Bishop calls for prayers for starving consumers and struggling farmers; Churches stepping into void in recession Britain; Common Worship Lectionary app launched; Newcastle cathedral starts next phase of £2.1m refurbishment
Bishop calls for prayers for starving consumers and struggling farmers
The Bishop of Wakefield, the Rt Rev Stephen Platten, has called on people to pray for the whole food production chain from struggling farmers, in the UK and elsewhere, to those that do not have enough to eat.
Backing the Enough Food For Everyone If campaign, the Bishop emphasised the call for governments, companies and individuals to work together to take the necessary steps to reduce the millions currently going hungry and the amount of food wasted.
At the other end of the food chain, he added, those who produce food also need prayers. Farmers in the UK, for example, are facing cuts in their income of up to 50 per cent due to weather damage, according to latest estimates from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
“The world produces enough food for everyone, yet nearly a billion people are starving,” said Bishop Stephen. “If we all work together we can make dramatic progress towards ending global hunger – IF. But we must not forget those who produce that food.
“The UK, in recent months, has seen dreadful weather that has ruined crops and disrupted harvests. The end result, according to DEFRA, is that many farmers face a cut in income of up to a half. Such crop failures can happen anywhere, so, while we pray for an end to global hunger, we should pray for those who produce the food, too.”
Churches stepping into void in recession Britain
By John Bingham, Telegraph – The scale of Britain’s reliance on churches to meet social needs is set out in a report showing more than half of Anglican parishes run services such as food banks, homework clubs and even street patrols.
More than 6,500 Church of England parishes now provide special services for elderly people, schoolchildren, parents and new immigrants, a study by the Church Urban Fund shows.
And eight out of 10 reported that individual parishioners give up their spare time to provide informal help to people struggling with issues such as isolation, family breakdown, drug abuse, domestic violence or spiralling debt.
The figures do not include large numbers of projects run by Roman Catholic churches, Methodists and other faiths.
It comes after the new Archbishop of Canterbury called on the Church to step into the void to do things the state has “run out of the capacity to do” in the wake of the financial crisis.
The Most Rev Justin Welby said last week that the Church could be facing its “greatest moment of opportunity since the Second World War” to reach into communities.
The Church Urban Fund, the Church of England’s poverty charity, asked clergy whether they provide either formal or informal help to address a list of social needs ranging from poor parenting or low self esteem to homelessness or mental health problems.
Overall 54 per cent said they run at least one organised activity to address a specific social need in their area, and many organise several.
Activities range from parent and toddler clubs to highly specialised debt or stress counselling, community cafés and food, clothes or furniture banks.
More than one in 10 said they run street “patrols” providing blankets and food to homeless people or simply helping drunk people get home safely.
Paul Hackwood, chair of trustees, said: “All over the country, churches are working to transform their communities, providing food banks, drop in centres and youth projects.
“The recession has led to unemployment and benefit cuts, which are having a really negative effect on people’s lives.
“It has often left to communities themselves to come together and fill the gap.”
The Church Urban Fund, the Church of England’s poverty charity, asked clergy whether they provide either formal or informal help to address a list of social needs ranging from poor parenting or low self esteem to homelessness or mental health problems.
Overall 54 per cent said they run at least one organised activity to address a specific social need in their area, and many organise several.
Activities range from parent and toddler clubs to highly specialised debt or stress counselling, community cafés and food, clothes or furniture banks.
More than one in 10 said they run street “patrols” providing blankets and food to homeless people or simply helping drunk people get home safely.
Paul Hackwood, chair of trustees, said: “All over the country, churches are working to transform their communities, providing food banks, drop in centres and youth projects.
“The recession has led to unemployment and benefit cuts, which are having a really negative effect on people’s lives.
“It has often left to communities themselves to come together and fill the gap.”
Common Worship Lectionary app launched
The essential digital accompaniment to the Church of England’s Lectionary of daily readings and services is now available as an app for iPad.
The new Lectionary app provides the Common Worship lectionary readings in full with live links to Bible passages in the New Revised Standard Version.
Developed by Aimer Media, the Lectionary app enables users to:
• Read the full text of all Bible readings set for every day in the Church’s calendar
• Access the Collect and Post-Communion Prayers for the week at the touch of a button.
• Mark and annotate records – ideal for sermon-writing and service planning
• Browse the Lectionary by Date, Season, Event – or all three
• Find full details of when seasons, Principal Feasts and Festivals (Saints’ days) occur and which liturgical colours are appropriate for the day.
Lectionary: The Official Common Worship Calendar from the Church of England is available to download at iTunes at http://itun.es/i6JP7V8 and includes a free 14-day subscription. Before or after the trial subscription has finished, users can sign up to one of two choices of three-monthly subscriptions – one with and one without access to the NRSV readings.
A demonstration video showing how the app works is available on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6rtDiycY9w
Newcastle cathedral starts next phase of £2.1m refurbishment
A service in the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas in Newcastle has marked the start of the next stage in its £2.1m refurbishment programme.
Stage one saw the installation of a new sound system and lighting scheme, the first in the country to use only low energy LED lighting.
The cathedral hopes the new lighting will reduce its energy costs and carbon footprint by as much as eighty per cent.
The Very Reverend Christopher Dalliston, Dean of Newcastle said: “The new lighting scheme is designed to highlight the architecture of this magnificent medieval building and to enable its fine details to be readily seen.
“The use of LED lighting means that we won’t have to touch any of the lighting for at least 20 years.”
The service was held on Candlemass Day, the Christian festival of light commemorating the presentation of Jesus to God in the Temple, forty days after his birth.
Candlemass also signifies the midpoint of winter and is celebrated in Churches across the country.
“The service marked the completion of phase one of work at the Cathedral to bring it up-to-date with the needs of a worshipping community in the 21st century,” said Rev Dalliston.
Cathedral staff are looking forward to the next phase, which will include work on flooring, heating, the toilets and the refurbishment of St Margaret’s Chapel.
The sermon at the dedication service was preached by the Right Reverend Martin Wharton, Bishop of Newcastle.