Anglo-Catholics unite under new umbrella to weather women bishops legislation
A meeting of 600 Anglican traditionalists has produced plans for a new ‘Society’ to ‘provide a place within the Church of England’ where Catholics can continue to minister ‘with integrity’ without accepting the oversight of women bishops. The majority of bishops who had been considering leaving the Anglican Church to join an Ordinariate offered by the Vatican are putting their hopes in the move in order to resist change while staying in the denomination. The Bishop of Plymouth, Rt Revd John Ford, said the new Society of St Wilfrid and St Hilda will ‘not be another club or pressure group’ but ‘a common life’. A group of 12 will meet later this month to put flesh and theology on the proposals. However, Women and the Church (WATCH) said the Society model has already been rejected by General Synod’s revision committee because of the risks of creating a society with a stronger identity than a diocese.
Sources: Church of England Newspaper (1/10); Church Times (1/10)
· http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/
Scottish churches unite in opposition to Euthanasia Bill
Faith groups in Scotland have all expressed fierce opposition to a Bill before the Scottish Parliament permitting assisted suicide and euthanasia. The Church of Scotland, Salvation Army and Methodist Church urged rejection in a joint submission to a committee considering the End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill. The statement said they ‘fundamentally disagree’ with any move to end ‘the societal prohibition’ in the taking of human life. Echoes of this stance came from the Free Church of Scotland, who said the Bill would turn a doctor from being a healer to a ‘destroyer of life’. The Muslim Council of Scotland said the move would be ‘an act of ingratitude against the creator’ devaluing the lives of the elderly and infirm. The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities voiced fear that the law would be used ‘as a cover for murder’ to remove burdensome relatives.
Source: Church of England Newspaper (1/10)
Big Welcome draws crowds on Back to Church Sunday
Thousands of returning or first-time churchgoers were welcomed through church doors last weekend as 4,500 churches participated in Back to Church Sunday. The Baptist Times reports that many of the 475 Baptist churches taking part saw significant increases, especially where they had redoubled their efforts they had made in previous years. Kidlington Baptist Church, Oxfordshire, had ‘felt very flat’ at the low response last year, but the addition of large plywood family figures outside the church and a barbeque after the service drew an extra 20 visitors. St Andrews, Bletchley, went all out and put on 12 events leading up to the weekend. Its first participation two years ago ‘fired people up’ and has resulted in a tripling of the congregation from 25 to 75 regular members in two years.
Source: The Baptist Times (1/10)
· http://www.baptisttimes.co.uk/
Britain over 70 per cent ‘Christian’
More than seven in ten people in Britain describe themselves as Christian, the first Office for National Statistics household survey has found. And nearly eight in ten claim adherence to a religious faith. The figures show those who describe themselves as Christian as 71.4 per cent of the population, with 4.2 per cent as Muslims, 1.5 per cent Hindus, 0.7 per cent Sikhs, 0.6 per cent following Judaism, and 0.4 per cent Buddhists. While the numbers of Christians are not mirrored in church attendance, a survey to be published by Christian Research shows that church decline has bottomed out. Rachel Jordan, a mission adviser for the Archbishops’ Council said she was ‘pleasantly surprised’ by the figures. Paul Bayes, Bishop of Hertford, said the statistics reveal ‘a side to the debates about faith and the place of religion that we don’t often see; but when you actually ask people, this is what they say.’
Source: The Times (30/9)
· http://www.thetimes.co.uk/
Prince praises church’s ‘battling ladies’
The Prince of Wales has made a rare appearance on Songs of Praise and applauded the way faith ‘can work miracles’. Prince Charles praised the ‘marvellous, determined, battling ladies’ who transformed a declining church into one with 500 worshippers and an outreach to 1,000 young people. All Saints, Peckham in south London fell into decline and was threatened with demolition in the 1990s. But six female volunteers and new vicar, Revd Frogg Orr-Ewing, refused to give up and turned the church’s fortunes around. The Prince paid tribute to their efforts as an example of how faith motivates people to transform their communities and called the results ‘a miracle’.
Source: Daily Telegraph (27/9)
· http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Church launches Jesus Easter egg
The first UK Easter egg to mention Jesus on the packaging has been launched with the backing of the Church of England. The church came up with the idea for ‘The Real Easter Egg’ to challenge, head on, ‘a black-and-white case of Jesus being removed from a festival’, according to bishops’ spokesman David Marshall, who patented the egg. Made from Fairtrade chocolate, the £3.99 eggs will go on sale next spring and carry an explanation of the Easter story on every pack. Nearly 8,000 church schools are being encouraged to order packs before 1 December to demonstrate its popularity to cautious supermarkets who still ‘need to be convinced’ that there is a market, according to Bishop of Manchester, Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch.
Sources: The Times (30/9); Daily Telegraph (30/9)
· http://www.thetimes.co.uk/
· http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Obama clears up confusion over his faith
President Obama has spoken at length about his Christian faith for the first time since he entered the White House. Mr Obama clarified his personal Christian commitment during the build-up to the 2 Nov mid-term elections and following a Pew Research Centre poll which found 18 per cent of Americans believe he is a Muslim. Asked by a New Mexico voter, ‘Why are you a Christian?’ he said he ‘came to … Christian faith later in life … because the precepts of Jesus Christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that I would want to lead – being my brothers’ and sisters’ keeper’. He added, ‘I think also understanding that Jesus Christ dying for my sins spoke to the humility we all have to have as human beings … that we achieve salvation through the grace of God’. The US President also used the opportunity to stress the need to ‘revere and respect’ the ‘path to grace’ of people of other faiths and none.
Source: Daily Telegraph (29/9)
· http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Rwanda refugee is film star
A London teenager whose family fled the Rwandan genocide with the help of their pastor is now starring in a film set partly in the once war-torn country. Sherrie Silver (16) plays a young barmaid and sex worker in Africa United which premieres on 17 October. The churchgoer’s character escapes by joining a gang of children who walk across Africa to this year’s football World Cup. Although a family film, the movie tackles many of the harrowing challenges facing young people living in the continent today. It was important ‘to see what some people of my age have to go through in Rwanda and Burundi,’ said Sherrie.
Source: London Evening Standard (24/9)
· http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/
Riding Lights form biggest cast for Bible recording
York Christian theatre company Riding Lights assembled their biggest cast to record the Bible in a radical new style for a new Bible Society project. Thirty-one television and stage actors from Riding Lights lent their voices to You’ve Got the Time, a dramatisation of the New Testament in 40 half-hour audio clips. Russell Boulter, best known as DI Boulton in The Bill, said, ‘It was thrilling to do. I think what we’ve produced is something that makes you really hear the Bible … something powerful happens.’ Director Paul Burbridge said the aim was to give ‘every verse a human voice’. It’s ‘fresh and surprising … fast-paced and makes you want to listen’.
Source: York Press (24/9)
· http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/
Bible Society Newswatch
No comments:
Post a Comment