The scandal of grace

Unpacking Justin Welby's final TV interview, more electoral mayhem in the Diocese of Canterbury, and why did the police raid a Quaker meeting house?

Hello! The big story in churchy world is of course Justin Welby’s interview last weekend on the BBC. Today we look at what he said that was new, surprising or controversial, and what we might learn about how society views the church and the faith from the mainstream media’s reaction to it.

Then we return to the controversial elections taking place in the Diocese of Canterbury, feeding into the process to choose Welby’s successor but rankling a lot of conservatives in the process.

And finally, what prompted the Met Police to raid a Quaker meeting house, and are they right that precious rights of protest are being whittled away?

Then there’s my latest podcast (should all Christians be as worried as right-wingers are about collapsing birth rates?), and a chunky list of interesting church news stories from around the web, featuring stubbornly persistent monks in a fascist mausoleum, the most controversial whitewashed church tower ever, eucharistic adoration at Mar-a-Lago, and a clever tax …