A special church service with a focus on poverty will be taking place at the start of the Labour Party's annual conference. Joel Edwards, leader of the Micah Challenge anti-poverty movement, will challenge Labour MPs and conference delegates to commit to ending poverty. The Christian movement is mobilising the church worldwide to hold governments accountable to the Millennium Development Goals to eradicate extreme poverty by 2015. Edwards will tell the Labour Conference delegates about The Jesus Agenda, which examines Jesus' mission statement and calls upon Christians to become advocates of the poor and vulnerable. The service takes place at St Ann's Church, Manchester, on 30 September and is being organised by the Christian Socialist Movement. It is a traditional and well-attended gathering point for Christians from all around the country to be a prophetic voice and pray for the Labour Party.
Pray: that the message that Joel will bring will be heard and accepted widely by the delegates. (1Cor.1:18)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/joel.edwards.to.challenge.labour.party.on.poverty/30669.htm
Jesus-themed Easter eggs
24 Feb 2011
Launched by the Church of England, The Real Easter Egg, a milk chocolate egg to celebrate the real meaning of Easter, is said to be the first and only Fairtrade egg to mention Jesus on the box. Telling consumers that Easter is not all about cute bunnies, fluffy chicks, and eating too much chocolate. The packaging reveals the true message that Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday, then rose again three days later on Easter Sunday. Many believe that chocolate eggs represent the boulder that sealed Jesus’ tomb and with eggs being widely thought of as a symbol of hope and new life, the custom grew where people exchanged gifts of chocolate eggs at Easter. Each sale made will benefit two charities, Baby Lifeline and Traidcraft Exchange, with proceeds going to purchase everything from medical equipment for new mothers in the UK to chickens for small-scale farmers in Africa. Pray: that this initiative will prove popular and will be a successful outreach opportunity. (Ac.5:20) More: http://www.christianpost.com/news/jesus-themed-easter-eggs-fill-supermarket-shelves-in-uk-49062/
Comedienne Jennifer Saunders says she does not like the sexualisation of pop music and is concerned about the effect of online pornography on boys. The actress, who is married with grown up daughters, criticised the sexual content of music videos, saying: ‘I don’t think it helps society’. Miss Saunders also commented that the proliferation of pornography on the internet is fuelling a wrong attitude towards women. She told Stylist magazine, in response to a question on pop’s sexualisation: ‘I don’t like it. I find the whole R’n’B sexual videos stuff really annoying.’ She said: ‘I think they are having to re-educate boys on how to treat women in schools, because of the internet and the amount of porn they see. I think that’s a shame.’ Last month a leading head teacher said the ‘liberal dogma of the past’ has left us with the ‘moral abyss of the present’, as she hit out at the sexualisation of children.
Pray: that more people at all levels of our society would speak out against our falling moral standards. (Jas.1:21-22)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/jennifer-saunders-criticises-sexualisation-of-pop-music/
Jealousies ‘ruining’ Welsh nonconformism
11 Sep 2010
The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Wales made a desperate plea on 7 September to nonconformist Christians in Wales. Addressing the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Wales in Lampeter, Rev Gwenda Richards said that selfishness has resulted in jealousy and strife among Welsh Christians and churches. ‘The great tragedy of Nonconformism in Wales is the unhealthy competitive approach that has thrived between denominations, between churches and even between members. Since the beginning of last century we’ve lived off competition – and I daresay that jealousy and stubbornness arising out of competition will be the death of us. Nonconformists need to find their unity in God.’ The Presbyterian Church of Wales has around 30,000 members in more than 700 churches. Its General Assembly is currently meeting at Trinity Saint David University, Lampeter. Pray: that a united vision may be granted to the Church in Wales. (Ge.11:9)
ITV: One hour of religion this year
28 Jun 2010
ITV will broadcast just one hour of religious programming this year while Five will not show any, the channels have admitted to the Church of England. Adding to fears that Britain’s commercial television stations no longer see the value of traditional shows about faith, Channel 4 has scrapped the post of Commissioning Editor for Religion. The channels say audiences are no longer interested in programmes solely about religion, so they cannot afford to continue making them. It leaves the BBC as the main provider of religious documentaries and acts of worship on television whose public service licence requires BBC1 and BBC2 to broadcast 110 hours a year. However, BBC’s coverage of spiritual matters has been criticised by senior clergy who says it risks treating Christianity like a ‘rare species’. ITV and Channel 5 both cite economic pressures to target larger audiences as the reason to cut religious broadcasting that attracts smaller audiences. Pray: for ITV management to rethink their schedules and retain some religious broadcasting. (Gen.4:7)
It could take an up’ to the scale of changes it needs to make, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales warned last Sunday. The Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, likened profit-obsessed business chiefs to staff at the scandal-hit Mid Staffordshire hospitals trust who lost sight of basic morality because of an obsession with money. He will told an audience in the City that new regulations would not be enough to bring about real change in the wake of the banking crisis, and could itself become simply a ‘lazy proxy’ for moral values. He said working in the City is a noble vocation, capable of doing real good for society but that the pursuit of short term profit has been allowed to become the sole purpose of business, creating a moral vacuum.
Pray: for the financial sector in the City to develop a greater sense of morality and a clearer purpose to serve society. (Lk.12:15)
A talk on sharia and human rights at Queen Mary University, London was cancelled because an Islamist made serious threats against everyone there. Ms Waters was due to give a talk on behalf of the One Law for All Campaign on 16 January but before it started a man entered the lecture theatre, stood at the front with a camera and filmed the audience. He then said he knew who everyone was, where they lived and if he heard anything negative about the Prophet, he would track them down. He also filmed students in the foyer threatening to murder them and their families then joined a large group of men supporters outside. Students were told by security to stay in the lecture theatre for their own safety. The police were contacted about the incident.
Pray: against a religious/political ideology that puts a Christian British way of life in danger. (Ps.33:18)
Radical Islamist leaders have preached to students at almost 200 official university events in Britain over the past year, a study by anti-extremist group Student Rights has revealed. The study found that talks were given by speakers with a ‘history of extreme or intolerant views’ at a total of 60 institutions, including Cambridge and University College London (UCL), in the year to March 2013. At least a quarter of the events – held by Islamic societies at 21 universities – had segregated seating for male and female students. Some of the lecturers have been known to advocate jihad against non-Muslims, gaining their inspiration from radicals such as Abu Qatada, Anwar al-Awlaki and Abu Hamza al-Masri. One speaker, Hamza Tzortzis, was formerly a member of radical group Hizb ut-Tahrir, and has previously been reported as saying: ‘We as Muslims reject the idea of freedom of speech, and even the idea of freedom.’
Pray: that the extreme views shared by the radicals will not be found acceptable by the students but the freedom in Christ will prevail. (Gal.5:1)