Major faiths back Jubilee lunch; Ecumenical Engagement with the London Olympics and Paralympics; National Photography Competition; Chocolate maker includes Easter story with treats; The Point of the Lords Spiritual; Going for a song: CofE YouTube recording on VAT
Major faiths back Jubilee lunch
UKPA – Plans to encourage the nation to sit down and celebrate the Queen’s 60-year reign with a Diamond Jubilee lunch have received the backing of major faiths.
Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, led messages of support for the Big Jubilee Lunch which will be staged in June during the special extended Bank Holiday weekend.
The senior cleric described how public celebrations like this could build “enduring” friendships, and his backing was echoed by Archbishop Vincent Nichols, head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, the Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks and leaders of other religious groups.
Dr Williams said in a letter to organisers: “Special occasions like this can build enduring warmth, friendship and understanding between people who may live close to each other but whose busy lives mean they don’t often have the chance to relax and have fun together.”
The Big Jubilee Lunch will be held across the country on Sunday June 3 and is part of a weekend long series of events to celebrate the Queen’s milestone. The event stems from the Big Lunch movement, which started in 2009 and which last year saw almost two million people get together in their local communities.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5idW3rvdVXIKrwyWWCJJ1y902B_Mw?docId=N0119171333546660998A
Ecumenical Engagement with the London Olympics and Paralympics
The statistics are staggering:
200 countries represented
15,000 athletes
14,000 officials and organisers
800,000 people visiting London and other Games’ venues
100,000 extra travellers through St Pancras Station
“A once in a lifetime opportunity for Churches to engage with an event of major significance and celebration in the life of our nation” is how the Bishop of Barking, the Rt Revd David Hawkins, describes the forthcoming London Olympic and Paralympic Games. “Engagement with the Games,” he says, “provides an oppor-tunity for Church unity to be expressed at a practical level as Christians of all denominations join hands for the com-mon good in practical service, mission and united projects.” He says the Anglican contribution to the 2012 Games stems ”from our long history of incar-national ministry and leadership in every community of the UK.”
Learning from the experience of previous global sporting events, church leaders had launched an ecumenical initia-tive in 2007, under the banner More than Gold. Five years on, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols and the other two Presidents of Churches Together in England say they are delighted “that so many of England’s churches are committed to being at the heart of these celebrations and are already preparing practical ways to build and support communities in their localities. The work we are doing through our own denominational staff, and through the work of More Than Gold (UK) is unprecedented…. More Christian communities from different traditions than ever before are coming together to plan practical ways of serv-ing the project.”
A prayer in preparation for the 2012 Games
Eternal God,
Giver of joy and source of all strength,
we pray for those who prepare for the London Olympic and Paralympic games;
For the competitors training for the Games and their loved ones;
For the many thousands who will support them;
For the Churches and others who are organising special events
and who will welcome many people from many nations.
In a world where many are rejected and abused,
we pray for a spirit of tolerance and acceptance,
of humility and respect
and for the health and safety of all.
May we at the last be led towards the love of Christ
who is more than gold, today and for ever.
Amen.
http://www.aco.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2012/4/4/Ecumenical-Engagement-with-the-London-Olympics-and-Paralympics
National Photography Competition to Celebrate Faith and Communities Opens
A national photography competition which showcases the positive impact of faith in the community launched today. Faith Through a Lens – www.faiththroughalens.co.uk – aims to inspire amateur photographers from across the UK to capture the essence of faith and the community.
The competition, now in its third year, is the creation of national church insurer Congregational & General. This year it includes an additional category to promote ‘A Year of Service’, a new initiative that is highlighting, encouraging and linking up faith-led volunteering throughout this Diamond Jubilee year. This initiative is supported by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG).
Faith Through a Lens’ judging panel is led by internationally renowned photo-journalist Don McCullin, who will be joined by Secretary of State for Communities, the Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP. Revd Dr David Cornick, General Secretary of Churches Together in England, Paresh Solanki from Inter Faith Network and John Glass, General Superintendant, Elim Churches UK complete the judging panel. The entries will be judged based on a variety of criteria including visual impact, composition and emotional connection.
The three categories now open for entries are:
• Moments of Faith
• Community Spirit Against the Odds
• A Year of Service
http://www.aco.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2012/4/4/National-Photography-Competition-to-Celebrate-Faith-and-Communities-Opens
Chocolate maker includes Easter story with treats
ENI news-As baskets of chocolate, stuffed bunnies and egg coloring appear in stores, it seems as though Easter is becoming more of a springtime festival than a solemn, though joyous, Christian observance.
However, the Meaningful Chocolate Company, based in Manchester, England, believes that while candy is dandy, the real meaning of Easter should be part of the seasonal treats. Its four ounce (125 gram) milk chocolate Real Easter Egg includes the story of Jesus’ resurrection on the package and part of the price (four British pounds) includes a charitable donation.
The company also assures customers that it adheres to fair trade principles under the Fairtrade organization, an international non-profit that licenses the use of the Fairtrade sign. This identifies products of companies which pay higher-than-normal prices to farmers who grow cocoa, coffee, tea and other agricultural commodities in the Third World, particularly in Latin America, the Far East and Africa.
Company spokesperson David Marshall told ENInews that in 2008, “one of our co-founders, who had a ten-year record of promoting ethical trading … came up with the idea of the Real Easter Egg. It is the UK’s first and only Fairtrade charity egg to mention Jesus and the events of the Christian period of Holy Week on the box.”
Prior to its launch, none of the 80 million chocolate Easter eggs sold in the U.K. mentioned the Christian story, Marshall said. In 2011, he said, “the Real Easter Egg became the U.K.’s top selling mail order egg and was stocked across the U.K. by leading retailers.”
http://www.aco.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2012/4/4/British-chocolate-maker-includes-Easter-story-with-treats
http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5578
The Point of the Lords Spiritual
ResPublica – The presence of Church of England Bishops is often criticised as discriminating against other faiths and humanists. But the Church of England itself is on record as not opposing in principle other denominations or faith groups having appointees on the Bishops’ Bench. Just as for historic reasons Church of England Bishops sit in the Lords, so for historic reasons representatives of the established Church of Scotland never sat in the Upper House. History has presented us with the House of Lords as it is and has given us the Lords Spiritual who fulfill a useful role.
Furthermore, while there are no rabbis and no imams in the Lords ex officio (it must be remembered that the mechanism of creating a life peerage remains for luminaries of other religious traditions), it would seem to be cutting one’s nose off to spite one’s face to expel bishops simply in adherence to an abstract theory of equality. No one would gain, but all denominations and faiths would be the losers. Other faith groups generally welcome the contribution the bishops make (as can be seen by the contributions of faith leaders to the Joint Committee). It is not straightforward practically to select representatives of other faiths acceptable to all strands of those faiths, but, there are very specific and strong reasons why the Anglican leaders should have a place in the Lords – they represent the established church, they have been there historically and they can bring a spiritual dimension to debate that is welcomed by other faith groups.
http://www.respublica.org.uk/item/The-Point-of-the-Lords-Spiritual
Going for a song: CofE YouTube recording calls on Government to bring back zero rate VAT on alterations to listed buildings
C of E media – The Dean of Wakefield’s wife Pamela Greener has written and performed a campaigning ditty in the demolished nave of Wakefield Cathedral as part of the CofE campaign to halt Government VAT plans unveiled in the budget. The YouTube recording has been sent to the Chancellor, George Osborne’s Office and HMRC.The cathedral is one of thousands of CofE buildings that will be affected if the Government goes ahead with introducing VAT on listed building alterations. Campaigners are being urged to sign the two e-petitions to bring back zero rate VAT to alterations to the CofE’s 12,500 listed churches. http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/32229
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/32056