What is in Kelvin's Head?

A Welcome Forest of Deans

11/01/2016

Last weekend an open letter emerged from within the Church of England which asked the two archbishops in England to take a message to the Primates’ Conference acknowledging that the Church has failed in its duty of care to LGBTI members of the Body of Christ worldwide and calling for repentance.

The whole letter is here: https://lettertoarchbishops.wordpress.com/

Others were asked to sign it to show their support and my name was one of the first to be added on Sunday morning when I heard about it. (It was addressed to Our Archbishops which was a bit problematic but sometimes you just have to go with the spirit rather than the letter of the law).

I was particularly encouraged to see that this letter originated from a couple of people from within the Evangelical tradition in the church.

I was also encouraged to see how many Deans of Cathedrals in England had signed the letter.

Here’s a map showing in green those deans who have signed.

There may be errors to correct or amendments to make – please let me know in the comments below. Nothing should be presumed about the red dots other than that there doesn’t seem to be a record of a dean there who has signed. Some cathedrals may be looking for a dean and some deans may be out of contact and not have heard about it. Some names may yet be added.

I believe that Durham has no dean in post at present so have marked that in a different colour. I’ll change any others that are like that if anyone lets me know in the comments below.

There are two cathedrals in London which seem to be on top of one another on the map – both of them are marked in green.

Rather encouraging to see the green shoots of inclusion springing up, I think and to see leadership coming from England’s cathedrals.

[google_maps id=”14812″]

UPDATES
Worcester added (missed off in original list)
Wells and Durham marked as vacant.
Southwell marked as vacant.
Rochester marked as vacant.

7 responses to “The Antisemitism Notice”

Gordon

25/03/2026

Helpful, thank you

What is the concern with the reproaches? I’m not familiar with them

Reply
1. Kelvin
  
  25/03/2026
  
  They can be interpreted as being directed at us the listeners. But they can also be interpreted as speaking to Jewish people as all the imagery is from the Hebrew Scriptures and doesn’t reference the experience of those who actually were around Jesus during his life on earth.
  
  For example:
  “I led you out of Egypt, having drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea:
  and you have delivered me to the chief priests.”
  
  Who is being addressed here?
  
  Reply
  1. Nick Drew
    
    09/04/2026
    
    That’s interesting, because whenever I have sung the Reproaches I have always felt them as being expressions of personal repentance rather than accusations thrown at the listener.
    
    Reply
Rosemary Hannah

25/03/2026

I must admit I had always read the Reproaches as directed to the listener. That the Egypt from which we are delivered is the Egypt of the modern world, the slavery of ghastly jobs (I’ve had a few, in fact a lot) and the oppression of terrible political systems. But I come from a totally different thought world to that of most people today, and I absolutely see they wouldn’t commonly be read that way.
But I think it would benefit everyone to find a way of expressing BOTH what faith can offer in terms of freedom AND the mess we do make of the world, and sitting with that tension.
And I think the church as a whole urgently needs to find a compelling and deep reaching way of doing both.

Reply
1. Kelvin
  
  25/03/2026
  
  You might be interested that we’re looking at Isaiah 59 as a helpful text for this year, given the current ways of the world.
  
  Reply
2. Christine McIntosh
  
  25/03/2026
  
  I’m of much the same mind. (A mind that is still blown away when I hear them sung)
  
  Reply
Dan Floyd

25/03/2026

Thank you

Reply