Medieval church bell will be re-tuned against conservationists’ wishes
An out-of-tune medieval church bell which has been damaging the “musical qualities of the whole peal” can be re-tuned after a row resulting in a church court…
Football hooligans and executions: the unlikely story of St Paul’s Cathedral’s lost churchyard
The trade was innovative from the off. John Rastell, one of the first to work from within the churchyard, published a translation from the Italian by his…
Why the Church of England is leading an exodus from Russia
But as the institution has found, cutting ties with an entire country is difficult. It has now rounded on TotalEnergy, another investment, because the French oil company…
Church of England gets stuck in an investing quagmire over Russia
Boris says the West must end its addiction to Russian energy but is swapping it for Saudi oil any better? The Foreign Secretary’s defence is that Putin’s actions…
Church of England takes aim at companies with big Russian investments
But as the institution has found, cutting ties with an entire country is difficult. It has now rounded on TotalEnergy, another investment, because the French oil company…
‘Mrs P read the lesson with a budgie perched on her shoulder’: how a vicar’s Covid diary went viral
“And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down…
Church of England leaders ‘covered up’ paedophile vicar’s crimes for 50 years
Church of England leaders knew about a paedophile vicar for 50 years but “covered up” his crimes, a review has concluded. The Rev Graham Gregory, who died…
Oxford college agrees payoff to end four-year battle to oust its Dean
An Oxford college’s four-year battle to oust its Dean amid claims of scandalous behaviour, unsound judgment, mental incapacity and sexual harassment has ended after it agreed to…
Church of England set to take ‘softly, softly’ approach by relaxing rules on cushions
Churches are set to find it easier to add cushions to pews as officials aim to relax rules on adding soft furnishings in order to meet environmental…
Eric Gill cathedral statues under review as church begins to address paedophile artist’s work
The chapter, which administers the Grade II*-listed cathedral, is understood to be considering what form any intervention to address Gill’s legacy would take, and this intervention may…
Faith in sod: Bishop blesses plough ahead of start of farming year
The celebration usually involves bringing a plough to church to receive a blessing, but it is also common for local farmers to attend services with their tractors….
I’m not religious, but I dread a future where our churches are gone and St Paul’s is a Wetherspoons
Reading our front page on Tuesday morning, Philip Larkin would have been horrified. Back in 1955, he finished writing one of his greatest poems, Church Going –…
Exclusive: More than 400 churches close in a decade amid ‘shocking’ threat to parishes
More than 400 churches have been shut down in less than a decade, The Telegraph can reveal, as senior clergy warn of the “shocking” threat to parishes…
Could it be the end for boys-only choirs?
The arguments are contested: Sarah MacDonald, who conducts the lively mixed choir at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and the girls’ choir at Ely Cathedral, has drawn attention to…
Church of England launches virtual carol service for people unable to attend church this Christmas
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday: “You will be on your own singing these songs but it will feel as though you’re transported to…
Evensong by Richard Morris, review: a moving study of Anglicanism’s battle for postwar survival
Evensong is an apt title for this beautifully written and moving meditation on the history and current state of the Church of England, partly because it names…
Most carol concerts are defying the Covid panic – but not all
It seemed, at least, that the way was now open to a reasonably “normal” Christmas, as far as carol concerts were concerned. But then the Government’s new…
As a vicar, I’d be a baddie in Philip Pullman’s novels. But I love them – his real enemy isn’t God
If Pan may be understood as Lyra’s consciousness, by the second book in the trilogy they are not on good terms, a familiar tension to anyone who…
Traditionalists vs reformers in skirmish over future of church … chairs
The chairs, which are about 30 years old, also feature a shelf at the rear to store Bibles, hymn books and service papers. Chancellor Jordan said: “Whilst…
Why John Betjeman would have approved of a ‘Netflix for churches’
Earlier this month I was honoured to be asked to give the annual lecture for the Churches Conservation Trust, about how best to look after the 12,000…
Britain is plagued by organisations that hate their most loyal supporters
Faced with a proverbial problem, the National Trust has a novel solution. After rangers at a popular beauty spot in East Hampshire complained that their bins were…
Want a truly heavenly home? Why church conversions are all the rage
Why are so many churches for sale? Rachel Morley is the director of Friends of Friendless Churches, a charity which campaigns for and rescues redundant historic places…