What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • How did I do with last year’s predictions?

    Here’s a run down of how I did at last year’s predictions.

    • Good results for Nigel Farage following the English local elections in May. Terrible results for Conservative Party.

    Exactly what happened. YES

    • No progress towards the marriage of same-sex couples in the Church of England

    Exactly what happened. Indeed, I think things may have gone into reverse. YES

    • Turbulent year for WordPress, which powers about half of the internet.

    The year began with Automattic dramatically cutting its contribution to development leading to stagnation in development and much acrimony. Subsequently restored. Deep divisions remain about Gutenberg. I’m claiming this as a YES.

    • 2025 will be the hottest year on record.

    Final figures yet to be calibrated but all reports indicate that this, unfortunately is a YES.

    • No trade deal for UK with US. Increasing talk of re-aligning economy closer to EU.

    Well, there was a trade deal in May called the Economic Prosperity Deal but it doesn’t seem to much and some of the basics have already been reversed. I suppose I have to be honest and say I didn’t get this quite right so it is a NO. But…

    • Ceasefire in Russia-Ukraine war but no long term solution.

    Hard to assess this one. No long term solution, certainly. There have been a series of ceasefires proposed but none seems really to have been fully implemented. Partial YES.

    • “Assisted Dying” aka doctor assisted suicide becomes legal in at least one of the jurisdictions of the British Isles.

    I have to put this down as a  NO  as it completed its parliamentary journey in the Isle of Man but hasn’t received Royal Assent yet, so not technically legal.

    • Turbulent year for economy but stock market higher at end of year than beginning. (FTSE currently at 8,173)

    Stock market at 9,931 today and there was quite a lot of volatility in the first part of the year. So this one is a YES.

    • There will be fewer Commonwealth Realms (ie countries which share the monarchy) by the end of 2025 than there are now.

    This one is a NO though there has been significant progress in that direction in Jamaica and moves that way in Grenada.

    • Philip Mountstephen.

    Well, I was pushing Philip Mounstephen’s name as he appeared to be the only senior bishop in the C of E who actually believed the [absurd] position of the C of E bishops on same-sex relationships. But it is a NO – nothing significant to report.

     

    So – five and a half out of ten this year. Not as good as some years. A couple of near misses.

     

    ,

15 responses to “I.D.”

  1. Duncan Avatar
    Duncan

    I’d always thought there were about 20,000 Piskies. The odd thing about these figures is they offer 4 ways of being Anglican in Scotland (Episcopalian, SEC, Anglican and Church of England.) Added together it looks like there could be around 100,000 Anglicans in Scotland (71k CofE/Anglican and 29k Piskie/SEC).

    According to the Scottish Church Census of 2002, there were only 18,870 Episcopalians in Scotland – so looks like the SEC is doing OK. (Although in-house figures for 2002 put it at 45k). At the high point in the 1920s the SEC had supposedly 140000 members and touching 60,000 communicants – our decline in 90 years has been steep, of course, but has levelled, and, as others have pointed out, the damage has been far less severe than elsewhere.

    Reply
  2. Erp Avatar
    Erp

    I wonder what the breakdown is of religion and Scottish/non-Scottish born is. If many who put down CoE were born and baptized in England and haven’t set foot in a church since (except perhaps to attend weddings and funerals) that might explain why they don’t know that north of the border the equivalent is the Piskies. They now live in Scotland and put down CoE as a reflex though for all intents and purposes they are non-religious.

    Reply
  3. Chucks Avatar
    Chucks

    Absolutely. Confusing the SEC with the Church of Scotland is a dilemma that I have to deal with regularly within the African communities in Scotland.
    I couldn’t agree more with your suggestions around mission and growth strategy. It’s not and will not work until, they are professionally redesigned in line with contemporary expectations and style.
    I made the same points you are making in one of our frustrating TISEC meetings, the church is tarnishing away in the hands of people who are either to lazy to be imaginative or who simply don’t care about the future. I honestly have one prayer, people like you to become in charge one day!

    Reply

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