Following Lord Roberts’ recent question to the Government about ‘what plans they have to speed up the reuniting of refugee children in the camps of Calais and Dunkirk with their families in the United Kingdom’, the Archbishop of Canterbury commented:‘The question has been extremely specifically put, about children who have families in this country; this is not about all unaccompanied children.’ He also said, ‘We are still having continual reports of delays for really quite young children who are not being brought across. Does the Minister not agree that where children - particularly young ones - have families in this country, there is no reason why they should not be brought across within the day?’

The recent Archers storyline on Radio 4 has drawn people’s attention to the rise in controlling behaviour in relationships. One of the hardest parts of being a parent is seeing your child hurt in a relationship. It’s vital to be aware of the difference between behaviour that is thought of as ‘rites of passage’ and behaviour which has more serious implications. Pray for organisations such as Women’s Aid, Refuge and others who give support and advice to those in or concerned about a situation of controlling behaviour. Pray for the counsellors listening to and advising people around the issues of healthy relationships. Pray for those who recognise a friend or relative being controlled by their partner to take appropriate action. Pray for more specialist training on domestic abuse for all who work in the criminal courts and the family courts. To read the Women’s Aid statement after the Radio 4 verdict click the ‘More’ button.

The government is set to relax rules on how faith schools select pupils, to allow new Catholic schools to open in England, according to a Number Ten source. It comes as the education secretary said ministers will take a pragmatic look at new grammar schools. Justine Greening said she wanted to offer parents choice but children would not be split into ‘winners and losers’. The source said, ‘We're going to change the rule, to allow new Catholic schools to open, while making faith schools of all kinds do more to ensure their pupils integrate with children of other backgrounds.’ Pray that the furore over reintroduction of grammar schools will not affect the move to remove the cap on faith-based admissions, so that the Catholic Church will be able to meet the current parental demand for thousands of new Catholic school places across the country.

Dr Clifford Hill writes, ‘It is vital that those in Britain who know the Lord declare the Gospel with their words and lives.’ In the aftermath of the vote to leave the EU all the forecasts of doom from those who wished Britain to remain within the EU have not been fulfilled. The economy has not suffered dire consequences, the housing market has not collapsed, unemployment is down and retail sales are up, giving a general feeling of buoyancy and hope for the future. If God's blessings upon the nation are to continue, there is a huge responsibility upon those who know Him and know the Bible. Only 44% of the nation claim to be Christians and 48% have no religion.’ There is a huge responsibility for spirit-led evangelism. May the body of Christ grow in faith and action.