THE An historicyear forthe CHURCHOF The year in review ENGLAND p5 Newspaper 01.01.16 £1.50 No: 6311

AVAILABLEON⌦NEWSSTAND AHappy New Year to all our readers, advertisersand contributors Charity facing closure over bus ad campaign

By astaffreporter by ademand for asum ‘in excess of Mr Davidson said that the demand is gested that they might win an appeal at £100,000’. ‘punitive, and intended to crippleand the European CourtofHuman Rights, THE NORTHERN IRELAND charity The charity took the Mayor of London silence both the Trust and myself with but said that their objective now was to that tookTransport for Londontocourt and Transportfor London to courtafter the intention of closing down our regis- avoid further costs. over bus adverts is facing abill of over they rejected an advert they intended to tered charitable work.’ In appealing for funds,heconceded £100,000 in courtcosts over their failed post on London buses. Although thecourtcase was backed that their campaign had not been sup- case. The saga arose after an advertising by Christian Concernand the Christian ported by many churches. Just before Christmas the leader of the campaign by Stonewall that read ‘Some Legal Centre, Mr Davidson said he did “I respect their views, and ask their CoreIssue Trust, Mike Davidson, said people aregay.Get over it.’ Core Issues not intend to ask them to help with the understanding that we have different that legal action had been taken that Trust,together with theChristian Legal costs. “The financial responsibility for perspectives and understandings of meant all the resources of the charity are Centreand Christian Concern, planned a theconsequences of this action do not scriptureonthe matter.” now in possession of the Enforcement of riposte reading‘Post-gay and proud. Get belong to them and Iamthereforebegin- However,he maintained that it was Judgements Office. over it.’ ning afinancial appeal to help our cause important that “the right to hold acon- The initialamountof£8,870.87 will be Now after the courtbattles, the charity on myown initiative,” he said. traryview in the public space needs to be recouped first, but that will be followed ishaving to pay the courtcosts. He claimed that legal experts had sug- defended.” Ellie Goulding is patron of Church Army project

SINGER Ellie Goulding make afresh start. Ilove fantastic support.” is picturedwith Mark howthe project empow- Ellieeven volunteered Russell, as shewas erswomento make the at Maryleboneover the appointed the first-ever changes to transform Christmasperiod to get Patron of Church their own lives. to know thewomen, Army’s project for “I saw this for myself staff and objectives of women experiencing when I visited a few theprojectbetter. homelessness in Lon- weeks ago andwas Ellieand homeless don, one ofthelargestof inspired bythestoriesof charity, Streets of Lon- its kind in the United thewomenImet.” don, recentlydonated Kingdom. Church Army Chief £15,000totheMaryle- The announcement Executive,Mark Rus- bone Project, which will followsEllie’s recent sell, said: Iam so excited be used for its Women visit totheMarylebone that Ellie hasaccepted into Work,aprogramme Project, whereshechat- myinvitation tobecome designed to train, sup- tedto thewomenand the Patron of the port and guide women staff abouttheir experi- Marylebone Project. on their journey towards ences. Sheis such anamazing employment. Around Ellie said: “I am so advocate for homeless 110womenayearbene- pleasedtobe thefirst- people andshe is pas- fit fromtheWomen into ever Patron of the sionateabouthelping Work programme. Marylebone Project. those in need. All our The MaryleboneProj- This amazing place clientsare so excited ectwas ableto offer serves hundreds of that Ellie wants to be 40,515 bednights to vul- homeless women every part ofour project. We nerable women during week and helps them areso grateful for her thepast financial year.

[email protected] facebook.com/churchnewspaper @churchnewspaper 2 www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 1, 2016 THE CHURCH IN ENGLAND Bonne Année! Gelukkig THE NieuwJaar! Happy NewYear! DIARY Send your events to John Wilkinson We began Pastor 2015 working [email protected] towards the or Tw eet@churchnewspaper Whatever happens in the appointment of course of 2016 in the UK, the anew Canon Church of England willbeat Chancellor and the heartofEurope, in Brus- Senior Chap- Send your events to sels, whereithas been since lain. Canon [email protected] 1814, along withthe other Paul Vrolijk’s or Tweet @churchnewspaper Anglican churches through- arrival, anative out Belgium,some ofwhich of the Nether- areeven older. lands who had 6January Holy Trinity,Brussels been - (HTB) is one of the Pro- ing in France, heralded anew phase in the life of Holy 9:15am Science and Religion in the Local Church. St Cathedrals in the Diocese in Trinity. Edmund’s College, Cambridge CB3 0BN Europe. Our bishop, Robert Innes, formerlythe sen- But things hadn’t been quiet beforehis arrival. Wide (until 8th). ior chaplain, has his office just up the road. We are consultation about futuredirections of ministryled us served, alongside many volunteers, by three clergy,a to aclearsenseofour calling to servethe city,using team of readers andSunday schoolleaders, with this ourbuildingsand outsideour buildings,which arein 16 January year aCEMES internpreparing forministerial selec- the process of renovation. The arrival of many tion. refugees in the city,has highlighted thisvocation. 10am Islam for Anglicans, aCritical Introduction Brussels is home both to the EU and NATO, with Our congregation have been involved serving Part1-led by Stephen Laird. Godmersham & the thousands who workinthemalongside people in refugees in atemporaryencampment in Brussels, Crundale Village Hall, Canterbury, Kent. business, the professions, and in the universities in some have welcomed families into their homes and we and near Brussels. continue to seek the best way that we can respond as The ecumenical work of the Chapel for Europe, the situation changes. Brussels churches work indi- 26 January hosted by the Roman Catholic church has aparticular vidually and with other churches arepartofacitywide ministryinto the European Institutions; we and espe- attempt to meet ahuge need by offering accommoda- 10am ‘Near Neighbours: Learning for our Future’. cially our outreach workerare veryinvolved. tion, food and administrative help. Carriageworks Theatre,LLeeds, with keynote Thereare also people working in NGOs and civil PaulVrolijkand HTB have just featured inamaga- speeches from Imam Qari Asim MBE and the rights activists, artists and musicians. Brussels is a zine, highlightingreligions in Brussels, published by Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop ofL eeds. city wherealongside the Belgian population thereare the Capital Region as partofan educational response 1pm Science, Faith and God: The BigQuestions. many expatriates; migrants and refugees; the jobless following the terroristatrocitiesthis year in Paris,in Prof Alister McGrath lectures on ‘Cosmologgy and the homeless. which the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek has been and Creation’ atBarnard’s Inn Hall, EC1N In many parts of Brussels you areaslikely to hear implicated. This educational initiativewillcontinuein 2HH. Free as much English being spoken as Nederlands and February2016, with HTB’s Canon Theologian Jack Français. HTB and the other English-speaking McDonald taking partinathree-day prayer vigil for 30 January churchesinBrusselsseekto sharethe goodnews of peace and understanding, with theleaders of the Christ in wordand action, in partnershipwith the recognised religions in Belgium hosted by Brussels 10am to 4pm: Discipleship in Action day at Corby national and other international churches. churches, synagogues and mosques. Business Academy,Gretton Road, Corby, We watch with prayerful interest and concernthe We hosted aCommunityDinner in October in part- NN17 5EB. Free admission. Organised by process initiated by theUKgovernment; by no means nership with Serve the City for residents in an emer- Peterborough Diocese. all of us will be able to vote on this matter that affects gency centrefor families and an asylum seeker centre, us directly,because we have lived outside theUK for which we hope to repeat in thenew year. longer than 15 years. Holy Trinity does not take apar- We heldalarge-scale consultation on our children 23 January ticular view on the issue though the majority of our and youth ministry in which in the year 2014/2015 members would probably be on oneside of the argu- therewereover 100 registered. 1pm Science, Faith and God: The Big Questions. ment! All this is against thebackground of regular worship Prof Alister McGrath lectures on ‘Darwin, Thechurchbuilding with its meeting rooms and andChristian teaching in services, home groups and Evollutiion andd Godd’ at Barnard’sIInn Halll, offices arehidden away through an archway in the young people’s groups. Our strong musical tradition is EC1N 2HH. Free rueCaptaine Crespel /Kapitein Crespelstraat. The acorepartofour worship, with Jazz Carols, Carol premises areused by anumber of local groups during Service and performances of Handel’s Messiah, and 5April the week. We have four Sunday services: aquiet Holy Bach’s St Matthew Passion on Good Friday. Communion,alarge mid-morning congregation with October saw the centenaryofthe death of Edith Sunday school, abilingual service for English and Cavell in Brussels. Nurse Cavell had sung briefly in 1pm Science, Faith and God: The Big Questions. French speakers, largely with roots in Anglican the choir at Holy Trinity (then known as Christ Prof AlisterMcGrath lectures on ‘Religion, churches in Africa; and an informal evening service Church) when the other ChurchofEngland church in morality and meaning’ at Barnard’s Inn Hall, attended by anumber of young professionals. Some Brussels closed during World WarI.One of the main EC1N 2HH. Free 300 families and individuals drawn from almost 30 events was aperformance of aMass in her honour, nations, each with their own traditions and languages, composed by our Music Director,David Mitchell. make for avibrant community.The issues that face It’s been agood year for Holy Trinity,Brussels and 10 May the Anglican Communion do not dominate our life we aretrusting God for his work in and through us in together but they do informwho we areand what we 2016. 1pm Science, Faith and God: The Big Questions. do. Prof Alister McGrath lectures on ‘Why God won’t go away’ at Barnard’s Inn Hall, EC1N Government praised forrole in Parisagreement 2HH. Free

THE GOVERNMENT has been The Church of England’s lead ernment to think about subsidies praised for its involvement in the bishop on the environment, he of renewable energy. Correction historic agreement on climate congratulated the Government’s Bishop Holtam praised the Paris change, agreed in Paris last decision to curb the Feed in Tariff dealfor $100 billion of climate month. at arate lower than had been financefor poor countries. He said Under the article entitled Archbishop says Syria is Speakinginthe House of Lords, feared by environmentalists. thatamongst faith communities, a‘just war’, (11 December) we erroneously ascribed the the Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam how- Bishop Holtam said theGovern- there had been ‘a striking conver- comments concerning aresponse to the Autun ever said that Britain is at a‘tipping ment needs to ‘think hard’ about gence’ of views around climate Statement to Bishop Christopher Cocksworth. The point’ towards alow carbon econo- the renewable energy transition. change. comments were, in fact, made by the Bishop of my and this convergence needs to He said: “Markets do not exist in “All people of faith and of no faith Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Christopher Foster.We be reflected in government policy avacuum: they arecreatedor areable to acttogether in the care apologise for the error. and recognised by the Treasury. made,” as he encouraged the Gov- of ourcommon home,” he said.

[email protected] facebook.com/churchnewspaper @churchnewspaper NEWS Friday January 1,2016 www.churchnewspaper.com 3 Rival groups sing from same hymn bookonfreedom of speechthreat

AGRIM warning about the dangers to free speech They added: “Wehave previously been able to see off out because of the ‘vague’ definitions of extremism that werehighlighted in ararejoint statement from the an attempt to make it illegalto be ‘annoying’inpublic. Government ministers refer to. Christian Institute and the National Secular Society. We have prevented prosecutions for mere‘insults’ by He claimed that the new measures could actually be Thetwo arepartofawider coalition targeting the helping to securechangestoSection 5ofthe Public counter-productive. Government’s planned Extremism Disruption Orders Order Act. “Broad-brush counter-extremism policies catch ordi- (EDOs). “Extremism Disruption Ordersare as bad as any- narycitizens andare actually awaste of resources. But theleadersofboth organizations saidthat if they thing we haveseen in the past–probably worse. Itis Theydonot make us safer.They make us less safe by areintroduced then ‘the writing could be on the wall for another attempt by aGovernment to clamp down on distracting the authorities from focusing on genuine free speech.’ free speech in the guise ofcombating extremism.” threats.” They claim thatthe ordersare ‘overlybroad’ and The new Extremism Disruption Orders areaimed at Keith Porteous-Wood added: “Political activists, envi- couldend up turningmillions of ordinarycitizens into those sympatheticwith jihad and those sympathetic to ronmental campaigners, as well as groups like ours, extremists ‘overnight’. Islamic State, but Colin Hartsaid: “Everytime minis- could all be branded ‘extremists’ under the Govern- Colin Hart of the Christian Institutejoined with Keith terstalk about extremismthey seem to wanttogo ment’s massively broad proposals.” Porteous Wood of the NSStoaffirm: “The vital impor- muchwider than tackling terrorists and their sympa- The two men stressed thattherewerealready tance of freespeech is an issueon which both our thisers.” enough measures to catch extremists, but claimed that organisations have always agreed.” He said that Christians in particular could be caught these werenot beingfully used. Churchreceives reassurance Greek Church leader blames Jews that ethosoffailing schools forsame-sexmarriage push ‘willremain religious’ THE CHURCH has received poor,disadvantaged children AN INTERNATIONAL Jewish reassurances that if any of its fail- with no previous access to educa- conspiracy is behind the push ing schools areturned into acade- tion the chance to receive that to legalise same-sex marriage mies, the religious ethos of the wonderful gift as amatter of in Greece, the Metropolitan school will be preserved. right,” he said. Seraphim of Piraeus has The revelation was made in the Bishop Conway said that Stret- warned. House of Lords wherethe Bishop ton Church of England Academy, In astatement published on of Ely said he was satisfied with sponsored and managed by the his diocesan website, he called the reassurance. Diocese of Coventrymulti-acade- theproposed CohabitationBill Bishop Conway said that my trust, went from special meas- beforethe Greek parliament Church ofEngland schools offer ures to outstanding in less than the latest battle in the “con- both ethos and religious literacy. three years. stant war against the true faith” He offered an example of a “That commitment to serving waged by “the international ChurchofEngland school in the common good and providing Zionist monster” which he Moss Side, Manchester,which excellent education for all is the claims controls the EU and was named primaryschool of the driving force of the Church of Greek government. year having come bottom in the England’s involvement in educa- Seraphim furtherthreatened north-west league school tables. tion,” he told peers. to excommunicateany legisla- The Bishop also pointed out that LordNash told him that the torwho supported the bill, St Luke’s in Buryhas aJewish Government is ‘keen’ to protect which wasdue tocome up for headteacher and amajority Mus- the religious character of vote on 22 December. lim intake, while St Chrysostom’s schools, and that laws will seek to In a2011 television inter- Orthodoxy.” purpose of convincing the Jews in Manchester hasanintake of protect their ethos when inter- view,Seraphim said Jewsare Seraphim further statedthat to leave the shores of Europe around 40 per cent Muslim stu- vention is necessary. to blame for ahost of the the mark of the deviousness of and go to Israel to establish the dents. LordNash said that when a world’s ills, from homosexuali- the Jewish conspiracy was that new Empire,” the bishop told “This is to demonstrate that the Church of England school ‘joins a ty to the Holocaust. Heblamed Adolf Hitler was an agent of the MEGA television station. Church of England is engaged in non-faith led trust’, a‘faith object’ Greece’s financial meltdown Zionism. Jewish bankers like “Rocke- education because parishes and —seeking to ensure the trust’s on an international Zionist con- “AdolfHitler was an instru- feller,Rothschild and Soros generations of citizens have pro- commitment that the Church of spiracy and acabal of Jewish mentofworld Zionism and was control the international bank- vided land, buildings and teach- England character will be main- bankers who sought to financedfromthe renowned ing system that controls global- ers to ensurethat Christian tained —will be added to the “enslave Greece andChristian Rothschild family with the sole ization,” the bishop added. values could be shared with trust’s articles of association. futuregenerations and to give Pressure on mining companies to be transparent

THE CHURCHInvestors Group has called on agement, Sarasin &Partners,The Pensions miningcompanies to adopt atransparent disclo- Trust and Rathbone Greenbank Investments. Have alifechangingexperience with Us. surepractice towards their investors about New resolutions will direct the miners to theirresponse to alow carbon economy. address five main areas. These include reduc- The push comes after the ‘Aiming for A’ ing operational carbon emissions, maintaining a Our Expanding Horizons programme investor coalition secured avote for what was portfolio of assets resilient to futureenergy sce- provides an opportunity to called a‘shareholders democracy’ earlier this narios, and supporting low-carbon energy experiencethe lifeofthe church in year,calling for furthertransparency from oil research and development. giant BP around its operational emissions man- Founder of Aiming for A, Helen Wildsmith, anotherculture. agement and public policy activity related to cli- said she wanted major mining companies to Theprogramme is idealfor matechange. demonstrate awareness of the risks andoppor- sabbaticals andshortplacementsfor After shareholders’ resolutions at both BP tunities that climate change pose to their busi- and Shell, the Aiming for Acoalition, which has nesses. clergy,ordinands andchurchworkers. £230bn assets under management is calling for EdwardMason, the Head ofResponsible Contact ‘supportive but stretching’ agreements for Investment at the Church Commissioners, who HabibNader on 02079212215 major mining groupssuchasAngloAmerican, areleading the engagement with Glencore, Glencoreand Rio Tinto to supportthe low car- said: “The BP and Shell resolutions have helped [email protected] bon transition. change the waythe European oil and gas com- www.weareUs.org.uk/travel The coalition is significant, not least because panies integrate climate change into their busi- it includes the three Church of England Nation- ness strategies. We arenow keen to see the al Investing Bodies (the Church Commission- same from the major mining companies. ers, the Church of England Pensions Boardand “Wewould like other investors to join us in co- Us. Thenew the CBFChurch of England Funds) and the filing then supporting theseresolutions, there- namefor USPG Central Finance Boardofthe Methodist by encouraging the companies to advocate for Church together with Hermes Investment Man- and adapt to alow carbon economy.” Registered charitynumber 234518

[email protected] facebook.com/churchnewspaper @churchnewspaper 4 www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 1, 2016 NEWS Ministergets Church leaders life sentence for face extortion proselytising attempt ATORONTO Presbyterian minister has ByGeorge Conger been sentenced to life imprisonment for proselytizing North Koreans. THE PRIME Bishop of theEpiscopal Church of the Philippines and On 16 December the Rev Hyeon Soo Lim members of the Church’sexecutive weretargets of an extortion was sentenced following a90-minute trial on attempt, when asecurity screener at Manila’sNinoy Aquino Interna- charges of having engaged in “politicalter- tional Airport(NAIA) planted abullet in their luggage. rorism” and espionage. On 2December the Most Rev Renato Abibico reported that when Senior pastor ofthe Light Korean Presby- he andfellow members of the Church’stop leadership teamwere terian Church in Toronto, Mr Lim was “travelling to Tacloban abullet was placed inside our bag containing arrestedinFebruaryand held in detention. materials for our meeting.” He has visited North Korea over 100 times He reportedthat “Tanim Bala at NAIA is not amyth …FrMarrero during the past 20 years to supportanursing could have beenapprehended at the security area had he decided to home, nurseryand orphanage. hand carry the bag.Luckily he decidetocheck in the bag. We found At his trial Mr Lim read astatement con- the bullet when we opened the bag this morning. fessing to having committed “heinous “It is a32calibrebullet. [It] must have been placed by the per- crimes”. sonnel attending to theX-ray machine upon entering the airport.” “It wasclear he was made to read from a worship is mandatory, the authorities regard In the past two weeks the Manila International AirportAuthority prepared statement,” says Release Interna- Christianity as athreattothe state, andare has recorded five cases of “tanim bala” [plantingofbullets in lug- tional Chief Executive Paul Robinson. accusing Christiansof spying.” gage], whereairportscreeners allegedly plant live ammunition in “Whoknows what he had been made to According to the US State Department, order to extortabribe from the unwarytravellerwho wishes to avoid endurebeforehand? This was another show some 200,000 North Koreans arebeing held arrest. trial, and Rev Lim should be released.” in labour camps, many for offences related Presidential Communications Operations Office SecretaryHer- Robinson stated Christians werebeing to religion.Upto30,000Christiansare cur- minio Coloma Jr,last month said tanim bala was an isolated prob- used as ascapegoat by the government. rently in jail for theirfaith, Release Interna- lem, but this week said the upsurge in complaints would prompt a “In acountrywhereaformofemperor tional reported. government investigation. Sydneysells Archbishop warnedthatPrimates’ dialogue willnot be enough

Bishopscourt THE LEADER of the Gafcon movement has of Canterbury, but “depends upon the various warned the Archbishop ofCanterburythat provinces being abletorecognize each other, THE DIOCESE ofSydney has sale,givingthe AnglicanProperty traditionalists will not be mollified by promis- with all their differences of culture, as truly reached an agreement to sell its Trust authorisationfor afive-year es of dialogue at next month’s primates’ gath- apostolic and committed to the faith as it has neo-gothic episcopal residence, ‘sale window’. ering. been received. ‘Bishopscourt’inthe Darling Point “Thebuilding is apartofthe ArchbishopEliud Wabukala of Kenya said “Tragically,that recognition has now bro- area of the city. early history of Sydney and for the they expect to clearly state ken down and affection for Canterburyisno The building hasbeen on the last centuryhas served the church wherehestands onthe issues dividing the substitute.” market for morethan two years well,”the chairman of the Proper- Anglican Communion, and what steps he will The Anglican Communion was “in danger andnegotiations concluded this ty Trust, Dr RobertTong told take to resolve the dispute. of losing the gospel of God’s costly grace to week for asale price of $18 million AnglicanMedia Sydney. Inaletter published on 17 December,Arch- ussinners for the poor substitute of cheap Australian dollars. “However,several million dollars bishop Wabukala said he and his fellow grace which makes us comfortable but can ‘Bishopscourt’ (formerly would be required in the near “orthodoxPrimates” were“willing to attend” neither save nor transform. Greenoaks) was built in the mid- futurefor renovations and as the the 11-16 Januarymeeting in Canterbury. “Thechoice beforethe Primates as they 1840s by prominent colonial busi- agreed price is at the upperend of However “their continued presence will gather in Canterburyiswhether they will rec- nessman Thomas Sutcliffe Mort. It valuations, theTrust actedpru- depend upon action by the Archbishopof ognize this reality and take the difficult but was not theoriginal Archiepiscopal dentlytoconclude asale. Canterburyand amajority of the Primates to necessaryaction to restorethe bible to its residence, but has housed Arch- “Partofthe sale proceeds will be ensurethat participation in the Anglican central place in the life of the Communion, or bishopsofSydney since 1911. usedfor the purchase of anew res- Communion is governed by robust commit- whether they will accept amerely cosmetic Asale was first discussed as idenceand the balance will be ments to biblical teaching and morality.” solution which will see it increasingly taken early as 1982. In 2012 the Synod of placed into acapital preserved He disputed the notion thatAnglicanism captive by the dominant secular cultureofthe the Diocese voted to approve a fund,” Dr Tong said. was defined by its relation to the Archbishop West,” the archbishop said. Christians at risk in Middle East, warns Prince Charles

THE PRINCE of Wales has warned that unless urgent In hisaddress thePrince of Wales said with the Islamist militants intent on dividing communities which steps aretaken immediately,Christians will be driven approach of Christmas: “it seems to me vital thatwe have lived alongside one another for centuries,” the out of the Middle East by Daesh. pause for morethanamoment to think about the plight prince said, noting the “veryexistence of Christianity in At an Advent reception for Christians from the Mid- of Christians in the lands wherethe Word was actually the land of its birth” was under threat. dle East hosted by Cardinal Vincent Nichols in London ‘made flesh and dwelt among us’.” “The greatest challenge we face is how to ensurethat on 17 December,PrinceCharles metwithrepresenta- The“plight of our fellow brothers and sisters in the spiritual and cultural heritage of Christianity in the tives of the Chaldean Catholic, Syriac Catholic, Christ” who had been “subjected to indescribable levels Middle East is preserved for futuregenerations -quite Maronite Catholic, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Apos- of barbaric horror” was “heart-breaking,” he said. apartfromdoing all we cantoprovide practical support tolic and GreekCatholic Melkite Churches as well as “Christian communities in various parts of theMiddle to those who arepersecuted,” he said. charities serving Christians in the region. East arebeing deliberately targeted by fanatical Online at www.churchnewspaper.com: Get all the breakingnews stories as they happen NEWS Friday January 1, 2016 www.churchnewspaper.com 5 2015:ayear of strong engagement by theChurch with the Government The Church was seen by some bring forward the introduction procedureover women Meanwhile the Church of Environment, Bishop Holtam as pedalling aleft-wing agenda of thefirst women diocesan Bishops; adisputeover Chrism Scotland voted toallow said ‘ecumenical and interfaith in this year’s Pastoral Letter bishops into theHouse of Masses held by Anglo Catholic presbyteries to call ministersin convergence’ is being met on and the book On Rock or Sand. Lords.Asaresult, the first opponents to women’s ministry same-sex partnerships though climate change as Catholics, UK Prime Minister David female Diocesanbishop, the Rt wasthe first issue tackled by evangelical leaders in the Ecumenical Patriarchs of the Cameron said the picturethe Rev , left, the Church’s Independent Scottish Episcopal Church Orthodox Churches, Swedish Bishops were joined the ReviewerinAugust. voiced dismay over their Lutherans and Anglican creating of Bishops Benches The second investigationwas General Synod’s decision to Bishops worldwide agree on Britain’s in October. overthe appointment ofa begin the process for creating climate action. Muslims, Sikhs economic Earlier in the woman whereaparish in same-sex marriage liturgies. and Hindu organizations all inequality year,Archbishop the multi-parishbenefice Ireland voted in areferendum declared their supportfor was not Sentamu restricted women’s ministry. on aconstitutional amendment action to controlclimate accurate addressed the The former LabourHome to mandatethe legal change. while theology of Secretary, Charles Clarke recognition of same-sex Faith leaders opposed the Conservative ‘taint’. Questions calledfor aban on religious marriage. Assisted Dying Bill and the Peer Lord wereraised instruction inschools. Fair Speaking of the Jeremy Heseltine called the Church because he declined to take schools admissionpolicies and Pemberton tribunal, Ben criticized David Cameron’splan ‘out of touch’. partinthe laying-on of hands at usingChurch attendance as a Bradshaw MP said in the to resettle 20,000 Syrian Ed Miliband and Liberal the consecration of the Rt Rev selection criterion werealso in Commons that ‘it was a refugees. Although he Democrat MP,Sir Andrew Philip North following aservice the news this year.But the ridiculous situation’ for the welcomed this in principle, Stunnell welcomed the book’s for firstwoman Bishop, the Rt Churchof England’s Chief Church of England to have a manybishops expressed their ‘timely’ views. Archbishop Rev LibbyLane. Education Officer,the Rev ‘discriminatory’ approach concern that the number was Sentamu commented at the CanonRosie Harper Nigel Genders, was one of towards the formerhospital too low in light of the terror time that the exclusion of the commented at thetime thatthe those who warned against chaplain, when the General being imposed by Daesh. poor is pervasive, organised decision of the Northern downgrading RE in schools. Synod celebrated the And the Government faced and imposed by powerful Primate to delegate Anew training programme democratic election of the first moreopposition from the institutions. responsibility for the laying-on for senior leaders in the Church openly,gay married priest this ChurchasBishops objected to The book and the following of handstothe Bishop of of Englandbegan. This year. the deregulation of Sunday release of the Pastoral Letter by Chichester had created a‘de followed the Green Report, The Church revealed that it trading hours. the House of Bishops, sparked facto thirdprovince’. which raised questions about achieved arecord£1billion in adebate on the role of the In JuneSir Philip Mawer the ‘institutional management’ church giving. Parish giving 2015: Theadventofwomen Church in politics, “The book outlinedofthe disputes of theChurch. rose by £24 million between bishops itself is not about the Church But ‘leadership language’ was 2012 and 2013, totaling £953 engaging itself in party politics criticized by of Christ million, the highest recorded Finally,after years of debate, but politics, as far as I People we said goodbye Church, Oxford, the Very Rev figure. the Church of England understand it, has to do with to in 2015: Prof Martin Percy, who said the Faith-based giving was welcomed its first women public deliberations on how Green Reportwas ‘steeped in praised by the Archbishop of bishops last year,and the society should be governed. It The Very Rev John itsown uncritical use of Canterburyafter research House of Lords welcomed the is for the whole nation to Treadgold executive management speak’. coordinated by the charity,The first woman bishop to its engage itself in deliberations on The Rev Canon Michael In February’s Synod, elected Cinnamon Network, found that benches. In aremarkable how we should be governed,” Saward membersquestioned the faith groups give over £3 billion welcome, the Rt Rev Rachel ArchbishopSentamu Eva Burrows Business Committee about the ayear in time to social action Treweek was greeted by a responded. John Templeton omission of theGreen Report projects. Archbishop Welby round of applause when she In aresponse to a Times Monty Barker fromthe Synod agenda. said that ‘Faith communities in was welcomed the upper letter commenting on the 52- The Rev Prof Owen The SharedConversations this countryhave risen to the House. page Pastoral Letter,the Chadwick process started in 2015. In challenge.’ In total, eight women joined Bishops of Leicester and Crime writer PD James Februaryhead of the gay rights Speaking in the Lords, the the episcopate: Norwich said the letter The Rt Rev RonaldGordon pressuregroup, Changing Archbishop addressed the Libby Lane, Stockport highlighted aconcernabout The Rev Carol Stone Attitude commented on a issue of the freedom of religion AlisonW hite, Hull the disengagement of the Martin Cavender reportbyCanon Porter on the and relief saying religious Sarah Mulalley,Crediton public with party politics and its The Most Rev Samir Kafity SharedConversations. The freedom is afreedom that is RachelTreweek, Gloucester tribalism. Myfanwy Giddings writer on Changing Attitude threatened on aglobal scale. Ruth Worsley,Taunton The letter commented on The Rt Rev Neville claimed Porter said the The General Synod voted Anne Hollinghurst, Aston Britain’srelationship with DeSouza,Bishop of Jamaica Conversations had not worked overwhelmingly on action to Christine Hardman, Europe, suggestingthis was an IHowardMarshall as hoped because ‘some of the tackle climate change and the Newcastle area of concernfor theBishops. old-school Bishops refused to Church welcomes the Papal , Sherborne Theengagement was play ball’. Encyclical. Lead of the significant partly because of the timing, coming as it did shortly beforethe General PART Election. But this was just RELAX!RELAX! W , CP LY LY EXCHANGE one of many examples of the WELCOMEOCWEL ME Church questioning Government policy last year. YOOUU ORC FULL Later in the year,the Chair HISTORY of the Church of England’s REDUCED! CHECHECKCK Mission and Public Affairs Council, Philip Fletcher,told theSynod in York that there FLEXIBLE could be scope for MPAC to FINANCE 62 REG 60 REG 60REG 11 REG 11REG BRAND NEW VA AILABLE take aposition on what is ‘out CITROEN C1 1.0i VW GOLF1.6 TDi 1055DR EST CICITROENTROEN C4 GRAND PICASSO AV UXHALL INSIGNIA AUDIA32.0 TDi SPORT FORD FIESTADIESEL of court’ from aChristian VTR 3DR RED 38K UEMBL OUEM TION TECH SE BLACK 5K 1.6HDiVTR+ EGS5DR SILVER59K 2.0 CDTi SE 5DR GREY 77K 5DR (STARTSTOP) BLACK 1.5TDCi STYLE 3DR 48MONTHS (9+47) ..0000PPERER perspective when he NOWNOW NOW NOW NNOWOW NOW NOW * NATIONWIDE announced the launch of the OLONLY £4516 OLNLY £6751 OOLNLY £7375 OLONLY £6995 ONOLLY £8717 ONOLLY £13377MMOONTHNTH DELIVERY blog ‘Reimagining Europe’, a AUTOSAVE... SERVING THE CHRISRISTIAN COMMUNITTYOY FOR OVER35YEARS TOTOY YOOURUR DOOR joint venturebetween the

Church of England and the *Based on personal (P(PCH)eHiractontrC CH) pa ment pry ofile 9+47. ermsT.tusstaotsubjecteFinanc canderms onditions BRANANDDN NEEWW Church of Scotland. apply. c tsAppli tan bemus 18 or ee/antGuar.ervo Call0845 11a226910 aututosave.co.uk indemnity may be equirr anceWed. intr ducin yeo ou aot CARSRAC S AVAAVAILABLEEBLA The Church welcomed the limited number fulearcfo ly ectedsel financfinance providers eW. ma ry eceiv cae ommission fr fthemom or intrtheor oduction. ALL MAKES Royal Assent forLords Spiritual (Women)Bill to

[email protected] facebook.com/churchnewspaper @churchnewspaper 6 www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 1, 2016 LETTERS

of the USA, with the exception of the few dioceses that rejectgay marriage. Thereisno WhyAlan Storkey is being moratorium in sight in this on-going, cultural war, LETTERSTO unreasonable anymorethan thereispeace in Sudan itself, a supposedly Christian country, wheretribal Sir,Ialways enjoy the thoughtsof Alan conflict continues to produce mass slaughter, Storkey.Last week on ‘the inadequacy of the displacement andfamine. THEEDITOR Church of England’s public voice’ was no However grieved one maybebythis appalling exception. But he isbeing totally state of affairs, it would be wrong to withdraw unreasonable in his hopes in present supportfor the School for Girls at Ibba, in circumstances. SouthernSudan. In time, better education may Our Archbishop of Canterburyhas the enable the Sudanese to live peacefully with their unenviable task of seeking to speak for differences. Its bishops may then be prepared to Christian England. He seeks to represent consider,ingreater depth, what God has, principles by which we can judge every meanwhile, been doing elsewhereinhis world, in question we face, but to apply them one way order to bring his LBGT children in, out of the or another can be unwise in the light of cold. equally sincerely held convictions. Alan is Likeother weirdcreatures in Peter’s Joppa free to campaign any way he sees fit but he vision, Intersex people arealso beginning to Advent hymns must not expect us all to agree with him. present themselves forrecognition and inclusion. Sir, Iwas somewhat surprised to seethe letter The old adage puts it: on essentials unity,on Our education continues. from Harry Hicksin which he expresses the non-essentials liberty,onall charity. Serena Lancaster, view that it isstrangetosingabout theSecond The age-old question is which arethe Broadwell, Moreton-in-Marsh Comingduring Advent. He does notseem to essentials of our faith? have graspedthe conceptthat Advent looksat Andrew Salmon, Modernliving

3RX. both theFirst and Second Comings of Jesusas Wareham Sir,The year-end is atime ofreflection on the seen throughthe eyes of theOld Testament past and what the futuremay hold.For Christians prophets whosaw the twoevents telescoped the ultimate futureisbound up with the returnof togetherso as to appearasasingle event. Surely thiswould have been abetter model for Christ,the Judgement and banishment of sin and

SW1P MrHicks does notseem tohavenoticed that the Archbishop to suggest, particularly to those whoprovoke and practiceit, leaving a this isreflected in so manyofour Advent hymns Christian ministers and lay-leaders. world wherein dwells righteousness (2 Peter and not just the particularone he mentions. AB MacFarlane, 3:13). Yetwhat may thefuturehold in the IsuspectthatMrHicks has become confused Stoke-on-Trent meantime? In Britain and theWest,Christianity becausesomany of ourAdventhymns are is on thewane, and the forces of secularism

ondon, seldom sung nowadays.There aretwo reasons would help it on the way. forthis.One reason is thatAdvent, for some Climate change Differing eschatologies suggest either the

,L years now,tendstobe celebrated only on Advent Sir,correspondence on climate change is again outward rule of the saints for one thousand years Sunday itself instead of throughout Advent as gracing these pages. Genesis tells us that Adam (Rev.20) or condemnsuch “Jewish dreams” and used to be thecase. Theother reason is that was entrusted with stewarding the Earth. He was see only the personal victoriousChristian life, hymns in general (even recent ones)havebeen put in charge of everything and being under whereamid arebellious unbelieving world, almost completely replaced by atotally alien authority of God wasthereforeresponsible for it. Christ reigns in the life of hissaints who make up tradition ofworship songs that drive mostofusto The Earth’sresources have to be used wisely his Church, which is his Kingdom. stminster edited distraction! and we have to be waryofusing things like Whatever eschatology we mayhave, we livein John Humphrey, emissions in such away as to damageit. aworldordered by laws, and those laws areto be We Sevenoaks It is well known that climate is constantly encourage virtuous behaviour,and discourage changing. It has been ascertained that therehave what society sees as wrong behaviour.They

may been major and minor warming periods. Most establish acivic morality, and so far as Christian Gay people accept that therehave been four ice ages. values reign in us, they mustaffect the values we weddings We have undergone vast changes down the wish establishing in such acivic morality. Street, Sir,Anglican aeons. Scriptureprophesies atime when “The @churchnewspaper Letters Mainstream has Temperaturerises and falls without any kingdoms of this world arebecome the highlightedthat intervention from mankind yet we are kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ” (Rev.

NB: Dr Albert bombarded with supposed facts thatmankind is 11:15). As Constantine and other rulers

eet at Mohler, causing massive rises in global temperature. Ido embraced Christianity,itseemed as if this was College President of the not want to suggest for one moment we should comingtopass. Today such rulers have been Tw SouthernBaptist not be concerned about carbon emissions and toppled and the will of the people has triumphed. Seminary, in his suchlike but Ithink we should be waryof Butitisthe willofpeople estranged from Christ reat address. latest book: We supposing that these areprincipally responsible andhis values. It is the will of apagan people

.com. cannotbesilent, for climate change and that it is destroying believe they maydefine justice according to 4G hasargued that planet. Genesis tells us that God saw what he had their whims, because, as in mob-rule, their might treet contraception made and that it was good. Icontend that this is right. ,1

as wasusedto implies that the Earth is robust and not readily Clearly any Church that seeks “to please spearhead amoral revolution in the early part of tampered with: it willreadily adapt to change. [such] men... [is not] the servant of Christ” (Gal. the 20th centurybyallowing baby-making to be Whilst Christians should be concerned about 1:10), and becomes like the salt that has lost its separated from sex. the effects of climate we should be awareofmore savour (Matt. 5:13), and will be lightly esteemed In“Understanding andResponding to the sinister implications. What we arebeing told that and unblessed of God (I Sam. 2:30) and like the MoralRevolution” (TheChristianWorldView.org), man is in control –heiscausing temperatureto unfruitful tree destined for oblivion (Matt. 7:19). programmehostDavid Wheatonasked Dr rise and he has to lower it. This is tellingusGod Isn’t might right? In spiritual things, one man Newspaper Mohler to commenton the question has lost control. Man has made aname for with God, that is with the Bible, is the majority. please include hypothocated by Archbishop JustinWelby: himself and as in Genesis XI iswresting control But this being the 600th anniversaryof shouldaChristian attendthe Gay Marriage of his from him. Many believers arebeing urged to Agincourt, lets heed its lesson. The English were son?To which the Archbishopansweredhe fight arear-guardaction to protect the Earth. The hopelessly outnumbered, not surprising: Sir letters@churchnewspaper would,should the situation arise. words ‘subdue the earth’ in Genesis Isuggest a Walter Hungerfordexpressed their need of more e-mail,

to DrMohler wascertain that attending such a far moreproactive approach. Thereisthe archers, everyable archer from England. To this gatheringwould be to approveofit, especiallyas distraction that if we do not save the planet there King HenryV,rebukingly answered: “I would not by of England most weddingsinvolvethe invitation to raise will not be aworld to preach salvation to. have asingle man moreeven if Icould, for these

ers objections, andaChristian couldnever imply In shortweare being dragged into aman-made that Ihave herewith me areGod’s people whom E-mail approval. agenda. Whatever happened to the God-given he has graciously allowed me. Do you think that

lett Surely wecan addthatthe Archbishopisnot agenda in Matthew 28? even with these few he cannot overcome the justanotherattendee of such an event. Likethe Colin Bricher pride of the French and all their strength of Queen, he is arole model for both Christian Northampton numbers?” leadersand .Heisalso a memberofthe The rest, the surprising English triumph, is

The Church of ourChristian sending House ofLords, andaguardian history, only to add that the French defeat was constitutional heritage. Moratorium ascribed to their sinful love of luxury, vice, to Ofcoursewe have been here beforewiththe Sir,Itgrieved Our Lord when his followers blasphemous language, their violence against are remarriage ofPrince Charles.Although the fixated on the beam in aneighbour’s eye and churchmen and women, etc. So “with God all ite you can send an Queenand Prince Philip werethe groom’s ignored the plank in their own. Notwithstanding, things arepossible” (Mark 10:27). you parents and werepresentlater, they both chose the Anglican Church of Sudan, following Kenya’s Alan Bartley, If or Wr not to be presentfor the actual civil marriage. lead, has severed ties with the Episcopal Church Greenford, Middlesex

[email protected] facebook.com/churchnewspaper @churchnewspaper LEADER &COMMENT FridayJanuary 1, 2016 www.churchnewspaper.com 7 Reviewing the managerial year that was2015 The Conservative Party’s surprise winning of aworking majority in the May General Election has to featurelarge in any review of ‘God is doing a the year: the SNP ironically propelled Mr Cameron to poweras the English voters took fright at aMiliband-Sturgeon coalition of the left. In Scotland however Nicola Sturgeon surged to morepower and also rejected any ‘English votes for English laws’ to mirror Scottish devolved powers. Morewidely,nationalistic parties in new thing’ Europe improved their popularity,although Mme Le Pen’s Front National did not gain the victories polling suggested. But the risingpopularity of her party is clear,now with left wing economic worldview is religious, agnostic or atheistic. It policies allied to avisceral nationalism, curiously like the SNP AngusRITCHIE warns that the language of “integration” can be stance in effect.Asacolumnist in the Financial Times put it, used to flatten out legitimate and important globalisation seems to beget nationalistic reaction. disagreements. This might be confirmed by the EU’s spat with Russia in Is Britain still a“Christian country”? With the Our reportdrewsome controversial Ukraine, which has led to an embittering of relations akin to the publication of our reportlast week, the implications for education policy.They are cold war.Inthe UK ‘Brexit’ seems abit morelikely at the end of Commission on Religion &Belief in British controversial partly because they recognise the this year as Mr Cameron has been soundly rebuffed by his EU Public Life has brought this question back into realitythat nearly 50 per cent of people say they partners in any deal on migration and benefits. But pundits think focus. The answer depends, of course, on what it have no religion, and verymany schools have therewill be anarrowreferendum win for the Europhiles next meanstobeaChristian country. The prophets pupils from anumber of different faiths, In other year. who featureinour Advent lectionarymighthelp contexts, the Church of England is rightly Speaking of migration, Syrian migration was perhaps the Christians to understand what that means. They careful not to allow its ministers to engage in phenomenon of the year,causing mass panic in Brussels. The mightalso guide theChurch in its response to “inter-faith worship”. Different faiths can live crisis was fuelled in partbyWesternhelp to Assad’s opponents as therapid social change that the report together,and can reflect together,but the well as the Isis war machine. The Charlie Hebdo murders and describes. Churchiscareful to keep its worship from Paris bombings bled from Isis and the visceral brand of Islam it The words of Isaiah and John the Baptist lapsing into syncretism (that is, the kind of avows, and these atrocities prompted moreanguish over freedom suggest some ways we might identify whether “pick-and mix approach” which dilutes the of speech and the historic Westernright to say what one wants we live in a“Christian country”. Arepeople distinctiveness of Christianity). and be awkward. Hereasurprising development has been in worshipping theliving God? Do they - The Commission argues it is inappropriate for universities wherebullying student activists have been shutting individually and corporately-repent of their the law to demand collective worship partly down debate by ‘no platforming’ speakers they deem politically sins? Is thereChrist’s justice for thepoor,and because itrecognises the danger that if schools incorrect, and alas university managers have basically bowed to hospitality for the refugee? areforced tohold collective worship, what will the bullies –although ’s vice chancellor has recently The prophets wereunsentimental characters. emerge is something that is syncretistic -asort proved an honourableexception. In France the scholarly and They had no time for false consolation. They of inter-faith potage. determined Catherine Fourest has written ‘In Praise of should give us the courage to face reality today. Instead, the reportcommends the provision of Blasphemy’, available on Kindle but publishers aretoo scared to Thetruth is our friend. We do no one aservice corporate reflection in which all children can print it. by pretending that moreBritish people are engage, and recommends that all publicly The law over the past year has gained areputation as more Christianintheir practice funded schools social management of outcome than enforcing the law on right or outlook than they provide facilities for against wrong. Failuretoimplement the FGM law shows this, as actuallyare.Britain will “religion- or belief- did the failureofthe CPS and police to prosecute the northernsex become amoreChristian specific teaching and gangs as politically incorrect, sacrificing the victims to cultural country when morepeople worship on the school fear and favour. Protesters on trial for criminal damage in riots know and love Christ more premises outside of who refused to give their names had their cases dropped –no deeply,and when our the timetable for those doubt for outcome reasons? commonlife reflects the who request it and Athread running through the above developments is that of values of his Kingdom, not wish to participate”. managerialism. We aremoreand morebeing managed by people when we shout moreloudly On social action, the desiring us to fitinwith acertain outcome: we aresilenced when thatour countryis Commission offers a we want to debate and dissent. Information is withheld from the Christianalready. warningtochurches public. Laws arenot enforced. We can only hope that the Church The evidence presented and togovernment. of England’s programme of ‘facilitated conversations’ to change in the reportshows (if Christendom is over: Herethe concernisto attitude over homosexuality,isnot another such managerial move anyone doubted it) that avoidadeceptive against proper theological ethical principle? Christianity is no longer the we need to discern “neutrality” of a default setting of the British different kind. The people. The figures are the new things that reportwarns that the TheChurch of England Newspaper sobering. Today, God is doing language of withCelebratemagazine incorporating TheRecordand Christian Week significantly morepeople “integration” needs to Published by Political and Religious Intelligence Ltd. identity as of “no religion” be handled critically,if Company Number: 3176742 thanas“Christian”. Contrarytothe rhetoric of it is not to stifle today’s prophetic voices. For Publisher:Keith Young MBE some sections of the press, immigration is not that reason, the reportadvises churches (and all making Britain less Christian. Rather,itisone of involved in faith-based social action), to the sources of renewal in the Church’s life. It is “consider the dynamics generated by funding PublishingDirector &Editor:CMBLAKELY 020 7222 8700 among white Britons that the decline in sourcesverycarefully so that the prospect of ChiefCorrespondent: TheRev Canon GEORGE CONGER 00 10772 332 2604 Christian identity is sharpest. supportfromgovernment or the private sector Reporter:JOMAY 020 7222 8700 How should the Church respond to this new does not diminish their ability to speak truth to landscape? Thereare at least three keyareas power”. Advertising: CHRISTURNER020 7222 2018 wherethe Commission’s findings have And it urges government to understand that Advertising &Editorial Assistant: PENNY NAIR PRICE 020 7222 2018 significant implications for our practice: the huge amount of voluntaryaction done Subscriptions &Finance:DELIA ROBINSON 020 7222 2018 evangelism, education and social action. through the Church cannot be prised apart from The reportnotes that thelong-termtrends of its commitment to amorejust social order. GraphicDesigner: PETER MAY020 7222 8700 decline include growth within Pentecostal and At the heartofthe Advent season is an Theacceptance of advertising does not necessarily indicate evangelical churches. Immigrationand church invitation to conversion, to hope and to endorsement. Photographs and other materialsent forpublication planting arekey drivers of such growth. expectation. Theprophets declarethatthe world aresubmitted at theowner’srisk. TheChurchofEnglandNewspaper does Research being conducted by the Centre for is not as God wishes, but that Godisdoing notacceptresponsibility forany material lost or damaged. Theology and Community, to be published early something new; that our confidence should be next year,shows that,inmany contexts and grounded in his continuing love and faithfulness. Christian Weekly NewspapersTrustees: Robert Leach(020 8224 5696), church traditions, numerical growth is possible That is amessage the Church needs to hear and LordCarey of Clifton, TheRtRev Michael Nazir-Ali, TheRtRev Pete Broadbent, whereitisintentionally and sensitively pursued. to preach afresh today.Christendom is over,and Dr Elaine Storkey, TheRev CindyKent It complements, rather than competes with, we need to discernthe new things that God is action with others for the common good. bringing to birth in our midst. TheChurch of England Newspaper, In thisnew landscape of religion and belief, on Political and Religious Intelligence Ltd what basis can Britain’s diverse communities Canon Dr Angus Ritchie is the Director of the 14 GreatCollegeStreet,London,SW1P3RX live and work together? The Commission rejects Centrefor Theology and Community,and Priest- Editorial e-mail: [email protected] the false “neutrality” offered by acertain kind of in-Charge of St George-in-the-East.Heisa Advertising e-mail: [email protected] liberalism. The reportrecognises thateveryone member of the Commission on Religion and Belief Subscriptions e-mail: [email protected] necessarily stands somewhere, whether their in Public Life Website: www.churchnewspaper.com [email protected] facebook.com/churchnewspaper @churchnewspaper 8 www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 1, 2016 FEATURE In the eye of a storm – the Anglican Chaplaincy, Athens

By Malcolm Bradshaw thedrowning of loved ones. Samos; andtoApostoli (the Senior Anglican Chaplain, None wish to stay in Greece. welfareorganisation of the Athens They move on into central Orthodox Archbishop of and northernEurope. The Athens) thatdistributes In November 2014 it began. A Anglican Chaplaincy in primarycare(food, toiletries, group of 200 Syrians were Athens, finding itself inthe medicine, clothing) on three encamped on the central eye of the storm, gave a of the islandsand at ahuge squareopposite the priority to ‘getting the story refugee reception centrein Parliament buildings. This out’. As aresult, it has hosted Athens. was the first sign of four delegations fromchurch- Of late thechaplaincy has something that could nothave based organisations in the been the catalyst for different been imagined –the greatest UK. Churches and church humanitarian crisis tohit It’s Chaplain, the Rev Canon organizations coming Europe since the Second Malcolm Bradshaw,spoke at together to co-ordinate our World War. afringe meeting during the responses and provide mutual By October of this year the November General Synod. support. This maybetimely average rate of refugees Furthermore, alink has because the focus of thecrisis entering Greece was 6,600 per been forged with Us is moving away from the day.Most travel from Turkey (formerly USPG) tohelp islands to Athens. to the Greek islands (the administer donations received National borders are shortest route being 7.5 by theChaplaincyfor the closing, refugees areturned miles) in overcrowded needs of refugees. Us is back and sent to Athens, dinghies holding 50 people drawing from the Chaplaincy while others continue to (40 per cent being women and forits own appeal focused on arrive daily fromthe islands. children).They pay therefugees. It has also Many arenow ‘stuck’. Athens smugglers over £727 per financed a‘Facilitator’ to is fast becoming the refugee person. assist the chaplaincy in its hub of Europe. Yet, it isthe Thegreater percentage are response locally.Asaresult capitalofacountry that can’t middle class Syrians seeking thechaplaincy has already feed its own population protection from violence in checked out and directed because of austerity. Syria. They are not from the funding to ‘Lighthouse’ —an Over10,000 meals aregiven two millionSyrians in NGOthat awaits the arrivals out daily by the Orthodox refugees camps in Turkey. of the dinghies on Lesbos; to Church to thelocalpopulation Among them areIraqis, MedIn —anNGO that –aprogramme that the Afghans and others. It is nota provides much-needed chaplaincy is also identified safe passage. Families witness medical caretorefugees on with. The sorrows, trials and complexities of arefugee family from Aleppo

By Olga Bradshaw into the Syrian army. With the helpoftraffickers they his family success rests on his son (the nephew that travelled to the Turkish coastland and made thesea accompanied the young brother) gaining asylum. He Earlier this year two brothers, one in hisearly 30s and crossing to theGreek island of Samos. hopes to obtain aRefugee Passportfromthe German another in his late 30s, decided that therewas no The sea journey proved treacherous. Close to arrival State. futurefor their families in Aleppo, Syria, thefocus of at Samosthe older brother’s 10-year-old daughter the The younger brother is hoping that the German much fierce fighting among warring factions. younger brother’s wife and their one-year-old baby and authorities will accept his statement that the two boys The younger brother,with his11-year-old nephew, the grandmother weredrowned. All werelaid to rest in with his older brother arehis sons and not those of the successfully travelled the WesternBalkans route to acemeteryonanother island, Kos. older brother.The older brother has on his mobile a Germany.InJuly he and the nephew werewarmly Panic drove the older brother to declaretothe pictureofhis 10-year-old daughter alongside the received into asouthernGerman town. He was given registration authorities in Samos that he was the father grandmother taken during the journey. asylum while adecision is awaited for hisnephew. of his brother’s two sons. Eventually the olderbrother An added turntothis difficult storyisthat adistant On the basis of this the older brother withhis wife, with the remaining members of the two families cousin of this family was on the same boat and lost his aged 27 (pregnant) and their 10-year-olddaughter and arrived in Athens and given temporary wife and two children. He is left withathirdchild. the wife of the younger brother and their three accommodation by an NGO. The younger brother Suicidal depression has overcome him. He seeks only children (one of whomisautistic and another ababy) travelled to Athens to join his two children. to fallinthe arms of his brother in Germanyand cry. and agrandmother (70 yearsold who had recently Through the efforts of the offices of the Ecumenical undergone treatment for cancer) set offtotravel the Representative for Migrants an approach was made to sameWesternBalkans route. the German Embassy in Athens to speed the Olga Bradshaw is assisting this family in their The older brother’s passporthad expired but he was processing of the remaining members of these two approaches to the German Embassy on behalf of the too afraid to seek anew one for fear of beingrecruited families to enter Germany.For the olderbrother and Ecumenical Secretaryyy for Refugees

[email protected] facebook.com/churchnewspaper @churchnewspaper FEATURE Friday January 1, 2016 www.churchnewspaper.com 9 Christ and Creation

By Archbishop Maurice Sinclair Granted the goodness, beauty and joy of the deadly influence he has exerted our world, thereisalso cruelty and since. What is your score for Carol Services corruption. True it is that work can be a The fact that the evolutionaryprocess attended this year? Mine is amodest source of satisfactionand delight, but it demonstrates not only an awesome four. Through the traditional reading can also meanslavery, frustration and beauty and complexity but also a from St John’s Gospel we have been exhaustion. The animal kingdom is ruthless elimination of the weak, we can celebrating agreat truth: Jesus is God’s certainly amazing in its beauty and understand in terms of the good workof Word made flesh. Has it, though, diversity,but it is also “red in tooth and creation through Christ, hindered and registered in our minds that John’s claw”. partly spoilt by Satan. prologue tells us that through Jesus, the Thereisamathematically sublime Thereismuch moretotell our friends Word,the Universe was created? Christ order inthe observableuniverse, but in order to help them believe. But this at spoke it into being. “All things were this order also involves the disorder of least we cansay: the beauty and madethrough him, and without him was eruptions and earthquakes. Then for us goodness they see in the world is not a notmade any thing that was made.” and for all living things there is the mirage, but ajoyful reality from the Paul in Colossians says the same seemingly ultimate disorder of death. Creator,real God and real man;the thing:“By Christ all things werecreated: How does Christian faith affirmawholly creation itself is the work of Jesus, the thingsinheaven and earth, visible and good and lovingly purposed creation in Word,the source of reason and order invisible”. In thebook of Proverbs we the face of all this? operating since time began; cruelty, can identify thefigureofWisdom, as It is clear from the creation storythat pain, disorder,and death, also evident in Jesus, and find him as a“Craftsman at the serpent, the source of evil, was the universe, arenot reasons for his (God’s) side… therewhen he set the around and active beforehetempted disbelief in the work of God but for heavens in place… therewhen he Adam and Eve. In the first letter of John awareness of the work of the evil one. markedout the foundationofthe earth.” we aretold that hesinned “from the Then at the end of God’spatient Should we then think more often of beginning”. We can conclude that this creative and redemptive workthrough Jesusnot only as our Redeemer but also transitoryand have no secure anchor for fallen angel, thisadversary, worked in Christ,disorder and death will be no as our Creator? Ibelieve we should, and the soul. It is through Christthe Creator opposition to God’s work throughout the more,and all that we have anticipated in notleast in commending the gospel to that we discover that creation reflects a aeons of time leading up to the our CarolServices will be an immediate those around us. face we can recognise, is areality that appearance of man, and not only in all and glorious reality. Thereistoday a will not deceive us, and common but affords afamily home unexamined assumption we can enjoy forever. thatevolution makes Might we not trytotell creation incredible. There is our atheistic and Childrenbeing taught much more agnostic friends that GenesisCarsCa science at schoolcould what they glimpse is a .o.org.ukrg.uk be excused for jumping to tell our gleam of this full Creatingthe ultimate carbuyingexperience to this conclusion. If spectacle: heaven and creation is considered at friends in earth, made and then all,then it is confused made new? r with creationism with its order to We can discover excessively literalistic help them from what the Bible interpretation of the tells us aboutcreation e biblical text. Given this believe that it is aprocess as situation, how can we well as asingle act: a convinceour notyet constructive work as . believing friends that we well as awordof live in acreated universe command. Not only and areindeed God’s creatures and does God in Christ say,“Let there Yoou telluswhatcar youwant, give appricerice range answerable to him? be light!” but the Creator through then sit back, relax and letus do the rest! My conviction is that we need to relate his Spirit is already attending to a the truthofcreation to Jesus. In this way dark, formless and empty creation. we bring into focus the goodness and He is first engaged in aprocess of Limited Stock!! sheer joy of creation. Jesus, who did all sorting and separation: light from Save over thingswell in his earthly ministry is the darkness, heaven from earth, dry £7000 perfect image of the God who saw all land from sea. Then thereisthe on cost when new! Scoop thathehad madeand behold it was very burst of creative activity presented Purchase! good. Jesus, revealed as Wisdom in to us as the six-day week of a Proverbs takes joy in his creation: master craftsman. Notice that OY “I wasfilled with delight day after day, Jesus, the Craftsman revealed in rejoicing always in his presence, Proverbs rejoices over the creation 5 £99 rejoicing in hiswhole world and “day after day”. delighting in humankind.” People may be inclined to dismiss The joyful Creator evokes ajoyful the biblical account of creation response. In Jobweread how when the because it does not match the cornerstoneofcreation was laid “the scientific time scale. Yetitis not a g morning starssang together and all the moderndiscoverythat the days of angels shouted for joy.”Isn’t it this same creation arenot meant to represent i response that we find inthe Psalms 24 hours. Augustine of Hippo ON wherethe whole earth is invited toburst pointed out that in theGenesis into jubilant song? account the sun was not introduced Now believers and non-believers alike until the fourth day.The important aretouched by momentsofsuch joy.We point is that patient long-term all in some measurehave eyes to see the craftsmanship is essential to Ourteam is ready to help you... beauty and goodness, the music and the creation. It was no accident that poetry of the world we inhabit:the sight Jesus’ trade in his earthly lifetime Call 0800 230 0238 of the MilkyWay on aclear night, the was carpentry. He dignifies and structureofasnowflake, or the “shrill validates our work, being the divine e-mail [email protected] delight” of the soaring skylark. workman from the beginning. or visit usso onlinenlineatg at genesiscars.enesiscars.org.uk Without knowledge though of the This said, thereare still big Christofcreation these images seem questions that demand an answer.

[email protected] facebook.com/churchnewspaper @churchnewspaper 10 www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 1, 2016 FEATURE DO YOUWANT Janey Lee Grace TO ADVERTISE Live Healthy! Live Happy! AJOB? The detoxweall need… ADVERTISEWITH US ONLINE* Tisstill the season to be jolly and yet I’ve seen so fail. Instead think about how you could detox from many grumpy faces recently I’m wondering if the stress. instead of adry Januaryreduced-calorie detox what Another recent survey showed that most of us are FORJUST£75 YOUCAN most of us need is astress detox. so preoccupied with getting the right gifts for others Surveys show that instead of the season of good that we don’t stop to ask ourselves what we might POST YOUR JOB ON OUR will, Christmas can sometimes be the season of ill want or need for ourselves. As we head into anew will, and divorce lawyers reporttheir biggest surge year it’s agreat time to reflect on what you really JOB BOARDFOR AMONTH in business at this time of year.Arecent statement need to make you feel good and give yourself agift from the Family Mediation Helpline claims that —Idon’tmean the quick fixes of chocolate or cake morethan 1.8 million couples will have but the experiences thatenergise you. contemplated divorcing their partner during the Get your JUSTFIVE SIMPLE STEPS! Christmas 2016 diary period. and # We all know it schedule log on to www.religiousjobsite.com can be a in a # clickonHow to advertiseyourvacancy ridiculously regular # choose Post aJob stressful time and time slot # type in your advert details we make it worse to have # paywith PAYPAL for ourselves by time for the need to find yourself - the perfect gift, that you *All jobs advertised in CEN’s printed version make the perfect know will areposted to ourjobsite meal, be the lower perfect host, fit your Email: [email protected] into the most stress Tel: 0207 222 2018 perfect party levels. If clothes, and you can www.religiousjobsite.com everything that plan a comes with the batch of huge logistical time at exercise that is the the start modernChristmas! of the But I’mguessing newyear (we all know deep down what our own that it’s mostly self-inflicted. My top tip -and ‘note to favourite resources are) ask yourself: what self’ischillax. (Best not let my kids hearI’ve recharges my batteries? It might be acouple of hijacked their words or therewill be another stress hours uninterrupted gardening -being in nature. For factor ... worrying about embarrassing your me it’s being by the sea -not easy as Ilive in children!) Hertfordshirebut Iamplanning my stress detox: a Instead of aiming for perfection and then stressing few hours looking at the crashing waves. over new year resolutions, choose to be less Younever know,ifyou keep the stress at bay,then stressed, don’t convince yourself that you aregoing the diet may take careofitself. Remember ‘stressed’ to join agym, give up chocolate or runevery spelt backwards is ‘desserts’ –Ihave no idea if that morning -unless the idea of those things really lifts means we will be morestressed if we eat them or if your spirits. We can all so easily set ourselves up to we don’t. Iguess it depends on the pudding! Tell Me a New, New Story By Alan Edwards warming is thoroughly good. John Wesley felt his can be shown indifferent ways. For someactivity; for ‘heartstrangely warmed.’ That warmthled not only to otherscontemplation. For afuller list of examples, Anew year has dawned. Although manycurrently his own commitment to the Gospel, but also to a back to Romans-Chapter 12. unsuspected stories will doubtless emerge as 2016 ministrythat warmed hearts from labourers to lords. At ahumbler level than Canon Evans, I’ve long progresses, of one thing therecan be no doubt. The Warming that enlivened other churchmen and unsuccessfully argued that the office of prophetess Church of England will continue to ignore Paul’s eventually produced revivals -Evangelical and Anglo should have been revived rather than directing women advice to the Romans and persist in conforming to Catholic. to the priesthood. prevailing fashions. Sadly today’s warming in the Churchof England is of In jocular mood Fr Gresham Kirkby, Anglo-Catholic 2015 saw Gay-Lib’s rainbow flag adorning the steps committee seats as ever morediscussion forumsare anarchist and liturgical reformer,once argued that, of York Minster.Bythe end of 2016 the Gay-Lib banner created. rather than creating moreassistant bishops, many will surely have become as compulsoryanitem of Another dominant attitude in today’s is ecclesiastical areas should be placed under the Anglican church furnishing as wind turbines on the the pursuitofequality.Ifmale then theremust jurisdiction of alocal Abbess, as happened in the roof and solar panels in the churchyard. 2016 will also also be female ones. Middle Ages. Many atrueword. see belief in global warming joining eternal supportfor Certainly equality is avaluable concept and one that Sadly the office of prophetess won’t be revived in the EU as Credal clauses in the revised liturgy,due to underpins theteaching of Our Lord. However,50years 2016 -draftsmentoo busy penning the order for be published on April 1st. ago, Stanley Evans, Socialist Vicar of Holy Trinity, conducting same-sex marriage -but we can hope that Some also predict that the Archbishop will be Dalston, and subsequently Canon of Southwark, we might eventually see female seers moreconcerned changing his name from Welby to Warmly,tobe argued in thisnewspaper thatbeing equal didn’t mean with the conversion of England rather than forecasting suggested, they think, by Prince Charles. being the same. He was right. No difference between the odds on who’ll be England’s first female Ifglobal warming is seen as bad then spiritual believers, whatever their race or sex, but their ministry Archbishop.

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and other pandemics would be muchgreater events than they eventually were. Now people live healthily with HIV for their full life spans and we have largely avoided large-scale pandemics Andrew Carey due to vaccinations and hygiene improvement. We arenow worrying about bugs that areresistant to antibiotics and we must hope that scientists can come up with solutions. View from the Pew Thereiseveryreason to be hopeful about the future, not least when we can send people outside our own atmosphereinlow- gravity environments to conduct scientific experiments in labs built in orbit around the earth. So let’s banish pessimism in 2016 and embrace Christian hope. Twothings Ihope Why I am an forin2016

Thereare two things I’m hopeful about this year.I’m hopeful that the vast majority of peace-loving and moderate Muslims will reject political Islam with its medieval concepts such as Sharia law,blasphemy and apostasy.Thereare reformmovements and these need to be given the chance to thoroughly contradict and challenge Islamist, Salafist and Wahabbist versions of Islam. optimist Thereshould be no refuge for violent jihadism in any mosque, madrassa or any corner of the Muslim community. Finally,perhaps less realistically,Iamhopeful this year that Iamincurably optimistic. At the beginning of and it is in thisareaof creativity that we most the church will finally wake up to the sheer scale of persecution everynew sporting season, forexample, Iam closely imitate our heavenlyfather.The human that our brothers and sistersare facing in many parts of the hopeful that England will regain or retain the capacity to be what Tolkien called sub-creators we world. The depravity and brutality of someofthe groups and Ashes or take the Grand Slam in Rugby,orthat tend to think of interms of the creativity regimes persecuting Christians should have us marchingonthe Arsenal will win the Premiership. demonstrated by artists,writers, poets and streets demanding that our politicians act now.Dowecare Iam, of course, frequently disappointed. craftsmen. enough? Iamnot afool:Inever allow myself to think We haven’t tended to think of creativity in terms even for amoment that the English football team of science, technology and engineering, except could ever win anything of note. To hold the view perhapsinour ability to erect astonishing that the glass is half-full rather than half-empty is, cathedrals, tower blocks and many other beautiful Ithink aChristian approach. Pessimism is the buildings. Science and industrial development veryantithesis of what Christ is about.This is why have, after all, created many of the problems we I’ve been writing unsympathetically about the arenow facing with developments such as the catastrophism of the green movement, which has combustion engine by which we have poisoned been uncritically adopted by some parts of the the planet. Church. This catastrophism, based on the And artists and writers such as Blake and ghoulish glee of taking the worst-case ‘predictions’ Tolkien have written about industrial development of computer models, is hope-sapping. as ‘ugly’ and almost satanic. Whereas Happily,the Paris summit came up with development poses creative answers at everyturn something rather morehopeful -plans to reduce to those who predict catastrophe and apocalypse. emissions that areset by nations and which are Most notably,science has answered fears about revisited on aregular basis. This type of approach over-populationthat have beenposed by so many is less likely to impoverish the developing world pessimists following Malthus. Long-predicted and increase fuel poverty in the West, than problems of famine and disaster due to over- previous approaches that weretoinsist on targets population have been avoided as we get better at imposed on nations from above. accommodating people safely in cities and This, Ibelieve, gives scientists, engineers and efficiently growing enough food. entrepreneurs achance to come up with solutions. We found alternatives to the aerosol emissions If we know anything, we know that human that weredamaging the Ozone layer and now the ingenuity will often provide the answer. hole that caused us such angst in the 80s and 90s We are, after all, created in the image of God has been replenished. We once imagined that Aids

LIZ HOARE thespiritualdirector By the RevDrLiz Hoare

Therewill be many people this and friends and put on afeast to perhaps the most compelling aspectof much closer to home now,wherewe Christmas who arelonging for good celebrate. the Christmas storyfor us thisyear. have left no room for Jesus in our news from home. The residents of Maryfirst of all made her own womb a We cannot claim that God has no idea activities, our relationships and our Cumbria whose homes havebeen home for the Incarnation to take place. what it’s liketosuffer,tolive as a concerns. flooded, the people who havenohomes Nine months later,the infant Jesus displaced person with nowheretocall The Christmas story, ever old, yet to flood who live on our streets, entered the world but not into a home. The Incarnation, ‘God with us’ ever new,will not allow us to see it forgotten or shut out by family and comfortable home with welcoming did not begin in the corridors of power, merely as asweet tale to be retold in friends and perhapsmost vivid of all friends and relatives standing by.There in mansions or royal courts but in Nativity plays and carol concerts. It when set against the background of the was no room even in the public hostel of among the dirtand obscurity of a speaks across the centuries to say that Christmas story, the hundreds of the day, the inn, so he was borninthe manger.It’s averyunpromising God desires still to make his home thousands of refugees who have left ‘home’ of the animals. Soon he would be beginning, but it urges us to look in the among us and be ‘Immanuel’, God with everything behind and fled their homes fleeing home such as it was to escape right places for Jesus this Christmas. us. It is knowing that God is with us that to seek new ones in astrange land. the wrathofKing Herod and forced to The right places areprobably going to enables us to comeclose and know his Home seems to take on agreater makehis home in Egypt as arefugee. be unexpected and unlikely ones, places strength for whatever life brings. It also significance at Christmas. While some In the light of the relentless stream of wherepeople have been shut out and makes the demand that we put on the folk take offfor exotic climates, others men,women and children making their told they arenot wanted, places where character of Godbyhis Spirit and make travel far to stay with family.Still others way out of warand turmoil, across the love has been squeezed out for profit or room for others, welcoming them in the stay in their own homes and open them treacherous oceans hopingtofind gain. And then thereare the places in name of Christ. up to welcome relatives sanctuary, this is our personal lives,

[email protected] facebook.com/churchnewspaper @churchnewspaper 12 Friday January 1, 2016 CLASSIFIEDS®ISTER Atime to mourn?

ByGerald Bray Latimer Trust

The New Year is always atime for reflection, and 2016 is no exception. After 24 months of major anniversaries in 2014 and 2015, it seems that we are in for arelatively quiet year on that front, but thereis at least one major event that will be widely commemorated –the Irish rebellion at Easter 1916. While largely forgotten elsewhere, the Rising (as it is commonly known) remains foundational for the mythologyand morale of the Republic of Ireland. It is also highly controversial. Those who believe in constitutional politics say thatitwas an unnecessary tragedy,since everything that Irish nationalists could reasonably expect to achieve had already been offered to them and would have been implemented at the end of the European war. However,the dominant influence in Ireland has Dublin, wherehewas waging his own crusade been the competing revolutionaryinterpretation, against popular and superstitious Catholicism. which claims thatonly the gun could persuade the How should we as Protestants approach the Rising Britishgovernment to make any serious today? We can hardly approve of it, given the legacy concessions. of terrorism that it has engendered, butinthe new As we know,the forces unleashed at Easter 1916 climate of friendship between Ireland and Britain eventually led to an independent Irish Free State, a (and to some extent between the different Churches compromise that satisfied nobody.Supporters of in Ireland itself), ignoring it does not seem to be Britain kept theirheads down or left the country, right either,even if it is what most British people are while those who had foughtfor ‘freedom’ wereangry likely to do. that their vision had been only half-achieved. The Perhaps the most constructive approach would be long-termresult has been acenturyofviolence that to declareaday of mourning for the dead and of has still not fully ended, though modernIreland is a repentance for all the evil that the Rising has verydifferent place from what it was 100 years ago. engendered. In the battles of Irish historynoside is Perhaps the most noticeable change has been the entirely innocent, and scoring points offone another relative collapse of the Roman Catholic Church. The is hardly aChristian thing to do. But in aworld rebels of 1916 deliberately portrayed themselves as whereviolence cloaked in religion is experiencing an Catholic martyrs, and in the decades that followed, unwelcome revival, aday of mourning and that interpretation became the semi-official view of repentance might put the current crisis in the Irish state. Serious Irish historians and perspective and allow us to consider what the price of DEATHS commentators have long since abandoned that idea, such folly is. and nationalist Ireland has rejected Catholicism to We cannot change the past, and the scars that so Cockerton, John. Sometime the extent that in May 2015 it overwhelmingly many people bear,both in their memories and on PrincipalofStJohn's approved same-sex marriage in areferendum, their bodies, will not be wished away.The Christian College,Durham, at something that would have been unimaginable a message is that all have sinned and come shortof Wheldrake and generation ago. the gloryofGod. Victoryover sin does not come Canon Emeritus at York, on The Protestant Churches have not suffered the from bashing one other,but from the sacrifice and ADVERTISING 9th December in York.A same steep decline, but theystarted fromamuch death of Jesus Christ on our behalf. privatefuneral service lower population base. Long before1916, being The first Easter saw the triumph of new life when AJOB? will be heldatAll Saints Protestant in Ireland required adegree of personal Jesus rose from the dead. Can we makeEaster 2016 Church,Upper Poppleton, conviction, and the legacy of thatcan still be seen. resonate with the promise of that same new life that York,followedby We offerTHREE weeks Irish evangelicals arethe real thing, and they have Christ offers to all who believe in him as their Lord for the price of TWO intermentinThe Churchyard. madearemarkable contribution to Protestant and Saviour? If we can,then perhaps the legacy of AThanksgivingService will Christianity,not only in Ireland, but in Britain and 1916 can finally be overcome and the blood shed at Tel: 020 7222 2018 be heldatalater around the world. Calvarycan heal the wounds that our sins and date, details to be For example, MooreCollege in Sydney,and its failureshave produced. ads@churchnewspaper announced.Enquiriesto JG diocese, arestrongly evangelical today becauseof .com Fielder&SonFuneral the efforts of the late TC Hammond, an Irishman Gerald Bray is Director of Research at Directors, York,Tel:01904 who in 1916 was the rectorofStKevin’s church in the Latimer Trust 654460. Take out an annual subscription to The Church of England Newspaper

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BIBLE CHALLENGE Wade (Canterbury) to be House for Duty Priest-in- ANGLICANCYCLE OF PRAYER Charge of Merton, St James (Southwark). The Rev Diane Whittaker, Friday 01January. Psalm 96: 1,11 end, Phil. 4: 10 of PotterspurywFurtho &Yardley Day 1 –Genesis 1-3; Psalm 1; Matthew 1 23. Aba -(Niger Delta,Nigeria): The Most Rev Gobion wCosgrove &Wicken (Peterborough), has Day 2 –Genesis 4-6; Psalm 2; Matthew 2 UgochukwuEzuoke been appointed Rector of the same benefice. Day 3 –Enjoy hearing the Scriptures read aloud in Saturday 02 January. Psalm 97:1,8-end,Isa. 42: The Rev Sue Willetts, church 10-25. Aba NgwaNorth -(NigerDelta, Nigeria): The Team Vicar in the Uttoxeter Area of Parishes Day 4 –Genesis 7-9; Psalm 3; Matthew 3 Rt Rev Nathan Kanu (Lichfield), has been appointed as Vicar for the Parish Day 5 –Genesis 10-12; Psalm 4; Matthew 4 Sunday 03January. Psalm100,Isa. 43: 1-7.PRAY of the Good ShepherdLoughborough (Leicester). Day 6 –Genesis 13-15; Psalm 5; Matthew 5 for The AnglicanChurchin Aotearoa, New Zealand The Rev Chloe Willson-Thomas, Day 7 –Genesis 16-18; Psalm 6; Matthew 6 &Polynesia. TheMostRev WilliamBrown Turei: Priest in Charge of Brixworth wHolcot Pihopa oAotearora andPrimate and Archbishop of (Peterborough), has been appointed Rector of the the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand& same benefice. APPOINTMENTS Polynesia The Rev Catherine Vaughan, Monday 04January. Psalm 149:1-5, Titus 2: 11-14, Assistant , St Michael and All Angels, Twerton, 3: 3-7. Abakaliki -(Enugu, Nigeria): The Rt Rev to be Vicar of Owlsmoor (Oxford). New Monday Nkwoagu The Rev Luke Wickings, The Rt Rev Martyn James Snow, Tuesday 05January. Psalm 9:1-11, Isa62:6-12. Assistant Priest in the Tolworth Team Ministryistobe of Tewkesbury(Gloucester), to be Aberdeen &Orkney - (Scotland): The RtRev Robert licensed as Team Vicar in the Tolworth Team Ministry Bishop of Leicester. Gillies (Southwark). Wednesday 06 January. Epiphany.Psalm 72: 1-8,I Tim 1:1-11.OGod, whorevealed your only Sonto New the Gentiles by the leading of astar,mercifullygrant OXFORD DIOCESE The Venerable Andrew Tremlett, that we, who know younow by faith, mayafterthis Canon Residentiaryand Rector of St Margaret’s life enjoy the splendourofyour graciousGodhead, Church at ,appointed the Deanery throughJesus Christ our Lord.Amen of the Cathedral ChurchofDurham Thursday 07 January. Psalm 72:1,10-14, ITim 1: The following have been appointed HonoraryCanons: 12-20. The Most Rev Nicholas Okoh: Metropolitan & JoannaCollicutt, Rod Cosh, Peter Groves, Alan Primate of all Nigeria &Bishop of Abuja Hodgetts,Julie Ramsbottom, Vaughan Roberts, The Rev Jessie Anand, Margaret Whipp, RichardZair. holder of the Bishop of Southwark’s Permission to Officiate is to be licensed as part-time Assistant Priest The Rev Alan Elkins, of Angell Town, St John theEvangelist (Southwark). Member of clergy with permission to officiate, to be The Rev Colette Annesley-Gamester, Rural Dean, Burnham and Walsingham (Norwich). RETIREMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS Curate, SpireHill, to be Team Vicar of Three Valleys, The Rev Stephen Gamble, (Salisbury). Vicar of Kirby Misperton with Normanby and Salton, The Rev Dr Christine Sabina Arnold, held in plurality with Middleton, Newton and Assistant Curate of St Peter-in-Thanet, to be Assistant Sinnington, to be Vicar of the United Benefice of The RevDavidBoddy, Chaplain to The Living Well (Canterbury). Kirklington, Burneston, Wath and Pickhill (West Priest in Charge, Somerleyton (Benefice) to resign The Rev Philip Barnes, Yorkshireand the Dales). from30April (Norwich). Vicar,Northwood Hills (St Edmund the King) and The Rev Yvonne Greener, The RevCanonGraham Foulis Brown, Area Dean, Harrow(London), to be Interim Priest Curate of North Shields Team Ministry(Newcastle) to Rector, Rotherfield Peppard, KidmoreEnd and Administrator,The Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of be Priest in charge at St Helen Low Fell and Associate Sonning Common (Oxford), retired on 31 October. Walsingham (Norwich). Minister at St Chad Bensham (Durham). The Rev Canon LindaGreen, The Rev Geoffrey Bayliss, The Rev Brian Hall, Vicar,StMary’s, Banbury(Oxford), retired on 31 Rector of the North Blackwater Parishes Rector,Carlton-In-The-Willows (St Paul) (Southwell October. (Chelmsford), to be Team Rector of Cowley (Oxford). and Nottingham), to be Vicar,Gorleston St Andrew The Rev Malcolm Hunter, The Rev Susan Bloomfield, (Norwich). Co-ordinating Chaplain, AylesburyHMYoung Church Outreach Worker in the Deaf Community, The Rev Fiona Jane Harrison-Smith, Offender Institution (Oxford), resigned on 14 (Southwell and Nottingham), has been appointed Team Vicar,Seacroft parish, (West Yorkshireand the November. Mission Chaplain amongst Deaf People in the Diocese Dales), to be Vicar,Weoley Castle, St Gabriel, The Rev Anne Ilsley, of Derby and in the Diocese of Southwell and (Birmingham). Associate Minister in the Dorchester Team Ministry Nottingham. The Rev Norman Ivison, (Oxford), retiredon20November. The Rev Timothy Boyns, formerly Director of Communication and Resources, The Rev Kevin Charles Northover, Has been reappointed as Rural Dean of Hull (West Fresh Expressions, to be Director of BowlandMedia, retires as Rector ofGuernsey,StMichel du Valle with Yorkshireand the Dales) for afurther period of five and to continue as Associate Minister,StJames’ effect from 31 January2016. years with effect from 1January2016. This is in Church, Clitheroe, with permission to officiate addition to his existing responsibilities as Vicar of (Blackburn). Hessle and Area DeanofHull West. The Rev Chris Johnson, LAYAND OTHERAPPOINTMENTS The Rev Alan Bradford, Assistant Curate of theBenefice of Weobley and Associate Minister,Bracknell Team Ministry, to be Sarnesfield and NortonCanon (Hereford), to be Vicar,StJohn the Baptist, Hillingdon (Oxford). Associate Vicar of the Benefice of Wigston in the The Rev Paul Bradish, Gartree Second (Wigston) Deanery(Leicester). The Rev Kristina Andréasson, Rector,Shiplakewith Dunsden and Harpsden, to be The Rev Stephen Nshimye Kamigere, ChaplaintoThe Swedish Church in London, will be Priest in Charge, Headbourne Worthy and Kings presently Assistant Priest of Greenwich, St Alfege was licensed under Public Preacher Licence (Southwark). Worthy (Oxford). licensed as Leader of the BMOinthe benefice The Rev Jens Gronvold, The Rev Roger Butcher, (Southwark). priest in The Norwegian Church in London will be Curate, to be Vicar of Piddle Valley,Hilton, The Rev Keith Magee, licensed under Public Preacher Licence (Southwark). Cheselbourne and Melcombe Horsey,(Salisbury). Vicar of the Benefice of Knighton, has been appointed The Very Rev Michael Persson, The Rev Mark Capron, as Vicar for the Parish of St Peter Braunstone Park, Rector of The Swedish Church in London, will be Assistant Curate, in the benefices of Carlton Colville (Leicester). licensed under Public Preacher Licence (Southwark). (Carlton Colville and Mutford) and Pakefield, to be The Rev Canon Peter Masheder, Mrs Victoria Jane Perkins Simpson, Rector,Dersingham Benefice (Anmer,Dersingham, Rector of the Ray Valley Benefice (Oxford), to be To be Deputy Registrar,Diocese of Birmingham. Ingoldisthorpe, Shernborne) (Norwich). Associate Minister,BereRegis (Salisbury). The Rt Rev Jonathan Clark, The Rev Julie Oddy-Bates, is to be commissioned as also Priest-in-Charge, Waveney (Geldeston) Benefice DEATHS Acting of Reigate (Southwark). (Ellingham, Geldeston, Gillingham, Kirby Cane, The Rev Simon Cronk, Stockton); Assistant Priest, Chet Valley Benefice Area Dean, Wycombe Deaneryand Vicar,Hughenden (Chedgrave, Hardley,Langley,Loddon with Hales, Benefice, to be Vicar,Great Milton with Little Milton Sisland) is to resign as Assistant Priest, Chet Valley The Rev Alan Cochrane, and Great Haseley (Oxford). Benefice, remaining Priest-in-Charge (Half Time), Permission to Officiate, Diocese of Norwich (1999- The Rev PeterDDobson, Waveney (Geldeston) Benefice, effective from 1 2015), died on 27 November. Team Curate of Christ the King (Newcastle) to be January2016 (Norwich). The Rev David Hemsley, Vicar of Monkseaton St Peter (Newcastle). The Rev Mark Pullinger, Permission to Officiate (Oxford), died on 13 The Rev Janet Donaldson, Priest-in-Charge of Merstham and Gatton Team November. Priest in Charge of WelfordwSibbertoft &Marston MinistryistobeTeam Rector (Southwark). The Rev Charles Norman Hillyer, Trussell (Peterborough), has been appointed Vicar of The Rev Sian Reading, who held Permission to Officiate (Leicester) from the same benefice. Priest in ChargeofGretton wRockingham & January2003 to December 2009, died on 10 November The Rev Charles Draper, Cottingham wEast Carlton (Peterborough) has been 2015. Vicar,Great Faringdon with Little Coxwell; Area Dean, appointed Rector of the same benefice. The Rev Peter Knight, Vale of White Horse, to be Vicar of Wolvercote and The Rev James Rosenthal, Permission to Officiate in the OxfordDiocese, died on Wytham (Oxford). House for Duty Priest-in-Charge of St Nicholas at 4October. 14 www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 1, 2016 REVIEWS/SUNDAY The powerofthe artist comes to the fore SUNDAY SERVICE The StarWars franchise features the battle Saturdaynight television. Both camefromhumble 1stSunday of Epiphany Sunday 10 January 2016 between independent human spirit and the faceless beginnings, with Cilla Black’srise to fame forces ofempirepower,and similarconflicts particularly memorable, as she was acloakroom Isaiah 43:1-7 showed up in theworld of music this year. attendant inLiverpool’s CavernClub and –asnews Acts8:14-17 After Warner/Chappellhad collected some £1.3 reports clearly showed after her death–the Luke 3:15-17,21-22 million per year in royalty fees for use of the song ordinarypeople of the city still felt adeep “Happy BirthdaytoYou” (even when just afew connection with her. In ourreadingsthis week wecelebrate thebaptism of Christ. seconds areused) afederal judge ruled in Twoprominent rock bassists died this year: Thomas Aquinasdevotes six articles in his Summa September that the song should now belong in the Free’s Andy Fraser,aprodigy whoco-wrote much Theologiae to the subjectof John’s baptism,and eight moreto public domain. of the band’smaterial,and Yes’s Chris Squire. The a discussion of the twoverseswhereChrist himself was Without theruling, it wouldnot have been free to only ever-constant member of abandwith more baptised (III.38.1-6 and39:1-8). So this brief episode throwsup use until the end of2016 in the UK and 2030 inthe member entrances and exitsthan aLas Vegas a multitude of theologicalpuzzlesthat might easily fascinate or USA. casino, the seminal Squirewas particularly sidetrack us.It is a spectacular picture of the divine Trinity in Inacase of an artist –albeit one of the world’s influential, using his Rickenbacker bass as if it action.All three persons appear before us at once, which most popular singers –making astand against werealead guitar. ratherscotches the modalist fantasythat Father becomes Son corporate clout, Taylor Swift withheld her latest Looking forward,2015 offered hints of musical becomes Spirit,as three evolving, sequential manifestationsof album 1989 from use by Apple in June, so developmentsinthe future. Music of the Spheres, theone God.Rather, theiroutward operations being persuading theorganisation to reverse itspolicyof an arts-science project, which met its Kickstarter indivisible, the threeare united togetherpublicly in beginning not remunerating artists during the three-month target in the spring, aims to record music and store thework of cosmic redemption which they hadplotted from trial of its streaming service AppleMusic. it digitally inDNA molecules. The DNAwill be eternity. Inanopen letter,Swiftwrote: “Wedon’t ask you suspended in soap solution and blown intobubbles, Christ was baptised by Johnnot because he neededto for free iPhones. Please don’task us to provide you so that the music will, according to visual artist repentas othersdid, but inorder(asLuke puts it)to fulfil all with our music for no compensation.” Charlotte Jarvis, “fill theair and pop on visitors’ righteousness. He was born under the Law to redeem those Artists themselves (or their lawyers) can be keen skin, so that audiences will be bathed in music.” under theLaw, and so did what all piousJews were to exertcontrol,such as when the Foo Fighters commanded to do that he might ultimately be their perfect insist that photographers must hand over 2015 Album recommendations representative and substitute. ownership of their concertimages to the band Augustine saysin asermon on the Epiphany that Christ was following their initialpublication. Tworeleases made afive-star impact on me this baptised “because hewished to dowhathe hadcommanded Inprotest in July,the Quebec newspaper Le year.The Neal Morse Band’s The Grand all to do.” AndAmbroseagrees whenhesays, “thisis Soleil sent acartoonist in lieu of aphotographer to Experiment saw Morse break out fromhis prog righteousness, todofirst yourselfthat whichyou wishanother cover their local gig. background and appeal to lovers of classic rock to do, and so encourageothersbyyour example.” Agood Using aheart-warming, must-see YouTube video, and AOR, with apunchy,hook-laden album that is leader won’t ask others to do what hehimself is not willing to. 1000 Foo Fightersfans performed “Learnto Fly” in arguably the best Christian release of the last few The descendingdove hasoccasioned much wrangling and asuccessful attempt to lurethe band toplay for years (and which, alongside Dave Bainbridge’s speculation. But,in the context, the Spiritisof course avisible them in Cesena, Italy. Celestial Fire, offersamusical stylewell suited to symbolof the Father’s pleasure inhisSon, and of the Amoreaccurate cover camefromaband called the majesty of our creator God). empowering grace bestowed uponhim for his ministry “to Mostly Other People Do TheKilling. They did not At theother endofthe intensityscale, Anouar proclaim goodnews”(Luke4:18). re-interpret the iconic Miles Davisalbum Kind of Brahem’s Souvenance is afragile, tentative release Likewise, inActs 8, whentheSamaritans accepted that Blue,but rather reconstructed it note for note, even that captures the mood of his native Tunisia in the gospel about Jesus the Messiah, theyreceived the Holy Spirit going as far as trying to replicate the tape hiss. wake of theArab Spring. Featuring oud, bass as a clear signthat they have beenincluded in God’s plan. Defending the apparently pointless exercise, the clarinet, piano and bass, withgentle additional Again, there has beensomedebate aboutwhy the reception of band’s bassist told the Wall Street Journal that “the textures fromastring orchestra, this work – the Spirit herehad toawaitthearrivaloftheapostles wholaid artisgetting people to think about the original by apparently inconsequential at first –worked its way hands on the Samaritan believers.Buttheanswer is the same listening harder to thedifferences.” into my heart and became an addiction. as inLuke 3—to fulfil all righteousness. Another unexpected release in 2015 camefrom Although acompilation ofexisting recordings, Jesus declared thattheapostles would be his witnesses in Pope Francis. On Wake Up! clips of his sermons special mention should go to Arvo Pärt’s Musica Judea and Samaria. So sending them out as his official and prayersare set amongst prog rock, Gregorian Selecta,a2-CD sequence selected by Manfred ambassadors at this key moment in salvationhistory was chant and aChinese choir. Eicher,tocelebrate Pärt’s 80th birthday.Eicher fitting and appropriate — not becausean apostolic laying on of And if thereisacollection morecertain to send was the producer who launched the ECM New hands is essentialto our reception of the Spirit, or because the listener to sleep than asermon CD, it could be Series label in 1984 as aplatformfor Pärt’s music. thereis asecond blessingavailable to some after beliefand the Grateful Dead’s 80-disc set that came out in the (A full review will appearshortly). baptism (it being tricky to derive a generally-applicable summer.Itincludes acomplete, previously An honourablemention goes to PFM’s In Classic, doctrinefrom suchunique, one-offevents). The apostle John unissued show from each of their 30 touring years. which bothexpands the rock band’s material with had onceaskedif he could call down the fire of judgment on Being dead for38yearsdid not prevent Elvis orchestral backing and imagineshow popular thesepeople; his presence at this momentis acrucial signpost Presley releasing anew album withThe Royal classical works may havesounded if rock was that salvation has come equally to all. Philharmonic Orchestra. His originalvocals areset available to their composers. It is an old idea, but That too is the messageofourreading fromIsaiah, who among new orchestralbackings, recorded to they pull it off with aplomb. prophesied this unfoldingofGod’s globalpurpose. Thecreator today’s standards. Thesecond-best Christian release of the year for ofIsrael, who formed anation out of such unprepossessing More contemporarystars broke records with me is The Brilliance’s Brother,athoughtful, materialover the course of the centuries, assuresthem of his this year’sreleases. Sam Smith’s “Writing on the stripped back album with morestrong tunes than ongoing care. The gates of death shallnotprevail over them; Wall” was the first Bondtheme to make the UK they have aright to own. Think David Crowder neither flamenor floodcan harmthem if he is with them(as singles Number One spot; the 2.03 million plays of doingTaizé and you will be on the rightpath. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednegodiscovered in the fiery One Direction’s “Drag Me Down” caused the Bestlate-issues of the year include two furnace). highest first-week streams for aUKsingle; while Renaissance livesets De Lane LeaStudios 1973 and Isaiah 43:4 is theonly placein theBible where Godsays the Adele’s 25 became the fastest 2million-selling AcademyofMusic 1974). Despite acouple of small words, “Ilove you.” Yet that message is writ largeupon each album in UK music history. sound glitches, these arerecordings thatfeature and every page of Scripture.AndaccordingtoIsaiah, that love One genre from the margins had achartstarted wonderful songs and arrangements, and lead extends to the North and to the South,andhegathers his this year by theOfficial Charts Company,but their towardtheir crowning glory, Live at Carnegie Hall. children (“created for my glory”) from East and fromWest. Progressive Rock chartcame “45 years too late” ACD/DVD release ofSoft Machine’s Thereis nothinghewould not give to ransom hisprecious according to keyboardwizardRick Wakeman. adventurous 1974 Montreux performance, people wherever they maybe(astheBCP puts it) “in the Something more tangible arrived too late for showcasing their new midstof thisnaughty world.” Roman Totenberg, aviolinist and musicprofessor. direction, is also A1734 Stradivarius violin, which was stolen from worthyofa Dr Lee Gatiss is editorofTheEffective Anglican:Seizingthe him in 1980, was discovered when the musical thief note. Opportunities of Ministryin theChurch ofEngland,and died and his widow took his violins for valuation in Derek Directorof ChurchSociety New York. Walker (www.churchsociety.org). Mr Totenberglived tobe101, but that was not long enough to see the returnof his violin, which HYMN SELECTION had been apresent from his wife and was valued at $250,000 in 1980. Several notable musicians died in 2015, including Christ, when for usyou were baptised Jackie Trent, HotChocolate’s ErrolBrown and Come people of therisen king New Romantic pioneer Steve Strange, but two pairs Lead us, heavenly Father, leadus of artists will be particularly missed by their fans. O love, how deep, how broad,howhigh Cilla Black and ValDoonican wereboth 1960s Cilla When Jesus cameto Jordan chartsingers with astring of hits, and mainstays of Black

[email protected] facebook.com/churchnewspaper @churchnewspaper REVIEWS Friday January 1, 2016 www.churchnewspaper.com 15 The Inside Outstory of 2015’smovies

revolutionarywar and Carol tyrannicide, American FILM OF THE WEEK Sniper told areal story of war and its stresses, 2015 was not exactly agreat year for cinema. but of course the year Originality has given wa ytothe familiar ,with the ended with the battle UK’s highest grossing films (till the late st Star for galactic supremacy Wars)the Bond retread Spectre, Jurassic World, in Star Wars –The and A vengers: Ag eof Ultron. ForceAwakens. Minions also di dwell, and (Fast and) Furious 7 Hans Solo, Luke also extended the franchise theme. The highest- Skywalker,and ranked filmnot to be afollow-up was Inside Out, Princess Leia (now a the surprise animation hit of the year ,adding a Resistance general), bit of imaginatio ntothe concept of competing join new faces Rey emotions being personalised. The second (Daisy Ridley) andFinn original film to featur ehigh in the box office Inside Out (John Boyega) in more charts was handcuffs-lite Fifty Shades of Grey of thesame, but with (whichthe Welsh tourist office rejected as a enough plot twists and slogan for visitors to Blaenau Ffestiniog). and in stories mixing fictional characters with technogimmicks (not Animation Home and the space drama The real events, as in Suite Française, ALittle Chaos, least the new robot BB-8) to satisfy most fans. It should top the Martian (curiously nominated for aGolden and perhaps to best effect in Suffragette. box office for 2015. Globe in the musical or comedy category) also The grey cinema pound is now well- With regional press previews now ararity,I’ve enjoyed the made th etop 10. True stor ystuffvaried from the established, with The Second Best Exotic Marigold hospitality offered by the Reel cinema in Widnes and by Home, Stephen Hawking story The TheoryofEverything Hotel and The Lady in the Van obviously targeting the confusingly-named new cinema and theatrecomplex in to th eaccount of the Kray twins in Legend, which those of acertain age. Straight Outta Compton, Manchester.“I’m at Home” in atext doesn’t always give the full proved of mor einterest to British audiences than telling the stor yof1980s hip ho pgroup NWA, did picture. BlackMass, whichdetailed the cor ruption and well with the moretypical profile, with a Ienjoyed two films particularly in the year. Clouds of Sils Maria violence behind the career of Boston mobster handsome box office returnonits $28m budget put together Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewartfor a Whitey Bulge r. (though Whiplash,about the trials of awould-be fascinating storywithin astorywrapped round ameteorological Kingsman:The Secret Se rvice at least gave a jazz drumme r, fared less well). phenomenon worth getting up early to see, but my favourite of new twist to the spy thriller and even allowed The us ual raft of Marvel style comic capers the year,dealing with illness, kindness, and simple friendship Colin Firth an action role. Perhaps the best true came and went but only Avengers and Ant-Man was the charming Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. drama, and visually spectacular ,was Everest,the did well. Romcoms wer enowhere–indeed, Steve Parish storyofanill-fated expedition on the romance was har dtofind; other than Fifty Shades overcrowdedmountain. and, if you allow fair ytales, Cinderella,only the Historical/political stuf fworked well in Selma, remake of Far f romthe Madding Crowd and Irish- American love triangle Brooklyn got near the top Me and 50. the TTThe Martian 1950s lesbian love story Carol,basedonasemi- Dying autobiographical Patricia Highsmith novel, has Girl scooped several awar dnominations, but seemed rather dull compar ed to director Todd Haynes’ 2002 piece from the same era Far From Heaven. The Lobster was hardly alove story, but acurious and challenging view of society’s expectations of finding apartner,ornot. There wereotherintriguing movies, with computers taking over the world an ongoing WINE OF THE WEEK threat in the creepy Ex Machina ,while the real technology stor yof Steve Jobs made rather uneasy viewing. PaulMas The HungerGames –Mockingjay Pa rt 2 was Grenache Noir/Syrah 2014 another futuristic fable, and aprimer in Waitrose £8.99 (offer £6.74 until 26 January)

Jurassic World Known inSpain as Garnacha, Grenache Noir is ared grape which blends well with others, as it does herewith that great redof southernFrance, Syrah. Paul Mas is a respected, innovative big producer with an eye on world markets—one of its brands is the “Arrogant Frog!” Situated in far south Languedoc, the grapes hereare harvested from the hillsides of the Hérault wine region. Deep redinthe glass, on the nose there were mixed scents of spring flowers and richer,and atouch of spice. The palate then encountered the richness of ripe wildblackberries — brambles —mellow ripe redfruits and ahint of liquorice, all in a smooth balance, which continued on to asatisfying finish. Alcohol by Vol. 13.5%. An ideal redfor welcoming Januarybuffet get-togethers, going well with starters with atouch of garlic, then making an entente cordiale with beef sausages and stew.

Graham Gendall Norton

[email protected] facebook.com/churchnewspaper @churchnewspaper Churches’ New Year call to prayer

At Watchnight services and on Sunday 3January, Christians the right words churches willgather together to pray for our nation in to say in everysituation, villages, towns and cities throughout the UK. working with the Spirit to The call to prayer has been prompted by the Talking draw people to Jesus.” Jesus research into people’s perceptions of Jesus, The initial findings of Christians and evangelism. the Talking Jesus survey Aspecial Talking Jesus prayer has been written for werefirst shown to more churches to use at Watchnight services and on than 40 key leaders of Sunday,together with aguide to praying through the denominations and research results. These resources can be found on the networks from across the Talking Jesus website ww.talkingjesus.org. spectrum of the English The survey,conducted by ComRes and Barna Church, gathered in the Group, on behalf of HOPE, the Church of England and Lake District in March. theEvangelical Alliance, found that two out of every The results of the first five people in England (39 per cent) do not know Jesus piece of research were was areal person who actually lived. And under 35s described as ‘shocking’ aremorelikely (25 per cent) than older people to and prompted morein- think Jesus was afictional character.Intotal, 22 per depth research,which led cent of people think Jesus was amythical figure, while to the Talking Jesus report 17 per cent areunsurewhether he was real or not. presented to General Of those who consider Jesus to havebeen areal Synod last month. The person who walked the earth, three out of five believe themselves Christians, just nine per cent would be results have been published in Talking Jesus available in his resurrection from the dead, as documented in described as ‘practising’ –reporting that they pray and to download at www.talkingjesus.org. the New Testament. Overall, some 43 per cent of read theBible regularlyand attend church at least Steve Clifford, general director of the Evangelical English adults believe in the resurrection, the survey monthly. Alliance, said: “This piece of research should provoke found. The survey found that one in five of non-Christians us to prayer as our hearts areheavy with the reality of Also, although 57 per cent of people in England call is open to finding out moreabout Jesus after hearing how little our friends and neighbours understand Christians talk to them about theirfaith. about who Jesus is. But thereare glimmers of hope; HOPE’sexecutive director Roy Crowne says: we areexcited about this unique opportunity to “Now we havethe results of this survey,the real understand the landscape we arein. work begins, and it begins with prayer.Weneed “This is not aquick-fix strategy,but along-term the Holy Spirit to be at work in our country, to commitmenttochanging the storyinour nation, so use our words and actions to show people what thatpeople might meet Jesus, love him and follow Jesus is like. And we need theHoly Spirit to give him.”

their life...' Gentile...for you are------people' [Dan; Jude; Rev] PRIZE CROSSWORD No. 982 by Axe [Eccles/NIV] (7) in Christ Jesus' (7) 12 Sacred song used to [Gal/NIV] (3,3) 16 Publicly proclaim or praise God (5) 2One of thefivePhilistine teach (a religious mes- 15 '...and ----- my anger cities[Judg; 1Sam; Jer] sage) (6) against them in the (8) 18 '------me from themouth wilderness' [Ezek/NIV] 3'Teach slaves to be ------of lions...' [Ps/NIV] (6) (5) to their masters...' 19 Brother or half-brother 17 '...came...to save ------–of [Tit/NIV] (7) of Jesus [Matt] (5) whom Iamthe worst'[1 4'...Jeduthun, whoproph- 21 '...give shade to his head Tim/NIV](7) esied, ----- the harp in to ---- his discomfort' 20 Israelite prophet who is thanking and praising [Jonah/NIV](4) remembered for his the Lord' [1 Chr/NIV] angrylamentations (8) (5) 22 '...cross south of Scorpi- 5Fastinthe Western Solutions to CrosswordNumber on ----...and go south of Church which ends on Across: 1Pigeons, 5Jacob, 8 Kadesh Barnea' Holy Saturday (4) Blossom, 9Synod, 10 Inner,11 [Num/NIV](4) 6IconicnameGod gave to Ninian, 13 Lambeth Palace, 16 Israel, 23 NT book concerning the Jacoband his descen- 18 Arles, 21 Smith, 22 Planned, 23 exploits of the apostles dants [Gen] (6) Abner,24Rectory. (4) 13 Becauseoftheir com- 24 Runaway slave owned mon viewpoint, the Down: 1Publicly,2Grown, 3 by Philemon (8) adjective ascribed to the Observe, 4Simon the Leper,5Jason, first three Gospels (8) 6Cantata, 7Body,12Feast day,14 Down 14 Agent of God: 'The Mission, 15 Aramaic, 17 Asher,19 1'Thereisneither Jew or guardianofthe Jewish Lando, 20 Asia.

T h e f i r s t c o r r e c t e n t r y d r aw n wi l l w i n a b o o k o f th e E d it o r ’s c h o i c e . S e n d y o u r e n tr y t o C r o s s w o r d N u m b e r 9 8 2, T h e C h u r c h o f E ng l an d N e w s p ap e r , 14 G r e a t C o ll e g e S t r e e t, W e s tm in s te r , L o n do n , PRICE £1.50 /€2.00/$2.50 S W1 P 3R X b y n e xt W e d n e s d a y

N am e Across (3,5) 9Archbishopric 01 8'So Moses which Pope Inno- A d d r e s s 7Oxfordcollege stretched out his centIIentitled founded in 1438, staffover Egypt, the Primateof 9770964816108 intended as a andthe Lord England (4) chantrydedicat- made an ---- wind 10 Son of Saul (8) P o s t C o d e ed to,among oth- blow...' 11 'They seldom ------ers, HenryV [Exod/NIV] (4) on the days of

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