In Depth:  marriage

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When church planting puts a marriage to the test

When church planting puts a marriage to the test
Dan Steel
Dan Steel

There’s no doubt that church planting is personally costly.

Both the organised events and organic needs can be costly: whether it’s the ongoing reality of evening meetings and early mornings, the weighty mental ‘to-do lists’, or the growing number of pastoral burdens or stress and uncertainty about the future and the viability of the project. Will we have enough money? Somewhere to meet? Enough people? What will this thing look like in 12 months-time?

The CofE's 'trojan horse' changing the doctrine of marriage

The CofE's 'trojan horse' changing the doctrine of marriage
David Shepherd
David Shepherd

In June 2022, Aldershot Military Cemetery Chapel (not far from where I live) hosted a service of remembrance for Falklands veterans from the Parachute Regiment. That service is held every five years.

Baptist Union to remain orthodox on ministers’ marriages

Baptist Union to remain orthodox on ministers’ marriages
Iain Taylor
Iain Taylor

Evangelicals are celebrating after the Baptist Union (BU) reaffirmed that its ministers cannot be in same-sex marriages.

The decision was taken by the 90-strong BU Council following extensive discussions of what it termed its ‘Ministerial Recognition Rules on Ministry and Marriage’. That process included a survey of Baptist Churches and ministers that was ‘designed to give Council a clearer picture of how our churches are engaging with issues of marriage and sexuality’ – including same-sex marriage.

Children and this wrong-headed idea of marriage

Children and this wrong-headed idea of marriage
David Shepherd
David Shepherd

In the light of the Church of England’s current situation, let us ask ourselves about the societal purpose of marriage.

When you think about it, the State does not regulate or require an official record any other type of personal relationship, except marriage. You’re not required to register yourself with the authorities as someone’s friend, or even as someone’s sibling. The latter is just inferred from the fact that two children have been born to the same couple.

To have and to hold – and then bin?
legal eye

To have and to hold – and then bin?
Nicola Laver
Nicola Laver

A few days on from 6 April 2022, I was browsing on Facebook – and always being curious about people – clicked on the name of someone who had recently married. I didn’t know the couple and the wedding picture was, naturally, a beautiful image from a memorable day.

The bride captioned it with: ‘I promise to love you ’til I take my last breath and beyond’. But I have to confess that the cynic in me thought – how long will it last?

Tipping points: loveless marriages & abusive churches

Tipping points: loveless marriages & abusive churches
Karen Soole
Karen Soole

en continues to seek to provide a forum for us all to learn as broadly as possible from sinful and shameful abusive actions. Our foremost thoughts and prayers must be with the survivors and victims.

It is the straw that broke the camel’s back. The final straw is small; it barely weighs anything but, added to the burden already carried, it crushes.

Apologetic about marriage?
politics & policy

Apologetic about marriage?
James Mildred
James Mildred

At the beginning of the year, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York apologised because of a Church of England document which said marriage is between one man and one woman.

There followed a strong backlash from the evangelical community. Given that the statement simply articulated the historic, orthodox, theological and Biblical position of the church on the question of God-honouring sex for the last 2,000 years, it did strike me as odd, if not downright absurd, that the Archbishops felt the need to say sorry.

Letter

Christian marriage
Anon
Date posted: 1 Jul 2020

Dear Editor,

I have been reading much of the June 2020 issue of en today, especially as I am ‘shut in’ by the issues surrounding the Covid-19 virus. I was interested to see how several letters and articles have provoked us to think again about matters that we have taken for granted. Many of these are matters that brothers and sisters in other countries have had to live with because of the environ-ment (physical and spiritual) in which they live. We should be able to pray for them more intelligently.

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