News
Round Up
No
Bibles in church, please
Wycliffe
Bible Translators are asking for a ban on Bibles in
church. They want Sunday 16 May to be No Bible Sunday.
Why? "Because in giving up their Bibles for the day,
churches will be identifying with the people of the 2700
language groups around the world who do not have a Bible
in their mother tongue," the charity says.
The
Wycliffe website (www.nobiblesunday.org) suggests ideas
of how a No Bible Sunday could be used to help Christians
realise what it would mean to give up their Bibles.
Go
to church on the internet
Want
to go to church on the internet? The Diocese of Oxford
has just launched one as part of its Cutting Edge
programme to establish new expressions of church. The
'i-church' Christian community may be visited at:
www.i-church.org
Bible
Society 200 years old
The
Bible Society has just celebrated 200 years of ministry.
Its bicentenary event at St Paul’s' Cathedral in London
drew 2000 people to a service of dance, drama, music and
thanksgiving. Thanksgiving "for not only the Society
and its history of faithful, creative ministry,"
explained the Archbishop of Canterbury, and "not
only even for Scripture itself as the vehicle of God's
great promise to Creation...but for that fulfilment
itself, for the Word made flesh."
Hymn-writer
Sydney Carter dies
One
of the 20th century's most popular writers of Christian
song, Sydney Carter, died recently (March) in London,
aged 88.
Hymn-writer
and folk-singer, Carter's 1963 composition 'Lord of the
Dance' became a modern classic, even lending its name to
Michael Flatley's popular musical dance show.
Writing
about the song later, Carter said: "I see Christ as
the incarnation of the piper who is calling us. He dances
that shape and pattern which is at the heart of our
reality."
In
1996 a survey of schools in the UK revealed that three of
the most sung copyright songs in assemblies were composed
by Carter.
Danger
here for Christians
North
Korea is the world's most dangerous country for
Christians to live in, according to recent research by
the Christian charity, Open Doors.
North
Korea's record for religious persecution beats even that
of Saudi Arabia and Laos. Its 400,000 believers risk
imprisonment, torture and death if they practice
Christianity publicly. Already tens of thousands of North
Korean Christians are held in labour camps, where they
face torture, starvation and death.
Despite
this, refugees fleeing to China have reported that the
Church in Korea has not only survived, but is growing.
Other
countries that make the Open Doors' World Watch list
include Vietnam, Iran, Myanmar (Burma) and China.
Religious persecution is increasing in Eritrea, India, Sri
Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh.
An
estimated 200 million Christians worldwide are suffering
persecution for their faith.
World's
best-selling artist
Publisher
HarperCollins has claimed that Annie Vallotton, the
illustrator of the Good News Bible, is the world's
best-selling artist. If her 500 line drawings in each
copy of the Bible can be multiplied by sales of 140
million Good News Bibles worldwide, then Ms Vallotton has
a world beating 70 billion picture sales.
Archbishop's
Christian-Muslim initiative continues in Washington
The
Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, convened the
third 'Building Bridges' seminar in Washington DC at the
beginning of April.
As
previously, Christian and Muslim scholars from across the
world held detailed talks over three days.
This
year speakers focused on the understanding of prophecy in
the two faith communities; through intensive study of
biblical and Quranic texts the participants also
addressed topics such as 'Prophecy and Conflict',
'Prophecy and Society' and the claims to finality within
Islam and Christianity.
Dr
Williams said: "Muslims and Christians share the
conviction that the God who creates so generously also
communicates with his creation, and they see the sending
of prophets as a crucial part of that communication. So
it was exciting for Christian and Muslim scholars to
spend three days together studying the different ways in
which our scriptures understand prophecy." He hoped
it would lead to "the deepening of understanding and
of friendship between us."
The
first Building Bridges seminar was hosted at Lambeth Palace
by Dr George Carey when Archbishop of Canterbury in
January 2002. The second building Bridges seminar was
convened by Dr Rowan Williams and hosted by the Amir of
Qatar and held in Doha in April 2003.
Those
taking part in the recent Georgetown seminar included:
Monsignor
Khaled Akasheh, Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue,
Vatican;
Sheikh
Dr M A Zaki Badawi, Principal of The Muslim College, London;
Dr
Ida Glaser, Senior Teaching and Research Fellow, Edinburgh
Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies;
Professor
MAS Abdel Haleem, King Fahd Professor of Islamic Studies,
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London;
The
Most Rev Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon Archbishop of Kaduna,
Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion);
The
Rev Canon Dr Michael Ipgrave, Inter Faith Relations
Adviser, Archbishops' Council of the Church of England;
The
Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester, Church
of England;
Dr
Mona Siddiqui, Senior Lecturer in Arabic and Islamic
Studies and Head of Department of Theology and Religious
Studies, Glasgow University, Scotland;
The
Most Rev and Rt Hon Dr Rowan Williams Archbishop of Canterbury;
Mr
Timothy Winter, Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Faculty of
Divinity, Cambridge University.
Churches
welcome Budget help for listed church buildings
The
Church of England, and other UK faith groups represented
by the Churches Main Committee, welcomed the recent
Budget announcement made by the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, Gordon Brown.
It
said that the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme will
be expanded to allow a full VAT refund of 17.5% on all
eligible applications for work carried out on listed
church buildings from 1 April 2004 forward.
The
Chairman of the Churches Main Committee, the Bishop of
Derby, the Rt Rev Jonathan Bailey also welcomed the news
that, with effect from 1 April, the full 17.5% VAT on
repair and maintenance of listed places of worship will
be recoverable under the Grant Scheme, which already
permits recovery of VAT up to 12.5%. "Many
historic churches, synagogues and other places of worship
throughout the United Kingdom will be grateful for this
further recognition of their value."
He
went on: "At the same time, we are glad...that the
Government continue to press through the European Union
for an actual reduction in the VAT rate and we fully
support them in their efforts".
All
applications, regardless of submission date, for works
carried out prior to 1st April 2004 will be awarded the
current refund of 12.5%. The Scheme administrators, the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport, have advised
that the existing eligibility criteria for the Scheme
remain unaltered although the Scheme website, form and
guidance notes will be altered to reflect the new
arrangements.
The
Chancellor has confirmed that the Scheme is planned to
run until March 2006. The Government's
objective continues to be a reduced rate of VAT as
distinct from a refund scheme and the matter has yet to
be resolved at EU level. UK Churches will continue
to support the Government's actions to implement a
reduced rate.
13,000
listed churches belong to the Church of England of which
3,000 are listed Grade I. In 2001 Church of England
churches spent £86 million on major repairs. Since the
Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme was first launched
in 2001, around 4,500 churches and other listed places of
worship have benefited from the Scheme.
Awaiting
confirmation?
The
following item appeared on the Faith Page of The Times on
20 March 2004.
'Last
week we reported that St Francis Episcopal Church in Stamford,
Connecticut, has launched a monthly Communion service for
pets and their owners. We would like to clarify that the
animals receive a blessing, and not Holy Communion, at
these services.'
Sea Sunday and the
Good Samaritan
The
Mission to Seafarers Dubai chaplain Stephen Miller is a
'Good Samaritan' to seafarers left stranded on ships in
ports in the United Arab Emirates.
He
regularly goes to the aid of seafarers whose owners have
abandoned their vessels, leaving crews high and dry and
thousands of miles from home. Usually the seafarers are
owed huge sums in back pay and have no money to buy
supplies. The Mission steps in as their lifeline,
providing food and water and other practical assistance.
The
'Good Samaritan' is the theme of Sea Sunday, which this
year is 11 July although it can be observed at any time.
Sea Sunday is the day when the Church remembers and prays
for seafarers, their families and those who show God's
love to them.
Sea
Sunday began in 1975 and is organised by The Mission to
Seafarers, which is a mission agency of the Anglican
Church, and its kindred societies, the Apostleship of the
Sea (Roman Catholic) and the British & International
Sailors' Society (interdenominational).
The
port chaplain in the role of the 'Good Samaritan' is
highlighted in The Mission to Seafarers' resources pack,
published to help congregations prepare their services
for Sea Sunday.
The Church of
England questions BBC analysis of faith poll
The
Church of England has questioned the BBC's recent
portrayal of results from a survey of 10,000 people in 10
countries in support of the Corporation's What the World
Thinks of God programme.
A
spokesman for the Archbishops' Council Communications
Unit criticised the emphasis placed by BBC news reports
on 46% of those polled in the UK saying they had always
believed in God but ignoring the figure of 67% who said
they believed in God or a higher power.
"The
BBC has misrepresented the faith communities in the UK by
suggesting that less than half the country believe. This
is based on only 46% of UK respondents answering 'yes' to
a question that specifically asked if they had always
believed in God: a highly spurious way of defining
current belief. I cannot speak for other faith
communities but any committed Christian would recognise
that many who hold a strong faith today may well have
come to faith late in life or lived through periods where
they lost their belief. No one could seriously argue that
such people are any less believers than those who have
believed for as long as they can remember.
"Those
people would not say they had 'always believed in God'.
Therefore, the poll more accurately shows that two-thirds
of people in the UK have a belief as recorded in the
figure of 67% who said they believed in God or a higher
power."
Christian
organisations more professional
Christian
organisations in the UK are increasingly making use of
the latest technological developments, according to the
2004/2005 edition of the UK Christian Handbook.
59%
of agencies have a website (compared to 46% 2 years ago).
77% of agencies have an email address, compared with 67%
2 years ago. Hundreds have changed their email address
and most now have an address related to the name of their
organisation.
The
Handbook also shows that between 2001 and 2003 370 new
agencies started but 470 closed or merged. Interestingly,
the ones that close are most likely to have started
between 20 and 40 years ago.
Although
there are slightly fewer organisations, there is a higher
percentage with full-time staff, up from 79% in 2001 to
81% in 2003. This means a higher number of employees, up
6% from 77,500 in 2001 to 82,100 in 2003 - an average of
19 people in agencies which employ at least one person.
More
and more Christian organisations are registered with the
Charity Commission. 20 years ago in 1982 only two-fifths,
41% were registered Charities, now it is three-fifths,
61%.
What
is the Christian organisation market worth? According to
the income or turnover of those listed, and extrapolating
for the half who don't give this figure, then in 2003 it
was £2.3 million. This figure is deceptive, however, as
a very few organisations make up the bulk of it. Half of
those in the Handbook have an income in five figures,
that is, under £100,000, with a further fifth between
£100,000 and £249,000 and another fifth between
£250,000 and a million. Only 3.3% have a turnover over
£2 million.
The
total income increased at almost twice the rate of
inflation between 2001 and 2003, with income up 8.8%
against inflation of 4.6%. Something seems to be going
right in the Christian scene!
Source:
UK Christian Handbook 2004/2005, edited by Heather
Wraight, Christian Research, London, March 2004.
Available from the publisher; see website
www.christian-research.org
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