Broadcasting a Back to Church welcome
11 Sep 2010
The Church of England is advertising Back to Church Sunday 2010, September 26, on the radio stations Classic FM and Heart FM, to deliver a message of welcome into the homes of 1.3 million people. The adverts will support 400,000 personal invitations that members of over 4,000 churches will send to their friends, when the friend-inviting-a-friend initiative enters its seventh successive year of allowing people to rediscover and explore churchgoing with a very warm welcome. The Bishop of Worcester, the Rt Rev Dr John Inge, whose diocese is one of those investing in the advertising, said: ‘We’ve chosen these two stations as they get to places we can’t and talk to some of those we’ve lost touch with via the unique relationship people have with radio. Some three million people said they would go back to church if invited - and the adverts are helping us give the people we’re missing that warm invitation.’ Pray: for those who receive or hear this invitation that they will be greatly encouraged to return to church. (Isa.44:22)
Many people are unaware that a number of everyday phrases come from the King James Version of the Bible, instead attributing them to pop stars, politicians or Shakespeare. In a poll for the Bible Society less than a fifth of people correctly said the phrase ‘The writing on the wall’ comes from the KJV. Over 10 per cent thought ‘a drop in the bucket’ came from Tony Blair, and 14 per cent attributed it to Shakespeare. In fact Isaiah 40:15 is where it originates. Luke Walton, from the Bible Society, said: ‘It’s clear that people’s knowledge of the Bible is limited and they just don’t realise how significant and wide-ranging its influence has been.’ He added: ‘Making a connection with the text helps us both to appreciate its role in our own culture, history and politics, and that it can enrich our lives personally. The Bible remains the world’s best seller and we can’t afford to exclude it from public life.’
Pray: for a wider recognition of the importance of the Bible in the life of our nation. (Mk.12:24)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/brits-clueless-that-common-phrases-come-from-the-bible
Britons pay for Indian surrogate mothers
01 Jun 2012The commercialization of wombs is increasing day by day in our society. Commercial surrogacy is illegal in Britain but many Britons are paying Indians to become surrogate mothers for them. This growing trend in India not only disregards the social systems in the country but also raises many ethical questions. The birth to surrogate mothers in India last year is likely to be 2,000. Experts agree that the prime single source of the majority of these births is from Britons. There are almost 1,000 unregulated clinics in India, most of them specializing in helping Britons to become parents. Indian surrogate industry has been utilized widely by Britons who don’t wish to bear and deliver children. Only around 100 births are recorded in Britain while almost 1,000 births are recorded through surrogate mothers in India for British couples. Surrogacy Centre India reported, ‘Gay people are desperate to have a family.’ The investigation conducted by last week’s Sunday Telegraph highlights a rapidly growing business.
Pray: that the ‘wombs-to-rent’ culture and all its medical hazards among third world countries would be carefully regulated. (Job 5:16)
More: http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=052812110304
The British Youth Parliament has rejected campaigning for same-sex marriage, after it came bottom in a vote of priorities for 2013. The issue received just 22 votes, whereas the most popular campaign, a curriculum to prepare young people for real life, got 154 votes. Each year, 11 to 18-year-olds from each part of the UK debate priorities for the coming year in a special session in the House of Commons. George Poole, an 18-year-old openly homosexual MYP (Member of the Youth Parliament) for Cornwall, said that whilst same-sex marriage is an issue “close to home” for him, he needed to “think of the young people who won’t benefit from this policy”. And Jack Lewis, a 15-year-old MYP for Richmond-Upon-Thames, said there are more important issues to be campaigning about, such as youth unemployment. Many have argued that the Government is prioritising same-sex marriage when issues such as the economy are more pressing.
Pray: for the government to note the result of this vote along with the views of so many groups calling for current proposals to be dropped. (Pr.16:9)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/british-youth-parliament-rejects-campaigning-for-gay-marriage/
British Soldiers returning from Afghanistan
25 Nov 2011More and more soldiers are returning from Afghanistan suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Many are not coping and are drinking heavily, in some cases leading to violence and wife-beating. Many have suicidal thoughts. This
is becoming a big problem and is affecting Christian families as well as non-Christians. Marriages are suffering and the children are distressed and need protection from witnessing the ugliness of the situation. Combat Stress, the veterans’ mental health charity, said that based on the MoD figures it would mean that 51,000 veterans were likely to show symptoms of mental health problems because of their service in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is a need for the government to recognise this problem and bring in compulsory post operation counselling for all soldiers.
Pray: that the Lord will heal memories and restore these service men and women. Please pray for the families and the healing of relationships. (Jer.8:15)
According to available published official figures from the Defence Analytical Services Agency the UK has 173,020 regular trained and serving personnel in the Armed Forces. The total number of personnel serving on permanent postings abroad is approximately 23,570. At this Christmas season we are asked to remember the men and women away from their family and
homes. Their work doesn’t finish on Christmas Eve and their routine will continue as normal, even on Christmas Day. Please pray for a peaceful and quiet time for those deployed - for opportunities to attend Church and to be able to reflect on Christ this Christmas and for good communications home to loved ones. Pray also for the Military Chaplains who provide spiritual leadership, moral guidance and pastoral support irrespective of religion or belief, in order to meet their needs, over the Christmas season.
Pray: for those service families celebrating Christmas alone and for children missing their deployed mum or dad. (Lk.2:14)
More: http://www.militarychristians.org.uk/
A growing number of British schools are dropping traditional Christian assemblies in favour of multi-faith meetings and ‘moments of reflection’. More than 140 primary and secondary schools across Britain have won the right to opt out of the legal requirement to provide a daily act of worship which is ‘broadly Christian’ in character. (See also: http://www.christianpost.com/article/20101204/wrong-to-exclude-god-from-classroomsays-u-kthink-tank/) Some schools have adopted Islamic assemblies. The highest number of opt-outs from traditional assemblies is in Bradford where 47 schools have decided to introduce ‘new-style’ assemblies. Rt Rev Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali reminds us that: ‘The Judaeo-Christian tradition provides the connecting link to our island story. Without that tradition, it is impossible to understand the language, the literature, the art or even the science of our civilisation. It provides the grand themes of virtue and vice, atonement and repentance, resurrection and immortality. It undergirds and safeguards our constitutional and legal tradition’.
Pray: that the Gospel message will continue to be taught to our schoolchildren and sustain our shared heritage. (Mk.16:15)
British military restructuring
11 Jul 2013Several military barracks are to close and more than 30,000 soldiers relocated to new bases across the UK as part of a restructuring of the army. The moves are part of the wholesale re-organisation and shrinking of the army as almost 16,000 soldiers return from Germany over the next six years and thousands more are pulled out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014. The army will restructure around seven regional hubs in the UK.
Pray: for wisdom for those involved in the shaping of Britain's armed forces over the coming decades. Pray for those civilian as well as military staff affected in these changes; some facing relocation of job, home and schools and others redundancy. (Pro.3:13)
More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/mar/05/seven-military-barracks-army-restructuring