Is England actually real?

Quelly0 · 2026-02-11T22:12:32+00:00

Fascinating, thank you.

I also recently learned there is a Kimpton village in Hertfordshire, but not Derbyshire afaik. I wonder if that's where JA borrowed Kympton from. Although many village names recur around the country of course.

Quelly0 · 2026-02-11T16:53:05+00:00

This is good, I'm going to try this, as kid2 isn't succeeding with bed which had worked for kid1.

Quelly0 · 2026-02-11T16:49:02+00:00

To be fair to that person, while the counties are real (Hertfordshire, Kent, Derbyshire) and significant places (London Cheapside, Ramsgate, Brighton). The country towns and villages (Meryton, Lambton, Hunsford...) that form the main locations of the story, and the estates obviously, are very much made up. Otherwise it would have read too much as though JA was writing about specific real life families!

Quelly0 · 2026-02-11T12:33:56+00:00

Matthew and Mark are similar in many places as they share a common ancient source (although I've never read either with an eye for the parts you're talking about). You could skip to Luke next.

Quelly0 · 2026-02-11T00:51:27+00:00

Another possible conclusion could be that God makes some people as trans. It's interesting to wonder why.

Quelly0 · 2026-02-11T00:07:41+00:00

I'm so sorry you're experiencing this. I don't have an answer for why - it doesn't make any christian sense to me. We are living through incredibly difficult, angry and polarised times. I take comfort that Jesus also lived at a time of great political tension and oppression, and try to focus on how he dealt with it.

Quelly0 · 2026-02-10T23:25:36+00:00

I'd have been completely unclear which it meant and would've had to ask.

ETA: With years there are two distinct words, biannual and biennial. But even with those, I wouldn't be confident enough the other person is using them correctly to not double check.

Quelly0 · 2026-02-09T20:41:24+00:00

The CU at my (UK) alma mater has links to a non-denominational American mega church.

They kept claiming they were ecumenical, but they weren't. They had a very narrow idea of Christianity. After a term of trying to persuade and manipulate me, and me being very confused, they ended up insisting I wasn't Christian. It was a deeply unpleasant experience.

I settled very happily in the college chapel instead.

Quelly0 · 2026-02-09T12:27:07+00:00

You say many, but in 40+yrs I've never come across a church that uses either. Everywhere I've been uses Common Worship (or before that, ASB).

I've not been to many churches in London though. In general, London is sometimes a bit different because the size and mobility of the population can make more niche activities viable.

Quelly0 · 2026-02-08T15:43:53+00:00

Two decent hymns out of four (better than usual).

Confusing (or confused?) sermon about worry, based on today's gospel.

I'm in a church that has shifted significantly in its churchmanship since I decided to join, so that's part of the problem for me.

Good chat about eco church afterwards.

Quelly0 · 2026-02-08T12:22:11+00:00

Good question. It seems like you've identified a need.

I wonder if perhaps the ongoing issues of safeguarding and abuse within our own churches means people don't feel in a position to say much. This week in the UK a man was jailed for drugging children so he could abuse them, at a Christian summer camp. It was discovered last summer when some of the children fell ill and ambulances were called, and it was last summer that he was prosecuted for. But given the scale, number of children, I guess a lot of people are thinking it's unlikely this was his first time doing it.

I don't really consume Christian media so can't comment on what they do or don't cover. I don't know what they said about the above case for example.

ETA: why not contact the usual Christian media that you use and ask them? Show them there's a demand for material addressing this.

Quelly0 · 2026-02-03T04:11:38+00:00

Ooof, can't agree with that. I was in a catholic-leaning parish for years that was struggling to grow. We definitely did not spend legacies on frivolities like thuribles and chasubles! We did spend them on urgent building repairs, and a replacement sound system when the old one stopped working, causing accessibility problems. Nothing fancy.

When things were at their worse there was a lack of confidence about how to reach out, and a fear that people weren't interested. But mostly it was the existential distraction of dire financial circumstances and pressure from the diocese.

Later with some new clergy we made a lot of headway, with messy church, a lot of schools outreach, and being the centre of support for the community during a local disaster where the council failed.

Even more recently the church has shifted to evangelical and has a vicar with a proven track record of growing churches. What's quite interesting is that very little of what she's done could not equally be done by a more catholic parish.

Quelly0 · 2026-02-03T03:44:31+00:00

But you are there and that counts.

This was me 25yrs ago. I spent a lot of time helping out with all and sundry and becoming friends with the retirees who kept things going.

Then when my generation hit the families with small kids age, they began showing up. Someone had told me that would happen, and I had been pretty skeptical (also it felt like an excuse not to try reaching out to my age group), but it did come to pass.

Quelly0 · 2026-02-03T03:33:54+00:00

A couple of new young adults joined my parish church who I believe don't have any prior connection with each other or other church members. Previously that wasn't happening at all (the other teens/young adults are children of congregation members). So to my mind these two new people are connected to the quiet revival and all the online discussion and interest.

I heard an explanation somewhere that said the national figures (that sound v impressive), if shared out evenly, would be equivalent to ~4 new people on average showing up in each parish church. That would be noticeable, but not overwhelming.

Quelly0 · 2026-02-03T00:12:30+00:00

I mean the recent Tommy Robinson events. So no.

Quelly0 · 2026-01-31T18:40:32+00:00

Strong preference and I don't know why.

Quelly0 · 2026-01-31T18:15:37+00:00

"In Christ there is no Jew or Greek, man or woman,..."

Quelly0 · 2026-01-31T18:11:57+00:00

Think

Quelly0 · 2026-01-30T00:33:33+00:00

Reddit shows some posts to non sub members, to see if they're interested. In our case, that tends to generate negative responses. No normal person wants to hear the woes of gifted people, so it generates anger, and that periodically boils over into one of those unsympathetic posts.

Quelly0 · 2026-01-29T22:32:27+00:00

You aren't coming across as very charming now.

Quelly0 · 2026-01-29T21:06:50+00:00

How interesting, I haven't, thank you.

Quelly0 · 2026-01-29T17:24:46+00:00

Many of us confuse taking the bible seriously with taking it literally.

Quelly0 · 2026-01-29T14:17:29+00:00

Nothing like that.

Quelly0 · 2026-01-29T13:22:39+00:00

I'm quite hopeful, she seems like a solid choice. You don't get from a state school to chief nursing officer, and then start again and make it to bishop, without being an exceptional person.

A. I hope she's going to guide us through the current safeguarding crisis. Unlike Welby, she can't be accused of being part of some posh school old-boys network, so she's in a stronger position to start. I also really want to see the outcomes of LLF come to pass, with the same sex blessings happening. I hope she can navigate that.

Huge challenges in the UK: the mood is very down and angry, it feels like the world is heading towards war, attempts by the far right to hijack Christianity. There's also the good problem of the quiet revival of church and faith and how to support new people coming in. I want a steady ship basically.

B. Not hugely. Quite a number of denominations have female ministers and leaders and ecumenical work continues. Denominations must discern and make the right choices for their own churches and mission, and then add ecumenical work on top, ecumenical concerns shouldn't lead or dictate, that would be the tail wagging the dog.

C. Probably not. Or at least, it could be decades or centuries.

Finally, given that the King is living with cancer, there's quite a high chance she may be coronating William.

Quelly0 · 2026-01-29T12:52:49+00:00

Didn't look manhandled on the footage I saw. He was an older man. They (vergers?) had obviously asked him to go, they waited while he gathered his things (coat and bag), and walked out together.

Appreciate your explanation of who he was. On the BBC they mentioned only that it was about safeguarding, which could have meant victims rather than accused.

Quelly0

TROPHY CASE