Displaying items by tag: church

England’s church leaders welcomed permission for communal worship under new lockdown. Pray that God will help congregations to take care, and for His shield of protection and wisdom to be around the vulnerable. Cardinal Vincent Nichols said, ‘The regular practice of our faith in God is a well-established source of personal resilience and dedicated service to those in need - vital in these difficult times. I am glad no measures have been introduced to obstruct or curtail this essential source of energy for the common good.’ Pray for God’s blessings to pour over all serving the needs of local communities. Meanwhile in Scotland all places of worship will be banned from hosting physical gatherings throughout January. The only in-person services allowed are weddings, limited to five people, and funerals, where 20 will be allowed. The Bishop of London, who chairs the CofE's Covid recovery group, said the new measures ‘underline the severity of the situation for the country’.

Four men have pleaded guilty to drug offences after selling cocaine from a property owned by the Diocese of Exeter. In May the group was arrested in Ide, near Exeter, after police discovered 2kg of the Class A drug in nearby woods. The street value of the drugs stash was estimated to be around £200,000. Police also recovered approximately £30,000 in cash. Three of the men admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine at Exeter Crown Court last week, and the fourth admitted to a charge of conspiracy to transfer criminal property, which relates to cash seized from his car. The sentencing will be given on 27 November.

Steve Chalke has urged the Government to reverse its decision not to extend the free school meals over the holidays until at least Easter. ‘If we believe that we have to provide these children with free school meals, because otherwise they lack the nutrition to be able to grow and thrive and study and succeed during school term times; do we imagine that they can exist on thin air through the six weeks of the summer, or the weeks of Christmas, Easter and half terms? We need to provide a steady ongoing care.’ Currently businesses, local authorities, and community groups have set up to provide thousands of free meals for children in need.

A group of black leaders from across the country, representing many denominations or none and pulled together by the Baptist Union president, have looked at ways of showing solidarity against the real injustices experienced by people of colour in our communities. Petitioning the government is one of those ways. They are encouraging people to sign a parliamentary petition calling for the government to implement recommendations previously raised to tackle the issue. They aim to attract 100,000 signatures so that the petition can be debated in parliament.

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Church of Ireland, the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Irish Council of Churches, and the Roman Catholic Church have insisted it is in everyone’s interests to achieve the clarity and security a Brexit agreement will provide. They have also reaffirmed their commitment to protect the 1998 Good Friday Agreement - which established a new era of non-violence in Northern Ireland following 30 years of brutal sectarian conflict. The group stated, ‘We do not underestimate the challenges faced by the negotiating parties in terms of the complexity and the significance of what is at stake. As church leaders on the island of Ireland, we have welcomed the important commitment of both parties in the negotiations to the protection of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement in all its parts. We hope that the agreement will serve as a source of inspiration and a foundation to build upon, as we continue to work through the Brexit process.’

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Durham have asked the Government to expand free school meals over school holidays as more families face hardship due to the pandemic. They said free school meals should be available to all children in families on universal credit and that the scheme should cover holidays. They also want funding to help schools that are supporting poorer families through services like breakfast clubs. They said, ‘All schools must have the appropriate resources to be able to address issues of child hunger and poverty and expand their role as places of security for children who are at risk, whilst maintaining safety at school. Outdoor play, exercise and access to nature are vital to healthy learning. Helping schools ensure outside activities continue will aid mental as well as physical health.’

The Philippines have a Christian majority, with a population of over 100 million. 8-10 million Filipinos live abroad, working as nurses, engineers, domestic servants, nannies, casual labourers and sailors. Many are enthusiastic and effective witnesses for Christ, often in countries where Christianity is most restricted or persecuted. Some have suffered greatly for their faith. The Philippines struggle against poverty, injustice, corruption, poor infrastructure, unreformed land laws, tropical storms, and heavy-handed government. A rampant drug trade has evoked the murder of thousands, with victims rarely those responsible for drug trading. The government’s ‘war on drugs’ looks like a war on slum-dwellers - where most victims come from. The Church includes vibrant and charismatic grassroots movements devotedly following Jesus and moving in the Spirit. Their problems are those associated with rapid growth: splits, false teachings, personality cults, and widespread poverty. Pray for continued growth of Christian ministries among the urban poor.

Dr Martin Luther King Jr said we must live together as brothers or perish together as fools. His niece Dr Alveda King said, ‘We're fighting over trying to reconcile separate races when we are only one race - the human race.’ Bishop Harry Jackson said, ‘We're seeing a readiness to respond to race across racial boundaries. But what's missing is in Galatians 3:26; we say there's neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither bond nor free. These distinctions can be solved by coming together in Christ.’ We can pray for Christians to lead the way with answers to the ills of society. We have the Bible and the Holy Spirit to guide us. The church must find answers and right any wrongs that exist and then boldly become part of the national discussion on race relations in America. Bishop Williams added, ‘When someone needs blood, they don’t ask if it was black blood, white blood or Jewish blood; they need blood.’

A URC church in Staffordshire, a Grade 2 listed building from 1820 next door to a primary school, had not been used as a place of worship for over twenty years. Then 400 cannabis plants were found growing inside. A police raid at the end of July uncovered the drugs, and a man has appeared in court. This is the second recent finding of a cannabis farm in an unused church as local communities are being overrun by illegal drugs. Fears of gang violence and muggings keep frightened residents at home. Open dealing on the street stirs parents’ fears for their children. Pray for God to help citizens and community groups to recognise the roles they can play helping authorities eradicate the problem. Pray also for addicts to receive support and help to find a path away from substance abuse.

Some churches have faced the lockdown challenge by simply meeting the needs of their existing congregations. This could be a missed opportunity to discover what it might look like to ‘go and make disciples’ in the 21st century and beyond. Let us not forget that many revivals started outside the church and were later embraced by the church. This pandemic has introduced the many of the older generation to Skype, FaceTime and Zoom, which has helped those who live alone at home or in care to feel less isolated. The church in this new season still has a fundamental Christian mission to build relationships, to worship together, pray together and serve together. Each church must seek God to discover what He is asking of them. God is giving His church an opportunity electronically to ‘throw out a new net - where there are many fish’, and we can give thanks for the increase in online views of church services during lockdown.