Church of England diocese asks for gay-friendly bishop; Archbishop of Canterbury sees ‘culture of entitlement’ in City; Readers are Refreshed; Christians and churches urged to pray for the media
Church of England diocese asks for gay-friendly bishop
Daily Telegraph – A Church of England diocese has made building bridges with the gay community part of its new bishop’s job description.
The Diocese of Manchester has instructed the official panel appointing its new bishop to select someone who can establish “positive relationships” with gay Anglicans and non-worshippers.
The panel, which met on Friday, was told that the successor to the Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch, who retired earlier this year, should build on “significant engagement” with “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities” in Manchester.
The move comes amid growing tensions within the Church over its attitude to gay worshippers and clergy.
Such a public endorsement of working with gay Anglicans by a major diocese will cheer liberals but be seen by traditionalists as a further erosion of their views.
Manchester’s move comes months after the Church dropped its prohibition on clergy in civil partnerships becoming bishops.
Archbishop of Canterbury sees ‘culture of entitlement’ in City
The Archbishop of Canterbury says there is a “culture of entitlement” in the banking and financial sectors at odds with what others would regard as reasonable.
The Most Reverend Justin Welby is a member of the cross-party Banking Standards Commission.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Week in Westminster programme, he said prospective employees in the banking industry should be subject to training and exams because of the capacity banks have “to have such an impact on the wider economy”.
“Banks are incredibly complicated things, it is one of the most demanding and complicated areas of management going. The idea that people can hold hugely responsible positions in them without any kind of formal training seems to a number of us as quite surprising.”
He said: “I think in banking, in particular, and in the City of London, a culture of entitlement has affected a number of areas, not universally by any means, in which it seemed to disconnect from what people saw as reasonable in the rest of the world.”
The Archbishop expanded on comments he made at a Bible Society-organised event in Westminster last week in which he said Britain was in a “depression” rather than a recession.
“Historically, depressions have been recognised as lengthy periods in which the economy did not get back to its previous level of activity before a recession set in,” he said.
“So 1929 to 1932 is the great example. There was a big one towards the end of the 19th Century.
“We are still significantly below where we were in 2007 in terms of economic activity, of GDP, and that’s quite a long time of being below.
“Now, I’m not pointing any fingers at anyone in particular and saying it’s so-and-so’s fault or so-and-so’s fault, it’s simply a measurable fact coming from the national statistics.”
While the Archbishop said his key mission was leading the Church in worshipping Jesus and encouraging others to believe in him, he said the Gospel had “strong social implications”, especially concerning the common good”.
“So issues of how the City of London, which is so important and so full of very gifted people, how that behaves in relation to the common good is very key, not to the whole thing that I’m about or the Church is about, but to how we express the implications of that in day to day life,” he said.
Readers are Refreshed
The 9,000 Church of England Readers are being refreshed! To reflect current trends, their badge and logo has been given a make-over and is being launched at the annual meeting of the Central Readers’ Council in London in April.
The design still maintains the same basic principles as before: the traditional blue circle demonstrates the love of God for the world, which has neither beginning nor end, and the cross at the centre witnesses to our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God and Saviour of the world. What has been dropped from the new badge is any kind of title, so Readers are given the perfect opportunity to answer the curious and explain who and what they are.
Some dioceses now call their Readers “Licensed Lay Ministers”, and other titles will emerge as ministry changes and evolves. The previous inscription “Church of England” excluded the Church in Wales where Readers also have a busy and extensive ministry. Chairman of the CRC, the Bishop of Sodor and Man, the Rt Rev Robert Paterson, has said “This refreshing of the logo demonstrates the exciting future for Readers as people trained in theology, working at the margins of the church by sharing the gospel in community, and firmly committed to being lay.”
Readers today take their vocation and theological training out into work, leisure activities, schools, chaplaincy, Fresh Expressions and many other spheres. There’s a Reader who is a barber – what better place than to talk of the things of God! Another is a medic in the Army, and finds her ministry serving her fellow soldiers. Another serves the farming community through these difficult times. Readers’ presence in rural teams means that worship is maintained across scattered communities. The Diocese of Europe has a strong contingent of Readers and others spread from the West Indies to Singapore and Australasia.
The Central Readers’ Council is an independent charity but constituted within the Church of England under Archbishops’ Council. The Chairman, Rt Rev Robert Paterson, Bishop of Sodor and Man, sits on the Ministry Council. Its purpose is to support the 9,000 Readers licensed in the United Kingdom, the Diocese of Europe and in the Armed Forces. The Central Readers’ Council is comprised of three representatives from each of these dioceses and meets once a year. In 2013 this was on Saturday 20th April, at St Mary’s Primrose Hill. An Executive Council is tasked with the everyday administration of the CRC, and has an office within the Ministry Division at Church House, Westminster.
Christians and churches urged to pray for the media
Churches and Christians are being urged to mark Sunday 12th May 2013 as a special day of prayer for the media – and to contact their local newspaper, radio and TV station to find out what they would like prayer for.
The call comes from Christian charity the Church and Media Network which works to promote links between the church and the media.
The Day of Prayer is being supported by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu and the Bishop of Bradford, Nick Baines, who have both provided prayers for the event.
Dr Sentamu’s prayer reads:
Lord Jesus Christ, you speak and bring all that is seen and unseen into being: we give you thanks for the gift of the media to reach the far flung places of the earth with messages of hope and life.
We give you thanks for those who risk their security and even their lives to expose injustice and to bring news of hope.
May they strive to be the bearers of good news that all people may come to know the abundant life for which we have been created; and yet more wonderfully redeemed in Jesus Christ.
We offer our prayer in your name, in the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of the Father. Amen.
The prayer from Bishop Nick Baines reads:
God, Whose ‘let there be’ kicked life into being, Enliven us who by our word and image Shine light on truth.
God, Whose ‘word made flesh’ Showed us the face of the father, Open our eyes to see through your eyes The truth about the world.
God,
Whose breath gives life to creation,
Breathe through us,
That our words and work might bring life and hope
In the light of the truth you show us.
In the name of the word made flesh
Who turned flesh into word. Amen.
BBC Radio 2 ‘Pause for Thought’ and Premier Radio broadcaster the Revd Tony Miles, chairs the Church and Media Network. He said: “The British media is under scrutiny as never before. Illegal and unethical practices by some journalists have combined with tough economic times and pressures from new technology to make these challenging
times for everyone working in the media.”
Tony, a Methodist minister and media chaplain based at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, added: “As Christians, we want to affirm that the media can be a positive influence for good in society and has a vital role to play in our national, local and international life. We also want to affirm those numerous people of goodwill and of faith working within the media.”
Churches are being encouraged to contact their local media to ask for points for prayer, and to invite local editors to speak at church events.
They are being asked to tweet their support for the Day of Prayer @churchandmedia and use #pray4media.
Materials for the day, written by Peter Crumpler, former Director of Communications for the Church of England’s Archbishops’ Council, are available on the Church and Media Network’s website at: http://www.churchandmedia.net/prayerday .