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THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015 No: 6273

Supermarkets accused of anti-Christian sentiments By Ashley Prevo SUPERMARKETS such as Sainsbury’s, Co-op, and Asda have been accused of having an “anti-Christian agenda” after their refusal to sell charity eggs with a Christian theme this Easter season. The eggs include a leaflet inside that tells the story of Christ’s Resurrection and the boxes have images of crucifixes. According to the makers of The Real Easter Egg, they were asked by one chain, “What has Easter go to do with the church?” The head of the Meaningful Chocolate Company, David Marshall, said: “We do wonder at times if there is

an anti-Christian agenda from some of our supermarkets who just keep turning it down. It is as if some feel Christianity is politically incorrect or the Easter story, which mentions Jesus, might put people off.” These chocolate eggs with a religious message are being sold by other supermarkets, but Sainsbury’s and the Co-op have stopped selling them, claiming that they do not sell as well as eggs that feature images of Darth Vader and other well-known characters. This claim of small sales might revolve around the thought that one third of children are said to believe that Easter is the celebra-

tion of the birth of the Easter Bunny. Asda has never sold the religious-themed eggs and insisted that they were not approached this year, a statement that has been contradicted by the Meaningful Chocolate Company. Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, spoke about this decision, saying that refusing to sell Easter eggs that actually discuss the meaning of Easter is a poor choice by the supermarkets. “The rest are rubbish. These Easter eggs that have nothing to do with Easter, all they are trying to do is get more money out of people. They have no meaning.

I think it shows ignorance on the part of these supermarkets. By not offering an alternative to secular Easter eggs they are really undermining the real message of Easter,” he said. The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, who launched The Real Easter Egg in 2010, is said to have expressed sadness over the supermarkets refusing to include them in their stores. “With a million Real Easter Eggs sold I am delighted that Morrisons, Tesco and Waitrose have met the challenge. I call on Sainsbury’s, Asda and the Co-op to give their customers the same choice,” he said.

Bishops call for action on climate change SEVENTEEN Bishops from across the worldwide Anglican Communion have signed a declaration calling for urgent prayer and action to tackle Climate Change. Their declaration, ‘The World Is Our Host: A Call to Urgent Action for Climate Justice’, sets a new climate change agenda for the Anglican Communion. The Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam, who was acting as the Church of England representative for the climate group, has signed the Declaration, which cites a call for divestment as part of the commitment agenda. Bishops met in South Africa last month to discuss what they have called an ‘unprecedented climate crisis’. The Declaration, also commits those bishops to energy conservation measures in church buildings, nurturing

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biodiversity on church land and closer interfaith and ecumenical co-operation. The Church of England opted for engagement with fossil fuel companies earlier this year, choosing not to disinvest while the World Council of Churches, representing Christians in over 140 countries, chose a divestment strategy. The Declaration says: “We accept the scientific evidence that human activity is more than 95 per cent likely to be the main cause of global warming. This century began with 14 of the 15 hottest years ever. “That our Declaration is issued in Holy Week and addressed to the Church on Good Friday is a mark of the seriousness with which we view the crisis of climate change.

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“Climate change is the greatest moral issue facing the world, especially considering the poor are the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change. “Our call to action is aimed at Dioceses and Provinces across the worldwide Anglican Communion. We are also clear that delivering real change demands forming deep alliances with other Churches, other faith groups, and all who care for the Earth.” The Declaration brings the Church of England’s representation within the commitment into question, as the Declaration, which is described as an ‘authoritative’ document by Canon Ken Gray, a Canadian priest who is Secretary of the Anglican Communion Environmental Network, is already at odds with the Church of England’s breakaway stance on fossil fuel investment.

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CHURCHIN ENGLAND Diocese of Derby Derby Cathedral will be doing its part to raise awareness for World Autism Day on 2 April. The tower of the Cathedral will be lit blue. The Cathedral will also host an event, celebrating those in the area affected by autism. The Dean of Derby Dr John Davies commented: “This is an international day that the Cathedral is delighted to mark and celebrate. We are very keen to use the tower and all our other facilities and buildings for the benefit of those whose lives need specially celebrating and affirming. Come and see this icon of Derby go blue for a brilliant cause!”

Diocese of York The Awards Jury of the RIBA East Midlands Awards for best new buildings in the East Midlands, visited the Palace Ruins and Great Hall of the former Archbishops of York in Southwell. The building was shortlisted and the results will be announced in a ceremony at Leicester Cathedral. Charles Leggatt, fundraiser for the refurbishment of the Palace said: “Working with English Heritage, and with support from The Heritage Lottery Fund, the surviving building (known as ‘Great Hall’) and the palace ruins returned to public use last autumn, enhanced from their facelift, and is now pro-active both practically and as a heritage asset.”

Diocese of Sheffield The Bishop of Sheffield led a group of religious leaders from South Yorkshire in a public declaration urging people to use their votes to defeat extremists like the British National Party. The Rt Rev Steven Croft was joined by other faith leaders as they signed their joint statement on the steps of Sheffield Town Hall on Monday. Leaders of the area’s faith communities joined together to speak with one voice against the divisive policies of the far right. They said there is concern that some will try to use fear of unemployment and pressure on social services to promote division and hatred during the run-up to the general election. In their joint statement, representatives of the Christian, Muslim, Jewish and other faiths affirmed the values of unity, tolerance and mutual respect, which have always helped people from different backgrounds to live together in South Yorkshire. They are calling on people to come out and vote on 7 May, so that the overwhelming majority of voters will give a clear message that extremism and hatred are not welcome in the area.

Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham Acting Dean, Canon Nigel Coates of Southwell Minster, has chosen gardens as his inspiration for Easter. A series of reflections will take place on the theme and members of the charity, REACH, will create The Easter Garden in the Candle Chapel. Canon Coates said: “Eastertide is a time to recognise the risen Christ with us and God’s garden as that which lies ahead of us in our place of work.” Also in Southwell & Nottingham, children from South Wilford Church of England Primary School spent last Wednesday picking litter as part of the Washday Lent campaign and the Rt Rev Richard Inwood, Acting Bishop of the Diocese, and Bishop of Sherwood, the Rt Rev Tony Porter, confirmed 43 youngsters at a service in Southwell Minster. Bishop Tony said: “One of the most moving parts of the service was the conclusion, when prayers were read by a grandparent, a parent and a young person.” Diocese of Durham Houghton Hillside Cemetery will host the HoughtonLe-Sprint Passion Play on Good Friday. This will be the second time the open-air play has been performed in the North East cemetery. The Rector of Houghton, the Rev Canon Sue Pinnington, said: “We’re excited to be able to bring the good news of Jesus out of church and into the open for all to see.”

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3 April 10am

The Way of the Cross – on the streets of Gloucester, the Passion, with the performance beginning at the Cathedral. 12noon: The Houghton-Le-Spring Passion Play, at Houghton Hillside Cemetery. Free. 7.30pm St John Passion, Bach, with the Chichester Baroque Choir and Players. Free Entry, Retiring collection. With the generous support of the Chichester Cathedral Friends.

4 April 10am: Come and Sing fundraising event at St Mary’s Church, Beverley, with Beverley Chamber Choir. The day-long event will see singers of all standards learn Stainer’s Crucifixion, and perform the oratorio at 4pm, where they will be joined by soloists David Bowden and Kevin Ormond. 6.30pm Liverpool Cathedral Passion Play, Act 4.

5 April 1pm

Controversial painting for Manchester

Hope Huddersfield Easter Sunday Celebration in St George’s Square, Huddersfield. All welcome.

7 April 7.30pm Lord Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, gives a lecture to the Lincoln Theological Society on Centenarians, Teresa of Avila and Thomas Merton. Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln. £5.

11 April 2.30pm Another chance to take part in Leeds Retreat on the Streets.

12 April 8pm Diocese of Manchester The life-size painting ‘The Good Thief’, by local artist Louis Smith, is the subject of a lot of attention at Manchester Cathedral. The painting realistically depicts one of the criminals who were crucified next to Jesus turning toward him seeking forgiveness. An interesting aspect of the painting is not just the realism but also the fact that the viewpoint is from above. This perspective of the painting was said to be inspired by the surrealist Salvador

Dali. Furthermore, the figure is nude, which was typical of the time period. Guests have been leaving comments about the painting in the Cathedral’s Guest Book. Some of these notes include: “A very poignant evocation of the tragedy of human existence. A call for compassion”, “I thought the face was a photo. Great likeness. Absolutely amazing” and “Even grief will die.” On 24 March the Cathedral held a live creative arts events that allowed attendees to explore the painting

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through prose, music, poetry, and dance. The artist was interviewed, the Poet in Residence Rachel Mann read a new poem composed especially for the occasion, and local dancer Jacob Elliott Roberts performed a self-choreographed piece for the event. Canon David Holgate, curator of the art at the Cathedral, also spoke about the relationship between the painting, our responses, and the original story. The painting will only be on public display until Sunday 19 April.

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Hustings, Leeds East, St Mary’s Church, Whitkirk.

18 April 10.30am‘Challenges at home and overseas’ is the theme of the Christians in Library and Information Services (CLIS) Annual Conference, The Theatre, YMCA, 7 East Street, Leicester.

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Sheffield hosts Maundy service THE QUEEN is visiting Sheffield Cathedral today for her Maundy Thursday service. The announcement of the Queen’s visit was made public in January and has not only required the participation of Sheffield Cathedral, but also the local police and the city council. A Maundy service has been held in most cathedrals in England as well as some in Scotland and Wales. This is the first time the service has been held in Sheffield and the Bishop of Sheffield, Dr Steven Croft, said the preparation for the event involved a “huge amount of work for several months” that had to be dealt with in secret. Platters from the Crown Jewels have been transported to Sheffield Cathedral and are being used to carry the Maundy Money. At the service, the Queen is handing out Maundy Money to 89 men and 89 women who were nominated by the local community. The tradition of Maundy Money began with Edward I and acts as a representation of Jesus washing his disciple’s feet. The Maundy Thursday service has been a tradition of the British monarchy since the 12th Century and until the 17th Century the custom was for the monarch to wash the feet of poor people from the area as a gesture of humility. Dr Croft said it is a “joy that this is happening in Sheffield this year.”

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Bishop’s lead praised by Child Protection group THE CHURCHES’ Child Protection Advisory Service (CCPAS) have ‘applauded’ the lead taken by the Bishop of Durham and Chair of the Churches National Safeguarding Committee, the Rt Rev Paul Butler, for reporting the name of former Conservative MP, Enoch Powell and Welsh MP Leo Abse to detectives of Operation Fenbridge, a Metropolitan Police inquiry. The Rt Rev Dominic Walker handed the names to Bishop Butler after hearing the allegations. The Rt Rev Dominic Walker was Bishop of Monmouth until his recent retirement, succeeding Rowan Williams before Williams took up post as Archbishop of Canterbury. A Church of England spokesman said: “The name of Enoch Powell was passed to Operation Fernbridge on the instruction of Bishop Paul Butler.” Simon Bass, Chief Executive of CCPAS, has praised the Church of England for the leadership stance shown by

Bishop Paul Butler, but is calling for mandatory reporting measures to extend to religious officials after Prime Minister David Cameron’s proposals to make public sector officials legally liable for child neglect. Simon Bass told The Church of England Newspaper: “It is excellent that Church of England has taken a proactive stance in ensuring, where possible, churches do report instances of child abuse. “It requires willpower and commitment and the encouraging thing is that there is that commitment, that safeguarding issues are not covered up.” He added: “In terms of the general direction in relation to mandatory reporting, I am still a strong advocate of a statutory intervention because this is a matter across the church, as demonstrated only this week, where a Catholic priest has been convicted of child sexual abuse. “The sad scenario in his situation is

that Church officials were aware of concerns about his behaviour and rather than being reported, they moved him to a different parish.” He added: “With that fresh in mind. I am still a strong advocate of a mandatory reporting system put in place to cover all those in positions of responsibility.” Simon Bass told us that in order for the Church to be speaking into situations it is vital that they are seen to be taking every possible measure, which is why the Church has taken a past case review. “It can move forward by having the strong leadership Bishop Paul Butler and his national team brings, speaking out into areas where unfortunately, there are still going to be instances of what the police uncovered last week, in terms of the clergy being those investigated. “They can put a front foot forward for a change,” he said.

Bishop attacks ‘caveats’ in Osborne Budget THE BISHOP of Portsmouth has hit out at some of the caveats contained in George Osborne’s Budget last month. The Rt Rev Christopher Foster criticised the provision of tax-free savings income of up to £1,000 a year, which he said, like the ISA limit increase, does nothing to help lower-income families ‘trying to meet small unexpected costs such as the proverbial washing machine breakdown’. Bishop Foster said the House should turn to the Financial Inclusion Commission’s report chaired by Senior Adviser to the Group Chairman and Group Chief Executive of HSBC Holdings, to find more creative savings solutions. The Bishop also called the rhetoric of removing people from income tax liability and raising the earnings limit before tax ‘disingenuous’. He said that the fact that people will pay no income tax below £10,600, is belittled compared with the 12 per cent

national insurance payment at only £8,060 of income, a fact he said, that neither party in the front bench has accounted for. Bishop Foster also pointed out that, while welcoming the £40 million increase in Church repair funds, this will only be enough to meet half of the 1,900 applications. He also cited a 50 per cent rise in people in employment needing housing benefit and questioned what he called ‘absence of detail on the productivity challenge we face and on what seem to be planned but unspecific welfare savings.’ This was the second national public outcry by a Church of England Bishop on the current state of UK housing in less than a fortnight. The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev James Langstaff, addressed over 2,000 people at a recent housing rally, calling on the Government to commit themselves to a long-term plan for ending the housing crisis.

New campaign to encourage RE teachers ENCOURAGED by the newly re-instated government bursary incentives to cover Religious Education training costs, the National Association of Teachers of RE, the Association of University Lecturers in Religion and Education and Culham St Gabriel’s Trust, have put together an RE teacher recruitment campaign. Beyond The Ordinary, launched this week, aims to try to fill places for the 800 vacant RE teacher training posts.

The Rev Nigel Genders, the Church of England’s Chief Education Officer, is supporting the campaign, saying that teachers can expect to ‘go beyond the everyday’ in this role. “I’m delighted to support the Beyond the Ordinary campaign, which highlights the benefits of a career in RE teaching, a career that is far from ordinary. As an RE teacher you’ll address topics that go way beyond the everyday,

UK record on children’s rights attacked by Parliamentary Committee By Ashley Prevo THE PARLIAMENTARY Joint Committee on Human Rights has said that the UK is failing in its commitment to children’s rights. The group believes that child poverty should be considered a human rights issue. In addition to this, they said that migrant children should be able to have access to legal aid as well. According to the Chief Executive of The Children’s Society, Matthew Reed, the lack of quality children’s rights, especially on the issue of immigration and poverty is ‘terrible’. “It is appalling that children’s rights including those around immigration and poverty continue to suffer, and we welcome the conclusions of this report which shine a light on these serious issues,” he said. Reed highlighted damning statistics and called for action from the next Government after the General Election in May. “As the report recognises, without substantial changes in policy, the likelihood of the Government meeting its legal duty to eliminate child

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poverty by 2020 is unachievable. Estimates show that in the next five years, an additional 700,000 children will be trapped in poverty. “To address this, we are urgently calling for the next Government to tackle child poverty by increasing benefits for children at least in line with rises in the cost of living and by extending free school meals to all children in poverty.” On the issue of migrant children, Reed stated that he believed the Government should show more compassion to the child, irrespective of whether or not they are legal. “We are deeply worried that legal aid has been scrapped for migrant children who are new to this country, and that the Government is focusing on immigration control instead of the child’s needs. “Without financial support for legal help, these children may go unrepresented in court and lose access to justice. These vulnerable children must be given access to legal aid,” he said. “Keeping children safe from harm and protecting their human rights should be a top priority for any Government.”

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challenging perceptions and exploding stereotypes. “You’ll embark on a career that will continue to evolve and inspire you as well as the young people you teach. And the government is offering financial incentives to cover training costs, so now is a great time to explore more about this wonderful vocation,” he said.

See communities transformed. Through our Connect scheme, support a life-changing local church programme. • • • •

Rural healthcare in Bangladesh Action on HIV in Zimbabwe Maternal healthcare in Lesotho Overcoming poverty in the Philippines

Call 020 7921 2210 or visit www.weareus.org.uk/connect Us. The new name for USPG Registered charity number 234518

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First woman appointed as diocesan bishop THE FIRST woman bishop to sit in the House of Lords was named last week. The historic appointment of the Ven Rachel Treweek as Bishop of Gloucester came 24 hours after Canon Alison White was announced as suffragan Bishop of Hull. Currently Archdeacon of Hackney, Rachel Treweek, who trained for the ministry at Wycliffe Hall, will succeed Bishop Michael Perham and is the most senior post yet for a woman in the Church of England. She is a Participant Observer in the House of Bishops for the South East Region and has been an adviser to the House of Bishops’ Working Group on Human Sexuality as well as member of the General Synod since 2010. After her consecration at Gloucester Cathedral later this year, Treweek will sit in the House of Lords as the first female Lord Spiritual. The formal enactment of the Legislation on Women Bishops followed a vote from General Synod last November with only 30 votes against. At the time, Archbishop Welby predicted that within 10 years, half the Church of England’s Bishops could be women. Archdeacon Treweek said: “I am looking forward to encour-

aging Christians to speak out with confidence about their faith and the good news that the Gospel brings. “It will be my privilege to work with churches as we connect with people, wherever they are and whatever their concerns.” The Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, the Most Reverend Desmond Tutu, said: “What fantastic news. Wow, how wonderful so soon after Bishop Libby. I’m thrilled for you dear Rachel and I’m thrilled for the Diocese of Gloucester, for the Church of England, for the Church of God and for all of us. Yippee.” The first woman bishop, the Rt Rev Libby Lane, said: “She is an exceptional priest whose leadership is well proven. She is both genuinely caring and deeply insightful. Her experience as an Archdeacon, in General Synod, and the national Church will equip her well for her future ministry. It has been an honour to serve alongside Rachel as Regional Representatives in the House of Bishops, and I rejoice that she takes her place there as of right. Rachel and Guy are in my prayers as they prepare for this exciting change in their lives.” Her appointment came a day after the second suffragan was appointed in the Northern

Province and, for the first time, the new Bishop is already married to a Bishop. The Rev Canon Alison White, is married to the Rt Rev Frank White, acting Bishop of Newcastle, making them the first husband-and-wife bishop team. “You may have noticed that I am married to a Bishop. This may seem excessive! You would think that one in a family is more than enough. Believe me, this has crossed our minds,” she said on Wednesday. Canon White is the former priest-in-charge of Riding Mill in the Diocese of Newcastle and Diocesan Adviser for Spirituality and Spiritual Direction. She said: “I am really excited about coming to this part of the world with all your stories and characters. It is such a good time to be part of what is happening in Hull and the East Riding and across the Diocese of York. “The great thing about the Church of England is that we are part of the gospel being around in every community, made real in us ordinary people. I want to be part of that and to give confidence that we have something vital to contribute wherever we live.” The Rt Rev Martin Wharton, the recently retired Bishop of Newcastle, said: “I am thrilled

that Alison’s priestly and personal gifts have been recognised by the wider church and believe she will be an outstanding bishop who will quickly endear herself to the people of Hull and the East Riding. As the second woman to be appointed Bishop in the Church of Eng-

land, we rejoice with her and pray for her.” The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, said: “Alison is a person of real godliness and wisdom – it is fantastic that she has accepted God’s call to make Christ visible together with all of us in this Diocese of York.”

Party leaders identify their favourite churches POLITICAL leaders have revealed their favourite churches in a survey carried out by the National Churches Trust. Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader David Cameron chose the two churches of All Saints in Spelsbury and St Mary the Virgin in Oxfordshire as his favourite places of worship, the latter for which Mr Cameron is one of the Patrons for the Appeal for the Restoration and Renewal. Leader of the Labour party Ed Miliband chose St Mary Magdalene Church in Doncaster and leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg cited the 15th Century church of St Nicholas’ in South Yorkshire as his favourite church. Nicola Sturgeon, Leader of the Scottish National Party, chose Fisherton Parish Church in South Ayrshire, where she was christened, and Leanne Wood, Leader of Plaid Cymru, chose Soar Ffrwdamos in Penygraig, Rhondda. Green Party leader Natalie Bennett chose St Bartholomew the Great in West Smithfield, London and Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, chose St Thomas à Becket Church in Kent. Claire Walker, Chief Executive of the National

All Saints in Spelsbury

St Mary Magdalene Church in Doncaster

Churches Trust said: “Whatever the result of the 2015 General Election, we hope that politicians of all parties will continue to support the task of keeping churches, chapels and meeting houses looking beautiful and able to cope with the demands of the 21st century.” Over 400 Church of England parishes will benefit from a £30 million funding package for listed places of worship, announced in the recent Budget by Also available on Android Chancellor George

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Osborne. Among those recently announced, Birmingham Cathedral has been awarded £500,000 for repairs, Peterborough Cathedral has received £200,000. Southwark churches have received £672,000 in grants. All Saints in Tealby, St Genewyn’s in Scotton, St John the Baptist in Scampton and St Mary’s in Horncastle (Lincoln), each received a share of £608,700 awarded to the area.

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Archbishop to visit China THE ARCHBISHOP of Canterbur y has accepted an invitation from the Chinese government and the countr y’s state Protestant church to visit China. Archbishop Justin Welby’s press of ficer announced the archbishop will travel to Beijing, Shanghai and Nanking at the invitation of the State Administration for Religious Af fairs and the China Christian Council/Three-Self Patriotic Association from 27 May to 5 June 2015. “The purpose of the visit is to build on existing friendly relations with the Christian Church in China, and to meet and learn about faith communities and their role in the major economic and social developments in the countr y,” the statement said. Archbishop Welby follows in the footsteps of Archbishops George Carey and Rowan Williams in accepting the invitation to China. The archbishop said: “I am ver y much looking forward to my first visit to China, and seeing the remarkable economic developments and rapid growth of post-denominational Christianity which is taking place there. “I look forward to building on the friendship with the Christian church in China established by my three predecessors, as well as meeting representatives of other faiths.”

Presiding Bishop criticises climate change deniers THE PRESIDING Bishop of the Episcopal Church has denounced those who question the veracity of the arguments of proponents of global warming. Those who question the conventional wisdom about climate change were sinners, she said, motivated by “political interests” or “willful blindness.” Speaking in Los Angeles at a conference organized on 24 March by the Episcopal Church called the Climate Change Crisis, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said the “Judeo-Christian tradition has always called those motivations sinful.” She added: “It’s decidedly wrong to use resources that have been given into our collective care in ways that diminish the ability of others to share in abundant life.” A marine biologist by training, the Presiding Bishop said it was her belief that “we are making war on the integrity of this planet.” “We were planted in this garden to care for it, literally to have dominion over its creatures. Dominion means caring for our island home,” she said adding that humanity had reached a “life and death” decision on climate change that “will not last long.” She declined to speak to arguments proffered by climate scientists that dispute her characterisations, insisting that her view was the sole moral view on the matter.

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Nigeria goes to the polls IN ITS fourth national election since the military stepped down from power in 1999, Africa’s most populous nation went to the polls this week to elect a president and parliament in elections that so far appear to be free from fraud and violence. After a delay of six weeks due to the threat of violence from the Islamist terror group Boko Haram, on 28 March 2015 Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenged incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the presidency of Nigeria — pitting a former military ruler, northerner and Muslim against a Christian southerner.

While reports of voting machine problems caused the polls in some states to remain open for a second day, election commission chief Attahiru Jega said only a fraction of the 150,000 card readers being used nationwide had failed. Writing on Facebook, the Anglican Archbishop of Jos, the Most Rev Benjamin Kwashi said: “I am proud of Prof Attahiru Mohamadu Jega. I am proud of the Nigeria security and Armed Forces of Nigeria. I am proud of Nigeria electronic media. I know about the print media, they are their master’s voices... I am proud of Nigerians!” Last week the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, asked the gov-

ernment to evaluate the prospects for a “free and fair Presidential election in Nigeria.” The UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon praised the “determination and resilience” of Nigerian voters, adding voting had been “largely peaceful and orderly”. In a written response, Foreign Office Minister Lady Anelay said the British Government was “closely following developments.” She added that the 28 March presidential election and 11 April gubernatorial elections “will set Nigeria’s course for the next five years and beyond and as Africa’s largest democracy its impact will be felt well beyond its borders.”

Taliban death toll in Lahore rises to 20 THE DEATH toll from the Taliban bombing of two churches has risen to 20, sources in Lahore tell The Church of England Newspaper. On 15 March suicide bombers attempted to destroy St John’s Catholic Church and the Church of Pakistan’s Christ Church in the predominantly Christian district of Youhanabad. In the aftermath of the attack, two men suspected of aiding the bombers were torn from the hands of police and lynched by a mob. Over 100 Christians have been arrested by police in the aftermath of the attack, charged with complicity in the killings of the two bombing suspects. Attacks against Christians in Lahore have continued since the bombing. Muslim groups have marched through the area shout-

ing “Allahu Akbar” and throwing stones at churches. A representative of the Taliban splinter group that has claimed responsibility for the blast, Jamaatul Ahar told al-Jazeera, “We promise that until an Islamic system is put into place in Pakistan, such attacks will continue.” In a note given to the Fides News Agency, Ataurehman Saman, coordinator of the publications of the Pakistani Catholic Bishop’s Conference’s National Commission “Justice and Peace” wrote: “The nation has paid a tribute of 60,000 lives to terrorism and extremism. In the world Pakistan is considered a den of terrorists. “The only way to salvation is to ensure safety to innocent people and put an end to a policy of denial or cover the wrongdoings of the country”.

Asylum hope for Islamic State victims TWO California congressmen, Duncan Hunter (Rep.) and Juan Vargas (Dem) have introduced a bill in Washington that would encourage members of religious minorities persecuted by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq to enter the United States as refugees. The bipartisan bill would give preference to the immigration of Assyrian, Chaldean and Syrian Christians, Yazidis and other non-Muslim groups to the US. Democrat Congressman John Conyers of Michigan presented the bill to the floor of the House saying the legislation addressed the “urgent need for America to provide a safe haven for the persecuted people”. The largest concentration of Middle Eastern Christians outside of the Middle East are in the United States, concentrated in Detroit and San Diego.

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Letters

Write to The Church of England Newspaper, 14 Great College Street, Westminster, London, SW1P 3RX. or you can send an E-mail to [email protected]. Tweet at @churchnewspaper If you are sending letters by e-mail, please include a street address. NB: Letters may be edited

Illegal demand?

Sir, The policy currently in force throughout the Church of England that every ordinand seeking ordination must assent to the Five Guiding Principles of the House of Bishops’ Declaration on the Ministry of Bishops and Priests, seems to be illegal. It seems clearly to contravene s.9 of the Clerical Subscription Act 1865, which is still in force: ‘No other declaration or oaths than those required by Act to be enforced. Subject as herein-after mentioned, no person shall, on or as a consequence of ordination, or on or as a consequence of being licensed to any stipendiary curacy, or on or as a consequence of being presented, instituted, collated, elected, or licensed to any benefice with cure of souls, perpetual curacy, lectureship, or preachership, be required to make any subscription or declaration, or take any oath, other than such subscriptions, declarations, and oath as are required by this Act or by Canon of the General Synod.’ Until such time as an explanation is forthcoming as to how the two are compatible, the statute must take precedence, and clergy should not feel under any obligation to give assent. Daniel J Hill, Delamere, Northwich

Neighbourliness

Sir, I presume that most, possibly all, your readers want us to be on good terms with our Muslim neighbours. But on occasions a streak of naivety can be detected. The vicar of St John’s, Waterloo, refers to a generous God, and so he is. But the Muslim view of God does not often, in my experience, reflect a similar generosity. How many mosques have invited other faiths to take part in a similar prayer worship? Mosques have been, and are being built in our towns and cities, but to my knowledge only one new church has been built in a Muslim-majority country in recent years. It is sad to recall also that our previous Archbishop was equally loving, but was also

Theories on the Atonement

Sir, Peter Mullen takes us through various theories of the Atonement (27 March). He concludes that all these theories are ‘mistaken in principle: for they represent God as if he were a character in a drama, or even a part of a mechanism.’ Peter is right to reject such theorising, but I suggest for a different reason. Theories play an important part in our lives, obviously so in the sciences but also elsewhere. For example, the case for the prosecution in a trial is a theory about what happened, which must be argued and tested. Theorising helps us eliminate poor or false theories to get to the truth. And so we are readily tempted to apply a theorising attitude when thinking about God. The problem is that such theorising subtly shifts the context of discussion from the scriptures to a mode of reasoning that is familiar and understandable to us. If we accept that scripture gives a proper context for what it is to be God, this shift in context conceptually distorts God into something more like ourselves. By contrast, the Christian faith emphasises a logical difference between the Creator and creation. That logic is shown in that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and our ways are not his ways. Hence we should expect God to perplex us whereas theorising tends to remove perplexity by substituting a context that is more amenable to human reason. Rather than theorising we should engage in a careful exegesis of the scriptures. If we find different perspectives on the Atonement, they should all have a place in proportion to their overall significance in the Bible. Instead we allow supposedly theoretical objections derived from a context of familiar reasoning to intrude artificial conflicts into the text. We then obfuscate or eliminate what the scriptures teach when that is uncongenial. The resulting deity is merely an idolatrous reflection of ourselves – the socalled God of the philosophers. Dr Henk Carpentier Alting, Stockport generally seen as equally naive and even mistaken in wanting Sharia law accepted fully in the UK. Individual Muslims are often holy and tolerant men and women, but don’t we need to be aware of the bigger picture? Tony Cullingford, Tewkesbury

Ways to Christ

Sir, An orthodox Christian will believe in God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit and recognise Jesus as ‘The Way, the Truth and the Life’. It is, surely, not heretical to believe also that, although there is but one way to God, there may be many ways to Christ. Jesus spoke of his Father’s house as being ‘roomy’. A liberal Christian minister was not ‘running after other gods’ when he recently offered hospitality to a group of liberal Muslims, although, in doing so, he sat light to ecclesiastical

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limitations. The usual labels liberal/conservative, progressive/traditional – could be helpfully replaced, says Timothy Radcliffe, by talk of ‘Kingdom’ Christians and ‘Communion’ Christians. Some people see our Church as primarily the People of God on pilgrimage towards the Kingdom. Others see themselves as primarily members of the institution of the Church, the communion of believers. We need both sets of identity, of course, and the tension between them should be fruitful and dynamic. The Kingdom tendency focuses on the Incarnation, through which God embraced all humanity in Jesus, who proceeded to overthrow boundaries. The Communion tendency of ‘Identity Christians’ focuses more on the Cross. The conflict is not between those who are faithful to the

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tradition and those who wish to surrender to the modern world, as it is often portrayed, and a victory for either party would be a defeat of the Church. Radcliffe’s thesis is that in the Church, as well as in society at large, we are all suffering from the ‘root shock’ of not feeling at home and so we seek out likeminded people. We need the imagination to understand the ‘others’’ sense of exile if we are to build a community in which they may feel that they, too, belong. Radcliffe turns to the Eucharist to defuse present anxiety, for in it, whilst the bread is given to the disciples only, the cup is poured out for them, and for all. There is both a centrifugal and a centripetal force behind the sacrament, a breathing-in and a breathingout. He likens present antagonisms to an asthma attack and deplores the fact that argumentation was silenced in the past, following the horrors of the Thirty Years’ War. He would certainly uphold Dolce and Gabanna’s right to speak out forcefully in defence of traditional families. But perhaps the Pope, who declared that he understood that someone might want to throw a punch after their mother had been insulted, might sympathise with Elton John’s reaction to his sons being dismissed as ‘synthetic’ children. Mixed-race children and those born out of wedlock are no longer referred to as ‘half-castes’ and ‘bastards.’ Nor should we stigmatise those conceived after rape, or IVF treatment, or AID, or through surrogacy. They are all God’s children. Serena Lancaster, Moreton-in-Marsh, Glos

Equality question

Sir, It is interesting that the taxpayer-funded Equality Commission for Northern Ireland is actually taking a Christian family business to court after they declined to decorate a campaign cake with a slogan supporting same-sex marriage, action that would contravene their personal beliefs.

Why is a taxpayer-funded body denying someone their right to their Christian beliefs in a Christian country? It seems not everyone is equal in their rights - at least in the eyes of the Equality Commission. Is it right that some are more equal than others in this nation? J Longstaff, Woodford Green, Essex

Harmony

Sir, Mrs F Hanson (letters, 13 March), like the Archbishop of Canterbury she quotes, has unrealistic aspirations for future harmony now that women have been raised to the episcopate within the Church of England. As warned by Forward in Faith at the outset of the pilgrimage of discernment, the Communion, which was then impaired, has now with this final act “been fatally fractured.” The House of Bishops are being disingenuous when they talk of promoting the flourishing of all when they have closed the door to ordination for all who cannot accept this innovation of women priests and bishops or simply reject women in spiritual authority as gatekeepers on the road to ordination. Evangelicals who accept this innovation should take warning that even they may not prosper should innovations in morals cause them to be sidelined, as appears to be already happening in Southwark diocese according to your front-page article of the same issue. As reported by Michael Rose in “Goodbye to Good Men,” this is already becoming rampant elsewhere. While the civil constitutions of our Church now facilitate Women Bishops and Priests, their authority derives from our Queen as limited by Article 37 of the Thirty-nine Articles. Such constitutions overreach themselves when they seek to alter the exposition of the Word or the Administration of the sacraments. The once ascendency of the Arians should caution against Letters continue on page 12

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Friday April 2, 2015

Disciples of the Risen Christ cannot ignore each other

Comment

Kate Adie, one of the BBC’s most impartial correspondents, pointed out recently that the UK newspapers are pulling out of largescale regular coverage of overseas issues. She cited the current crisis amounting to civil war in Yemen as an example. Shia rebels are in full-scale warfare with the government, Saudi Arabia is deploying its air power to bomb the rebels. Iran is being accused of arming the rebels and supporting them, causing grave worries for Iraq. This is a deep crisis in the Middle East, adding to the ongoing rebel warfare against Syria, including the terrifying surge of Isil and its magnetic attraction to European Muslim youth. The UK is supplying arms to rebels fighting the Assad government, although UK arms have fallen into the hands of dangerous militia in the now chaotic failed state of Libya. Basically the politicians have heard from the public that UK interventionism has failed and the nation wants to turn its face from the ongoing murder and mayhem in Islamic lands. Perhaps the same mindset is being found in the churches in regard to Christians in those territories. They are being murdered, driven out, terrorised and persecuted in huge numbers. The secular British politicians care nothing it seems: they prefer to keep silent ‘in case it might give offence’. General Synod must be praised for putting it at the heart of its agenda last year. But churches too seem loathe to speak up, apparently paralysed by the current politically correct chill factor. St Paul in his letters is quite clear about the sufferings of fellow believers in the Body of Christ – when one suffers, we all suffer and are affected. That is the evangelical doctrine of the church catholic, we are one in the Spirit, we are fellow members of the Body of Christ. There are some brave organisations trying to speak out and to help these persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. The Barnabas Fund has – often against ‘liberal’ criticism and opposition – established a network of apostolic empathy and love that deserves all the support it can attract from western Christians. Pope Francis has recently condemned further atrocities against Pakistani Christians under the savage ‘blasphemy’ laws. Telling the truth and responding in love is vital in any Christian response to this terror being visited on the saints so widely and deeply. Easter’s triumphant message of Christ risen from a death of persecution and injustice could never be more urgent. Jesus Christ is identified as the Son of God by his resurrection (Romans 1:4). Jesus Christ forms his Church of believing disciples, those committed to this risen Lord in the Spirit, worshipping the Father. These disciples are found globally, in the West and in all regions of the world, all bonded to the risen Christ in love and faith. Baptism is into ‘the death of the Lord’ (Romans 6), sharing in the sufferings of the Lord that we may know his resurrection life. Ignoring our persecuted brothers and sisters is turning away from Christ.

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Leader & Comment

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Easter and the Election JAMESCATFORD Will the 2015 election campaign break step, even for a moment, to pause over Easter? With the stampede to secure our vote, there can be little respite for the door-stepping canvassers and political pundits who follow them. Easter weekend must surely be a prime opportunity to knock on doors and stuff leaflets through letterboxes. Of course the question could be swung the other way around as well. Will the election in any way interrupt the inexorable advancement of the kingdom of God, celebrated most publicly at Eastertide? While we might wish to get out of the way of the election bandwagon, we will surely want to step right into the oncoming path of the kingdom of God. The coincidence of Easter and the election presents a creative intersection of events for us to consider. Not least is the hope of politicians of all colours that they might experience a resurrection in their fortunes after their own personal day of judgement at the ballot box. Let’s brace ourselves for the tempting metaphors that commentators might use at this confluence of seasons. Will Cameron rise again? Is Miliband praying for salvation? Can Clegg avoid a doomsday scenario? Much, of course, will depend on whether they even realise that Easter is happening. Yet a far deeper narrative is also available between the intrigue of our contemporary political culture and the passion of Christ; one that only the most thoughtful observer is likely to grasp. This involves how and why Jesus actually died. We are, of course, familiar with the theological reasons for his atoning death on the cross, brought home all the more to us by today’s barbaric punishments poured out on their victims by the so-called Islamic State. Who could have thought that we would be able to see in our homes the images of butchery every bit as inhuman in 2015 as the crucifixions handed out by the Romans 20 centuries ago? We might even be familiar with the primary and secondary theories of atonement; and the works of John Stott and NT Wright on the subject may even populate our bookcases. We thank God for their contribution to our understanding of what was happening at the crossroads of history. We may also appreciate the depth of another perspective on the cross that comes from a different vantage point, this time from the heart. Brought to us down the years we hear the line played out that the good always die young and ‘behold the man’ who was too pure for this world. Such a line extends to the lament ‘my song is love unknown, my saviour’s love to me, love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be’, and the moving words of ‘when I survey the wondrous cross... on which the prince of glory died’. Here some of the finest poetry expresses our deepest emotion at this time of year about the lover who dies for the beloved. For some the power of this passion may overwhelm us during a Good Friday service, or at sunrise on Easter

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morning. What love is this? Yet, in the spirit of the election, there is also a third narrative to Easter that we can explore. This involves the competing political powers of Rome and Jerusalem, the secular and spiritual forces locked together in an unholy alliance against the ‘king of the Jews’, and the first century equivalent of ‘cash for honours’ coming in the form of ‘cash for kisses’ played out in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is a very human story with lots of parallels with today. Jesus died at the hands of mucky politicians. Not, I stress, that I am blaming our political parties today of stooping to their level. But backroom deals, power politics, position and pride give us some insight into what was going on in the final week of Jesus’ life before his atoning death. In recognising the hand of God in all of this, we would do well not to forget the human side to the story. God works the human to his divine will. He intersects and transforms our world both then, and now. Going to the polls is an opportunity to see Easter in the Election. More accurately, it is our opportunity to see the Election being caught up in the grand drama of Easter and the great purpose of God in history. Easter and the Election. Which will get the most airtime, and which will have the most lasting impact? I think the answer is clear. James Catford is Group Chief Executive of Bible Society. Follow him on Twitter or email him at [email protected]

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Friday April 2, 2015

Feature

Principles of flourishing? Lee Gatiss looks at the “Five Guiding Principles” now being used to filter all appointments and training for ministry in the Church Our bishops have recently decided to add to The Thirty-nine Articles. Well, not in so many words. What they have done (without much in the way of due process, unfortunately) is to add to the number of official documents to which ordinands and ministers are required to give assent. From now on, it will be necessary for everyone entering ministry, or moving church jobs, to give their assent to the Bishops’ “Five Guiding Principles.” This is a controversial step. It has been hotly debated within theological colleges, not least amongst those who are about to get ordained. It has come as something of a surprise to learn about another hurdle they must clear. And so it should. Five Guiding Principles The Bishops’ Five Principles spring from the recent compromise on the women bishops issue. They appeared as part of the renewed negotiations after the clear “No” vote in November 2012. Though they were never formally agreed to by participants in those discussions, they were described by Archbishop Justin as an “electrified ring-fence” around the issue. They have now become an electrified hoop through which every prospective minister needs to jump. What are these “principles”? First, it must be said that despite alarm in some quarters, they do not say that everyone “must agree with women bishops.” It is vital to note that we are told in the preamble that these principles ”need to be read one with the other and held together in tension, rather than being applied selectively.” Number 1 cannot force agreement with something Number 4 allows us to disagree about, for example. Since the Principles cannot be separated, then, let’s examine them together as an entity: 1. Now that legislation has been passed to enable women to become bishops the Church of England is fully and unequivocally committed to all orders of ministry being open equally to all, without reference to gender, and holds that those whom it has duly ordained and appointed to office are the true and lawful holders of the office which they occupy and thus deserve due respect and canonical obedience; 2. Anyone who ministers within the Church of England must be prepared to acknowledge that the Church of England has reached a clear decision on the matter; 3. Since it continues to share the historic episcopate with other Churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and those provinces of the Anglican Communion which continue to ordain only men as priests or bishops, the Church of England acknowledges that its own clear decision on ministry and gender is set within a broader process of discernment within the Anglican Communion and the whole Church of God; 4 Since those within the Church of England who, on grounds of theological conviction, are unable to receive the ministry of women bishops or priests continue to be within the spectrum of teaching and

tradition of the Anglican Communion, the Church of England remains committed to enabling them to flourish within its life and structures; and 5 Pastoral and sacramental provision for the minority within the Church of England will be made without specifying a limit of time and in a way that maintains the highest possible degree of communion and contributes to mutual flourishing across the whole Church of England. (Source: GS Misc 1076) It can be quickly seen that these are not really five “principles”, but a jumble of factual statements and carefully worded aspirations. Number 1, for example, is a basic summary of the new situation legally. It accurately states what has been passed by General Synod. But it does not commit any individual to agreeing with what Synod has done corporately. Reading it honestly “in tension” with, or alongside, Principles 4 and 5 makes that point. We are not meant to tick the “principles” off one-by-one, as things we agree with individually in themselves. We must acknowledge that a clear decision has been made on the subject. Though it must also be confessed that it was contested, controversial and, in many eyes still, misconceived. For as long as we are synodically governed, it is as open to future legislative change one day as the clear vote in November 2012 was. Synod may err (see Article XXI). It is indeed acknowledged in statement number 3 that the majority of Christians around the world remain in churches that are against women’s consecration. The Church of England knows it is now in a global and historical minority. It acknowledges that there is a “broader process of discernment” — which could be read as a humble admission that it may be wrong. Principle 4 contains two very positive statements for those against women’s ordination. First, it states that this historic, classically Anglican, biblical position is “within the spectrum of teaching and tradition of the Anglican Communion.” It remains a genuine, recognised Anglican theological position to be complementarian. This doesn’t contradict Principle 1; it acknowledges the continued legitimacy of a minority dissenting view. Second, the guidance commits the Church of England to the continued flourishing of complementarians within the life and structures of the Church. They will be positively encouraged to prosper and grow, not just die out. It is acceptable not to agree with women bishops. We may recognise that they fill certain offices legally, but still not accept their ministry spiritually. It is now a positive policy of the Church to encourage those who are complementarian by theological conviction to thrive — not just stay in their own churches but actually expand into the structures of the church (such as in synods, in theological colleges, and in the college of bishops). Complementarians should take that out for a spin and see where it can realistically take them.

Principle 5 says that provision for the complementarian minority in England will be made “without specifying a limit of time”. Sadly, it does not say there will be no limit of time, only that it is not going to be specified up front — a loophole which perhaps enables those who seek to eradicate the conservative position from the Church altogether still technically to sign up. The Ministry Division declares that those enforcing these principles must be satisfied that people will live “contentedly” with the diversity referred to. We must pray that this is not used as a way of ultimately excluding those who are unhappy with the decision of Synod, or preventing them from sincerely living out their beliefs in practice within our Church. They must not be denied resources, vocations, preferment, or representation because of their minority status. Giving assent One does not have to read a document like this in a tightly legalistic way. In broad terms, it seems to ensure that no one will be “kicked out” over this issue (to again quote Archbishop Justin). Yet the wording is disappointingly slippery at times, encouraging different sides to read things their own way. And, strangely, it is being imposed seemingly as a new formulary of the faith, which gives it a quasi-legal status that demands attention to detail. Ministers are asked at ordination whether they assent to the doctrine of the Church of England, as contained in, eg The Thirty-nine Articles. Often this too comes as something of a surprise, since their training has never so much as mentioned those Articles, or has done so in a perfunctory way. Yet they are required to affirm publicly that those timehonoured formularies are their “inspiration and guidance” for ministry, so that their congregations can trust their teaching. We can only wish that more attention was paid to these far more significant first principles than to newer, less coherent statements. It is perfectly possible to assent to the new “guidance” as a whole with a clear conscience, with the understanding I have outlined here. Some can’t, but many who still regard women’s ordination to the priesthood as contrary to God’s Word written (Article XX) have done so. In essence that says, “I understand a messy accommodation has been achieved on this subject, and that I am still welcome here.” Vocations can still be encouraged. I do wonder, however, if a rather worrying precedent has been set by the form and enforcement of this somewhat confusing compromise. There is a need for caution and vigilance — this kind of “agree to disagree” solution will not and cannot work on the sexuality issue. Yet, the fact that all are now asked in some way to affirm the flourishing of complementarians as authentic Anglicans gives me cause for great optimism. Lee Gatiss is the Director of Church Society and editor of Confident & Equipped: Facing Today’s Challenges in the Church of England.

The challenges of consumerism By Bob Mayo The man of the future is the one with the longest memory. When I celebrate the liturgy on a Sunday morning I am talking with the weight of 2,000 years of history behind me and 2.1 billion Christians worldwide

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alongside. The Sunday by Sunday telling of the Christian story provides society with a sense both of perspective and possibility. It offers perspective because the Church’s telling of the Christian story offers a trenchant criticism of an impatient and unforgiving age. People are not

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comfortable with waiting. They want things to be done straight away. They want (as the Vodafone advert says) to make the most of now. Commuters on a train will grow quickly impatient with a delay, even when caused by someone throwing himself or herself onto the track. The Church’s telling of the story offers the key to a

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Friday April 2, 2015

By Jayne Ozanne Accepting Evangelicals Have you been caught up in it? For several weeks now hundreds of people have found themselves glued to their smartphones, iPads and computer screens to read the latest threads and posts on the “Good Disagreement” Facebook Discussion page set up by Accepting Evangelicals. Over 2,000 posts were made in the first two weeks before “Time Out” was called for prayer and reflection. It’s been controversial, revealing, painful and informative – all in equal measure. People’s honesty, openness, trust and vulnerability have been deeply moving. I for one am grateful for the courageous sharing that has occurred on one of the Church’s most sensitive and divisive of issues, that of sexuality and spirituality. One thing that this initiative has proved beyond doubt is that there is indeed a hunger for a safe space for conversation. I have to admit though - it’s not been easy, particularly as the moderator. The golden rule in my opinion is that no topic is off bounds, and no view too extreme – it’s the way that it is expressed that matters. Can someone say what they firmly believe (the “truth”) with enough pastoral insight and sensitivity (“grace”) to show that they are aware if their comments are likely to hurt or offend? Offence is by its very nature incredibly personal. We experience it in a variety of ways in varying degrees – normally due to our unique and complex personal histories. Trying to be a fair and unbiased judge in all this is often like having the sword of Damocles hanging overhead. It’s obviously much easier when you know that offence was intended, but that is rarely the case. The key thing that many in the group have learnt is that they need to try and see Christ in each other before jumping to the wrong conclusions. In order to

What’s the point of Good Disagreement? understand each other, we have had to try and put our prejudices and preconceptions to one side. Language is really important here as we all tend to ascribe different meanings to a wide range of words. The predisposition of many to use labels has also led to unhelpful stereotypes, which I have been at pains to avoid. But with patience, a little effort and much forgiveness it is possible to make some progress for all concerned. The one thing I quickly learnt was that we needed a mechanism for instigating “Time Out” when things got too heated. Just like a ‘Great British Tea Break’, we needed a way to encourage people to take a breath and protect themselves from getting too hurt or angry. Most of these topics are intensely personal, and go to core of our belief structure. It’s been fascinating to unpick the metanarratives that we as Christians hold, particularly amongst the evangelical tradition. The greatest challenge has been to try to ensure that our hurt and anger does not provide a stumbling block to the conversation. I therefore created a thread where people, of all views, could share the pain they carried. The stories were heart-rending –

but extraordinarily important to hear and acknowledge. Without doing so, there was always going to be an element of “Competition for Pain”. So what is the point of Good Disagreement? Is it possible? What is its purpose? I would suggest that the sole purpose of this initiative is to enable us all to understand each other more, and therefore learn how better to speak to each other with greater respect and love so that we too can be heard. The goal is not to try and change each other’s views – challenge perhaps, but this is not a place where people are going to suddenly realise their deeply cherished beliefs

Feature

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are wrong. “Success” for me looks quite different. Simply put, it is about someone being able to articulate, in a way that they were not able to do beforehand, why someone believes what they do and the implications that that belief has on other Christians and non-Christians around the world today. To do this properly requires that we find a way to move beyond our pain, and not allow it to stop us from journeying together. We need to find the courage and strength to engage with issues and topics that have enormous potential to wound and offend – it’s why the Church has avoided it for too long. It’s been cast aside into the “too difficult” box, where it’s been left for far too long to fester and eat away at our inner core – undermining our integrity and public standing as a Church. It is a really costly road for those who have the courage to walk it – and requires an abundance of grace, which I believe only God himself can provide. Why is it worth doing? Because I for one believe God wants us to find a way through this unholy mess, which has caused such deep division and heartache to all concerned. I believe that the only path is the way of the Cross, one that leads through the horror and pain of crucifixion to a promise of a glorious new life for us as a Church. It is the power of this resurrection that our Church so desperately needs to witness to the world around us, and one that we each need first to have experienced ourselves.

Continued from page 8 more patient and forgiving society by teaching people the art of remembering well. In our society there is no reason for holding on to information because in a Wikipedia age there is always more at hand. Forgetful of the past people lose confidence in the future and grab at what is happening now. The Israelites sat down and wept by the rivers of Babylon when they remembered Jerusalem (Psalm 137). They needed their memories of Jerusalem to provide them with a sense of identity and a critical perspective on their life in exile. Any society needs a sense of its historical and collective identity to be comfortable with itself. The Church provides a critical seed bed for the imagination out of which new ideas for the future can emerge. If things were so different in the past when God became man then they can be different in the future as the Holy Spirit takes

root in people’s lives and we await Christ’s return. Christianity offers a history with a future. The salvation story acted out week by week in the parish church transforms a sense for what is possible within society. People meet together in the name of Christ and because of this there is no need for vulnerable groups within society to be left exposed. The needs of old people

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lonely at home, young people immediately out of prison or servicemen just out of the army, for all of which there is a limited social provision, can be met through the phalanx of local churches that meet across the country. The Church’s remembering of its tradition disappears with the loss of the Sabbath (Ex 20:8). Telling the story requires that people keep the Sabbath day holy in order to provide

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time and space to do so (Exodus 20:8). Each religion has its own version of this central truth. For a Muslim Friday, for a Jew Saturday and for a Christian Sunday provides the special day of the week to call to mind their story of the faith. The Sabbath is the most ignored of the 10 commandments but is core business for the parish priest. The irony is that in making it so for others can make it the busiest day of all for me. I have responsibility for two churches and will run from one to the other in the middle of services so that I can spend as much time as I am able with each. Last Sunday I both baptised a child and gave last rites to a person in hospital. When the Sabbath is squeezed the story is lost and the Church becomes simply one among an array of choices for what people can do with their Sunday mornings. Brueggeman (1978) writes that the Church is so largely enculturated by consumerism that it has little power to believe or to act.

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I have begun to see a more extreme version even of this. A consumer-based society encourages social groupings around peers and interests. Choice is a state of mind and now people not only chose the church to which they want to belong but now also the service that suits them best. I relate to a number of families who are no longer come to church because their children play football on a Sunday morning. We will start a half-hour service for football and other sports children on a Saturday evening (17.1517.45pm). Children and their families will have come to church, be home in time for tea and able to play football on Sunday morning. Consumerism brooks no dissent and my motto is that if you can beat them then join them. The Rev Dr Bob Mayo is the Vicar of St Stephen and St Thomas, Shepherds Bush, with St Michael and St George, White City ([email protected] / @RevBobMayo / www,ststephensw12.org)

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Friday April 2, 2015

Janey Lee Grace Live Healthy! Live Happy!

Medication or meditation? Popping painkillers for pain is so ‘last year’, according to many articles. What’s new and exciting is using mindfulness techniques to calm pain and anxiety. In the new film Cake Jennifer Aniston highlights the dilemma of living with chronic pain after a car accident: she selfmedicates with painkillers and alcohol. Dr Abrahams, a consultant in anaesthesia and pain management, at the Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital and clinical director of the pain service at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, wrote a

fascinating article warning against taking more and more painkillers. He warns that many people experience minimal or no relief and that chronic pain can even be resistant to stronger drugs. Dr Abrahams recommends relaxation techniques and mindfulness, a growing movement based on the ancient Eastern traditions of meditation. It can be as simple as taking a few deep breaths, imagining your muscles relaxing and visualising the pain leaving your body. A study of patients on a 10week mindfulness programme showed significant improvements and reduced reliance on medication. ‘The Mindful Nurse’ Nikki Harman is a general nurse in Dorset who teaches mindfulness techniques to help patients manage their pain and has found it has considerably reduced their pain score and

subsequent medication. She doesn’t advise completely swapping medication for meditation, but she does find that in the ward environment, spending five minutes teaching some simple mindfulness work with a patient who is not due pain relief, according to their drug charts, can ease their pain and help with anxiety. Nikki also runs introductory mindfulness sessions for staff. The NHS, as we all know, is in a critical period, with a possible £2.5bn deficit looming over the nation’s health service. She is passionate about what mindfulness can do to help patients and staff, and how it can help improve the service at national and local level. She believes that the all-party parliamentary group on well-being economics recognise a need to train doctors (and teachers) in mindfulness. But it needs proper investment, it needs to be done carefully, considerately, and with the patient and staff’s best interests at heart. Staff need support to deal with the workload and manage their own stress in the workplace. Mental health and mindfulness is the tip of the iceberg to embed new hope into NHS culture. Nikki Harman, The Mindful Nurse, offers mindfulness courses in Dorset www.innerspaceproject.com

Judas a scapegoat?

Royal relics More people turned out to see the procession of Richard III’s remains through Leicester than were present when the Queen visited the city for her jubilee in 2012, and 200,000 viewed his coffin. No doubt the imagination of many had been gripped by the way archaeologists had found the king’s skeleton under a car park but some saw other factors at work. While Anglican and Catholic clergy combined to give dignity to Richard’s reinterment there were dissenting voices. One retired priest bravely told the Leicester Mercury, he thought the ‘Richard III circus totally absurd’. Claiming £500,000 had been contributed from diocesan sources, the Rev David H Clark argued that the Church had wasted a great deal of time and money on an event he found ‘faintly idolatrous as if Monarch’s Bone Worship had come into fashion’. Clark wasn’t the only person to talk of ‘bone worship’. Some commentators drew parallels with the medieval cult of relics and wondered if royal relics are now given the veneration once accorded to relics of saints. Questions were asked about why the remains of Richard III have been placed in a tomb in Leicester Cathedral but the remains of sailors from the Mary Rose are on display in a museum in Portsmouth. There were complaints dead kings get special treatment but it seems there is an agreement between the C of E and English Heritage that all remains should be reburied unless there is good reason to retain them. While Polly Toynbee labelled Richard a ‘child-murdering monster’ Nick Baines saw his reburial as an invitation to us to be as merciful to him as we would like history to be to us.

Ecumenism and women bishops

It’s not only Richard III who is up for re-assessment. Peter Stanford is encouraging a fresh look at Judas, suggesting that throughout history he has been turned into a scapegoat and monster of evil while the original figure may have been more complicated. Stanford gave an amusing speech at the launch of his book at Church House Bookshop, revealing that a BBC receptionist phoned through to tell the studios ‘We’ve got Judas here’ when he turned up for The Big Question. Apparently it still rankles Bob Dylan that he was called Judas (‘the most hated name in history’) back in 1965 when he switched from an acoustic to an electric guitar. Stanford, a well-known journalist and commentator on Catholic affairs, has also written a biography of the devil. His new book is published by Hodder and has arrived in time for full media exposure during holy week and Easter. Following The Big Question, it was given attention by Start the Week, Clare Balding on Radio 2, The Times and The Telegraph. Under CEO Jamie HodderWilliams (a descendent of the firm’s evangelical founder), Hodder have returned to the forefront of religious publishing. Stanford may not have been too thrilled by a review of his book by Rowan Williams in the New Statesman. The former archbishop, normally kind and even over generous as a reviewer, put his finger on some howlers (Thomas Aquinas is described as a ‘Franciscan theologian’) and criticised the ‘relentlessly breezy and colloquial journalese that occasionally grates when the subject matter is as serious as this’. Williams suggested issues of tragedy and God’s responsibility for evil, famously raised by Donald Mackinnon who questioned whether our salvation was achieved at the expense of Judas’ damnation, were not really addressed by Stanford.

There will be considerable interest to see if the boycott of Libby Lane’s consecration by the Roman Catholic Church will be repeated in the case of Rachel Treweek and Alison White. At least in the case of Alison White the betting is that it will not. Alison is married to Frank White, Assistant Bishop of Newcastle, who grew up as a Catholic on Tyneside attending St Cuthbert’s Secondary School. His brother, Fr Mark White, is a member of the Passionist order and preached at Frank’s consecration in Southwark Cathedral when he was the first member of a Catholic religious order to preach in the Cathedral since the Reformation. It is not common for Roman Catholics to preach at the ordination of an Anglican bishop although by coincidence a Catholic priest preached at the episcopal ordination of White’s predecessor as Assistant Bishop of Newcastle but that service took place in Papua New Guinea. Fr Mark is likely to be at Alison’s consecration although probably not as the preacher. The Whites, who will be the first married couple to be both bishops, currently live in Riding Mill in the Tyne Valley, an idyllic parish reputed to be home to over 20 millionaires. They will be moving to Hull, once voted the worst place to live in the UK and described as the ‘most crap city in England’ although now on the way up and named 2017 City of Culture. Sam Jordison, who listed Hull in his original book of crap towns, has recently described the city as ‘improved’. Those who know Alison from Springboard and her work in Durham and Newcastle say she will be a plus for both the city and the church in Hull.

Top thinker?

The

Whispering

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Prospect has attracted widespread derision for its list of ‘World Thinkers’. Although French economist Thomas Piketty came first, Russell Brand was voted number four by readers, ahead of Paul Krugman, Jurgen Habermas and John Gray. No one who had seen the list of the 50 from which the top 10 were selected could have been surprised at the absence of a religious thinker (although Gray does have a lot of interesting things to say about religion). The only theologian on the top 50 list was Reza Aslan whose mediocre book about Jesus, Zealot, shot up the best seller lists after it was attacked on Fox News. The most impressive religious thinker to make the top 50 was Marilynne Robinson who got special mention for Absence of Mind, her defence of religion against the New Atheists. Muslim feminist Mona Heltahawy, author of the forthcoming book Headscarves and Hymens, also made the list. The moral of all this? You can conclude either that Prospect readers are ill-informed or prejudiced. Both conclusions could be correct.

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Can a broken ANDREW Communion be fixed? CAREY View from the Pew called because it is a virtual certainty that large numbers will absent themselves. In April the so-called GAFCON Primates are to meet in London (13-17 April). Hopefully, it will become clearer what this movement is in the Anglican Communion and how many Anglican provinces and nationalities play a part in it. The question that GAFCON leaders must answer is whether their movement is intended to replace the Anglican Communion or supplement it. Does the Archbishop of Canterbury have a role to play in the GAFCON movement or are they firmly closing the chapter on historic Anglicanism in favour of something that has fewer colonial associations? I believe it is now time for GAFCON to clearly spell out its vision for the Anglican future and the extent of the partnership and fellowship it seeks with western provinces of Anglicanism. If we admit that the Communion is irrevocably broken, can it now be fixed?

The phoney war is over Justin Welby is to be admired for his great efforts to meet all of the Anglican Communion’s primates in his frenetic first two years in the job. The fractious and fragmenting Anglican Communion has afforded him no honeymoon at all in his massive job. Since 2003 and the consecration of Gene Robinson the Anglican Communion has been broken as tectonic plates have shifted in post-colonial Christianity. Even before 2003 there were signs of increasing fracture. The controversial debate on human sexuality at the1998 Lambeth Conference was driven for the first time by significant African leaders finding their voice. And the immediate backdrop was the withering contempt and disdain which the uber-liberal John Spong had for voices from Africa on

the issue of homosexuality. In the run-up to the conference he said in an interview with me, published in this newspaper, that African opposition to homosexuality should be discounted because they were one step from animism. This idea of African primitivism provoked a hurt and bewildered reaction. One other liberal claimed that the African Bishops were being influenced and bought by ‘chicken dinners’ in the Franciscan Study Centre on the Canterbury University campus. We have chicken in Africa, responded one of the leaders of the global south revolt, the Archbishop of Rwanda, Emmanuel Kolini. He explained that his country had recently experienced a horrific catas-

LIZHOARE

trophe due to the capitulation of the church to culture. He was driven, he said, by a desire to rescue American, and indeed British Christianity, from non-Christian cultural values. Archbishop Kolini was one of the first Archbishops to consecrate breakaway bishops in the United States and create non-geographic jurisdictions across the Anglican Communion in the form of the Anglican Mission in America. All of this has led to a very profound split in the United States. But this is not just about America, it is now clear that the office of Canterbury is no longer the force it once was in world Anglicanism. Primates’ meetings are no longer called, and it is possible that the next Lambeth Conference of bishops will never be

The phoney war is over and with Holy Week has come the official start of the General Election campaign. The depressing thing so far is the extent to which parties are failing to spell out detailed plans for spending and cuts in favour of vague promises and warnings. They are scared of detail precisely because they fear reaction from polls and public opinion surveys. And this constant reference to opinion surveys, and focus groups, is a large part of what causes widespread disillusionment with politics. I would love the leaders of the main political parties to be authentic, honest and open with the British public. It is working for the smaller parties like UKIP and the Greens, so why can’t it work for Labour and the Conservatives? Then we might have something to choose from when we cast our votes next month.

thespiritualdirector By the Rev Dr Liz Hoare

‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice,’ Phil 4:4 Richard Foster entitled his book on the spiritual disciplines: The celebration of discipline, clearly intending that people made a strong link between joy and effort. The best recipe that enables a spirit of celebration to embed itself within our hearts is learning to trust and obey God in all things. As we learn to trust we stop being so anxious about life because we are learning to rely on God instead of our own devices or the changes and chances of this world as the collect puts it. Obedience is also foundational to celebration and we looked at that spiritual discipline last week. Often it is the little things that give us deep-felt joy: the smile of a child, someone saying thank you, a meal that turns into a spontaneous celebration. Such things orientate us towards praise and thanksgiving

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to God for his blessings. Seeing celebration as a vital spiritual discipline that encourages us to ‘make a joyful noise to the Lord’ is furthermore a reminder that the spiritual disciplines are not only about silence and solitude. Joy and celebration are not things we can switch on and off at will, though we do have to work at them otherwise we will find ourselves sounding hollow when we sing songs of praise that bear no reality in our daily living. The real test comes when life is hard, but there are wonderful words of encouragement in the book of Habbakuk to help us here: ‘Though the fig tree does not blossom and no fruit is on the vine; though the produce of the olive fails and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation,’ (Hab 3:17,18). These are not words to trip off the tongue, nor are

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they saying that we should pretend to be happy when we don’t feel like it. It is the perspective that makes all the difference. Celebration brings joy and joy makes us strong: ‘The joy of the Lord is our strength,’ (Neh 8:10). The whole point of the spiritual disciplines is to make us able to walk the Christian way faithfully and consistently so that we are transformed inwardly. Joy is the result of practising the spiritual disciplines. This week is Holy Week, a week that focuses on the Passion of the Lord Jesus as he walked the way of the cross for us. It is filled with pain and suffering, yet we know that Jesus himself ‘for the sake of the joy that was set before him, endured the cross.’ Deliberately seeking to cultivate a spirit of celebration may seem strange, but there are so many ‘occasions for an Allelujah’ if we have eyes to see (the title of a book by David Adam.) Above all rejoicing in the God who rejoices over us (Zeph 3:17) is characteristic of Easter people.

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The Mission to Seafarers Port Chaplain – Singapore Vacancy in The See of Leicester Following the announcement of the retirement of Rt Revd Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester, the See will fall vacant on 11 July 2015. The main meeting of the Vacancy in See Commitee will be held on 20 May 2015. The Crown Nominations Commission will meet on 11 September and 8-9 October 2015. Any person wishing to comment on the needs of the diocese or the wider church, or who wishes to propose candidates, should write before the 26 May 2015 to: Caroline Boddington Archbishops’ Secretary Appointments The Wash House Lambeth Palace London SE1 7JU

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