The patriarchal environment of nineteenth century England viewed women as weak and naïve creatures who should submit to the dictates of men. Religion, however, could give women a sense of freedom and independence from male authority. When auricular confession began to gain acceptance in some sections of the Anglican Church, women saw this as a way of asserting their independence because they could confide their personal thoughts and problems to a clergymen. This could, in the opinion of some, threaten the powerful role of the husband or father by substituting an alternative patriarchal system, and many critics warned of the dangers associated with the confessional, especially the weakening of the male dominated family structure. The Priest in Absolution gave advice to Anglican confessors, but the sexual nature of the questions, made public in 1877, shocked the public and confirmed the fears of the opponents of auricular confession.

The paper explores the rise of Reform in the Church of England, and critically examines some of the reasons why (theologically and sociologically) the movement has also developed an aggressive side to its character. After briefly considering the history of Reform (now ten years old) the paper deploys some methodological perspectives drawn from the late James Hopewell's contribution to congregational studies, before turning to some of the key issues that define Reform's agenda. Some further analysis examines the prospects for Anglicanism, where the Communion is bound together less and less by a common form of governance, and increasingly by a shared ethos and moral affinity. A conclusion discusses the relative strength of Reform within the context of the Anglican Communion as a whole. The paper is exploratory in nature: an exercise in testing a methodology within the broad penumbra of modern ecclesiology. The paper is not intended to be a definitive account or interpretation of Reform. From the outset, the author recognizes that the movement itself merits far more attention than one academic paper can possibly give it.

This article sets out to provide a context for contemporary discussions about baptism and Eucharist — specifically, the practice of offering communion to those who have not been baptized — and will examine the baptismal theology of the early church and compare this with the thinking of contemporary reformers. I will review scriptural evidence, Patristic thought, and some contemporary scholarship, demonstrating no evidence to support a claim of returning to the authentic roots of the tradition. Rather than condemn or condone the practice of communicating the unbaptized, I recommend that we study it more carefully — lest the church miss a significant opportunity for evangelism. Yet caveat lector: this practice remains an exception — not the norm.

This article explores Coleridge's understanding of imagination, Scripture, the spirituality of the world, and our reality as the image of God. I begin with Coleridge's understanding of the inspiration of Scripture and the interpretive process. By locating the imagination in this interaction among writer, reader, and God, I surface Coleridge's more significant description of imaginative thinking as a spiritual act that calls us into the truth of our being and of the world's reality. Implicit in Coleridge's vision is a correlation between human imaginative creativity and the creative being of God as a dimension of our reality as the image of God. Thus, I claim that imaginative preaching, when seen through Coleridge's lens, renews that image within us, awakening us to our reality as spiritual, free beings, but only when we enact our freedom within the context of God's freedom and action which we know through our reading of Scripture.

The article explores the complexities of church-state relations in Uganda, with particular reference to the two dominant churches: the Anglican Church of Uganda (the Protestants) and the Roman Catholic Church. Together the two churches include some 80 per cent of Ugandans. Since the beginnings of Christianity in the late nineteenth century, the rivalry between the two communions has had political implications, with the Anglican Church perceived as constituting a quasi-establishment and the Catholics as lacking political clout. In local discourse, ‘eating’ refers to the enjoyment of political power; ‘sharing’ to the expectation of inclusion. The article looks at the attempt to overcome sectarian politics, and the Christian witness of both churches in the face of state oppression and violence.