Reverend Rob Byrne

@revjaneedwards Thanks Jane! 😃

@RevdRobByrne Congratulations Rob 🎉

It was announced this morning that I am going to be appointed as the next Vicar of St Matthew's, High Brooms! Please pray for us as we prepare to say goodbye to our friends & colleagues at CCTW & move house before starting in the early summer (installation date TBC.) God is good!

To protect our Christian heritage, I'm planning to buy up all of the chocolate eggs that don't have the word "Easter" on the packaging, and securely destroy them using my digestive system

God help us. This is disgraceful language coming from a Christian, or anyone with a soul. It was just as wrong to celebrate the death of Charlie Kirk as it is to celebrate that of Robert Mueller. May they rest in peace. And may we never forget that Jesus's message is about mercy.

"The fact that Jewish people gather, Sikhs, Muslims gather in public to celebrate... isn't a threat to our nature as a Christian country." The Bishop of Kirkstall disagrees that a public Muslim prayer event was an attempt to "assert... domination" over Christianity. #Newsnight

Decriminalising abortion from 24 weeks to birth is, I’m afraid, unnecessary and extreme. It disrupts the correct balance we had in law between the rights of the woman and the rights of the baby: which was abortion before 24 weeks being legal, based on the ability of a baby to live outside the womb, rightly one of the most liberal abortion policies across the developed world. It is an example of liberal overreach which, I fear, will cause an unhelpful backlash. gbnews.com/politics/abort…

Many of us, I am sure, would have had the privilege and joy of holding a newborn baby, moments after birth. The thought that such a baby could have been killed only minutes before without consequences is an abomination. We seem to be embracing a culture of death, seeing others only for their utilitarian value to us. In reality every single person is of infinite worth and value and we should treasure life at all stages.

I am very glad to see such a thoughtful and reasoned speech from the Archbishop of Canterbury tonight. Thank you, @ArchbishopSarah.

21,000 churches have become subject to VAT on repairs overnight, with the end of the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme. Visit our website for all the details on what we know so far, and how you can help churches affected by these changes.

We don’t need hypermasculine world leaders. We need ones who lead like Jesus premierchristianity.com/columnists/we-… @ChineMcDonald

I want to thank @ArchbishopSarah and the other bishops who will attend the House of Lords today as Lords Spiritual. Thank you for creating time in your crowded schedules for this important work and witness. We are praying for you in my parishes.

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Before there were green beer parties or little green people, or gaudy plastic hats -- there was the real St. Patrick. He was kidnapped as a teenager and forced into slavery, only to escape and become one of the legendary figures in Christian history. Here's a little more about the real St. Patrick. At the age of sixteen, Patrick was kidnapped from his home by Irish marauders and taken to Ireland, where he was sold as a slave to a chieftain and forced to herd livestock. After six years of slavery, Patrick escaped to Britain. Because he believed that God's hand was in it all, Patrick devoted his life to ministry. While studying for the priesthood, he experienced recurring dreams in which he heard voices say, “O holy youth, come back... and walk once more amongst us.” He convinced his superiors to let him return to Ireland in 432, not to seek revenge for injustice but to seek reconciliation and to spread his faith. Over the next thirty years, Patrick established churches and monastic communities across Ireland. When he was not engaged in the work of spreading the Christian faith, Patrick spent his time praying in his favorite places of solitude and retreat. This prayer is attributed to Patrick: Christ be with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. Amen. Thank you brother Patrick -- for your life. May we celebrate you well today.

I’m grateful for all those MSPs who voted down the assisted dying bill. No legislation of this sort can ever safeguard the vulnerable, to protect against coercive control or self coercion. Autonomy for those with agency would always entail the worst for the many without it.

I can't think of a more consequential Bill on which to make my final speech as an MSP I've immense empathy for those suffering with a terminal illness. However, I cannot in good conscience support legislation that could be abused to coerce the most vulnerable to end their lives.

My prayers are with the families of the two young people who have tragically died in the meningitis outbreak in Kent. My heart goes out to them in their devastating loss. I’m praying too for all those who’ve been affected by the outbreak, and for everyone working so hard to care for them and protect local communities.

This narrative is oft repeated but it's not true. The CofE and the RCs had almost identical numbers attending church on a Sunday in 2019 (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿716k; 🇻🇦702k) and have shown identical post-COVID recovery (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿573k; 🇻🇦555k). 🇻🇦figures include churches in Wales; 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 do not.

But second may I call her critics to charity please? An Archbishop going on pilgrimage to Canterbury, walking and praying along an ancient way, is *exactly* what you and I think a bishop should be doing in preparation for their installation and enthronement.

I have to say, the reaction on here to Archbishop Sarah’s pilgrimage is very disappointing. First of all, the facts: she is breaking her pilgrimage to attend the Lords to vote on the abortion amendments, which obviously took some organisation because the pilgrimage was long planned and the date of the Lords debate only announced on Friday.

The moment @thurible went from “moderately supportive of a change in the law” to opposed:

The new Archbishop of Canterbury will embark on a 6-day walking pilgrimage from London to Canterbury. Starting on 17 March, the 87-mile trek is part of her spiritual preparation for her Installation service at Canterbury Cathedral on 25 March. It is the first time in modern history that an Archbishop of Canterbury has undertaken a pilgrimage of this nature in the lead-up to their Installation. Read more on Anglican News: bit.ly/4rrnZb3 @ArchbishopSarah