Contribution to a debate on clergy robes
From the General Synod Reports of Proceedings, July 201 4, pp. 171-2: The Revd Canon Dr Simon Taylor (Derby): It is with a heavy heart that I stand to oppose this, not least because it means standing against my Archdeacon, but also because I think, as Bishop Pete does, that this is asking the right questions. I do not think it is asking all of the right questions, however. I think what Bishop Michael Perham said earlier about the different levels of protection in different circumstances would be appropriate. So, to coin a phrase, I agree with Bishop Michael. It is very important in whatever we produce on this - and it is quite right that a dead letter needs revision - that it is not left to the whim of the minister: I do not feel like wearing a cassock, it is a bit warm today. It must be about context, about mission and about liturgical appropriateness, and so something that stops it being about the whim of ...