pursue a life in academia.

The news will trigger intense plotting behind the scenes over who should succeed the 61-year-old archbishop, who is not required to retire until he is 70.

Bishops have privately been arguing for Dr Williams to stand down, with the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, telling clergy he should give someone else a chance after nearly ten years in the post.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • CoE Bishops • Archbishop of York John Sentamu

The new facilities include a four-changing room clubhouse with meeting and training areas, as well as official’s changing rooms and catering facilities. The project will benefit in excess of 300 players and more than 20 teams who play at the site.

The new building will be the masthead for a club that already has excellent ground amenities, with more than 11 acres of playing fields and a large car park. The site consists of three, full-size 11-a-side pitches, and six Mini Soccer pitches.

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On Sunday 4th September, the Archbishop of York will lead the Forces Commemoration Service for the 14 service personnel who lost their lives on a Nimrod in Afghanistan in 2006.

The Archbishop is visiting the Yorkshire Air Museum to lead the Forces Commemoration Service dedicated in honour of the 14 service personnel who lost their lives on Nimrod XV230 in Afghanistan 5 years ago on September 2nd 2006. The Yorkshire Air Museum is home to the Allied Air Forces Memorial, which recognises and commemorates the achievements and sacrifice of allied airmen and women in all conflicts.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of York John Sentamu • * Culture-Watch • History • Military / Armed Forces • * International News & Commentary • England / UK

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu, both expressed their concern about the current changes in education and RE during the House of Lords debate on the riots earlier this month. Dr Williams said that the current system had less room for the building of character and virtue. Dr Sentamu said that religious knowledge formed and created a culture and asked the Government how they planned to now fill the void.

Commenting on this year's A-level/GCSE RE results, the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd John Pritchard, who chairs the Church of England's Education Division and National Society said: "Education is about the whole person, not just results and targets. RE is an academic subject that not only teaches pupils about different faiths and cultures but gives room for discussion that develops values, understanding and responsibility. We only have to look at the events of recent weeks to see how important this is. This is not about the church guarding its territory but about safeguarding a subject that has value to all. We shall continue our conversation with the Government on this."

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On Sunday 28 August, walkers will set out across Yorkshire on a newly discovered pilgrimage trail that will retrace the footsteps of the 6th century saint, Paulinus all the way to York...

These modern day pilgrims – some from as far away as Sweden and New Zealand - will launch the first pilgrimage along the Paulinus Way next Sunday (28 Aug) when they leave Todmorden for the seven day trek along the 65 mile route through Halifax, Dewsbury, Wakefield, Leeds and Tadcaster to be greeted at the end by the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu in York Minster on Sunday 4 September.

This new pilgrimage trail is the culmination of a three-year project by teacher and academic Tina Clayton, from Todmorden into the little-known figure of St Paulinus, the first Bishop of York, who converted many northern Britons to Christianity in the early seventh century.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • Archbishop of York John Sentamu • * Christian Life / Church Life • Church History • Spirituality/Prayer

All too often the international community, or more specifically the former colonial powers, get blamed for interference, and for the destabilisation and disincentivisation of local initiative in these regions. And yet when children are dying, food and water need to be provided fast, it is often the international community which is best equipped for a rapid response. In Britain, we can be encouraged by the swift response from the Department for International Development, and it is my hope that governments of other nations respond as generously – especially countries of the African Union. They cannot vicariously leave it to Kenya and Ethiopia.

But this is not the only response, and not, ultimately, what is needed to secure a better future for the region. In Eastern Kenya, the people living in the most desperate need are often those outside of the refugee camps. They see the refugees inside benefiting from World Food Programme handouts, while outside they struggle to feed themselves and keep their goats and cattle alive. Despite the horrors of life inside the camps, there is real security there - the promise of food, water, and some medical care. Capacity to provide such shelter should be encouraged but we should not forget there is a real need to ensure for those living on the edge, who year after year must eke out an existence in those dry and barren landscapes, are not forgotten. It is also crucial that people get the support locally so that they don’t have to make such perilous journeys to get aid.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of York John Sentamu • * Culture-Watch • Dieting/Food/Nutrition • Globalization • * Economics, Politics • Foreign Relations • Politics in General • * General Interest • Weather • * International News & Commentary • Africa

In a time of economic downturn, it is vitally important that we do all that we can to support those in genuine economic need. We must be ready to stand alongside them. We need, together, to rediscover the springs of solidarity.

We have heard much talk of “the Big Society”, but if we want to transform our nation for the better in practical ways, then we have to start by valuing the contribution that every individual can make to our wider society.

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Providing aid to those in need, wherever they live, is not about feeling good about ourselves. It is not about pretending we are a global superpower or a moral policeman either, it is about justice. Yes, 0.7% of GDP is more than most other developed nations provide in international aid, but it is still woefully short of what is needed.

I can remember the days when Britain would lead and the rest of the world would follow. We should be proud that we are doing the right thing in the face of selfish opportunism elsewhere. We should allow ourselves to be motivated and guided by the British values of justice and fair play – and may those ideals shine around the globe for all to see.

When it comes to international development, I believe we should unite behind what Andrew Mitchell, the Secretary of State for International Development, is attempting to do in the face of widespread opposition. Regardless of which side of the political divide we may traditionally sit, the battle to end poverty is too important to be sidetracked by the cynicism of others.

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Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Sheffield, toured Sheffield Forgemasters for the first time for a look around the 200-year-old steelworks led by chief executive Graham Honeyman and non-executive director Peter Birtles.

During the visit the Archbishop met some of the 850 employees and young apprentices that work at the 63-acre site, with discussions about the manufacturing sector as a whole and the history of Forgemasters.

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The Archbishop of York.. urged the English to embrace patriotism, as a calendar anomaly allowed the Church of England a rare opportunity to celebrate St George’s Day on a Bank Holiday.

Dr John Sentamu, who has campaigned for the English patron saint’s day to be made a public holiday, said people should mark the occasion with patriotic songs and real ale.

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The millions around the world who will be watching the royal wedding tomorrow may not notice the wording of the promises Kate Middleton and Prince William make to each other. As with every other couple, each will be asked first if they will “love, comfort, honour and protect…” their spouse. The answer to this is “I will”. It will not be “I do”. We take it for granted that the bride and groom love each other on their wedding day, so there is no need to ask them if they do. It is what follows that counts.

At the outset, the couple is asked to make a commitment, an act of will, for the future. Theirs is a resolution to love, comfort, honour and protect, whatever the circumstances. Someone joked that love is blind, but marriage is a real eye-opener. There are bound to be times in the future when the romance thermometer will barely register a reading; those who have said “I will” and meant it, know only too well that feelings can wobble and are untrustworthy tests of authenticity, anyway. Long-lasting marriages rely on mutual understanding and forbearance. Maturity discards rose-tinted spectacles in favour of seeing things as they really are.

Discovering the depth and enduring meaning of love is the goal and prize of every relationship.

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It is wonderful that 2000 years on from the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we still have so many people eager to start a new life following Him – and that they are courageous enough to publicly declare this in a packed city centre.

Easter should be a time of great joy and celebration. As you open your Easter Eggs on Sunday think not only of God's Son who rose from the dead, but also think about the new generation of disciples who make great sacrifices to follow the call being made from deep within their hearts.

We are an Easter people, and alleluia is our song!

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • Archbishop of York John Sentamu • * Christian Life / Church Life • Church Year / Liturgical Seasons • Easter

When I read the Gospels I am often taken by surprise by what Jesus says and does. Rather than offering his followers a life of certainty and ease, he invites them to 'take up your cross and follow me'. This has become such a familiar phrase that it has lost its power to shock us. What Jesus was saying was 'pick up the instrument of your own death and follow me to the place of execution.' Hardly the most appealing invitation!

And yet people flocked to Him. In Jesus they saw life with meaning and purpose, even in the midst of uncertainty and suffering. In Jesus they saw life as it could and should be. And this life was lived out in the midst of pain and grief bringing hope and transformation. This has been the call of the followers of Jesus throughout the centuries and it remains our call today.

For me, being obedient to this call of Jesus to follow Him, even into places of pain and suffering, has meant standing up for the oppressed. This partly stems from my own experience of the brutality of General Idi Amin in Uganda, but also a genuine passion to help those in difficult times at home and overseas. Our common humanity compels us not to pass by on the other side.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of York John Sentamu

The justice system has its place, but I would argue if you want long-term solutions, then you must instead look at the root cause of the problem....

...we should not pretend that these crimes are caused solely by failures of society. These crimes are caused by the choices made by those holding the gun. They are caused by families not intervening. They are caused by those who turn a blind eye.

The role of the family is key. Parents must shoulder the responsibility for where their children are, who they are with and what they are doing.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • Archbishop of York John Sentamu • * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • Violence • * International News & Commentary • England / UK

The Archbishop said:

"I continue to back calls for a public holiday to mark St George's Day. I am delighted that this issue is being raised in the House of Commons – and I hope that the Government will consider giving everyone in England a day off to celebrate this wonderful Patron Saint!

"As someone who is inspired by St George's refusal to renounce his discipleship of Jesus Christ, I have long campaigned for us to have a special holiday where we can celebrate our patron saint and all that is great about our wonderful nation...."

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A church which has been at the heart of Rossendale for 500 years is set to host the Archbishop of York.

Right Rev John Sentamu, the charismatic Anglican church leader, will preach at St Nicholas, in Newchurch, on Palm Sunday.

His arrival is part of ongoing celebrations marking five centuries of worship there.

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Wherever I go, at home or abroad, I have often noticed that those who live in the poorest communities are the most welcoming and generous in their hospitality. There is a dignity about giving, about contributing to the common good, which the poor seem to appreciate more than the well-off, because they see what a privilege it is. Jesus pointed out a poor widow putting her last mite into the offering – her action put the wealthier worshippers to shame because she gave her all. It is those who have the most resources who bear greatest responsibility for bridging the gap.

We all need to rediscover the wellsprings of solidarity – the unstoppable grace which hold us together as a human family.

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The Archbishop said:

"I am delighted that the Government has finally reached the right decision and will now opt in to the EU Directive on Human Trafficking. For some time I have been raising the matter with the Home Secretary calling on her to opt in to the EU Directive to ensure we have a united front across Europe tackling the evil of human trafficking.

"I am pleased the Government now acknowledges that 'opting in would send a powerful message to traffickers that Britain is not a soft touch'. Our Government should be ensuring Britain leads the way on tackling slavery, just like it did in the days of William Wilberforce. Sex trafficking is nothing more than modern day slavery.

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