The tension between John Neville Figgis’s pluralist political theory and his defence of the truth claims of Christianity in the public square makes it difficult to assess the social implications of his personalism. This article considers Figgis’s theories of classical pluralism and corporate personhood and how they relate to his theological anthropology. God makes humans for membership in group persons, paradigmatically the Church, and also other associations that should be free to pursue their corporate ends and govern themselves. The just state coordinates and ensures peace between group and individual persons and allows them to freely play as they pursue the good. This perspective on the modern state and free associations offers an alternative to the modern tendency towards state centralization and individual atomism. But Figgis’s conceptions of freedom, love, corporate personhood and the state introduce a challenge for the contemporary reader. He implies that the state should be a neutral arbiter among individuals and groups. Joseph Ratzinger argues for the good of Christians living and enacting laws and policies that reflect their Christian consciences. Figgis’s Christian personalism informs and challenges Ratzinger’s social theory.

This article takes the form of an extended review of the recently published book (In-tensional: A Way Forward for the Church, 2024) co-authored by the Most Reverend Justin Duckworth, Archbishop Tikanga Pākehā of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, and ordained Baptist minister, Alan Jamieson. Engaging directly with the book, the article seeks to reflect critically upon the ecclesiology proffered. The essay argues that not only is the historical and theoretical basis of the ‘in-tensional centre-edge’ model proposed by the authors questionable, but its employment is potentially problematic for the unity and faithfulness of the Church. While engaging with a specific text and a particular context – the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand – the analysis also offers a case study that should be of interest to a broader audience. The ‘centre-edge’ model and an emphasis upon ‘growth’, ‘entrepreneurial leadership’ and ‘innovation’ within the proposed ecclesiology are phenomena observable more widely within the Anglican Communion and other ‘mainstream’ western Church traditions. These emphases, I contend, are illustrative of both the zeitgeist of late modernity and an absence of a theologically robust ecclesiology.

A paper exploring the epistemology of Edward Pusey’s work on Scripture.

This article examines the theology of Katherine Parr, sixth and surviving wife of Henry VIII, through a close reading of her mature work, The Lamentation of a Sinner. In particular, I treat Parr’s theological use of the epistle to the Romans to inform and structure her doctrine of the work of Christ within The Lamentation. I argue that Parr follows the structure of Romans in her opening lament over sin, her central discussion of the cross of Christ, and her application of this theology to the Christian lives of the people of England’s church. I also posit Parr’s use of several overlapping motifs for Christ’s work within The Lamentation’s treatment of the atonement and its relationship to the Protestant understanding of justification by faith.

This historical study examines the evolving landscape of gender equality within the Anglican Church in the Diocese of Central Tanganyika (DCT), with a focus on health-related developments in the post-colonial period. Tracing the trajectory from entrenched gender-based limitations to broader inclusivity, the article highlights how women, once marginalized in Church health initiatives, have gained visibility and agency, particularly since the 1980s. The period marks a turning point in which women began to access education, participate in leadership and contribute to health programmes that had long been male-dominated. Traditional gender roles have gradually shifted, reflecting a redefinition of responsibility within the Church and a growing embrace of shared leadership rooted in Christian values of love, cooperation and mutual respect. However, despite institutional advancements and theological support for equality, enduring gender disparities, especially in rural health services, continue to pose serious challenges. This study underscores the dual narrative of progress and persistent inequality, offering an important account of the Anglican Church’s ongoing journey towards holistic gender inclusion in health and ministry.

This article reimagines emotional intelligence as a theological and sacramental dimension of Anglican ministry, moving beyond secular paradigms of psychology towards a model rooted in incarnational presence, pastoral vulnerability and ecclesial formation. Drawing on qualitative research with Church of England Archdeacons, it explores clergy emotional ecology, the affective demands of priesthood and the implications for ministerial formation, discernment and leadership. The study proposes that emotional intelligence, when understood as theological praxis, contributes to spiritual maturity, vocational resilience and ecclesial integrity. It calls for integrative pedagogies, reflective disciplines and ecclesial cultures that honour emotional life as a site of divine encounter and priestly authenticity.

For the first time in well over half a century, a Church of England bishop has been elected archbishop of an Australian metropolitan diocese with the election of Ric Thorpe, the Bishop of Islington in London, as Archbishop of Melbourne. It has come as a considerable surprise, not only for Melbourne but also for the Anglican Church of Australia. This paper will begin by dissecting the May election, contrasting it with previous Melbourne elections, before outlining the progressive character of Melbourne Diocese that exists no more. It will then discuss how the dramatic changes the election has revealed have come about, before turning to the impact on the broader Australian church.

The Church of England has recently engaged again with issues of racism by setting up the Anti-Racism Taskforce in 2020, followed by the Archbishops’ Commission for Racial Justice in 2021. Both groups stressed the lack of progress in tackling racism in the Church and the need to raise awareness of racial injustice at all levels. This paper reports on the measurement of racial awareness among 3,167 clergy and lay people who took part in the Church 2024 survey. Eight items in the survey were used to create the racial awareness scale. Results suggested a mixed picture with a majority awareness that racial inequality is an important issue that needs to be addressed, a majority rejection of the idea that there may be local or institutionally embedded racism and enthusiasm for diversifying leadership but not for taking specific actions relating to historic slavery. Multiple regression analysis showed racial awareness was shaped by a complex mixture of individual, contextual and religious factors.

Liturgies of Empire adopts a deliberately satirical, epistolary voice to examine the after-lives of Anglican imperialism as reconfigured in contemporary neocolonial activity. Some terms and turns of phrase assume an insider’s knowledge, and familiarity with socio-political definitions, the geographical regions and their specific religious registers and discourse would place the reader in a better position to appreciate the North/South epistemic critiques. Whilst the English narrator, recipient and institutional offices in the missive are entirely fictional, all events, statistics, and quotations are factual and have been verified against the sources cited. The memo casts an eye over three postcolonial Anglican dioceses as case studies to examine how the Anglican Realignment revives the spirit of empire through insistence on its monopoly of truth. It traces how conservative evangelical networks, under the banner of biblical warrant and “Global South” identity, reintensify imperial-era logics of propriety and paternalism. Attempting to supplant Canterbury’s more generous ecclesial disposition, these self-proclaimed guardians of truth are grounded in patriarchal authority, marked not by self-scrutiny but fixation on policing gender and sexuality. Theirs is an ecclesiology that cannot abide dissent, ambiguity, or difference, sanctifying conformity as faithfulness and exclusion as orthodoxy.