Displaying items by tag: Religion

The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, wrote in the Yorkshire Post, ‘It is five years since Universal Credit was launched to simplify the UK welfare system. Had everything gone to plan, it would have been up and running across the country by now. Instead, the policy remains a source of ongoing controversy. As a follower of Jesus Christ, my greatest concern is how this policy affects the poorest members of our community. In the Bible, we are called to uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. It is right that we look at the impact which Universal Credit, in its current form, is having on our poorest neighbours. We must listen to them, pay heed to what they are telling us, and add our voices to theirs in pointing out where improvements might be made. For it is the person who wears the shoe who knows where it is pinching.’

A CofE working party has drafted ‘A Covenant for Clergy Care and Wellbeing’, and are inviting people to comment on it. The 'Big Conversation' about clergy care will aim to prevent burnout in church leaders, who are always ‘on duty’ in a job that could never be 9 to 5. The draft document sets out some ways of changing the culture of the Church to enable the care and wellbeing of its clergy to be more fully addressed.

There will be a prayer meeting on 6 October in West Ham overlooking the site of a radical Islamic group’s proposed ‘mega-mosque’. Three years ago the Government refused the appeal of the Anjuman-e-islahul-Muslimeen Trust against Newham Council’s decision not to grant them planning permission for the development, which would be the largest place of worship in Britain. Legally, Newham could now send in the bulldozers. But this decision will be taken by new mayor Rokhsana Fiaz, whose election promise to ‘tax the value of development land to help our housing programme’ could impact the trustees of the site. An option open to the trust is a new planning application for mixed use, not for using the site as a place of worship, but instead they are going to the European Court of Human Rights to try to keep alive their dream.

A church in Bristol, closed after it suffered bomb damage during the Second World War, will be reopened with a vision of making Jesus known to the city's young adults and vulnerable people. Rev Toby Flint, formerly a lead pastor at Holy Trinity Brompton in London, is going to lead St Nicholas on Baldwin Street. He said, ‘We're really excited to have been invited to reopen and restore the church to its original purpose, demonstrating the love of God. We want to build on the deep foundations of faith in the city, to reimagine church for a new generation, and play our part in meeting the needs of the most disadvantaged in Bristol.’ The setting for two major universities, Bristol has experienced an influx of students and young professionals in recent years. It is estimated that 60% of people living in the city centre are aged between 15 and 29.

GEM UK is part of a global mission, focused on reaching Europe by multiplying disciples and growing Christ’s Church. They mobilise missionaries from the UK to serve as a catalyst throughout Europe (including the UK) to assist churches in their local vision in planting new communities, encouraging a culture of discipleship multiplication and resourcing them with the many skills their missionaries bring. Their heart is to see cities transformed by Christ and churches working together. GEM currently serves in 25 countries across Europe. In 2019 GEM Global will celebrate 70 years as a mission. A predominately non-Christian Welsh community use the phrase ‘Iaith y Nefoedd’ as a joke. It means 'everyone will speak Welsh in heaven.' The exact translation is 'the language of heaven.' Today GEM reaches the many forgotten Welsh people still using the Welsh language. See also the UK article ‘The Welsh language’.

A youth prayer movement is springing up in the nations, and South Africa’s ‘Uprising’ event (4 to 6 October) is about to ignite the spiritual atmosphere over South Africa. Their website states, ‘We, the youth, are saying that we are uniting in prayer, rising as a body of young people, forming a revival wave, taking a stand, marching to the gates of Hell to give the devil back his surname and take our identity back. Black or white, every tribe, we are putting our differences aside and praying non-stop with every young person across South Africa, Africa and around the world, because where there is united prayer (Psalm 133:1-3) God is present, and where God is, there is hope, love, transformation and honour.’ We can ask God to protect all delegates travelling to the event, and for the strength and stamina of organisers and speakers. Pray for consistent electricity and internet supplies into the venue to enable clear, far-reaching teaching and fluid unbroken worship.

On 13 September 2018 the House of Lords debated a motion from Lord Popat, ‘to ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking to reassure the Jewish community over the impact of anti-Semitism in the United Kingdom.’ David Urquhart, the Bishop of Birmingham, said, ‘There is a need for constant vigilance to ensure that anti-Semitism plays no part in the life of our country’. A further report on the theology of Christian-Jewish relations is in preparation, led by the Bishop of Lichfield.

Christian Unions (CUs) are groups within schools for young people to explore Christianity and develop their faith, usually meeting during a lunchtime. They are typically student-led, sometimes with teachers present, and every group is different. We can pray that this year’s CUs are powerfully outward-looking to their non-Christian friends. May many Youth Alphas be used in the CU meetings. Being a young person who wants to follow Jesus in 2018 is not easy. It is difficult just to survive in their faith through the years of change in their teens. Reaching friends for Jesus takes a serious amount of courage and character. Pray for more parents, church leaders, and youth workers to stand with these teenagers in a show of support and encouragement as they work towards transformation in their school.

St Andrew’s Day is 30 November and it will also be a day of prayer for Scotland, with many churches in different parts of the country hosting a variety of prayer events. May God bless Scotland and help every individual to show gratitude for what has been good in the past, goodwill in the present, and hope with determination for the days ahead. May Scotland follow Andrew’s footsteps, just as he followed his Lord, Jesus Christ.

Please pray for a man recently rescued from bonded labour slavery who is living with special needs. The International Justice Mission freed him and 13 others from a ginger farm. He is deaf and living with a developmental disability. He does not know traditional sign language, so Christians are working with specialists to communicate with him and serve him in their aftercare programme. Pray that they can help this man get all the care and comfort he needs, and for him to return safely home as soon as possible. Last week we asked God to encourage, protect and continue to grow His Chinese Church after hearing of crosses being removed from buildings. This week Prayercast reported, ‘Beijing's biggest house church was forced to shut down for refusing governmental surveillance.’ and ‘Many are calling this China's worst persecution since Mao’. Thousands of house churches have been shut down and Christians are detained.