Blog RSS Feed
Chris Fewings
Location:
Birmingham,
UK
My Website:
http://www.chris.fewin.gs
Lay Anglicana, the unofficial voice of the laity throughout the Anglican Communion.
This is the place to share news and views from the pews.
WINNER Christian New Media Awards 2011
Authors
Blog Posts by Chris Fewings:
My Profile:
My Blog Posts:
Naming Jesus: Chris Fewings
NAMING JESUS Dear name! The rock on which I build My shield and hiding place, My never failing treasury filled With boundless store of grace! John Newton Today is the Naming of Jesus in the church’s calendar. Many of our hymns specificially celebrate this name, the ‘name above every name’. Our own names and […] Continue reading »
Queering The Pitch – Review of ‘Dazzling Darkness’: Chris Fewings
A review of Rachel Mann’s new book Dazzling Darkness When I strayed into the Church of England in 1976, there were no women priests or even deacons. Very few Anglicans doubted publicly that same-sex relationships were sinful. It had never occurred to me to question that God was a He. Though at school we […] Continue reading »
All Souls Day: Chris Fewings
November 2nd, the Day of the Dead, is a big deal in Mexico, where All Souls Day has absorbed many pre-Hispanic practices. In the UK it may pass by unnoticed. We still give a nod here to All Hallows (November 1st), and All Hallows Eve (commemorating the unquiet dead) is now a commercial hit, though […] Continue reading »
Our Landscape Of Churches: Chris Fewings
In England, the Church of England provides part of the landscape in most villages and in many urban and suburban centres: a building designed to dominate the immediate surroundings. Of course, a large proportion of these were borrowed from Rome, and in town centres they may be now dwarfed by secular buildings. In other countries, […] Continue reading »
Celebrating National Poetry Day: Chris Fewings
Today is national poetry day. Anglicans have much to celebrate – our liturgies old and new are loaded with poetry; there’s poetry in any translation of the Bible, not least in the Psalms; there’s poetry in our hymns. Two Anglican priest-poets spring to mind: George Herbert who died of TB in 1633 after a few […] Continue reading »
Touch, Untouchability and Change: Chris Fewings
One of the delights of Lay Anglicana is the length and thoughtfulness of the comments people leave, and their willingness to enter into debate. A question that has been raised recently is why on earth the Church of England and the Anglican Communion is putting so much energy into debating same-sex relationships. Aren’t there more […] Continue reading »
“He Opened Wide His Arms For Us On The Cross”: Chris Fewings
Today is Holy Cross Day. We’re told Jesus “opened wide his arms for us on the cross”, but it’s easy for Christians to forget that the cross was an instrument of torture and execution. You wouldn’t expect to go into church and see a noose hanging from the ceiling, or an electric chair in […] Continue reading »
‘The Presence’: a poem by Chris Fewings
THE PRESENCE It took a cruel death by torture, But the veil was rent in two. They rushed forward into the sanctuary – Lutherans, ecstatics, anarchists, mystics – Speaking in the tongues – they said – of angels and of men, Casting aside robes, rules, rituals, sacrifices, Trampling the thin air of transcendence, Wearing shoes […] Continue reading »
Are you Pregnant with the Word of God? : Chris Fewings
Today, on 15th August, Roman Catholics celebrate the Assumption of Mary mother of Jesus into heaven. (The Orthodox call it the Dormition.) Different understandings of Mary (Miriam in her own language) have sharply divided Christians for centuries. Anglicans who regarded themselves as Catholic-but-reformed in the first century or so of the Church of England channelled […] Continue reading »
A Language Understanded Of The People: Chris Fewings
A LANGUAGE UNDERSTANDED OF THE PEOPLE It doesn’t matter much. Sing it in colloquial, Church Slavonic, Double Dutch. It’s all Greek unless We feel the flicker of the angels’ tongues Weaving a language from the elements: East light outpoured, words’ texture, gesture; sense. © Chris Fewings 2010 ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ Editor’s Notes 1. […] Continue reading »
Recent Comments