News
Round Up Church
comments on Draft Mental Health Bill People
could be forced to undergo treatment unnecessarily if a
draft Mental Health Bill is enacted in its current form,
the Church of England has warned. The Bill gives
insufficient weight to considerations of capacity and
autonomy in the conditions proposed for compulsion, and
should be reconsidered in order to avoid patients being
given inappropriate treatment either in hospital or in
the community, says a submission by the Church's In
Review The
first edition of In Review, a newsletter from the
National Church Institutions of the Church of England,
has been published. Articles
in the launch edition include the success of the 'Mission
Shaped Church' initiative; progress towards establishing
100 new Church of England secondary schools; unlocking
the potential of church buildings; and the Church's
support for the Trade Justice Movement. In
Review, published in the church press in early December,
is also available on the new Church of England website
where articles can be 'cut and pasted' for use in parish
magazines and other publications. More information at http://www.cofe.anglican.org/info/yearreview/ Lambeth
Conference The
Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has
announced that the next Lambeth Conference is to be held
in The
Lambeth Conference, which draws together Anglican
Communion bishops from around the globe, is convened by
the Archbishop of Canterbury normally once a decade. The
last conference took place in 1998. The city of Bishops'
working costs published The
2003 office and working costs of bishops in the Church of
England have been published. Figures for individual
bishops were first published, for the year 2000, in
December 2001. Bishops' office and working costs were
previously published as a total figure. More information:
<http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/> Crockford's
clerical directory goes online Crockford's
Clerical Directory has gone online in response to a long-standing
demand from customers for electronic access. All the
information currently found only in the 1200-page
directory of Anglican clergy in the The
website offers increased flexibility and ease of use and data
accuracy. A £25 annual subscription to the website
allows users to access a wide range of services. Everything
you wanted to know... Find
out about the Church of England's national structures,
who's who in the dioceses and details about hundreds of
Christian organisations. The Review of the Year is
written by Ian Garden, a barrister and a member of the
Archbishops' Council and the Crown Nominations Commission.
He is a lay canon of Blackburn Cathedral and Deputy
Chancellor of the Diocese of Sheffield. The Church of
England Yearbook 2005 is now available for £30.00 from
Christian Bookshops or from Church House Bookshop at
<www.chbookshop.co.uk>. Growing
interest in spiritual things More
and more people in Britain are seeking spiritual support,
fulfilment and help with the stress and strain of life,
and seem to be going everywhere for answers except the
Church. A staggering £80 million was spent in 2003
on books and spiritual sessions by so-called founts of
knowledge, according to The Times. In
2004 a record 5000 people contacted the Christian Enquiry
Agency to find out about Jesus Christ and to seek God's
answers to life's problems. Most of the response
came through cinemas, websites and life issues postcards. CEA
sends high quality information to all enquirers and also
offers further help, including prayer, details of local
Alpha courses and contact with a local Christian. The
CEA works on behalf of all the major churches and is an
agency of Churches Together in Maybe
not too late... Spring
Harvest this year at Skegness and Minehead runs from 21
March to 10 April. It may not be too late to
squeeze in. Ring 01825 769000 for remaining
vacancies. Value
votes The
trend of people to vote according to their values that
helped re-elect President George W Bush has also the
potential to decide future elections in And
so he has urged his Tory party to appeal to the country's
belief in fairness, which he believes to be the core
characteristic of this country's conservative majority.
“To
crudely import Bible Belt politics would not work in Help
The
Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF) has called on
supermarkets, such as Sainsbury's and Tesco, to lower
prices to help tackle Healthy
food such as lean high quality meats, fruit and
vegetables should cost about the same as processed foods,
urges the Fellowship. Stop
killing An
international website, stopkillingchildren.com, dedicated
to documenting and exposing the killing of children and
young people, has been set up by the Jubilee Campaign.
Lord David Alton said he thought up the idea during a
visit to |