Welsh Bishops take up Lent talk challenge; Inspirational prayer texts during Lent; Culture wars warning from CofE over same-sex marriage; House of Commons Marriage (same-sex couples) Bill; Aberdeen Church quits Kirk over homosexual clergy row; Susan Boyle launches Lent campaign tackling poverty; Church delight as end to Misery Making scrap metal trade becomes law; Media review
Welsh Bishops take up Lent talk challenge
Three Welsh bishops are taking up a tough Lent challenge which will see them give 40 talks over five weeks at eight different venues.
The Archbishop of Wales, the Assistant Bishop of Llandaff and the Bishop of Monmouth will be out and about in churches across South Wales almost every weekday night in the weeks leading up to Easter giving talks about the Bible. And they’re inviting people to make it their Lent resolution to join them for discussion.
The Bishops hope to build on the success of similar talks last year which attracted more than 1,000 people a week.
This year, Lent starts today, Ash Wednesday. Lent lasts 40 days, counting from Ash Wednesday to Easter Day (not including Sundays) calling to mind the 40 days Jesus withdrew to the Judean Wilderness to prepare himself for his ministry and reflect on his priorities.
Christians similarly use Lent to home in on the things that really matter in their faith and lives, freeing themselves from clutter and distractions. They aim to make Lent a time of abstinence, and money saved is often donated to good causes.
The Archbishop, Dr Barry Morgan, and the Assistant Bishop, David Wilbourne, will be focusing on five books from the Bible – one a week – at three different venues. The books, which were nominated and voted as the top favourites by parishioners, are: Ruth, John, Job, Isaiah and Luke.
The venues are St David’s Church, Neath (Tuesdays), Llandaff Cathedral (Wednesdays) and St Catherine’s Church, Pontypridd (Thursdays).
Meanwhile, the Bishop of Monmouth, Dominic Walker, will be out every weekday night in Lent, to talk about St Paul’s letters to young churches and what we can learn from them today.
He will be at St Cadoc’s Church, Raglan on Mondays, St Peter’s Church, Blaina, on Tuesdays, Newport Cathedral on Wednesdays, Pontprennau Community Church on Thursdays and St Mary’s Church hall, Magor, on Fridays. He will give 25 talks in total.
Bishop Dominic is also launching a Lent Appeal to raise money for the Raven House Trust, a local charity providing food and furniture for people in need, and the Jeel al Amal School for Orphans in Bethany which gives a home and education to young Palestinian boys who would otherwise be destitute. Last year, the Bishop’s Lent appeal exceeded £20,000.
The Archbishop said the evenings in the Llandaff Diocese would be a mixture of worship, fellowship, talk and discussion. He said, “We will look at the messages of the five very different books and see what relevance they have to people living in the 21st Century. I hope people will come along and join in the discussion.”
Bishop Dominic said, “The New Testament contains a number of letters that St Paul wrote to the early Christian communities explaining the Christian faith. We shall be looking at these letters to see how they relate to Christian life today.
“There will be five different talks over five weeks – but those who cannot manage the same weekday each week can always come to another venue.”
All the talks begin from February 18 and start at 7.30pm and everyone is welcome to attend.
Inspirational prayer texts during Lent
Children and young people from across the Methodist Church have written prayer texts for the Lent season.
People are being invited to sign up to receive the daily prayers by texting LENT on 66777, charged at standard network rate.
The texts are free to receive and are aimed at children and young people.
One prayer text, written by Olivia aged 12 from the Croydon Methodist Circuit, reads: “Lord, please help those in poverty who go to sleep hungry at night. We pray that when the G8 leaders meet in the UK they help to bring an end to hunger this year.”
The texts will be sent at around 12:30pm each day, including on Sundays.
Syntiche Dedji, 21, has also contributed prayer texts.
She said: “I thought that it was a really inspiring thing to do. I read a devotion every day so I know how inspiring they can be. You never know what someone is going through. Reading a prayer text can make a difference. They are quick and easy to receive and read.”
Ayo Osideinde, Children and Youth Development Support Officer, said: “The Lent text prayers are an opportunity for young people to minister to other young people through prayer. Prayer and spirituality are an important aspect of 3Generate (Methodist Children and Youth Assembly).
“This has become clear from the feedback we have had from young people. Many of the discussions at 3Generate are about living as a disciples and how to weave God into every aspect of daily life.”
Culture wars warning from CofE over same-sex marriage with ref to CofE evidence to Select Committee with comments from William Fittall and Bishop Graham |James
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9866349/Culture-wars-warning-from-Church-over-same-sex-marriages.html
House of Commons Marriage (same-sex couples) Bill
The Tuesday sessions giving evidence on the Bill are available on Parliament TV
Tuesday morning
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=12589
Tuesday afternoon
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=12592
Aberdeen Church quits Kirk over homosexual clergy row
An Aberdeen congregation and its minister have become the second conregation to leave the Church of Scotland over its ordination of homosexual clergy.
Gilcomston South’s minister Reverend Dominic Smart has resigned from the Kirk and will start holding separate services in a hotel in March.
Rev Smart said he had no choice: “The decision by the Church of Scotland represented a clear and deliberate move away from the authority of scripture as the word of God and our supreme rule of faith and life.” He added: “We’ve experienced a great deal of unity and strength from within the congregation and we’re looking forward to moving ahead and doing something new.”
The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland approved the appointment of an openly gay minister to Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen in 2009.
Susan Boyle launches Lent campaign tackling poverty
Singer Susan Boyle and Paralympic gold medallist David Smith have launched a Lent appeal to transform impoverished communities around the world.
Wee Box, Big Change is the annual Lent campaign of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF).
Other high profile figures supporting the campaign include actor Robert Carlyle, football manager Ally McCoist and broadcaster Kaye Adams.
The campaign challenges people to give up a treat during Lent and put the money they would have spent on it into their Wee Box for the work of SCIAF instead.
Money raised in the run-up to Easter will go towards the charity’s work in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Last year’s campaign raised over £830,000, with the money going to communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Haiti.
Church delight as end to Misery Making scrap metal trade becomes law
The Church of England has warmly welcomed the passing of the Scrap Metal Dealers Bill, which cleared its final legislative hurdle in the House of Lords on February 12 and now goes forward for Royal Assent.
The Chair of the Church of England’s Cathedral and Church Buildings Council, Mrs Anne Sloman, OBE, said:
“This has been a long battle. We are absolutely delighted that this two year campaign, led by the CofE’s Cathedrals and Church Buildings Council, will now become law. We are thankful that the deleterious and misery making unregulated trade in scrap metal might now be brought to an end through proper regulation leading to a reduction in crime for communities across the country.
“I am grateful for the number of organisations and individuals whose hard work has led to the successful passage of this Bill, not least the Bishop of London, Lord Faulkner of Worcester and the Second Church Estates Commissioner Sir Tony Baldry MP.”
The Bill, introduced to the House of Commons as a Private Members Bill by Richard Ottaway MP and to the Lords by Baroness Browning, will introduce effective regulation of the Scrap Metal Trade and finally ends anonymous access to cash for scrap metal.
In March 2011 a report to the Home Office from the Church Buildings Council called for new regulation of scrap yards to regulate the trade effectively and take away the incentive for metal theft. The regulation called for has been given in the Act, consolidating cashless trading, a licensing system, a national register of scrap yards and compulsory taking of identification at the point of sale. The police will have powers of entry to enforce the new regulations and to close yards where illegal activity is suspected.
MEDIA REVIEW
More news and comment on news that Pope Benedict XVI is to retire – the first Pope to resign from his office for 600 years.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/9865621/Pope-Benedict-XVIs-replacement-will-be-ideological-clone.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/9866227/Pope-resigns-Peter-Turkson-reveals-vision-for-the-Church-and-alternative-lifestyles.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/12/pope-ash-wednesday-mass-benedict
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-benedict-xvi-vatileaks-heart-trouble-rumours-swirl-around-the-pope-8492053.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2277842/African-cardinal-throws-hat-ring-Ghanaian-says-young-churches-Africa-Asia-lead-Catholicism-new-era.html#axzz2Klfal4Z3