Former football club chaplain Richard Gamble plans to build a national landmark made of bricks representing one million answered prayers. ‘The Wall’ would be the size of 62 semi-detached houses. The Royal Institute of British Architecture hopes to open a design competition in the summer. Mr Gamble wants the monument, with a Christian message, to be seen by thousands of passing drivers on a motorway. ‘I'm going to get Christians from all over the UK to buy a £10 brick and tell us what prayer God has answered for them. Then people driving past The Wall will be able to see that Jesus has answered a million prayers. Instinctively we remember big prayers that Jesus has answered, but Jesus is interested in the little things in life as well. I'm hoping and praying that we will have all the Church responding to this with an entire range of different answers to prayers.’
Safe homes, safe places, safe cities
15 Jan 2016
Last month the World Prayer Centre team issued a call to pray for protection on our nation, after a credible source reported that there were a series of five terrorist attacks scheduled to hit five key English cities. They were keen to stress that the call to prayer was not simply because of the prophetic word but also because the nation was particularly vulnerable to terrorist attack. Thankfully there were no attacks. Was that due to prayer or because nothing was ever going to happen? We can't say, but we need to continue to be vigilant. IS has supporters in many of our cities and towns. This is more than terrorism. We can pray for safe homes where children and families are protected; for schools, universities and churches to be protected; for our cities and regions to be safe from attack, crime and despair. Out of this protection we can then pray blessings. Isaiah 62:6 says, ‘Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent.’
Remedying C of E attendance drop
15 Jan 2016
Statistics published on Tuesday record the number of people attending Church of England services each week as below one million for the first time, reflecting a decline over recent decades of growing secularism, religious diversity, and ageing worshippers. Many believe the Anglican schism over sexuality marks the end of a global church. However the church is not surprised; recent trends have been anticipated and are being acted on. Justin Welby said, ‘The church has embarked on a radical reform and renewal programme intended to reverse declining numbers, partly by diverting funds away from small, struggling rural parishes to urban churches where the potential for growth is greatest.’ Several urban churches have shown remarkable growth in the past year, eg St Swithun’s in Bournemouth, established in 2014, now with weekly attendances of 500. The C of E is also developing ‘network churches’ that meet in cafés, pubs and other places outside consecrated buildings.
Churches challenge Government on food poverty
15 Jan 2016
Hundreds of churches have joined a campaign for ‘the right to food’ as an estimated two million people in the UK are malnourished and three million at risk of becoming so. Church Action on Poverty has initiated a campaign for the right to food for all families in Britain. The Government is legally bound by international human rights law to secure enough food for everyone, but the Trussell Trust has fed over one million people between 2014-15 via food banks. They attribute that to a number of things, but in particular benefit delays, benefit changes and low income. They say that churches and charities operate foodbanks and offer food parcels to hundreds of thousands of people, but this cannot be a long-term solution. A growing list of organisations have called for stronger and more coordinated action, to provide food aid and to press national and local government to secure everybody's human right to adequate food.
A radical overhaul of the UK’s anti-money-laundering system is needed if the UK is to close the door to the billions of pounds in corrupt money coming into the country every year, according to a report by Transparency International UK (TI-UK). The majority of sectors covered in this research are performing very badly in terms of identifying and reporting money-laundering. Major problems have been identified in the quality, as well as the quantity, of reports coming out of the legal, accountancy and estate agency sectors. There are ineffective sanctions and low fines in relation to the amounts being laundered. Laws are failing to be effective deterrents. Of the seven HMRC-regulated sectors, the total fines in 2014/15 amounted to just £768,000. The research highlights that 1/3rd of banks dismissed serious money laundering allegations without adequate review, and there were only fifteen suspicious cases reported through art and auction houses.
The persecution of Christians across the world continues to increase, according to the publication of the 2016 World Watch List. The CEO of Open Doors said that persecution levels have risen rapidly; every year over 100 million Christians are persecuted because of their beliefs. The most notable increases are in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Eritrea. Open Doors has urged the Government to do everything possible within their spheres of influence to affect this situation. David Cameron said standing up for religious freedom is a priority for his government. ‘We are committed to promoting and protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief as one of the foundations of human rights. No matter what faith we follow, charity, compassion, responsibility and forgiveness are values which speak to us all.’
Faith leaders pay respects to David Bowie
15 Jan 2016
Showman David Bowie was enigmatic about his religious views, yet his recent death from cancer brought tributes from the Church. Blogger Tom Kershaw noted, ‘Bowie is more disenchanted with religion than he is with God.’ Justin Welby said, ‘I’m very saddened to hear of his death; I remember listening to his songs and relishing the impact he had.’ The president of a leading evangelical school in New York City tweeted a photo of himself performing a Bowie song, and one of the first to note his passing was a senior Vatican official who tweeted lyrics from Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ that finished, ‘God’s love be with you.’ Bowie is reported to have said, ‘Questioning my spiritual life has been germane to what I was writing.’
In a twisted new set of online guidelines, Islamic State leaders are urging its followers in the West to pretend to be Christians before committing lone wolf terrorist attacks. A 58-page terror pamphlet entitled ‘Safety and Security Guidelines for Lone Wolf Mujahedeen’ instructs its adherents to trim their beards, wear Western-style aftershave and even pretend to be Christians by wearing cross necklaces in order to avoid arousing suspicion and ensure success in their operations. It reveals some of the ‘best places’ to carry out terror attacks - such as loud nightclubs - and the guide provides disturbing tips for future jihadists. Over the past year IS has released dozens of online documents, instructing their followers on everything from how to build a bomb factory to how to cross into Syria via Turkey without being caught.