Church marks Ash Wednesday taking prayers to the Streets; Vicar of St George’s Church, Baghdad: no better time than Lent to reflect; Going to university; “more than getting a job”; C of E presence at UN Commission on Status of Women; Media review
Church marks Ash Wednesday taking prayers to the Streets
Worshippers from across the Church of England’s 12,500 parishes will celebrate Ash Wednesday in special services. Keeping with the centuries old tradition, worshippers’ foreheads will be marked in ash with the Sign of the Cross, from the ashes of burnt palm crosses, as a sign of the spirit of penitence with which the season of Lent is kept.
Among other special events for Ash Wednesday, the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, will be visiting All Saints Church and Teesside University in Middlesbrough taking prayer into the public domain offering to pray with people in their worries and concerns or to give thanks for their blessings.
The Bishop of Dudley, Rt Revd David Walker, will be with members of churches in Worcester, Bromsgrove and Stourbridge hitting the streets and offering to say a prayer for the people they meet. Bishop David will be collecting prayers as part of the team in Stourbridge. He said: “We know that people really appreciate somebody offering to say a prayer for them. In the past we have collected over 120 prayer requests in two hours in one location. We’ll be collecting prayers for whatever concerns the people we meet and we believe that prayer can make a real difference.”
In Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, Rt Revd John Packer, will join with other church leaders to make public witness to their shared Christian faith and values in society, supporting the work of Churches Together in Dewsbury in proclaiming the Gospel and in building community with neighbours of other faiths. The church leaders will stand where, last year, external political extremists promoted hate and abused the Gospel and stand instead for reconciliation and community relations. They will pray “for the strength to resist evil, and especially any who seek to divide and sow the seeds of distrust between our communities”.
The Bishop of Gloucester, Rt Rev Michael Perham, will be marking Ash Wednesday by scaling the heights of St Mary de Lode Church, Gloucester, to hang a banner inviting everyone to come and Experience Easter. In all, 84 large banners will be displayed outside churches in Gloucester Diocese during the lead up to Easter. “Easter is the most important date in the Church’s calendar. It is a time of tremendous celebration for Christians and we would like to share this joy with everyone. So we are literally broadcasting our message from the roof tops.”
The Church of England also has a website, www.prayoneforme.org, where anyone can post their prayer requests and know that they will be prayed. Prayoneforme.org will be supported by church groups and prayer communities across the Church of England who will pray the prayers.
Vicar of St George’s Church, Baghdad: no better time than Lent to reflect
The vicar of St George’s Church, Baghdad, has written a special reflection focusing on how Lent is a special time to refocus on God, to mark the launch of the Reflections for Lent 2013 app from Church House Publishing.
Canon Andrew White writes: “For all in this land Lent is combined with the fast of Nineveh and is an intense time of giving thanks to the Lord… In the midst of our immense suffering we remember the suffering of our Lord, culminating in his intense suffering on the Cross. That time though was also his greatest time of glory and also our greatest time of glory. So this is a time when we all draw near to God and He draws near to us. There is no better time to do this than to find time to reflect.”
The full reflection is available at: www.chpublishing.co.uk
Reflections for Lent 2013 app, containing daily reflections on Bible passages by four leading authors, produced by Aimer Media for Church House Publishing, is available from iTunes for £1.99 at http://itun.es/i6JV4Gd.
The contributors to Reflections for Lent are: the Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell (Bishop of Chelmsford), the Rt Revd Steven Croft (Bishop of Sheffield), Barbara Mosse (Anglican priest and writer) and Mark Oakley (Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral).
Going to university; “more than getting a job”
In a new booklet published this month, the Church of England’s National Higher Education Adviser says that some of the current changes to university education are in direct conflict with Christian values.
Dr Stephen Heap writes that the present individualised, instrumentalised and marketised policies for higher education are at odds with Christian approaches to education. Universities are about more than serving the economy by generating wealth and helping students to get jobs, he writes.
In “What are Universities Good For?”, Dr Heap says: “Behind the changes, even behind the increase in fees, is a view of higher education which is open to challenge in the light of Christian and more general thinking”.
He stresses that theologians have argued that universities are not only about the economy “but about holistic development, helping to form students, not just into good employees, but into good citizens and good individuals who are able to face life’s challenges and opportunities in a moral and wise way.”
Although he admits that not everyone will accept the Christian framework he says most would recognise “that human beings need to discern wisely what can best be done, not only for themselves but for the common good.” Without that, he says, higher education will fail both individuals and societies.
Speaking this week Dr Heap said: “Universities can and must contribute not just to the economy but to holistic individual and community development, helping us to live wisely in a rapidly changing world.”
The booklet also looks at the whole history of higher education in England — and its Christian roots.
CofE presence at UN Commission on Status of Women
A Church of England podcast published today highlights the issue of gender violence in the run up to the CofE’s presence next month at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW). According to the UN, one in three women around the world is raped or beaten in her lifetime.
In the CofE podcast Stella Creasy MP talks about the work of the One Billion Rising campaign which demands an end to all violence against women and urges church and faith groups to support its work.
Mandy Marshall, the CofE representative at next month’s UN Commission, said the role of churches is vital both acting as an information hub as well as offering support to women who are abused. “At the UN Commission one of my roles is to promote the importance of using the local church in addressing gender-based violence. The One Billion Rising campaign underlines this message and I would urge as many as possible to sign up to it today.”
Dr Charles Reed, the Archbishops’ Council International and Development Affairs Secretary said: “The issue of gender violence can often be overlooked but Home Office statistics show that in the UK alone, 25% of women will experience domestic abuse at some point in their lifetime. The Church of England will be using the UK Presidency of the G8 Summit to focus on two key concerns – hunger and gender-based violence.”
Mandy, who is co-director of Restored (ending violence against women) will be using social media to keep supporters updated during the Commission which runs from March 4-15.
Twitter: @UNCSWCofE Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/cofe.uncsw Blog: http://cofeuncsw.wordpress.com/ Email: cofeuncsw@gmail.com
MEDIA REVIEW
News report “Sick Rev spied on teen girls” with ref to a court case involving a CofE priest
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article4790261.ece
News report “Opus Dei to open its first secondary school in capital”
Obit – The Very Revd Michael Till former Dean of Winchester
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/30/the-very-rev-michael-till