Theresa May’s announcement of resignation as leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June led to many candidates setting out their stalls to succeed her. In mid-June there will be successive rounds of voting with the losing candidate being removed after each ballot until only two remain. The final two will then be voted on by the entire Conservative Party membership. The cautious and sometimes ambiguous relationship Christians should have with power and authority is most apparent in Jesus’ words, ‘Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.’ There is a God-ordained place for earthly rulers, but their authority comes under God’s ultimate rule. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 ; we are to pray for them. We don’t know who will win the Conservative leadership election, but we could consider:- Who are they leading? What is their vision for society? What is their vision based on? Do they have the character for leadership and how have they demonstrated this?

Pilgrimages are fashionable. Across the world participation in religious pilgrimages has increased by up to four times in the last 20 years. This is indicative of a spiritual searching and represents an exciting new opportunity for rural mission. Pray for churches close to established routes to serve and reach out to pilgrims by providing resources, hospitality, accommodation and explanation. Pray also for initiatives to discover, develop and promote new routes.

A Southend library is teaching primary pupils about modern views on gender identity in story-telling sessions. The free sessions are hosted by flamboyant drag king Joey Bambino who is ‘gender fluid’ and drag queen Saffron Slayter. They aim to show children as young as five that it's OK to be different. One of the LGBT stories is called When Kyla Was Kyle. The children also dressed up and played games at the ‘family’ council-backed Drag Story Time session. Opinions are split about the sessions. Some compared it to Shakespeare plays where men dress up as women, others said primary school children were ‘way too young for this sort of thing’ and it was ‘sad that so much is being pushed on to our young children these days’. A Southend Pride representative, said, ‘We’re delighted to be able to bring Joey and Saffron to the forum to host this fun-filled event for all the family.’

Campaigners for better RE say the new school inspection framework will put more pressure on schools to prioritise the subject. It is understood that two-day-long inspections will now put greater emphasis on the broad curriculum while a small number of subjects will also be chosen as a focus for examination. These subjects could include religious education. Ben Wood from the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education said, ‘Ofsted are really pushing the sense that they want a curriculum to be broad. And that means that while English, Maths and Science are important so is RE, history, geography, art, music, and PE. They are all important, they all have a role to play. It is very heartening to hear Ofsted saying that within the curriculum, RE has a crucial role to play.’ Schools must now ensure pupils can reflect their own religious beliefs as well as having knowledge and respect for others.