To this day he still prays — and not just in church. “Oh no, I pray in times of stress.” Has he prayed during this election campaign? He laughs. “No, I haven’t”

Interview with David Lammy, Shadow Foreign Secretary, The Sunday Times, 30 June

To be clear, I’ve never been a unilateralist. And it is not unusual for people with Christian faith to express doubts about weapons. The truth is, as I sit here today, as shadow foreign secretary, Vladimir Putin has taken his troops into Ukraine, and I am privy to information that tells me pretty definitely we need the nuclear deterrent

ibid.

The key thing is to recognise that our political opinions are the product of much more than our theological perspective and that we might very well be wrong and our policies might end in disaster

Marcus Walker, Rector of St Bartholomew the Great, London, The Critic, July

I love the Church of England, deeply in my bones. I love the ordinary people of God, I love this Church’s vision of serving them, in every acre of this land. And as repellent as I find them, I am called, by Christ himself, to love those who are doing so much damage to those things and to that vision. And it is because I am called to love them that I pray that their time in power might shortly be over

Fergus Butler-Gallie, priest and writer, The Spectator website, 29 June. Press

I have been going to church of my own volition for 45 years in London, Canterbury, Bristol, Sussex and abroad. Not once have I heard anyone raise same-sex relations and their blessing in church as a matter of the remotest concern. The dwindling attendances, the inability to attract young families, and the need to help others and preserve church buildings are, by contrast, subjects of almost constant concern

Tim Reid, letter, The Daily Telegraph, 28 June

You’re probably thinking that anyone who’s a bishop must spend their days living in a different reality most of the time. And you might well be right, because that, for me, is what faith is all about — of seeing the world from a different perspective

Michael Beasley, Bishop of Bath & Wells, speech at the Glastonbury Festival, 30 June

Amazing! What a busy day for the Bish! Ordinations in the morning and Glasto in the afternoon!!

Comment on Diocese of Bath & Wells Facebook post reporting that the diocesan bishop, Michael Beasley, had spoken on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, 30 June

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