Diocese of Chelmsford - Bishop's Speeches http://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/diocese-of-chelmsford-bishops-speeches.html en The Diocese of Chelmsford 2006 120 Post Offices http://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/post-offices.html The Bishop of Chelmsford, Rt Revd John Gladwin, participated in a House of Lords debate on 24 April 2008 about Post Offices. The Bishop said:

My Lords, many communities across our country will be grateful to the noble Baroness [Baroness Byford] for giving us an opportunity to give a public airing to an issue that is of concern to a lot of people in many communities across Britain. The House has already been made aware of the excellent proposals being pursued in Essex through the county council; I, too, am looking forward to the contribution of the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, on all this. I understand that in our county we have already lost more than 30 post offices, a number of which the county council want to engage in business relationships.

]]> Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:16:56 +0100 http://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/post-offices.html Matthew Dawkins County Council Civic Service http://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/county-council-civic-service.html Our Chairman of the County Council is a brave man!  He has also presented the preacher with quite a challenge.  However do we translate the teaching of Jesus – ‘this is my command that you love one another as I have loved you’ underlined by St Paul ‘let love be genuine…live in harmony with one another…’ – into the world of public and political life?

It is bad enough in the church where stopping Christians falling out with one another can sometimes seem a full time job for those of us who are Bishops!   The easy answer is to say this has got nothing to do with public life.

]]> Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:32:23 +0100 http://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/county-council-civic-service.html Matthew Dawkins National Security Strategy http://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/national-security-strategy.html The Bishop of Chelmsford, Rt Revd John Gladwin, intervened in a House of Lords debate on 19 March 2008 about the National Security Strategy.

The Bishop’s question and the Government’s reply are reproduced below.

My Lords, we are hugely grateful for the inclusion in the Statement of issues of shared values and the gathering together of the faith communities in this task. I am sure the noble Baroness would accept that, in the absence of confidence among the people and a sense of communality in our life together, no amount of technical arrangements for security will succeed.

]]> Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:48:51 +0000 http://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/national-security-strategy.html Matthew Dawkins