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Unintended Consequences of the Protect Duty

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  A government consultation reveals some significant concerns for churches and places of worship.  As chair of the Faith Sector Panel of the London Resilience Forum I have a lot to do with London’s Faith Communities’ response to terrorism (see here for my role). So it was with interest that I heard that there was to be a consultation on a new “ Protect Duty ” to “make the public safer at publicly accessible locations.” The proposals follow campaigning by Figen Murray, whose son Martyn was tragically killed in the Manchester Arena attack , to introduce “Martyn’s Law” which aims to legislate for a duty on those who own or manage publicly accessible places to take actions to reduce the threat of terrorism. The ‘simple common sense security’ for which Figen Murray calls must be right; but the legislation now being consulted on causes considerable concern. The proposed legislation has very significant unintended consequences for places of worship. In my view it needs to be...
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A Long Good Friday or a Long Holy Saturday?

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This year the Triduum - the great Three Days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday - is unwontedly quiet. Having been brought up in a Vicarage it has always been for me about the busiest time of year - much more so than Christmas - with almost wall to wall church, all the time not spent worshipping given to sorting out all the kit for washing feet, watching at the altar of repose, heading out to walks of witness, praying the Stations of the Cross, preparing for the Liturgy of the Passion, and getting ready for the Vigil. Narthex doorway Hagia Sophia Trabzon (Trebizond) Although for some there has been a scramble to get things done in new ways, for most this year, all that is gone. For me the experience has been truncated liturgies with hardly any preparation,and the quietest Triduum of my life. It's sorrowful and disconcerting; we yearn for it to be over. While I and many others find that prayer through activity is at the heart of our spirituality, the enforced re...
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Happy Anniversary

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It is a year today since it was announced that Bishop Sarah was to be the new Bishop of London. As we scurried through the passages under S Paul’s cathedral and to the Chapter House for the ‘reveal’ I was still working out what it would be like to work, as a traditionalist, with a Bishop whose sacramental ministry I cannot receive. I can say unequivocally that it has been good. At the time I posted here that I thought we could make it work and if we can make it work, we can bring a gift to the whole church. Nothing in the time since has given me any reason to change my mind on that. There has been much said about mutual flourishing in the Church of England and a determination to ensure that the hopes can be turned into reality. I think Bishop Sarah and I have demonstrated a little bit of what that reality might mean. The willingness of the Bishop to live and breathe her commitment to making everyone’s ministry flourish, including mine and that of other traditionalists and...
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