Articles

He must increase, and I must decrease

It’s been a strange Advent season. Our attention has been focussed outwards on the election and the global climate talks. The practical preparations for Christmas Services make their own demands on clergy and congregations. Thank you for all…

Creator of our common home

The Oxford English Dictionary have declared climate emergency to be the word of the year in 2019. According to the dictionary’s own data, usage of the term soared by over 10,000%. I attempt to write at least one new hymn a year as the verse…
Church numbers

Called to be a deeper church

On publication of the annual Statistics for Mission, Bishop Steven reflects that there remains a huge appetite to learn and explore the Christian faith. The sheer number of courses run by churches is a sign of how much people want to explore…

A Christian response to Brexit

We may be about to exit the European Union and begin a new relationship with our European neighbours and with the world. +Steven, +Alan, +Colin and Bishop-elect Olivia have written a joint letter to every church, school and chaplaincy in the…
Bishop Boat Pilgrimage

My Berkshire Pilgrimage

Together we visited 38 churches and the chaplaincy of Reading University. I travelled 17 miles by boat on 1 September across Maidenhead and Windsor Deaneries.

Beginning my fourth year as Bishop of Oxford

I’m beginning my fourth year as Bishop of Oxford by walking and praying across Berkshire. Please do join me if you can, in spirit or in person. The pilgrimage sets off on Sunday 1st September in Old Windsor in and ends on Sunday 8th September…

Data Ethics and Artificial Intelligence: an update

The ethical questions surrounding the use of AI and data are manifold and large. Sooner or later they all lead back to the question "what does it mean to be a fully human person in a flourishing society in the 21st Century..."

Let’s make social media kinder

Fifteen years ago, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube didn’t exist. Today, 67% of people in the UK are active users of at least one of them, and we now spend almost two hours each day on social media. Yet society is increasingly fearful of the…
Protestors with banners at a Youth strike for climate march in central London

Psalm 8: a reflection for the Mass Lobby of Parliament

I was in Westminster on 26 June with over 16,000 people. Thousands more were with us in spirit. We were meeting and marching and lobbying because the time is now to arrest the emission of greenhouse gases which are causing such lasting damage…