Diocese of Blackburn clergy write to the Archbishop of York about bishop’s appointment ; Diane Abbott: British culture ‘increasingly pornified’; Media review – Bishop of Carlisle: Care crisis hinders disabled contributing to society; Archbishop: “Say Thank You To The Unsung Heroes”; Include outsiders, challenges the CofEs Chief Education officer; The House of Lords debate on the Succession to the Crown Bill; Rresearch conducted by Nottingham University which shows that Religion does not make people kinder unless they are dealing with members of the same faith.
Diocese of Blackburn clergy write to the Archbishop of York about bishop’s appointment
Media release: Lancashire clergy write to the Archbishop of York
Over fifty clergy from the Diocese of Blackburn have written to the Archbishop of York, urging him to ensure that the next Bishop of Blackburn will be prepared to ordain women as priests, and fully affirm their ministry.
The letter was co-ordinated by the Vicar of Lancaster, the Revd Chris Newlands, and has been signed by fifty-five clergy from across the diocese who are keen to see a supporter of women’s ministry appointed as Diocesan Bishop.
Mr Newlands said, “Many churches across the diocese have been greatly enriched by the ministry of women, and we believe that to fulfil his calling as a focus of unity, the next Bishop of Blackburn should affirm the ministry of all the priests in the diocese who hold his licence.”
The Crown Nominations Commission will be meeting at the end of January to choose the name that will be submitted to the Queen who formally makes the appointment. An announcement is expected within the next weeks.
The last two diocesan bishops have not accepted the ordination of women as priests and the signatories to the letter have urged the Archbishop and members of the Crown Nominations Commission to ensure that the 9th Bishop of Blackburn is a supporter of the ministry of women priests in the church.
Diane Abbott: British culture ‘increasingly pornified’
BBC News – British culture is “increasingly pornified” and is damaging young people, shadow health minister Diane Abbott has warned.
She believes that the rise of sexual bullying and “sexting” – where people send sexually explicit text messages – is a result of hyper-sexualisation.
A “revolution in sex education” to help tackle the problem is needed, she says.
She urged a “national conversation” between parents and children about sex, porn and technology.
There have been increasing concerns over the commercialisation and sexualisation of children, the ease with which pornography can be accessed through the internet and the way in which young people use text messages and emails to exchange sexually explicit images.
In 2011, the head of the Mothers’ Union, Reg Bailey, carried out an independent review for the government looking at the pressures on children to grow up too quickly.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21127073
MEDIA REVIEW
Bishop of Carlisle: Care crisis hinders disabled contributing to society
“The social care system is failing to meet the needs of disabled people of working age,” says the Bishop of Carlisle, the Rt Revd James Newcome, in support of the report The Other Care Crisis, published this week by Scope, Mencap, The National Autistic Society, Sense and Leonard Cheshire Disability – available online at http://www.scope.org.uk/sites/default/files/The_Other_Care_Crisis.pdf. For further information, see end of digest or go to: http://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2013/01/bishop-of-carlisle-care-crisis-hinders-disabled-contributing-to-society.aspx
Archbishop: “Say Thank You To The Unsung Heroes”
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, today urged people to say “Thank You” to the people up and down the country who are working hard behind the scenes to make communities a better place to live. For further information go to: http://www.archbishopofyork.org/articles.php/2794/archbishop-say-thank-you-to-the-unsung-heroes
Include outsiders, challenges the CofEs Chief Education officer
New resources for Education Sunday. Churches across the country will be using 2013 Education Sunday (January 27) to pray and work towards new ways of reaching out to those who are easily overlooked in the education world. For further information, see end of briefing or go to: http://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2013/01/include-outsiders,-challenges-the-cofe’s-chief-education-officer.aspx
Reports on the House of Lords debate on the Succession to the Crown Bill.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/9816353/The-Succession-Bill-may-be-more-complicated-than-it-seems.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21119034
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article3664142.ece
http://www.standard.co.uk/panewsfeeds/royal-succession-bill-before-mps-8461034.html?origin=internalSearch
Reports on research conducted by Nottingham University which shows that Religion does not make people kinder unless they are dealing with members of the same faith.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9816803/Religion-does-not-make-you-love-your-neighbour-study.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/people-of-the-same-religious-faith-will-help-each-other-more-but-religious-people-are-no-more-unselfish-than-nonbelievers-8460761.html?origin=internalSearch