Covid-19 and the lockdowns have brought a wide range of new challenges for church leaders in a short space of time, and a significant number are feeling the effects. Savanta ComRes, in partnership with the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK), surveyed 201 leaders of different denominations during the period between the two lockdowns. They were asked to think about the two years before Covid, then about the period since restrictions began, and to assess their mental health during that time. 93% of them said that in the two years leading up to March 2020, they had very good or fairly good mental health. It is impressive that church leaders overall reported this level of happiness with their mental health. But in the period since then, that went down to 85%, and 15% said it was poor or very poor.
Outreach to outsiders
04 Feb 2021London City Mission (LCM) is helping churches to reach out to people who belong to socially-excluded groups - prisoners, those who are homeless, trafficked into the UK, or with addictions. For many who experience rejection and hostility, a crippling sense of shame and unworthiness is a far greater obstacle to coming to church. Imagine that you’d like to go to church but have not been able to access a shower and clean clothes for the past ten days. How might people react to you? Gently edge you to one side, outright reject you, or offer awkward sympathy? To overcome this fear of rejection, LCM is helping churches to look outward, stepping beyond their comfort zone and seeking ways to connect with people far beyond the church community. They also want to help the church to consider how it can improve their welcome to people who have experienced social exclusion and help them feel comfortable amongst Christians.
MPs and care home visit bans
04 Feb 2021Care home visitor bans have been branded a human rights breach by some MPs, who are demanding a new law allowing visits and have given the government a two-week deadline to act and stop residents dying in isolation. A committee of MPs and peers has called on government ministers to legislate against blanket bans on care home visits in England, which they argue is a breach of the basic right to family life. We can pray for all residents to receive visits from a close relative or friend. This is what happens in Ontario, where they changed the law to allow access to care homes and mental health hospitals for a relative who is a designated caregiver and part of the home/hospital’s care team, provided they test negative before each visit. Harriet Harman heads up the team of MPs who have asked Matt Hancock to ‘consider our proposal as a matter of urgency and respond to us by 17 February’.
Urgent testing for the South Africa variant of coronavirus is beginning in Surrey, London, Kent, Hertfordshire, Bristol, Walsall, and Birmingham after cases were found with no known links to travel or previous cases. The variant, which was identified as part of Public Health England's random checks on tests, prompted fears there may be community transmission of the virus. It is not known how many cases have been identified. Mobile testing units have been dispatched to a number of neighbourhoods where the cases have been identified.
One in four don’t get friendly calls
04 Feb 2021Research shows 1 in 4 UK adults cannot remember the last time someone outside their family called to ask how they are. A poll of over 2,000 people, commissioned by Christian Premier Lifeline (PL), has found that 26 per cent do not get such calls, rising to 31 per cent in those aged 35-54. PL has a campaign, Call5, to encourage people to call at least five people they know who might be lonely or neglected. PL’s Jonathan Clark said, ‘Every one of us could play a role in helping a friend or a neighbour, and it’s as easy as just picking up the phone.’
Russia: protesters receive harsh show of force
04 Feb 2021Protesters throughout Russia gathered on two consecutive weekends to support jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who accused President Putin of poisoning him with Novichok. Over 5,000 were detained, including Navalny's wife who was later released. The organised protests started at noon in 120 cities. Riot police in heavy-duty uniforms attacked the streets full of protesters. They closed subway stops and cut short bus routes to prevent demonstrators gathering. Protesters shouted, ‘Let him go!’ and ‘Russia without Putin!’ Putin’s ratings have hit historic lows over declining incomes, diminishing freedoms, and poor handling of the pandemic. The following week Navalny was sentenced to nearly three years in a prison colony for violating the terms of his probation while he was recuperating in Germany from nerve-agent poisoning. The UK foreign secretary said the perverse ruling targeted the victim of a poisoning rather than those responsible. Russia is failing to meet the most basic commitments expected of any international community member. See
France: religious transformation of schools
04 Feb 2021A French low-intensity war is bubbling around radicalising education. At a school in Saumur, a student told his teacher, ‘My father will behead you’. It is impossible to make a precise list of similar incidents that occur daily. ‘Faced with Islamist intimidation, what should we do?’ said Robert Redeker in 2006. A few days later, he began receiving death threats. Since then, things have worsened. A recent survey of self-censorship among teachers to avoid an incident revealed half of them admitted self-censoring in class. By fear, terror and intimidation, the extremism of ‘Islamism’ is reaping what it has sown. Many are now saying, ‘We should have paid more attention to that first case, the first in a long series of attacks on French teachers.’ In January 2021 a 17-year-old had to quit school and go into hiding after receiving thirty hate messages a minute for disparaging Islam last year. See
Vaccine nationalism
04 Feb 2021A battle between the EU and UK reveals the ugly truth about vaccine nationalism that is appearing across the globe. The UN General Assembly showed unity as global deaths approached a million last year. They said, ‘When a vaccine is developed, the world's most vulnerable should be first in line.’ The vaccines are here and solidarity between the nations has disappeared entirely. The EU has secured enough doses to cover its population three times. Canada has purchased enough to cover a population four times its size. The UK has agreements with vaccine suppliers, and did not expect the EU to disrupt the fulfillment of these contracts. However, the EU almost invoked a Brexit deal clause to prevent the UK from receiving vaccines from Europe. While stocks are limited governments will put their own populations first. Pray for pharmaceutical companies to share their ‘know how’ with poor countries to enable them to produce their own vaccinations.