Church of England Newspaper 03-01-14

By Katie Hornell and Cait Flynn
Advocacy group AB Colombia

released a report to parliament, in
association with Colombian jour-
nalist Jineth Bedoya Lima and
Baroness Jean Coussins, detailing
the harrowing condition of women
in Colombia who have been the
largely ignored victims of the
countrys internal conflict.
Thousands have been killed in the
process of this conflict which has been
going on over the last 60 years, but
one of the most devastating casualties
is also one of the least known. Namely
the violation and abuse of women.
This practice has created a culture
of using women as weapons of an
already violent war. As well as a socie-
ty in which women must not only live
in with a constant threat, they also
experience a systematic lack of justice
for the perpetrators.
The report revealed that women
face a constant threat of sexual vio-
lence. The violence is, however, not
used as a means of sexually violating
women, but rather as a weapon of war
to control the population.
The raping and torturing of women
in order to humiliate their families
has occurred throughout the 60-year
conflict, but especially grew in promi-
nence in the 1990s. At first done by
guerrillas in the area, and later by the
paramilitary groups as well who
began to move into formerly guerrilla-
occupied areas.
In order to demonstrate power,
impose a rule of fear, and control the
indigenous peoples of the areas occu-
pied, many native Colombian women
were raped by paramilitaries, bar-
barously tortured and sometimes left
impregnated by the invading troops.
In many reports some guerrilla fac-
tions rape the women that they have
kidnapped as sex slaves, and then
force abortions upon those same
women.
The first real study conducted on
the abuse was carried out by Oxfam
four years ago, and the study found
that there were 400,000 reported vic-
tims of this sexual violence from the
years 2001 to 2009 alone.
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Judges marriage shock
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THE
CHURCHOF
ENGLAND
Newspaper
The headlines
that defined
2013, p4
A HIGH COURT JUDGE has resigned after being
rebuked for expressing support for traditional
marriage.
Sir Paul Coleridge was given a formal warning by the
Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, and the Justice Secre-
tary, Chris Grayling, for judicial misconduct in giving
speeches and writing newspaper articles protesting
against cohabitation, pointing out the impact of family-
break up on children, and calling for greater support for
marriage.
Sir Paul was responsible as a judge for family cases
and could have served another five years. He was effec-
tively forced out of his position but he claimed to have
the support of all but one or two of his colleagues.
He has set up the Marriage Foundation as a think
tank to promote healthy, stable relationships and
undertake research to demonstrate the importance of
marriage.
An inquiry by the Office for Judicial Complaints,
which investigates complaints against judges, found Sir
Pauls speeches and newspaper articles incompatible
with his judicial responsibilities.
Sir Paul said he strongly disagreed with the inquirys
conclusions. He is due to step down from the bench at
Easter. Just before Christmas he wrote an article for the
Daily Mail saying that people who wanted to have chil-
dren should get married and claiming that supporting
marriage was something our courts no longer seem
able or willing to do.
The fact is, he wrote that the single most important
factor by far in the successful development of children
is a committed, healthy relationship between their par-
ents.
AN ICONIC building within the
precincts of York Minster was seen by
an audience of millions over the Christ-
mas period when the BBC screened
Death Comes to Pemberley, a cos-
tume drama penned by PD James
which revives the characters of Pride
& Prejudice in a nail-biting murder
mystery.
For a week during the summer, College
Street which sits beneath York Minsters
East End was transformed from modern
thoroughfare into a Georgian street, with
the entrance to St Williams College
dressed to provide an inn for heroine Eliza-
beth Darcys sister, Lydia, to elope with the
cad Wickham.
The historic college, which is owned by
York Minster, also provided the backdrop
for a number of other scenes with the inte-
rior courtyard doubling as a tavern while
the period interior rooms were also used.
Minsters street treat for
BBC drama viewers
Report to Parliament shows culture of
sexual violence for women in Colombia
Continued on page 6
www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 3, 2014 News
SOUTHWELL AND NOTTINGHAM
Six church primary schools joined with a
choir from the Samworth Church
Academy in Mansfield to take part in The
Big Sing event just before Christmas.
One school wrote their own carol
especially for the occasion and all the
choirs came together for a finale of Ding
Dong Merrily on High. Throughout the
evening the audience were reminded of
the work of Christian Aid through video
clips and conversations with Christian Aid
workers, and it is estimated that around
1200 will have been raised.
BRADFORD
St Wilfrids church in
Calverley (between
Bradford and Leeds) was
the unexpected venue for
a Strictly Come Dancing
finals event.
Organiser, Debbie
Turk, said she got the
idea when discussing the
hit show with friends. We
all agreed to go to
someones house to
watch the final, but as
more people became
interested we needed a
bigger venue, and I
couldnt think of a better
place than St Wilfrids.
Theres a big screen and
we all decided to dress up
in our best ball gowns and
tux.
WAKEFIELD
Christmas markets, knitted mice and
just like new sales were amongst the
fundraising initiatives by Barnsley
churches in their bid to set up an
emergency fund of money to help
those most in need.
The Barnsley Deanery Project was
set up in response to the Bishop of
Wakefields initiative to give every
church in the diocese 100 for a
community project to mark his tenth
anniversary as diocesan bishop and
to celebrate the Christian churches
year of mission, Hope 2014.
Most of the 20 churches that make
up the Barnsley Deanery area
decided they wanted to set up a
community project for the more
vulnerable in the town so wanted to
each grow their 100 into 1,000 and
pool their resources to build up a
crisis fund of money with which they
could help people in need.
MANCHESTER
The Bishop of Manchester, the
Rt Rev David Walker, launched a
church-backed national
advertising campaign just before
Christmas. The Bishop unveiled
the UKs biggest outdoor
religious Christmas ad depicting
a simple payday loan cheque and
the words Does Christmas have
to start with a payday loan? No!
Christmas Starts with Christ.
The ad, which is 40 feet high
and the length of three buses
(106 feet long), was part of the
Christmas Starts with Christ
poster campaign. Millions of
people are expected to see the
ad which was fixed to
scaffolding on the side of St
Anns church at the heart of
Manchesters shopping and
commercial centre.
RIPON AND LEEDS
Hundreds of walkers joined with the Rt Rev John Packer on
Boxing Day as he undertook his final pilgrimage before retiring.
The Pilgrimage took them from Ripon Cathedral to Fountains
Abbey and follows in the footsteps of a group of Cistercian Monks
who first walked from Ripon to Fountains on December 26th,
1132, and founded the Abbey. The annual event has for many
years been described by Bishop John as one of the highlights of
his year. He has led the walk each year for the past 14 years as
Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, and as the popularity of the four-mile
pilgrimage has continued to grow.
Before the pilgrims set off, a service of Holy Communion took
place at the Cathedral, which this year was led jointly by Bishop
John and the Sub-Dean of Ripon, Canon Keith Punshon.
SOUTHWELL AND NOTTINGHAM
Students from Southwell Minster School broke with tradition this year when
they were asked to make Christmas Crib figures for the Cathedrals Nativity
scene.
The pupils designed shadow images produced by light falling upon
sculptures, creating in shadow and light a Nativity scene; Angels appearing to
the Shepherds; and the Three Wise Men. The sculptures themselves are made
of coloured card, paper and wrapped presents.
School Chaplain, Father Mathew Askey explained how the idea came about:
We wanted to do something a little bit different this year, something to help us
think afresh about the story we are telling. We looked at an artist duo called
Tim Noble and Sue Webster, and at their art installations, which use both
sculptures and shadows projected on walls... we took this as our starting point
for the Crib art in the Minster. The students have been really willing to take on
this idea and think outside the box; I think they have made something that is
very memorable. And we say a big thank you! to the Minster Vergers for the
work involved in making the grottos where the art is installed.
The Dean, the Very Rev John Guille commented: This is a really imaginative
creation and one that has engaged the students in an exciting way. I am deeply
grateful to the Minster School for creating the crib scene for us this year.
The students involved in making the Crib are: Oliver Asbury, Year 11; Emma
Baskerville, Year 10; Amber Burbidge, Year 10; Alice Defriend, Year 11; Hannah
Defriend, Year 11; and Megan Fryer, Year 13.
Pictured is the whole group with Father Matthew Askey; and Amber
Burbidge with Alice Defriend in front of one of the scenes.
THE
CHURCHIN
ENGLAND
2
www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 3, 2014 News 3
Parliamentarians hear alternative
Religious Education plans
INBRIEF
Have you heard of British missionaries who
went to the ends of the earth to share the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Do you have the same desire to serve God in
an extreme mission adventure?
Bishops David Parsons and Darren McCartney are
seeking such people who are inspired to consider a
similar call to ministry. They cant offer you riches or an easy life,
but for such a time as this, when many reject biblical authority they
can offer communities in the Canadian Arctic who are seeking bible
believing clergy to teach, pastor and make disciples.
The Arctic Bishops will visit the UK during February 2014.
To set up an appointment with one of them
please contact the
Rev. Canon R. J. Tonkin,
39 Shackerdale Road, Wigston, Leicester, LE18 1BQ
Tel: 0116 281 2517.
For a complete profile of the Diocese
please contact debra@arcticnet.org.
A CALL TO
CANADIAN
ARCTIC MINISTRY
Enduring Christmas
ARCHBISHOP JOHN SENTAMU said that
for many people the Christmas festivities
were a test of survival rather than a season
of celebration.
Writing in the Yorkshire Post just before
Christmas he warned that while reports of
an economic recovery are welcome unem-
ployment remains a massive issue, especial-
ly amongst the young.
The Archbishop claimed nine million peo-
ple in the UK live below the breadline.
He attacked the Governments plans for
further public sector cuts in 2015 and
argued that there would be a knock-on
effect in the North of England, quoting a
survey that showed six of the 10 hardest
cities to find a job were in that region.
Refuting stories of people remaining on
benefits because they did not want to work,
he quoted statistics that show 24 per cent of
those actively looking for jobs had to apply
more than 40 times and that 70 per cent of
applicants never make it to an interview.
For most, unemployment is not a
lifestyle but a daily battle as they run the
gauntlet of application, job interviews and
the disappointment of constant rejection,
he wrote, adding that work is one of the
things that mark out our human dignity.
Take work away, and life is not only
tough, its meaning is challenged and we are
severely diminished as human beings.
The Archbishop reported that the Youth
Trust he established in 2008 to empower
young people to engage with their commu-
nities has seen 15,000 school children in
145 schools take part in its Young Leaders
Award designed to equip them with leader-
ship skills and be a force for good in their
local communities over the past 18 months.
Keswick development
IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS have
been announced by the trustees of the
Keswick Convention. They are looking for a
full-time chief executive and are designing
part of their programme for 2014 to appeal
to people without faith as well as committed
Christians.
The Convention attracts as many as
15,000 people to a three-week conference
each year and is now in its 138th year. Up to
now it has been led by a team of volunteer
trustees but the new CEO will be responsi-
ble for leading the strategy of the ministry,
developing the use of sites across Keswick,
and exploring partnerships with other
agencies.
The theme of the 2014 Conference is
Really? Searching for reality in a confusing
world. This year the third week will be
aimed at people who not have faith as well
as those who do.
The aim will be to help non-Christians
and Christians to explore the reality of
Jesus. Activities aimed at young people will
be ready to welcome a higher than average
number of young people without a faith
commitment.
The speakers who will address the con-
ference are Vaughan Roberts, Ivor Poobal-
an and Becky Manley-Pippert (first week);
Jonathan Lamb, Ruth Padilla De Borst and
Ian Coffey (second week); and Chris Sink-
inson, Ravi Zacharias and Roger Carswell
(third week).
A video about the coming Convention can
be seen at the Keswick Convention website.
ALTERNATIVE VIEWS on
RE were presented to
Parliamentarians in
December by individuals
and organisations who
claimed they had not
been consulted by the RE
Council when it drew up
its report on Religious
Education.
The group, who met with
the MPs and peers, said they
would provide an alternative
report to the All Party Parlia-
mentary Group early in the
New Year.
In their report the group
will argue that Religious
Education must be informed
by the actual faith and prac-
tice of faith communities and
should not be confused with
a museum approach that
speculates but expresses no
commitment.
Religion is fundamental to
the development of young
peoples identity, the forma-
tion of character and their
ability to relate to others and
wider society in distinction
from the selfish pursuit of
economic gain, said Ranjit
Singh Dander, leader for
faith inclusion with Nishkam
School Trust and a member
of the group.
Another member of the
group, James Bogle, vice-
chairman of the Catholic
Union of Great Britain,
argued that up to now the
1944 Education Act has pro-
vided an excellent frame-
work for providing an
education that families and
communities can support
and said it had helped pro-
mote harmony and toler-
ance.
Other members of the
group meeting with the Par-
liamentarians were Rabbi
Shmuel Arkush, the Rev
Nims Obunge MBE of the
Peace Alliance, Canon Chris
Sugden, Ms Shahnam Khan,
Secretary for Education for
the Muslim Council of
Britain, Dr Philip Barnes of
Kings College, London, Dr
Marius Felderhof of the Uni-
versity of Birmingham, and
Guy Hordern MBE, chair of
the Birmingham Standing
Advisory Council for Reli-
gious Education from 2004
to 2012.
EVANGELICALS have joined main-
stream Protestants in seeing a
decline in their numbers, according
to an analysis by the Director of the
Hartford Centre for Religious
Research, Dr David Roozen.
Dr Roozen claims that the only Chris-
tian churches in America that are grow-
ing are those that belong to the
Pentecostal/holiness family. Mormons
are also increasing and there is no reli-
able data for black churches.
Writing in the Christian Century Dr
Roozen says that both the US Census
for 2010 and an analysis of figures pro-
vided by the Yearbook of American and
Canadian Churches provide evidence
of decline.
Figures given by the Yearbook show
that Southern Baptist decline starting
in 2005 pushed evangelical figures as a
whole into decline. Before that date
growth had fallen from an average of
three per cent a year during the 1950s
to one per cent a year in the 1980s.
The rate of decline in mainline or old-
line Protestant denominations has
accelerated since the turn of the centu-
ry. In total the group Roozen labels
conservative Protestant has declined
from 27.8 million in 2000 to 27.5 million
in 2010.
In the same period mainline Protes-
tants have declined from 25.9 million to
22.5 million and Roman Catholics have
gone down from 62 million to 58.9 mil-
lion but Pentecostal and holiness
churches have increased their mem-
bership from 6.7 million to 7.2 million.
Dr Roozen writes that the dramatic
decline in confidence in organised reli-
gion is unmistakable. He quotes the
General Social Surveys of the National
Opinion Research Center that show a
dramatic decline of Americans saying
they have confidence in organised reli-
gion.
Surprisingly, the biggest decline
among any age group is among older
evangelicals, he points out.
As well as growth in Pentecostal
churches he sees ethnic minorities and
immigrant communities as the main
source of vitality for churches facing
overall decline. The decreasing reli-
gious participation of each new genera-
tion of young adults is affecting
virtually all religious groups, Dr
Roozen concludes.
Evangelicals join Protestant decline
Bishops new house causes a stir
A DECISION by the new Bishop of Bath and
Wells, the Rt Rev Paul Hancock, not to live
in the historic Bishops Palace at Wells has
caused controversy.
After press reports saying that the Bishop was
seeking more privacy it was revealed that the
Church Commissioners took the decision to find
a more simple home for the new Bishop before
an appointment was made.
Bishop Hancock said that he welcomed the
decision because for him to live in a palace with
14 acres of ground would run contrary to the idea
that the bishop was a servant to the diocese.
The palace has been the Bishops home for 800
years but it will not be sold. Instead it will contin-
ue to be the working headquarters of the diocese
with offices for both the diocesan bishop and the
Bishop of Taunton.
Andrew Brown, secretary to the Church Com-
missioners, said that the palace and grounds
would remain open to the public but local resi-
dents expressed the fear that the palace would
lose some of its character when it is no longer
home to the bishop.
It is understood that the Commissioners are
looking for an alternative home for the new bish-
op near to Wells. A trust has been established to
run the palace as a tourist attraction although the
working life of the palace will continue.
The Bishops Palace stands next to the cathe-
dral at Wells and is surrounded by a moat. Work
on the palace started in 1210 and a Bishops
House was added in the 15th century.
JANUARY
The Rt Rev Justin Welby is elected Arch-
bishop of Canterbury is elected after
Archbishop Rowan Williams steps down.
The end to the ban on gay bishops in
the Church of England provoked a range
of reactions within the Church and out-
side of it.
The recently retired Archbishop of
Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is awarded
a life Peerage by the Queen.
Major Christian charities and organiza-
tions point out that the newly proposed
welfare cuts will impact children and
families.
FEBRUARY
Recently stepped-down Archbishop of
Canterbury Rowan Williams meets
Richard Dawkins to debate at Cam-
bridge University Union on topics con-
cerning religion and science.
A skeleton with battle wounds was
identified as that of King Richard III,
found in archaeological dig in Leicester.
Bishops and clergy on behalf of the
Church of England wrote letters to MPs
in opposition to the vote concerning gay
marriage.
In an official ceremony new Archbish-
op of Canterbury Justin Welby was offi-
cially installed as the Primate of the
Church of England.
The Bishop of Bath and Wells wrote a
letter to the government asking them to
focus on schools and not get hung up on
structures.
In response to a retired priest being
sentenced to eight years in prison on
child abuse charges Archbishop Welby
says he is appalled by the betrayals
and failings in the Church when it comes
to handling accusations of child abuse.
MARCH
It was revealed that the highest number
of young people in ordination training in
20 years had peaked (22 per cent of
those enrolled were under 30).
Thousands gather at Trafalgar Square
in support of traditional marriage against
the vote for gay marriage.
APRIL
The Archbishop of Canterbury cele-
brates Easter.
The much-dreaded Government wel-
fare cuts came into effect on 1 April and
came under attack by the Church.
Bishops got on their knees to shine the
shoes of passers-by on Maundy Thurs-
day.
Ex-Prime Minister Baroness Margaret
Thatcher dies. The funeral was held in
central London despite protests.
The Church of Englands new report
on marriage was universally condemned.
Archbishop Welby met with gay cam-
paigners.
MAY
The Dean of Jersey apologises in a long-
running row over the implementation of
protection issues and is reinstated.
New figures reveal that church atten-
dance for weekly and Sunday services is
stable.
A bid is made in the House of Lords to
protect children from porn.
JUNE
The nation celebrates the 60th corona-
tion anniversary.
The new Bishop of Manchester is
named as the Rt Rev Dave Walker.
The new Archbishop of Canterbury
met with Pope Francis.
Bishops in the House of Lords sig-
nalled an end to their attempt to throw
out plans for gay marriage.
A new Church Commissioner was
appointed: Simon Picken QC.
The removal of the phrase God from
the Girl Guide Promise causes anger.
JULY
The Church admits failures over sex
abuse carried out by clergy.
The Rt Rev Colin Bennetts dies.
Bishops bid to amend the gay mar-
riage laws.
The Bishop of Norwich backs equal
gay pension rights.
Church attendance in London grew by
16 per cent from 2005-2012 from 620,000
to 720,000.
A committee of General Synod was
announced forming membership of the
steering committee for the preparation of
the draft legislation on women bishops.
AUGUST
Church welcomes the Royal baby. Arch-
bishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said:
I am delighted to congratulate the Duke
and Duchess of Cambridge on the arrival
of their baby boy.
The safeguarding investigation into
the Dean of Jerseys handling of an
abuse complaint begins. But some
parishioners in Jersey express their con-
cerns.
The governments anti-immigration
tactics of using vans with adverts urging
immigrants to go home was condemned
by many members of the church.
The Church is largely split over the
fracking debate, with some critics saying
that it is a cocktail of toxic chemicals
being put into the earth, and supporters
claiming its the best way to support our
contemporary lifestyle.
Greenbelt music festival features two
speakers who are accused of being anti-
Israel. Greenbelt says it is giving a plat-
form for all the voices in Christianity.
SEPTEMBER
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishops
in the House of Lords, and MPs all voted
against military action in Syria.
More children are now living in pover-
ty than in the 1960s says the National
Childrens Bureau.
Wales opens the door to women bish-
ops by approving the consecration of
women to the episcopate by a single bill.
A survey by the National Centre for
Social Research found a more liberal atti-
tude towards social issues such as homo-
sexuality and children born outside
marriage.
Britain gets its first woman bishop in
the Rev Patricia Storey, who was appoint-
ed by the Church of Ireland and is the
first Anglican woman bishop on the
British Isles.
OCTOBER
The Church Commissioners are part of a
consortium of investors taking over 314
Royal Bank of Scotland branches across
the UK, now holding a 10 per cent stake
in the bank.
The Speaker of the House of Com-
mons opened a special free school, a
partner of a celebrated London Church
of England School.
The Church of South India consecrat-
ed its first woman bishop.
The Archbishop of Canterbury accept-
ed an invitation to attend a meeting of the
Primates Council of the Fellowship of
Confessing Anglicans of the Gafcon
movement.
A Bolton vicar lost 18 members of his
family in the Pakistani bomb attack on a
church.
The Perth Diocesan synod endorsed a
resolution affirming civil same-sex
unions.
Renowned evangelist the Rev Dr Billy
Graham offered a scathing critique of
the US governments domestic and for-
eign personal data collection pro-
grammes, calling them an attack on
liberty.
Statistics produced by the Research
and Statistics Division of the Archbish-
ops Council show a steady increase in
the number of women clergy and a
declining number of stipendiary clergy.
NOVEMBER
The Bishop of Southwell and Notting-
ham announced that the rate of the new
nationwide Living Wage is to be 7.65.
A married vicar was suspended for at
least eight years following an eight-
month affair with a teenager from his
congregation.
The Archbishop of Perth withheld his
consent to a synod motion affirming
same-sex marriage.
Christian relief organisations mount
massive operations to assist the victims
of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines
and the Archbishop of Canterbury said
he was deeply shocked and saddened to
hear of the loss of thousands of lives and
of the suffering caused to millions by the
storm.
The Archbishop of York stressed the
importance of evangelism in the life of
the Church when he took part in a
debate on the subject at General Synod.
The Bishop of Oxford backed a move
to improve rights for asylum seekers
who come out of the care system, aged
18.
The Bishop of Derby hit out at super-
markets such as Tesco for selling lads
mags that degrade women.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is cau-
tiously hopeful that women in the epis-
copate will soon be a reality, following
General Synods approval of new legisla-
tion.
A NSM priest in the Diocese of Oxford,
the Rev Christopher Tadman-Robins a
former magistrate was sentenced to
prison for child abuse.
DECEMBER
In its first pages the House of Bishops
Working Group on human sexuality
recognises that the issue is far from
being a marginal matter but also one that
is a difficult issue to resolve.
There was a mixed response in the
Church of England to the Pilling report.
One member of the group, the Bishop of
Birkenhead, the Rt Rev Keith Sinclair,
declined to sign the document. He sub-
mitted an appendix outlining his under-
standing of Scriptures teaching on
same-sex relationships.
The Church of Scotland reaffirmed its
opposition to same-sex marriage.
The newly formed Sunday Assembly -
often dubbed, The Atheist Church - has
enjoyed nine months of dramatic growth.
Beginning in a deconsecrated church
and adopting many elements of the
Christian service format, it provoked a
range of reactions from churchgoers.
The dangers of pornography were
highlighted by bishops in the House of
Lords as they backed calls to strengthen
controls to stop children accessing inap-
propriate material.
Nelson Mandela, described by the
Archbishop of Canterbury as South
Africas amazing grace, died and was
remembered in a broadcast service from
St Martin-in-the-Fields.
The news headlines that dominated 2013
By George Conger
SEX, MONEY and politics
dominated the news of the
Anglican world outside of
England in 2014.
Disputes over doctrine and
discipline surrounding ques-
tions on human sexuality ani-
mated overseas church
discussions in 2013. The politi-
cal battles over gay marriage in
England, France, New Zealand
and a number of American
states had their counterparts
within the Anglican world lead-
ers.
Not all the talk was about gay
marriage, however. At years
end, a US federal court struck
down portions of a Utah law
banning polygamy, prompting
one Episcopal priest to cele-
brate.
The Presiding Bishop of the
Episcopal Church, the Most Rev
Katharine Jefferts Schori, also
challenged the churchs doctri-
nal boundaries in a May sermon
when she denounced the Apos-
tle Paul as a jealous bigot for not
seeing the gifts of God at work
in the slave girl whom he
released from demonic bondage
as reported in Acts 16:16-34.
Salvation comes not from
being cleansed of our sins by
the atoning sacrificial death of
Jesus Christ, the Presiding
Bishop argued in her sermon,
but through the divinization of
humanity through the work of
the human will.
Bishop Jefferts Schori offered
an equally impassioned sermon
in South Carolina in February,
likening her opponents in the
schism in that diocese to terror-
ists and murderers. Its not ter-
ribly far from the state of mind
evidenced in school shoot-
ings, or in those who want to
arm school children, or the
terrorism that takes oil
workers hostage, she said.
The Episcopal Churchs
property wars saw an
upswing of activity, while a
local court in California
ruled against a breakaway
parish in favor of the Dio-
cese of Los Angeles in one
long-running case, and the
Supreme Court of Virginia
ruled against a breakaway
parish in its dispute with a
diocese, the Supreme Court
of Texas and a local court in
Illinois held there was no bar
under civil or ecclesial law to
a diocese withdrawing from
the national Episcopal
Church.
In South Carolina, the dio-
cese won several early
rounds in the fight with the
national church in its bid to
quit the Episcopal Church,
while in Recife the break-
away diocese successfully
appealed a lower court rul-
ing that would have turned
over its property to the
Anglican Episcopal Church of
Brazil. Brazil also witnessed a
schism from the left in 2013, as
the largest Anglican Church in
South America, St Pauls Cathe-
dral in Brasilia, quit the
province to resume its historical
status as a Church of England
chaplaincy.
Church splits in Central Africa
were almost brought to a con-
clusion in 2013. At the Church
of the Province of Central
Africas synod in November,
Archbishop Albert Chama
reported the Kunonga schism
had been successfully conclud-
ed with the countrys Supreme
Court ruling against the bid by
breakaway bishop Dr Nolbert
Kunonga to seize the property
of the dioceses of Harare,
Masvingo and Manicaland for
his Anglican Church of Zim-
babwe.
While the cathedral in Harare
and most of the provinces
schools, churches, hospitals
and other properties were
restored to them by the courts,
reports of Kunonga die-hards
holding on to properties with
the connivance of local police
officials were reported at years
end.
The provinces of Central
Africa and Sudan voted against
dividing into national churches
in 2013. Delegates to the
November synod meeting in
Lusaka voted against spitting
Central Africa into three
provinces Malawi, Zambia and
Zimbabwe, while the November
synod meeting in Bor of the
Episcopal Church of the Sudan
voted against splitting the
church into a northern and
southern province. It did how-
ever vote to rename itself the
Episcopal Church of South
Sudan and Sudan.
Central Africa was the hold
out, however, in a year that saw
considerable gains for women
clergy. While the Central
African synod voted down a
motion put forward by the Dio-
cese of Harare to allow women
clergy, women bishops were
appointed and elected across
the globe. The Church of Ire-
land appointed its first woman
bishop, while the Anglican
Church of Australia saw its first
woman diocesan bishop elect-
ed, as did the Church of South
India. An English female priest
was elected a bishop in New
Zealand and two women took
their place in the House of Bish-
ops in the Anglican Church of
Southern Africa. The Diocese
of Ballarat, one of the last hold
outs against allowing women
clergy in Australia, ordained its
first female priests at years end
while commentators predict a
woman priest will be elected a
bishop in Uganda.
Secular issues also animated
the life and the work of the
church in 2013. Bishops in the
Church of Ceylon backed their
government in a spat with the
Commonwealth over human
rights abuse claims leading
Archbishop Desmond Tutu to
call for a boycott of the Novem-
ber CHOGM meeting in Colom-
bo. Archbishop Tutu played a
prominent role in the cere-
monies marking the death of
Nelson Mandela in December,
while the Bishop of Egypt, Dr.
Mouneer Anis, played a promi-
nent role in Egypts second
Arab Spring.
Corruption remained a prob-
lem in parts of the Communion,
the Churches of North and
South India saw two bishops
removed from office, and
retired bishops arrested for
fraud and corruption. Corrup-
tion allegations paralyzed the
Diocese of Sabah, and led to
police questioning of bishops in
South Africa and Zambia, while
the election of a new primate of
Tanzania was marred by
charges of vote buying.
Abuse investigations animat-
ed the secular press in Aus-
tralia, as a Royal Commission
investigated institutional
responses to child abuse. Mis-
handling of Australian abuse
claims led the Bishop of Grafton
to resign, and saw church lead-
ers admit before the commis-
sion that they did not follow the
churchs published guidelines
on abuse reporting.
Census reports and statistical
studies published in 2013 paint-
ed a picture of a church in
decline in some parts of the
Communion. The Episcopal
Church reported that while its
losses appeared to have stabi-
lized, over the past 10 years
there were 24 per cent fewer
people in church on Sundays.
New Zealand census figures
reported an even steeper
decline in that country, with
Anglicans declining by 17 per
cent in seven years.
Persecution was a constant
factor in the life of Anglicans in
Nigeria, the Sudan, Zanzibar,
Pakistan and the Middle East
in 2013. Over 105,000 Chris-
tians were killed because of
their faith in 2012, an Italian
sociologist reported in Janu-
ary, with reports from Africa,
India and Asia showing a
surge in anti-Christian perse-
cution over the Christmas holi-
days
The depredations of Boko
Haram, which has vowed to
drive out all Christians from
Northern Nigeria either by
death or expulsion has led to
the deaths of hundreds of peo-
ple, while the Taliban has
ramped up its campaign in Pak-
istan against religious minori-
ties Christians, Shiites,
Ahmadiya and Hindus.
However, the single largest
gathering of overseas Angli-
cans, the Global Anglican
Future Conference (GAFCON)
held in Nairobi in October, saw
a new enthusiasm for mission,
evangelism and renewal.
The collapse of the authority
and relevance of the existing
instruments of unity for the
Anglican Church a point con-
ceded by the Archbishop of
Canterbury since Lambeth
2008, and the retreat by Arch-
bishop Justin Welby from the
world scene, has seen a more
aggressive overseas policy from
the Episcopal Church and con-
servative global south Angli-
cans.
A year of sex, money and politics
PRIORY AUTOMOTIVE WISH ALL READERS
"A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND
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The team at Priory Automotive would like to take
this opportunity to pass on the compliments of
the season to all readers. They would also like
to thank the customers who took delivery of their
new car from Priory, and helped to make this year
so successful. They know from their feedback
just how happy they all are, and Priory promise
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FuithfuI
Sheep
Ministries
TimeIy ibIe Teuching
in un Age of
Confusion und ChuIIenge
www,fsmins,org
www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 3, 2014 Letters 6
Love your Lord before neighbour
Sir, The core of Mrs Roes letter regarding the judge-
ment on Peter & Hazelmary Bulls situation appears
to be her statement Not all Christians share the
Bulls understanding of the Gospel as a book of
rules.
It is hard to see how she arrived at this judgement.
I know of no one who holds such a view; certainly
the Bulls do not.
Mrs Roe is free to hold her own convictions
regarding same-sex issues. What she is not free to
do is to quote only half a text (re love of neighbour
). The full text says (Mark 12:30-31, English Stan-
dard Version): 30 And you shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The
second is this: You shall love your neighbour as
yourself. There is no other commandment greater
than these.
It is quite improper to focus on loving your neigh-
bour, unless you first love the Lord your God. Mrs
Roe may find it hard to understand - and will proba-
bly not accept - but the Bulls were seeking to honour
the first part of the commandment (from which the
second half gains its strength).
Their position does not come from understanding
the Gospel as a book of rules (sic); it comes from a
consideration of what the whole Bible says. Let Mrs
Roe disagree, but she needs to do her homework
first.
Ralph E Ireland,
Nottingham
Remembering Mandela
Sir, The Christian attitudes of love, joy, peace, for-
giveness and reconciliation which are at the centre
of the Christmas message were remembered last
week as key in the life of Nelson Mandela, despite all
he suffered. How different was the response in the
hearts of the Islamic extremists who killed a young
soldier in the belief they were doing what was right
and just.
I know which understanding of God I prefer and
which can bring peace for this world.
J Longstaf f,
Woodford Green, Essex
Taking issue with Jesus
Sir, If I were still in full-time parish ministry, I
think I might adopt the practice of starting mar-
riage services with these words from Mark 10:6-9
Jesus said - In the beginning at the time of cre-
ation God made male and female, as the scripture
says, and for this reason a man will leave his
father and mother and unite with his wife. So they
are no longer two but one. Man must not separate,
then, what God has joined together.
People would of course be free to think this was
rubbish, but at any rate it would be clear that they
were taking issue not with me, but with Jesus!
The Rev Canon Roy Lawrence,
Via email
Write to The Church of England Newspaper, 14 Great College Street,
Westminster, London, SW1P 3RX. or you can send an E-mail to
letters@churchnewspaper.com. Tweet at @churchnewspaper
If you are sending letters by e-mail, please include a street address.
NB: Letters may be edited
The nature of sexual humiliation and
shame within the culture, however, sug-
gests that there are many more cases
that were not reported, and that the fig-
ure could be over a million. Of the
400,000 reported cases, however, still
only two per cent of the abusers were
brought to justice by the Colombian
state.
Since the practice became especially
prominent in the 1990s, the use and
abuse of women to control society and
gain territory has continued to develop
into a systematic practice of violating
women to shame and control families in
order to control the indigenous popula-
tion and seize their properties and
goods.
Though the threat of sexual violence of
this manner looms over the whole popu-
lation of women in Colombia, women in
rural areas, especially Afro-Colombian
and indigenous women, are particularly
at risk due to their remote location.
Afro-Colombian and indigenous
women are targeted in large part due
to their race. These minority
women, even though there are more
minorities that outnumber the major-
ity in Colombia, are targeted simply
because they are seen as less than
because of their race, says Colom-
bian Journalist Jineth Beyoda Lima,
who spoke through an interpreter.
Lima has covered the Colombian
conflict her whole career, and has
experienced the oppression of
women firsthand. A few years ago
she reported on the story of a local
fisherman on Colombias Pacific
coast who was ordered to smuggle
drugs with his goods for the Bandas
Criminales (one of Colombias largest
criminal groups).
When he refused, his 11-year-old
daughter was raped by his aggressors.
This young girl was abused to reprimand
her fathers refusal to
smuggle a kilo of
cocaine.
Horrific stories like
this are accepted as a
happenstance of life
in Colombia, and the
police system often
doesnt even recog-
nize rape as a true
crime but rather the
consequence of other
crimes.
For instance, a
woman could be kid-
napped and raped,
but the law will only
pursue the crime of kidnapping because
the rape came as a result of that one
crime, as opposed to charging the perpe-
trator on simultaneous counts of rape
and kidnapping.
The machista country and patriarchal
model discriminates and empowers the
male combatants, says Lima. They see
womens bodies as weapons to harm
their enemies.
Though this abuse is widespread and
reports are well known, women are
nonetheless made to feel isolated in their
abuse and feel the need to remain silent
out of shame and lack of faith in the
Colombian government and in society.
There is a lack of faith in Colombia.
Women say why would I go through the
process to report it if nothing is going to
be done, said Lima.
Lima herself was a victim of the sexual
violence that so many women experi-
ence. Even though she has an estab-
lished voice and career in Colombia, and
she has the legal and financial support of
numerous groups throughout the inter-
national community, in 13 years her
aggressors havent been tried or held
accountable for their crimes.
Though the victims are casualties of
the internal war with the Colombian pop-
ulation, the issue of sexual violence is
considered by most Colombian men to
be a womens issue, and most Colombian
men dont see themselves as part of the
solution.
So as the peace talks between guerrilla
factions and the Colombian government
come to a head, Lima and AB Colombia
fear that the welfare of women will drop
on the priority list.
The peace talks are an important
moment for women, and the biggest
challenges revolve around impunity.
Its going to be a massive challenge
to give the victims access to truth,
says Lima.
In the last few years much of the
financial reinforcements to the
NGOs that are responsible for the
support women receive has been
reduced because of the financial cri-
sis in Europe as well as current
Colombian administration. You
have this president telling everyone
that Colombia is fine; Colombia is
fine! Look were having peace talks,
but Colombia is not fine! says Lima.
The report is hoping to encourage
financial support to these NGOs and
womens organizations. Legislative sup-
port is crucial, but we still have major
deficits in truth and justice. We have
excellent laws, but theyre not put into
place. We have to support the over 70
womens organizations that work
throughout the country, says Lima.
She also reiterates the importance of
cultural change: Its a shame that the
government has made no effort to
change mens perception of women.
That has to be done ourselves. Luckily,
these womens groups are doing a lot to
give the psychological, physical, and
legal support sexual violence victims
need.
Culture of Sexual Violence for Women in Colombia Report: Continued frompg 1
J John
If you listen to what people say at the end of
December I expect that you will hear someone
talk about putting off the old year and putting on
the new. Its a seasonal version of that deep-seat-
ed human desire: the wish to start all over again.
Who of us has not at some time wished that we
could have a new beginning? To have a second
opportunity at a day, a year or even a life?
Very few people can look at
their past without some sense
of regret, some awareness that
they could have done more that
was good and less that was bad.
Could do better is the verdict
most of us have over our past.
This promise of a new start is
the appealing attraction of a
New Year.
Oprah Winfrey, whom we
might have thought had little to regret, has said:
Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us
to get it right. It is a toast that many people
would echo.
Yet there are problems with the hope that the
New Year offers. For one thing, what we are
does not conveniently end at midnight on 31
December, as if the passing of the year somehow
wiped the stains off the slate of human nature.
Indeed, much of the unease we feel when we
look at our past is due to the uncomfortable real-
isation that yesterdays pattern is likely to be
repeated tomorrow.
The mistakes of 2013 will most probably reap-
pear in 2014.
Far from being able to stride out bold and free
into the landscape of the New Year, we find our-
selves weighed down by bad habits and weak-
nesses. Like the unfortunate Bill Murray in the
film Groundhog Day we find that we are con-
demned to endlessly relive our failures.
The New Year becomes not so much a source
of new hope, but a merciless cycle for a repeat
performance.
In fact, many people are so aware of the cer-
tainty of their moral failure that the only resolu-
tion they can consider is to avoid resolutions.
Can we hope for a new life, whether at a New
Year, or at any time? It is significant how little
hope or help there is on offer. Biology coldly tells
us that we are inescapably programmed by our
genes to be what we are.
The wisdom offered by psychologists and soci-
ologists tell us that it is our upbringing or our
culture that locks us into who we are.
Reincarnation holds out the possibility of a
better luck next time! Elsewhere in the reli-
gious systems of the world we find
only a faint hope that God (or the
gods) may if we are good or
lucky overlook our mistakes.
If we survey the world of belief
and knowledge we find the prom-
ise of genuine change is only to be
found with one person, Jesus
Christ. He offers new life in the
fullest possible way. He deals with
the past as God for us, giving for-
giveness and in doing so preventing past failures
from contaminating our future. He gives us
encouragement for the future by offering us the
gift of the Holy Spirit as God with us. We can
travel unburdened and with Gods presence into
the future.
Interestingly, the origin of the wish to put off
the old and put on the new probably comes from
something the apostle Paul wrote to the church
in Ephesus: You were taught, with regard to
your former way of life, to put off your old self,
which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
and to put on the new self, created to be like God
in true righteousness and holiness,(Ephesians
4:22-24).
This New Year, why not resolve in those words
of Paul to put off the old and to put on the new
self? We cant alter the past, but we can bring the
past to the altar of God. So lets bring our past to
God and embrace the future with him into 2014
with anticipation and expectation for new begin-
nings and possibilities.
The Church should not fear unpopularity
The Church was born into peril and powerlessness with
the birth of the Christ child, the Lord of the Church. We
could say that Mary was the first Christian disciple,
Joseph with her, the shepherds were the first congrega-
tion to be engaged by this Messiah and his power of love.
Our lectionary after Christmas then brings us to the hor-
ror of Holy Innocents day, recalling King Herods brutal
murder of children in order to kill the baby Jesus, but
Mary and Joseph had fled.
The earliest Christians stressed this peril in which the
Lord of the Church was plunged at the start of his life with
us, and then of course they witnessed to Good Friday, the
brutal end of his life. Jesus was indeed the suffering ser-
vant of God of Isaiah 53, who took the pathway of truth
and suffering love, exposing, judging and defeating sin
and evil by this death and resurrection.
The Church is defined as those disciples of Christ cruci-
fied and risen, and as such those prepared to take the way
of Jesus along with him. As St Paul asks us, along with his
readers in Rome, Do you not know that all of us who have
been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death? The new Bishop of Rome, Francis, rightly says that
the Church is not just another Non-Governmental Organi-
zation, if Jesus is not at its defining centre it is no longer
the Church.
The Church of England in its upper structures needs to
hear this Christocentric summons loud and clear as it ven-
tures into the New Year. The parishes clearly are centred
in Christ, preaching the Gospel of Jesus and offering his
love to the neighbourhoods they serve. That local pres-
ence of the parish churches up and down the land shows
that establishment itself need not get in the way of the
Gospel. It is however the superstructure that is in danger
of blurring the core heartbeat of the Body of Christ, blur-
ring it by a growing temptation to implement governmen-
tal norms and secular Zeitgeist as nice.
Senior appointments in particular are in danger of being
heavily influenced by this criterion of acceptability to mod-
ern culture. In particular the Churchs doctrine of creation
as regards sexual behaviour is now increasingly at the
mercy of the state, and also it seems of whether church
leaders seem nice according to the catechism of
Stonewall.
And, likewise, the determined efforts by some, for the
nicest possible reasons, to forward a religious cultural rel-
ativism which undermines the claims of Christ crucified to
be the Way the Truth and the Life in favour of his being an
interesting and accidental religious figure in the great mix
of faiths. Here we are departing from the one holy catholic
and apostolic faith and ceasing to be Church.
The task of the Church is to summon the lost to saving
faith in Jesus, however counter-cultural and unpopular
that summons may be to hostile secular culture.
C
o
m
m
e
n
t
There are
problems with
the hope that
the New Year
offers
Putting off the old,
putting on the new
www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 3, 2014 Leader & Comment 7
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Born gay or made gay?
The American gay magazine The Advocate raised eyebrows when
it made Pope Francis its person of the year because of his
comment on homosexuality who am I to judge? Someone
who is prepared to judge is General Synod member and
founder of Christian Concern, Andrea Minichiello Williams.
Ms Williams is no stranger to controversy but her latest
comments have provoked outrage in the gay
community. Speaking at a conference in Jamaica to
lobby against repealing a law outlawing gay sex, she
appeared to suggest that Tom Daley was gay
because his father had died of cancer. She used
this to support her claim that homosexuality is
not inborn but often the result of a lack of a
father, or abuse. The Bishop of Chichester, the
diocese which Ms Williams represents in synod,
was quick to condemn her comments. Stonewall
expressed its sorrow and Changing Attitudes
labelled her comments a bigoted outburst that
amounts to dangerous hate mongering.
According to a report in The Independent, Ms
Williams was unavailable for comment but she
may take up her controversial views again when
she speaks this month at a conference for the ex-
gay movement on conversion therapy.
Awkward Archbishop
Archbishop Desmond Tutu made headlines around the world
when he announced he had not been invited to Nelson Mandelas
funeral. Word soon spread that the politicians didnt want him at
the service. The ANC had to deny it was trying to snub the
Archbishop because he had criticised the party and Dr
Tutu duly received his invitation. You dont play around
with Desmond Tutu! If he thinks it necessary in the cause
of justice, he can be an awkward customer. A story told
about him pictures the Archbishop arriving at the gates of
heaven after his own death. St Peter has to tell him that
his name doesnt appear in the Book of Life and he must
go to the Other Place. Tutu duly disappears without
passing through the pearly gates. A week later the devil
shows up outside heaven. Youve got to take that
fellow Tutu, he tells a startled St Peter. We cant keep
him. He is giving us all hell. The joke appears in
Mark Braverman: A Wall in Jerusalem.
Whispering
T
h
e
Gallery
Boosting your immunity
Atishoo!!! Tis the season to be unwell unless of course
you have a really strong immune system. But how do we
boost it?
According to US researchers people who take multivi-
tamin supplements are wasting their money. The US
trial, however, was done on patients who already had
poor cardiovascular health, some had Angina, diabetes
or heart valve disease. Who would assume a multivita-
min tablet would sort those conditions out in one six-
week trial?
Dr Carrie Rushton said that: Vitamins are intended
for the maintenance of health rather than the manage-
ment or treatment of pre-existing disease normally
treated with medicines or surgery.
So what are we to do? You may find it surprising that
Im not really a vitamin pill popper, preferring wherever
possible to eat a great diet and get as many proper nutri-
ents from food. However, due to the degradation of the
soil and farming methods the reality is that its not pos-
sible to get everything we need, especially if we have
stressful lifestyles.
So how can we boost our immunity for the winter sea-
son? Well Ive banged on about it a lot but Vitamin D is
from sunshine and thats pretty much it, so supplement
with an oral spray preferably such as the Better You D3
2000 (get yourself tested to see if your levels are low).
My new immune-boosting find is Olive Leaf Extract.
Its usually very bitter tasting but Ovivo Wellness have
produced a great daily antioxidant drink which you take
for seven days and it has all manner of antibacterial and
antiviral properties as well as increasing energy.
www.ovivowellness.com
Live Healthy! Live Happy!
Janey Lee Grace
Id also recommend you remember good old
favourites such as garlic (take it crushed with some
Manuka honey to cover the taste, hot lemon and
Tumeric).
Last but not least youll be pleased to know that
chocolate is great for immunity, but sadly not the
selection box from your Christmas stocking. Im talk-
ing raw cacao: it is high in antioxidants and tastes
great as a drink or made into biscuits/cakes et al, use
raw organic coconut nectar to sweeten. Try the
starter kit from www.chocchick.com. Guilt-free choco-
late. Yum.
www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 3, 2014 Comment 8
Profits of the season
Chapter and staff at Winchester Cathedral can look back on a profitable
Christmas season. So many people wanted to visit the Cathedral Christmas
Market that local residents and councillors are complaining about the
amount of traffic it generated. On one day alone in November, 30 coaches
arrived in Winchester, full of shoppers. Around 100 exhibitors took chalets
in the market at a cost of up to 9,984 plus a daily surcharge of 12 for a
prime location. The market, which started six years ago, also features an
ice rink. The local newspaper estimated profits to the Cathedral at between
364,000 and 899,000. Last year the market increased gift shop sales by
75 per cent and the refectory profits by five per cent, according to the
Cathedrals Annual Report. The price paid by the city was long queues,
tailbacks and congestion but since local shopkeepers also benefitted from
increased trade the Christmas Market does not lack for supporters.
Customers flooded in even though on some days there was a 15-minute
wait to enter the inner close. Even without the Market, the Gallery can
recommend the Refectory. When CENs man visited in December the
scones, mince pies and Christmas cake were all of high standard although
the same cannot be said of the sculpture of the head of former Dean,
Trevor Beeson, which adorns the Refectory.
Positive Dieting
January is the month when people join gyms and resolve to lose weight after the excesses
of the festive season. A well-known American pastor is aiming to help people keep their
New Year resolutions to diet. The author of The Purpose Driven Life has just published a
new book, The Daniel Plan (Zondervan), written jointly with two doctors, Mark Hyman
and Daniel Amen, that outlines a programme that enabled him to lose 65 pounds in 2011.
The 40-day plan has also worked for members of Warrens congregation who collectively
lost 250,000 pounds last year. The Daniel Plan includes elements found in other diets such
as recipes for healthy eating and plans for exercise but it also features stress reduction,
prayer and support from other church members in small home groups. The Purpose
Driven Life sold 35 million copies; it remains to be seen how many copies The Daniel Plan
will sell but it has already featured on American TV programmes. Warren won much
sympathy after the suicide of his son, Matthew, who had a long history of wrestling with
mental illness. Warrens comment, you dont get over grief, you get through it rang bells
with many.
Hope for leadership
in 2014
Customarily having looked back at the
year in the final column of the year, I
tend to look forward in the first week of
the New Year.
My predictions are naturally gloomy,
pessimistic. They are also always com-
pletely obvious; for example last years
prediction that gay marriage would
become law during 2013. I tend to make
predictions that are completely safe bets.
Id never risk anything on my favourite
football team (Arsenal) though I may
have to revise my usual doom-monger-
ing there, or on the England cricket
team.
Its fairly safe to say that the English
are always going to be beaten by a hun-
gry Australian team, especially when the
summer of cricket did little more than
expose the batting frailties of the current
team.
I have to say that I hope the England
coach survives the fall-out from this ill-
fated tour of Australia. He is one of the
people I most admire in sport. It was just
over 10 years ago, in 2003, that he and
his fellow Zimbabwean, the black bowler
Henry Olonga wore black armbands dur-
ing the Cricket World Cup to protest the
death of democracy in their country.
This ended the cricket career of both
men and put them and their families in
danger. Yet both men have conducted
themselves with tremendous dignity.
The same goes for the late, great Nel-
son Mandela. I have heard a number of
people make comments about his terror-
ist past but that merely confirms the fact
that the trajectory of his leadership
towards peace and reconciliation was a
powerful journey through suffering, iso-
lation, patience and imprisonment.
His story of forgiveness is quite simply
the most profound and powerful witness
to the possibility of reconciliation. It is to
Mandela that the primary credit lies in
the fact that South Africa didnt descend
into the kind of genocidal violence that
was seen elsewhere on the African sub-
continent in the same historical period.
Sadly, we see few examples of great,
compassionate and courageous leader-
ship today. It is probably unfair to con-
trast the selfies taken by the Danish
Prime Minister with David Cameron and
Barack Obama against the example of
Mandela. Margaret Thatcher, another
leader of tremendous significance,
whose legacy is much disputed, must be
seen as a much more serious figure than
our political leaders today.
Whatever your view on the politics of
either Mandela or Thatcher, or for that
matter many other leaders of that era,
were figures of much greater gravitas
than our current crop (Lech Walesa,
Gorbachev, and Ronald Reagan also
spring to mind).
The problem it seems to me is that
constant polling and PR that now infects
our politics. Every policy is now weighed
by focus groups and floated in public to
gauge how popular it is. There is no con-
viction and very little ideology any more.
It is no longer possible to make even
the most simplistic statements about the
differences between our political parties.
For example, is it possible to say that
Labour favour a bigger state and Conser-
vatives favour a smaller one. Yet even at a
time of supposedly biting austerity the
Conservative government has cut the
size of the State by a mere three percent
and the Labour Partys cuts would be lit-
tle different in terms of scale.
We now long for leaders and politicians
who will nail their colours to the mast
and stick to them rather than u-turning
at the slightest flicker of controversy.
Politicians may pride themselves on lis-
tening to the public, but the public
despises them for not sticking to their
guns. We want our leaders to lead and to
serve, rather than to be led by spin doc-
tors and the media.
Ill make no predictions this year, Ill
merely express the hope that well see
some leadership this year. Both the Pope
and the Archbishop of Canterbury have
the opportunity, the profile and the gifts
to take up that mantle of leadership in
the vacuum left by our forgettable politi-
cians. One of the most poignant images
of the year was the picture which
showed Pope Francis embracing a man
scarred by disfiguring tumours. And it is
striking that the Archbishop of Canter-
burys intervention on pay-day loans,
debt and banking this year have struck
such a chord in the public mind.
Christian leadership is about more
than setting a decisive direction, it is also
about service and sacrifice. It is a gift to
the Church and the world.
A Happy New Year to all the readers of
The Church of England Newspaper.
Andrew Carey
View from the Pew
Paul Richardson
Church and World
Jesus: universally
appealing
www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 3, 2014 Comment 9
Eight days after celebrating Christs birth, the Church
at the Feast of the Epiphany emphasises that he came
as saviour for all the world. The wise men travelling to
Bethlehem represent the gentiles who were to be
drawn to follow Christ as the gospel was preached
beyond the borders of Palestine.
One fact about Jesus that it is hard to dispute is his
universal appeal. One historian of American religion
has pointed out that while different groups have given
up on different elements in Christianity, no one has
given up on Jesus. Liberals have given up on miracles,
biblical inspiration and spoken of the death of God but
they have kept Jesus.
Some conservatives have given up on creeds or
ancient traditions but they have held fast to Jesus. Such
doctrines as predestination, original sin or substitution-
ary atonement have been jettisoned by some but Jesus
has remained. Beyond the church atheists and agnos-
tics usually profess their admiration for Jesus although
some try to undermine his appeal with the implausible
claim he never existed.
Jesus features in Western art, literature and music.
T.S.Eliot produced a memorable poem about the
Epiphany in his Journey of the Magi. Years after the
event one of the wise men wonders whether they jour-
neyed to see a birth or a death. He concludes: this
Birth was/ Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death,
our death.
Poets and artist can often show aspects of Christ the
theologians miss or find it hard to talk about. David
Brown has written a number of excellent books to show
how art, literature and music have contributed to the
development of Christian doctrine and growth in theo-
logical understanding and this fact has become widely
appreciated in recent years.
Now Richard Harries has produced an important
study, The Image of Christ in Modern Art (Ashgate), a
richly illustrated book that looks at how Christ has been
represented over the past 100 years in a secular world
that might have been expected to be indifferent to him.
Harries deals with a large number of artists, some
well known like Chagall, Stanley Spencer, Graham
Sutherland or Henry Moore; others less well known
like Norman Adams or Peter Ball.
The challenge for artists is to show how Jesus is at
once fully human and yet also divine. Harries tells of
going to an exhibition of bronzes at the Royal Academy
and seeing images of gods from all ages and cultures.
Surely it will not be right for Jesus to be included here
as just one more god, he thought. Then, there he was: a
thoroughly human Jesus - Seated Christ by Adriaen de
Vries with nothing to distinguish him from any other
human being.
Stanley Spencer is a modern artist who was good at
depicting the holy in the mundane. His paintings of
Christ in Cookham High Street or preaching at
Cookham regatta are famous. While theologians wran-
gled over sex, Spencer had no difficulty in fusing the
sexual and the holy in one stream of energy as Harries
puts it. Spencer wrote about how he was troubled that
everything in Cookham seemed meaningless until he
came to see that everything was in fact full of special
meaning and he needed to take off his shoes because
he was on holy ground. In Harries words, Spencer saw
all things as redeemable and painted them in their
redeemed state, as raised into true life even now.
Other painters have been good at depicting a suffer-
ing Christ who identified with the pain of the C20th.
Otto Dix painted Christ as a prisoner surrounded by
barbed wire, the barbed wire merging into a crown of
thorns.
An interesting theme developed by Harries is the
appeal of Jesus to Jewish artists. Chagalls White Cruci-
fixion is very much a Jewish Christ with the body
wrapped in a Jewish prayer shawl and Hebrew words
written over his head. For Christians the painting
shows God in Christ sharing the agony of his people
during the Nazi period; for Jews the white light coming
from the flames of the burning Torah and merging with
the white light from heaven shining on the cross
emphasises the faithfulness of the Torah, even in the
midst of destruction.
Harries quotes some words of the Red Dean of Can-
terbury, Hewlett Johnson, at the funeral of Jacob
Epstein: If we ask how it was that a boy born and bread
in the Jewish faith and never embracing any other
should become the interpreter of the sublime mysteries
of our religion, there can be no clear answer. Such mys-
teries belong to the inscrutable wisdom of God.
Harries says that the theme of his book is how artists
have responded to the challenge of Christian iconogra-
phy whilst retaining their artistic integrity. Some of the
artists he discusses like John Piper or Roger Wagner
are definitely Christian although Piper grew disillu-
sioned with aspects of the Church. Wagner is a fascinat-
ing modern painter who often depicts Christianity as a
secret and secret affair.
But a quote from Henry Moore suggests that all art
is, in some sense, religious. An artist, Moore argued
could not work without believing that life has some sig-
nificance and some meaning, which is what I think it
has.
www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 3, 2014 Feature 10
The music that made
the most noise in 2013
By Derek Walker
Plenty of musicians made news this year,
but those who created the most noise
were not necessarily those who made
the best noise. The Lady Gagas and
Miley Cyruses hit front pages and web
pages, but maybe that was making up for
deficiencies elsewhere.
Listening to where the fans speak,
rather than marketing machines, 2013
saw some welcome returns for long-dor-
mant rock artists. Black Sabbaths hia-
tus-ending 13 dbuted at number one
with a return to the sound of their
classic years, polished a little by
the influence of intervening acts.
Pondering weighty issues, they
asked God Is Dead? and ended
with a typically non-committal con-
clusion.
David Bowie seemed to catch
out just about everyone with a sur-
prise comeback. Produced again by
Tony Visconti, The Next Day was a dis-
tilled version of his more popular phases
and garnered both popular and critical
acclaim.
Not content with that unexpected
return, he made a cameo appearance on
the title track of Arcade Fires Reflektor,
but his overall legacy particularly his
Ashes to Ashes sound - left a striking
mark on the whole album. Many critics
seemed unhappy with the more dance
oriented feel of the release, but re-listen-
ing to its great predecessor The Suburbs
afterwards only confirms the vibrant
tone of Reflektor. It may have fewer
hooks, but the thoroughly enjoyable
album revels in greater layers of colour
and texture.
or should that be dou-
ble album? It had two discs,
even though the music
would comfortably fit on
one, especially if its closing
noodling was cut, as many
critics suggested. Over the
Rhines pastorally inspired
Meet Me at the Edge of the
World did the same. Both
discs saw the duo eschew
piano-based songs for a
more country-inspired sound. What has
not changed is their commitment to fine
songs. Given time, these rise to the sur-
face of the release. The fan-funded proj-
ect (reviewed in this newspaper) may not
be their best, missing
their more poignant
side, but it is a beauti-
ful complement.
Another fan-funded
Christian release to
note was Daniel
Amoss excellent Dig
Here, Said the Angel.
Brandishing trade-
mark humour, wisdom
and hooks, it is a won-
derful (whisper it)
concept album about
death, but far, far
cheerier than the idea
seems at first. A full
review is coming very
shortly, as is one of Sandra McCrackens
very fine Desire Like Dynamite.
While the mainstream side of Christian
music poured out more of the usual vac-
uous worship material (and the jury is
still out on Martin Smiths slightly more
creative Gods Great Dance Floor, Step
2) some properly crafted works
appeared. Jars of Clay consolidated the
sound of Good Monsters and Eleventh
Hour on Inland, another thoughtful
and subdued release full of
well-honed songs. It
doesnt quite match
the spacious beauty
of their dbut or the
synth-rich intricate
layers of The Long
Fall Back to Earth,
but it is a melody-
fuelled work, rich
in lyrical imagery,
that succeeds both
as an introduction
to the band and as
a satisfying addi-
tion to their
canon for long-
time fans.
Keith and
Kristyn Getty
unwrapped a
huge bundle of
favourite tracks
in their first live album.
Decorated with lap
steel and such, it
reflects their new
Nashville home and is
as highly produced as
ever.
Our review of Quer-
cus, spearheaded by
June Tabor, showed
how folk and jazz need
not be that distant
from each other and
another ECM-label
artist, pianist Keith Jar-
rett, has set aside his
jazz leanings for a clas-
sical duet with
Michelle Makarski. Their double album
of Bachs Six Sonatas for Violin and
Piano beautifully balances Bachs twin
features. The musics crispness has
enough stately qualities to give it a
refined, courtly mood; yet its colourful
sprightliness also oozes fizz and sparkle.
Two of this years most striking and
satisfying releases were from the
world genre, but the joys of Saffrons
highly sensuous, jazzy and oriental
Dawning and Bombay Dub Orches-
tras lushly ambient Tales from the
Grand Bazaar deserve more space in
a few weeks.
As the independent Todd0 has
shown this year (check out toddze-
ro.com) you do not have to go to
global corporate acts to get some of
the catchiest and tuneful music. This
section of the paper plans to keep
mining the outer fringes of the music
world to bring you the richest music
and we may even continue to mix
our metaphors for your entertain-
ment.
Bombay Dub Orchestra
Quercus
Martin Smith
David
Bowie
www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 3, 2014 Feature 11
KINDNESS
By Chris Wright
Im sure youve heard the little girls bed-time
prayer:
Dear God, please make the bad people good,
and please make the good people nice.
Kindness and goodness go together in Pauls list
and maybe thats because they need each other.
Some goodness can be very cold and clinical
being morally upright and doing everything right,
but lacking in warmth and humanity. So its helpful
to think about kindness first. Paul also puts
kindness straight after patience because he saw
both of them as essential qualities of love the first
fruit of the Spirit. Love is patient, love is kind, he
said (1 Cor. 13:4)
The essence of kindness is being thoughtful for
others more than for myself in any situation. It
means having a desire to help others, to encourage
them. It means that I put myself in the other
persons shoes and think what I would most want
or need them to do for me and then do it for
them. It means a word, or a smile, or an action, that
helps somebody else even if it might be
inconvenient or even costly, to myself. They say a
little kindness costs nothing which is often true.
But real kindness in action can certainly cost
money or time or both.
In the Bible kindness is often linked with
generosity an outpouring of loving care and
provision for somebody else. Thats biblical
kindness.
Kindness and the character of God
In the Old Testament, God is often praised for his
kindness. There is a word in Hebrew - hesed
which is so rich that it gets translated in many ways
- sometimes as faithful love, sometimes as mercy,
and in older translations, as loving kindness, or
sometimes just kindness.
Surely goodness and mercy (thats hesed)) shall
follow me all the days of my life (Ps. 23:6) - said
David, thinking of God as a shepherd who treats
his sheep with kindness, provision and protection.
Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, his
kindness endures forever the refrain that echoes
all the way through Psalm 136.
The Israelites really celebrated Gods kindness. Heres
an example:
I will tell of the kindness of the LORD,
the deeds for which he is to be praised
according to all the LORD has done for us
yes, the many good things he has done for Israel,
according to his compassion and many kindnesses
(Isa. 63:7).
So when Paul wanted to tell people in Lystra what
the one true living God is like he focused on Gods
kindness: He has shown kindness by giving you
rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he
provides you with plenty of food and fills your
hearts with joy, (Acts 14:17). That is very Old
Testament language, even though he was
addressing people who had no clue about the Bible.
Since that is what God is like, then those who
worship him must show the same character. The
Old Testament has several outstanding examples of
people showing exceptional kindness at their own
cost:
* Ruth showed kindness to her mother-in-law by
refusing to leave her, walking instead into an
uncertain future in a foreign land. Then Boaz
showed kindness to Ruth and Naomi by exercising
the duties of kinsman-redeemer and providing for
them both. The book of Ruth is a model of hesed in
action.
* David (though not always behaving in this
way), acted to show the kindness of the Lord to
Mephibosheth, the crippled son of his deceased
friend Jonathan (2 Sam. 9).
Kindness is one of the key things that God
required of his people alongside justice and
humility. Do justice, love kindness, and walk
humbly with your God (Mic. 6:8). Administer true
justice, show kindness and compassion to one
another (Zech. 7:9).
Kindness and the example of Jesus
If kindness is essentially caring for others and
their needs more than yourself, then Jesus was
kindness incarnate- kindness on two legs.
I have a friend who says he wants to write a book
on the life of Jesus and call it a theology of
interruptions. Because, as he says, so many of the
things that we read in the gospels that Jesus said or
did, happened because somebody interrupted him
when he was doing something else or on the move.
Yet Jesus responded, not with irritation and
dismissal, but with kindness and warmth.
Think of the woman with bleeding, the parents
with their children, blind Bartimaeus, the Syro-
Phoenician woman, the woman who anointed his
feet. Even on the cross he was thinking of the
needs of his mother.
And all these examples of the kindness of Jesus
were not just because he was a very nice man, or a
bit of a smiley wimp. Jesus had some pretty strong
words and actions against religious leaders and
hypocrites. But to the poor, the sick and the
marginalized people that everybody else pushed
aside to them Jesus showed amazing kindness
and gave precious time and attention to their needs.
So if being a disciple of Jesus means I ought to be
like him, why do I so often fail to take the time to be
kind to others in daily life? Often its because Im
too busy and dont want to be interrupted.
Sometimes its because Im being self-protective.
When I travel, it seems almost necessary to go into
flight mode and just push ahead: Dont cross me,
Ive gotta do what Ive gotta do. At such times, I
need to remind myself that if Christ lives in me,
then how should I be behaving towards others
around me even strangers, and even when Im
tired and under pressure (as Jesus must have
been)?
Kindness as a habit of life
We need to remember that kindness is part of the
fruit of the Spirit because it doesnt come naturally
(even though its true some people are just more
naturally kind than others). But the sort of
kindness Paul is talking about is not natural, but
spiritual, in the sense that it comes from being
filled with Gods Spirit.
Such kindness is fruit (it grows because of the
life of the Spirit within us), but it also has to be
cultivated. It has to become a habit that builds into
our character. And we know it has become a habit
only when it becomes more natural to say and do
what is kind, than not to.
It has become a habit when we feel really
wretched and bad about ourselves when, for
whatever reason, we fail to do and say what is kind,
or (even worse) when we behave in ways that we
know were downright unkind. We should be saying
How could I do that? And then, of course, we
should come back to the Lord to ask for
forgiveness and grace.
So as we go out into each day, with its travel and
its work, and its constant rubbing shoulders with
other people, why dont we ask God for
opportunities to show kindness?
Who can I thank today in shops or at work, or
on transport?
Where can I give a smile or a word of
appreciation e.g. to those who clean the streets?
How can I help out someone in need?
Who can I show the kindness of the Lord to?
Maybe this will help:
There are two places in Colossians 3 where Paul
begins a sentence with, Whatever you do (which
covers just about everything!)
First: whatever you do, whether in word or deed,
do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus (v. 17). That
means that I act as if Christ were acting in and
through me. If I were Christ, what would I do for
that other person?
Second: whatever you do, do it as working for
the Lord (v. 23). That means that I act as if the
other person were Christ. Even slaves could serve
Christ by working for their masters.
Wouldnt that make a difference to how we treat
other people? What lengths of kindness would we
show to others if we asked ourselves those
questions: What would I do for that person if I were
Christ? What would I do for that person if they were
Christ?
Richard Wurmbrand, the Romanian pastor who
was imprisoned and tortured under the Communist
regime, tells of how one day in a cell with other
people, when he had been tortured and was
hugging his only blanket, he saw another prisoner
shivering with cold in the corner.
He hugged his blanket more closely, until the
thought occurred to him, If that were Christ,
would you give him your blanket? The question
answered itself. He gave the man his blanket (and
later on, after he was freed, he wrote a book with
that question as the title).
That kind of kindness is not only what it means to
be Christlike. It is also deeply attractive as a
witness to the One who lives within us and whose
Spirit is bearing fruit in our lives.
Dame Anita Roddick (founder of Body Shop)
once said: The end result of kindness is that it
draws people to you.
With far greater conviction and truth we should
be able to say, The end result of kindness is that it
draws people to Christ.
Chris Wright is International Ministries Director of
Langham Partnership.
Kindness: a fruit of
the Holy Spirit
www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 3, 2014 Register 12
Day 1 Genesis 1-3, Psalm 1,
Matthew 1
Matthew 2
Matthew 3
Matthew 4
Day 5 Enjoy hearing the
scriptures read aloud in church
Matthew 5
Matthew 6
Matthew 7
Matthew 8
The Rev Martin Eardley All-
wood,
(Curate of the Hundred River
and Wainford Group of
Parishes) has been appointed
as Rector of the Benefice of
The Street Parishes (York).
The Rev Helen Bence,
has resigned as Assistant
Curate (known as Associate
Minister) in the Benefice of
Thurnby with Stoughton and
has been licensed as Assistant
Curate (to be known as
Associate Minister) in the
Benefice of the Cornerstone
Team (Leicester).
The Rev John Trevor Bir-
beck
Rector of Rawmarsh with
Parkgate and Assistant Curate
of Greasbrough St Mary
(Sheffield), to be also Assistant
Curate of Kimberworth and
Kimberworth Park (Sheffield).
The Rev Matthew Charles
Brailsford,
Priest in Charge of North
Ferriby, has been appointed as
Vicar of the Benefice of North
Ferriby (York).
The Rev Michael William
Brierley,
Priest-in-Charge of Tavistock
and Gulworthy (Exeter), to be
appointed to the Canonry in the
Cathedral Church of Christ and
the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Worcester.
The Rev James Buchanan,
Curate at Trinity Church,
Islington (London), to be
Senior Minister at Melville
Union Church, Johannesburg,
South Africa.
The Rev Ann-Marie Crosse,
Chaplain of the Queen
Alexander Hospital Home to be
Licensed as Priest-in-Charge
(House-for-Duty) of Brightling,
Mountfield and Netherfield
(Chichester).
The Rev Dr Kevin Stuart
Ellis
Vicar (Bartley Green, St
Michael & All Angels), Diocese
of Birmingham, to be Vicar of
Holy Island, Diocese of Bangor,
Church in Wales
The Rev Alastair Ferguson,
To be Priest-in-Charge (House-
for-Duty) of Withyham, St
Michael and All Angels
(Chichester).
The Rev Richard Ford,
having served his Title Curacy
in the Sanderstead Team
Ministry is to be licensed as
Honorary Assistant Curate of
the benefice (Southwark).
The Rev Geraldine Foster,
Interim Priest at Wroxham in
Norwich Diocese, be appointed
to the Vicarage of Watton in
the Diocese of Norwich.
The Rev Dennis F Handley,
Team Rector of Almondbury
with Farnley Tyas (Wakefield)
to be Vicar of Holy Trinity & St
Mary, Berwick (Newcastle).
The Rev Eleanor Jean,
has resigned as Assistant
Curate in the Benefice of
Thurnby with Stoughton and
has been as Assistant Curate in
the Benefice of the
Cornerstone Team (Leicester).
The Rev Susanne Jukes,
(Chaplain to HMP Full Sutton)
has been appointed as Vicar of
the Benefice of Topcliffe,
Baldersby with Dishforth,
Dalton and Skipton on Swale
(York).
The Rev Graham Miller,
Associate Vicar at St James,
Paddington (London), to be
Rector of Holy Cross,
Greenford (London).
The Rev Rosemary (Rosie)
Grania Morton,
Formerly Chaplain, Newcastle
upon Tyne Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust, Diocese of
Newcastle, has been given the
Bishops Permission to
Officiate, Diocese of
Birmingham
The Rev David Owen,
Team Vicar in the Droitwich
Spa Team Ministry and Priest-
in-Charge of Salwarpe with
Hindlip & Martin Hussingtree
is to be Rector of the Chet
Valley benefice (Norwich).
The Rev Kevin Parkes,
Part time Chaplain in the
Hillingdon Hospital Foundation
Trust (London), to be:
Healthcare Chaplain,
(Southwark).
The Rev Dr Anna Poulson,
SSM Curate at St John, Southall
(London), to be: Part time
Associate Vicar of St John,
Southall (London).
The Rev Mark Poulson,
Incumbent of St John, Southall
(London), to be: Part time
Incumbent of St John, Southall
and Adviser for Inter Faith
Matters (Presence and
Engagement and Kings Centre
in Southall), (London).
The Rev Martin Powell,
Incumbent of New Addington
to be Incumbent:
Aldingbourne, Barnham &
Eastergate (Chichester).
The Rev Canon Robert
Reiss,
has been appointed part-time
Ministry and Training
Consultant (temporary) and
will hold the Bishop of
Southwarks Permission to
Officiate.
The Rev Eric Robinson,
Chaplain to St Oswalds
Hospital, Worcester, has been
appointed as Assistant Curate
(part time) of the Benefice of
York Holy Trinity, Micklegate
(York).
The Rev David Rushton,
Lead Chaplain and Hospitaller,
Barts Health NHS Trust,
Diocese of London, to be: Lead
Chaplain, Royal Free London
NHS Foundation Trust
(London).
The Rev Maurice Slattery,
To be Priest-in-Charge (House-
for-Duty) of Burpham, St Mary
the Virgin and Poling, St
Nicholas (Chichester).
The Rev Anita Elisabeth
Smith,
Mission Partner at the Church
Mission Society in Kenya, has
been appointed to the Vicarage
of Banbury Saint Hugh, in the
Diocese of Oxford.
The Rev Thomas Bamidele
Adegboyega Sotonwa,
Has been given Bishops
Permission to Officiate,
Diocese of Birmingham
The Rev John Taylor,
who currently holds PTO in the
Peterborough diocese has been
appointed Assistant Priest for
the Rutland Water benefice
(Empingham, Edith Weston,
Lyndon, Manton, North
Luffenham, Pilton, Preston,
Ridlington, Whitwell, Wing)
(Peterborough).
The Rev Canon David Tickn-
er,
to be Licensed as Priest-in-
Charge (House-for-Duty) of
Turners Hill: St Leonard
(Chichester).
The Rev Arthur Daniel
Walker,
(Assistant Curate), has
resigned to be Vicar of the
benefice of St Paul & St Luke,
Birkenshaw in the Diocese of
Wakefield.
The Rev Lyn Sharon Wortley
Priest in Charge, Greasbrough
St Mary (Sheffield), to be also
Assistant Curate of
Kimberworth and
Kimberworth Park and
Assistant Curate of Rawmarsh
with Parkgate (Sheffield).
The Rev David Brown,
Priest-in-Charge of
Barlavington, Burton with
Coates and Sutton with Bignor
(Chichester), is to retire.
The Rev Janet Fife,
Priest in Charge, Marske in
Cleveland (York), is retiring
with effect from 4 March 2014.
The Rev Heather Humphrey,
Vicar of Christchurch Coseley
in the Diocese of Worcester will
retire on 12 Jan 2014.
The Rev Simon Wilson
County Ecumenical Officer,
Norfolk and Waveney
Churches Together. Social and
Community Concerns Co-
ordinator, Diocese of Norwich.
Chaplain, Norfolk and Fire
Rescue Service, is to resign due
to ill health (Norwich).
The Rev Richard Wynn,
Priest-in-Charge of Stopham
and Fittleworth (Chichester), is
to retire.
Timothy Hone,
has been appointed to the half
time post of Secretary to the
Liturgical Commission and
Worship Development Officer
(in succession to the Rev
Christopher Woods). He will
take up his new responsibilities
on 6 January 2014.
Ian Charles Watmore,
Has been appointed a Church
Commissioner for three years
effective from 1 January 2014 in
succession to the Canon John
Andrew Spence, Esq, OBE who
resigns on 31 December 2013.
The Rev Canon James (Jim)
Reinhold Fry,
(PTO 2000-2013, Canterbury)
died on 17 December 2013.
The Rev Canon Herbert
Grant Ockwell,
Canon Emeritus of Southwark
Cathedral died on 11th
December 2013.
Friday 03 January. Psalm 100, Isa. 59: 15b-21. Abakaliki -
(Enugu, Nigeria): The Rt Rev Benson Onyeibor
Saturday 04 January. Psalm 149: 1-5, Phil 1: 18b-26.
Aberdeen & Orkney - (Scotland): The Rt Rev Dr Robert Gillies
Sunday 05 January. Christmas 3. Psalm 9:1-11, Isa 33:13-17.
PRAY for The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand &
Polynesia: The Most Rev William Brown, Turei Pihopa o
Aotearora and Primate and Archbishop of the Anglican Church
in Aotearoa, New Zealand & Polynesia
Monday 06 January. The Epiphany. Psalm 72: 1-8, Titus 1: 1-
9. O God, who revealed your only Son to the Gentiles by the
leading of a star, mercifully grant theat we, who know you now
by faith, may after this life enjoy the splendour of your gracious
Godhead, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Tuesday 07 January. Psalm 72: 1,10-14, Titus 2. Accra
(Ghana) - (West Africa): The Rt Rev Dr Daniel Sylvanus Men-
sah Torto
Wednesday 08 January. Psalm 72: 1,15-end, Eph. 1: 1-14.
Adelaide - (South Australia, Australia): The Most Rev Jeffrey
William Driver
Thursday 09 January. Psalm 98, Eph. 1: 15-23. Afikpo -
(Enugu, Nigeria): The Rt Rev Paul Uduogu
THE 2013
BIBLE CHALLENGE
APPOINTMENTS
RETIREMENTS &
RESIGNATIONS
LAY & OTHER
APPOINTMENTS
DEATHS
ANGLICAN CYCLE OF PRAYER
Wine
OF THE WEEK
Montes Reserva
Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
Morrisons, 8.99
www.morrisonscellar.com
An angel with out-stretched wings
on the label, a bunch of grapes in
one hand, a silver goblet in the
other. From Chile comes this rich
(intense, Morrisons categorise it)
Cabernet Sauvignon.
Montes, in the Colchagua Valley,
produces some of that countrys
grand, expensive bottles, to
quote a world-respected authority.
This is its entry range, the
lowest priced it produces, but
theres no doubt about the quality.
It also gets 90 points from another
wine critic, Americas Robert
Parker.
Oh, that nose: rich, fruity and
inviting are the aromas that arise
from the darkest of reds in the
glass. Full bodied, it is rich and
warming, with ripe fruit notes,
blackcurrants and black cherries,
deliciously smooth, with just the
right appearance of restrained oak
tannins, these from French
barrels. The finish is long and
warming.
Alcohol by Vol. not more
than14%. Theres nothing dry
about it. A good choice to open as
we begin 2014. Especially if you
are having a beef roast, or roast
pork with oodles of apple sauce. It
can certainly stand up to a chilli
con carne for warming winter fare.
Graham Gendall Norton
Bob Mayo
Last year will inevitably be remembered
as the year Nelson Mandela died and I
will be giving thanks with churches all
across the world for the life that was his.
Christmas tends to be my most busy
but least creative time of the year. It is
busy because it is a period of events man-
agement. It is non-creative because there
is little variation in how those events can
be organised. People dont want any
innovation at Christmas. They want to
come to a carol service that is entirely
traditional. This means that the decision
over whether to have Away in a Manger
before or after Hark the Herald is not
one that takes three years training at
Theological College.
Peoples expectations for the Christ-
mas season are shaped by commerce. T-
shirts that say Happy Birthday Jesus or
Dont forget the reason for the Season
are making a commodity out of religion.
Carols being played over the Tannoy at
Starbucks are nothing more than a cul-
tural sound-scape. Advent calendars
include New Years Eve and New Years
Day and Christmas Day itself is effective-
ly scripted out.
Theologically I am not overly con-
cerned by this cultural
muddle. Easter is when
the rubber hits the road
as far as the incarnation
is concerned. We are
Easter people and we
worship Christ crucified
(1 Cor 1:23) ...not...
Christ the baby in a
manger.
Socially I am dis-
traught at the Churchs
failure to get to grips
with the surrounding
social milieu. Christmas
can be a difficult and
lonely time for people
and there is an urgent
need for the Church to
get alongside those who
are the most vulnerable.
The solution to this
conundrum has been for
me to do my religion bet-
ter. Religion at its best
offers liturgy as a mirror
to the congregation so
that peoples feelings,
the sacral nature of the
occasion and Scripture
are brought together.
We made an alliance
with the local undertaker and planned a
memorial service for those who had died
during the year. Lodge Brothers are a
family firm and they wrote inviting all of
the families who had lost someone to
come to the service and the church was
packed.
We sung carols because that made peo-
ple feel safe. We read
out the names of those
who had died because
that made people feel
comforted. We invited
people to place a lit
tealight candle on a
cross to mark the life
that had passed. The
cross of Christ with
over 100 candles in a
dimly lit church made
people feel that they
were part of a wider
whole and not alone in
their loss.
We had a steel band,
a 30-foot Christmas
tree and food and
drinks for everyone afterwards all
provided by Bev and her team from the
undertakers.
What I was most conscious of after-
wards was that had I been too busy the
Memorial Service might never have
taken place. It was a single conversation
that put up the idea but head space and
easy time that made it happen - the fruits
of idleness can be more precious than
the fruits of labour.
Dr Stephen Roberts talked at a recent
conference about how in the 1840s in
Paris it was briefly fashionable to take
turtles for walks in the arcades. The fla-
neur (as he was known) liked to have
the turtle set the pace for them. Taking
his pace from the turtle meant that the
flaneur had the opportunity to stand
apart from the crowd, time to walk slow-
ly and the chance to observe all that was
happening.
The parish priest, like the flaneur, is
not in post to be busy but to have time for
people. My ambition for the season is to
walk through the parish at the pace of a
turtle - happy new year to one and all.
The Rev Dr Bob Mayo is the vicar of St
Stephens and St Thomas, Shepherds
Bush, with St Michael and St George,
White City. Do get in touch -
@RevBobMayo /
bob.mayo@london.anglican.org /
www.ststephensw12.org
www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 3, 2014 Feature & Books 13
Celebrating the church
in the community
The Conversion of the
Maori
Timothy Yates
Eerdmans, pb, 19.99
When it comes to the his-
tory of Christian mission
old myths die hard. Two of
the most persistent myths
are that the missionaries
were agents of Western
imperialism who aimed to
spread British rule around
the world and that mission-
aries imposed their reli-
gion on converts who were
pressurised in different
ways into becoming Chris-
tians.
In this short study of the
conversion of the Maori
between 1814 and 1842
Timothy Yates is the latest in a string of historians to
undermine the stereotypical view of missionary history.
This is a masterly account based on both printed
sources and a large number of printed works that will
repay reading by anyone interested in Christian mis-
sion.
Three churches were working in New Zealand in the
years Yates describes: the Anglican CMS, the
Methodist Wesleyan Mission, and the Roman Catholics
who were largely Marists. They all suffered hardship
and setbacks and all had their share of heroes and trou-
ble-makers. The Methodists had to see a mission sta-
tion plundered and destroyed although their Maori
protector made sure no lives were lost. The journal of
one CMS missionary describes the dangers of the early
years. It could be intimidating when a naked Maori war-
rior jumped over the garden fence armed with a
weapon.
Much discussion surrounds the character of the pio-
neer of the Anglican mission, Samuel Marsden. Among
Australians he is remembered as a magistrate who
flogged offenders but in New Zealand he has a higher
reputation for his leadership of the mission to Maoris.
Inevitably 19th Century missionary work attracted a
range of people. Some were drawn by the prospect of
improving their social condition; others were motivated
by a deep religious conversion; still others were
inspired by a mixture of motives. Difficult conditions
could encourage even dedicated men to go off the rails.
Thomas Kendall was one of the first to learn the Maori
language but he had to be dismissed for an affair with a
Maori woman. William Yate had to go when it was dis-
covered he had liaisons with young Maori men.
One of the major themes of Yates study is that it was
the Maori themselves who were the principal agents of
evangelisation. This is the conclusion also drawn by
scholars who have looked at other examples of mission-
ary work among tribal peoples, such as Darrell White-
man who has examined the conversion of Melanesians.
Far from being passive recipients of the gospel, Maoris
were active in spreading the word as teachers and cate-
chists.
Yates looks at the different motives for conversion,
which by the 1840s was involving a large number of
people with Anglican figures rising from 2,000 in 35,000
in 1841 out of a total Maori population in the North
Island of around 110,000.
The Maoris undoubtedly looked for the source of the
power of the Europeans who came among them but
they were also attracted by literacy and the biblical nar-
rative. The self-denying lives of the missionaries made
an impact, especially on those who lived and worked
among them who spread the gospel message among
their own people.
Although we are dependent on missionary sources
for accounts of pre-contact Maori culture there is good
reason to think it had many unattractive features such
as the abandonment of the sick, constant warfare, can-
nibalism and slavery.
Christianisation did mean some loss. Social disloca-
tion followed the decline of chiefly status and some
carvings were destroyed but on balance it is hard to
risk the conclusion that the mass conversion of the
Maori made for a better way of life.
With conversion went the Treaty of Waitangi and the
arrival of British rule. Yates makes little of it, but it is
probable the rapid growth of the churches after the
Treaty was signed in 1840 was not unconnected with
political change.
Mass religious conversions are often adjustment
movements in which tribal people seek to move togeth-
er into a new world. The missionaries, however, were
accidental imperialists. They thought British rule
preferable to unregulated contact with lawless traders
and escaped convicts and they did not want to see the
Catholic French become the rulers of New Zealand.
Missionaries certainly worked to promote the Treaty
of Waitangi but in political change, as in religious con-
version, the Maoris were not passive. They largely wel-
comed the Treaty although it seems what they really
wanted was a protectorate rather than the colony peo-
pled by settlers that eventually emerged.
Paul Richardson
CLA88FED
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020 7222 2018 ads@churchnewspaper.com
Diocese of Bath & WeIIs

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HOUSE for DUTY PRIEST
APriest is sought for the Chapel of Ease of Christ Church, Redhill,
and to assist across the Benefce, situated in a very attractive area
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An interest in working with young people and families would be
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The workload is equivalent to a Sunday plus two other days - details
to be worked out by agreement with the Rector and Wardens.
For the Parish Profle and Application Form contact
The Revd NichoIas Maddock, Church Ofce, The TriangIe,
Wrington, North Somerset, BS40 5LB
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CLOSING DATE for applications: 6 February 2014
www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 3, 2014 Sunday 14
Recently I heard of someone
who was so upset by what he
had read about the dangers of
smoking that he gave up read-
ing. There may be folk out
there who have been so turned
off by syrupy and sentimental
Christmas schmaltz that they
are in danger of giving up on
Christmas.
Perhaps a dose of realism
can come through by taking
the days that follow a bit more
seriously. They include
remembering the first Chris-
tian martyr, St Stephen, the
towering figure of St John the
Evangelist, another martyr, St
Thomas Becket and Holy
Innocents day. Any one of
these is sobering to recall and
impossible to sentimentalise.
It is Holy Innocents Day
especially that puts us in mind
of children in a quite different
way from Christmas Nativity
plays and Santas grotto.
We may not wish to think
about the massacre at Bethle-
hem in the midst of Christmas
cheer, but then we turn on the
TV and the same horror con-
fronts us going on right now
around the world.
Holy Innocents Day dates
back to the fourth or fifth cen-
turies but from time immemo-
rial children have been caught
up in conflict and suffered
through no fault of their own.
Thus the need to go on
remembering the victims of
cruelty, whether of the sword,
bomb or famine, continues.
Many of our Christmas carols
reflect on the cruelty of
Herods massacre of the chil-
dren in Bethlehem and
whether there were thousands
or just a few, it is an appalling
comment on worldly power
and paranoia that is so at odds
with the Incarnation.
There are still Herods in the
world who will stop at nothing
to achieve their own ends. But
if they have no regard for the
lives of children, Jesus did.
Jesus placed great value on
children in a way that even our
child-focused society does not
truly grasp.
He said that if we want to
know what it means to inhabit
the kingdom of God we need
to look at a child (Lk 18:16,17).
It is their vulnerability and
dependence that is such a
challenge both to our sup-
posed sophistication and our
wilful independence of the
God who has come among us.
So as we look at our nativity
scenes and attend Christmas
events put on with the children
in mind, we face a challenge to
think more deeply about the
implications and resolve to live
differently as a result.
Christmas is a good moment
to reflect on the willingness of
God to take on weakness in
order to redeem us. Here is
God humbling himself and
becoming one of these
dependent and vulnerable
beings. The good news is that
he did so in order to overcome
the evil that we see in this
cruel action by Herod and in
the images from todays world
also. As Jesus followers our
discipleship must mean prayer
and action to work towards a
better treatment of all vulnera-
ble children.
So as the new year begins
lets pray regularly for children
who are victims of war, famine,
cold and abuse. Perhaps
Christmas is for the children
after all?
Sunday 12 January 2014 - 1st Sunday of
Epiphany
Isaiah 42:1-9,
Acts 10:34-43,
Matthew 3:13-17
The readings this week proclaim the glorious truth that
the Spirit-anointed saviour has come, to bring Gods for-
giveness to all the nations of his world.
Isaiah 42 prophesies that Gods chosen servant will
bring justice and truth to the nations. Because the
Father delights in him, he is anointed with his Spirit.
That anointing often led to works of mighty power in the
Old Testament, from the judges and kings of Israel, but
this servant is anointed for gentleness. Those who are
damaged and bruised will not be hurt; those whose spir-
itual fervour is growing dim, will not be put out; he will
not shout above the noise of the public square but influ-
ence it and change it for good all the same.
The redemption he brings is extended to the nations,
all of whom are created and sustained by God. The light
of the covenant is opened to them, so that even the
coastlands which wait for his teaching, the farthest flung
islands, will hear the truth of his word and have their
eyes opened to its glory.
In Matthew 3, that long-awaited Servant comes. To ful-
fil all righteousness he submits to baptism because all
Israel were doing so in response to the call of Gods
prophet, John. Identifying wholly with them, though
having no sin of his own to repent of, he is baptised by
his cousin who senses what a profound and serious
moment this is. The Spirit comes upon the Servant, in
the form of a dove, and the Father speaks from heaven
to repeat what he said in Isaiah 42 this is the one in
whom I delight! This servant is my own true Son. The
Trinitarian nature of God is exposed to full view, as the
Trinitarian plan and work of God to save his people
begins in earnest.
Peter begins to spread that word to the waiting nations
in Acts 10, as he preaches to Cornelius and his family.
He recounts the story of Jesus, the Lord of all, sent first
to the Jews to preach peace to them. He narrates how he
was baptised, and how the message of the good news
spread, and how he was anointed with the Holy Spirit.
He retells the story of Christs good works, his healings
and miracles, and defeat of the devil.
Supremely, as a first-hand witness, he marvels in the
death and resurrection of this Messiah, and testifies to
its truth: we ate and drank with him he was no ghost
or phantom!
After this gospel outline, we might expect an altar call,
so to speak. And Peter does not disappoint. But the way
he presents the message he has been called to preach is
startling when looked at closely. We are often told that
the Old Testament God is supremely a God of judgment
and wrath, but that Jesus is gentle and meek and would-
nt exclude anyone. Yet look how Peter sums it up: we,
the New Testament apostles, preach that Jesus has been
ordained by God to bring justice to the nations: he is
judge of the living and the dead. That is the New Testa-
ment gospel.
Yet Christ is also the fulfilment of the Old Testament
hope: the prophets testify that he is the one who brings
forgiveness of sins to all who believe in him. Forgive-
ness preached in the Old; judgment in the New. How
surprising the message of the Bible can be, undercut-
ting our preconceptions or lazy formulas with its preci-
sion and depth!
Lee Gatiss is Director of Church Society and Editor of the
NIV Proclamation Bible
Christ, when for us you were baptised
God forgave my sin
Hail to the Lords anointed!
O thou who camest from above
The churchs one foundation
HYMN SUGGESTIONS
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SUNDAY SERVICE
By Alan Edwards
Did you have a good New Year party? Wont ask how
many of you were able to sing more than the first few
words of Auld Lang Syne. Not because of inebriation,
of course. CEN readers can hold their drink. No, an
ability to sing the old songs or even remember the
words, however off-key one may be, is a declining gift.
When did you last hear a workman whistling while
he worked, let alone singing? Nowadays radio din is
the accompaniment to painting or plastering. Or see a
youngster, if not mobying, whos not wired up to a
sound system?
The communal pub sing-along around the old Joan-
na has been replaced in most areas by a juke box or
the karaoke solo.
The last stronghold of community singing is a
Retirement Home. Here residents, who will sensibly
doze through the ever-present
TV programmes, or perhaps less
forgivably during the occasional
service, however enthusiastic
may be the visiting curate or
Reader leading it, come to life
when its time for an old-fash-
ioned singing session. Gracie
Fields, Harry Lauder, Flanagan
and Allen still have their fans,
and even if the old folk often
dont know the day of the week,
they know the words of the old
songs.
You may say that football fans still sing, but their
repertoire is limited, the only variation being the name
of the opposing team who is the subject of the obscen-
ities hurled towards the away end. Welsh rugby fans
are now less tuneful than they once were. The hymns
and arias celebrated by Max Boyce are no longer as
familiar. Not surprising, given the sad decline of the
chapels, not just spiritual homes but also musical and
cultural Bethels.
Beanos by coach to Barry Island, Skeggy or
Southend, when songs flowed as plentifully as the
beer, have faded away even more rapidly than the
Welsh chapels. Also since the rise in the 1960s of
youth culture, age groups mixing, and singing togeth-
er across the generations, has become less frequent.
Some, then, of the social reasons for the decline of
the sing-along. Also add a musical reason. In our times
most popular music is performer-centred - no more
everybody join in. Also tunes are more difficult to
remember and sing along to. Lines that dont rhyme
also make memorising refrains more difficult than it
once was.
What is true of society as a whole is sadly also true of
much modern church music. The full-blooded, genera-
tions uniting vigour of Who Is On the Lords Side,
Calon Lan or Faith of Our Fathers is as lost as roof-
raising renditions of I Belong to Glasgow or The
Lambeth Walk.
A good test of the popular appeal and singability of a
hymn has been its ability to turn up being sung outside
church, admittedly often with spicier words, whether
on the football terrace, building site or barrack room.
Worship songs may have captivated chorus-singing
congregations, but, even allowing
for the decline in church atten-
dance, how many worship songs
have flown beyond the church
doors?
William Booth moved music
the other way - from the music
hall to his Citadels. From there
they spread to churches and
chapels. He allegedly said: Why
should the Devil have all the best
tunes?. The compilers of the
English Hymnal foraged four ale
bars marrying folk song
melodies to hymn verses.
However, as well as walking about like a roaring
lion the Devil goes in for subtle plans. The unsingable
nature of many modern pop songs makes it difficult
for a latter day Booth to reinvigorate church hymnody
by looking for the modern equivalents of music hall
ditties.
What has been transferred from pop festivals to
preaching houses are vain repetitions, the hallmark
of much modern popular music and now characteristic
of many worship songs. These often go to repetitious
lengths undreamed of by the 16th century Reformers.
Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick may have worked for
The Blockheads, but at St Bartholomew or St Barn-
abas...?
Cantate Domino
The last stronghold
of community
singing is a
Retirement Home
www.churchnewspaper.com Friday January 3, 2014 Reviews 15
Sunshine on Steve Parishs
film roundup of 2013
The 2014 Golden Globe nominations include several
films that havent even had a general release in the
USA, or anywhere yet, but of last years nominees that
got here late I couldnt argue with Lincoln, Django
Unchained, Zero Dark Thirty and Les Misrables as
among the best films of 2013. From the UK box office
figures, only Les Mis got near the blockbuster range,
but came second to Despicable Me 2.
Follow-up animated films must be worth it, as Mon-
sters University was fourth, beaten by Iron Man 3 in
third place. Caveman/new world animation The Croods
was the most popular film to come from an original
idea.
The popularity of sequels and adaptations means that
original screenplays do need encouragement, but the
writer-director is still alive. Gravity, a lost in space story
by Alfonso Cuarn, was certainly the most beautiful
film of the year thanks to cinematographer Emmanuel
Lubezki and to
British techni-
cal expertise
in the studios.
Most tragic
story, but
laced with
humour and
hope, was
Philomena,
about an Irish
woman look-
ing for the
child taken
from her in
infancy. For
outright
comedy, it
was hard to
match the
start of the
year Quar-
tet, which
also ticked
the box for cinemas older audiences I have no prob-
lem with adopting Billy Connollys maxim against being
taken short: The wise man goes when he can, the fool
goes when he must.
Id have to break company who those who didnt like
The Lone Ranger, which was most of the critics quite
good fun, even if Johnny Depp was essentially playing
the masked stranger as Captain Jack Sparrow with a
horse instead of a boat. Woody Allens Blue Jasmine
was funny and biting as only Allen can be, and Cate
Blanchett in the role of a sister with airs and graces is a
favourite for best actress awards.
We had two fictional attacks on the White House
(Olympus Has Fallen, White House Down) but there
was no shortage of reality-based dramas. Captain
Phillips, about modern-day piracy, was the best of
these, though biopic Lincoln dealt with more porten-
tous events.
Politics was never far away,
though Ken Loachs rear-
guard action for the welfare
state and state ownership of
the commanding heights of
the economy, The Spirit of
45, persuaded few. On the
other hand, Arbitrage painted
a depressing view of the alter-
native, a world run by banks
and criminal entrepreneurs.
Disparity of wealth and the
oppression of the masses
was a theme not just of the
second of The Hunger
Games series (Catching
Fire) but
also of the
dystopian future
of Elysium.
Ordinary crime
paid well, and Ryan Gosling, this time in The Place
Beyond the Pines, has captured a niche role in moodi-
ness. Danny Boyles Trance went for most complex plot
of the year, and probably gets it for his art theft caper.
Baz Lurhmanns version of The Great Gatsby, star-
ring Leonardo DiCaprio, deserves a mention for its
ambition and the cinematography by Simon Duggan. At
the other end of the social spectrum, Broken, largely
confined to a British cul-de-sac, did the cause of
social realism a lot of favours.
Outstanding foreign films were few, but Wadjda
may be the bravest, challenging the role of women
in Saudi Arabia with its simple tale of a girl who
just wants to ride a bike. For Metro Manila Eng-
lish writer-director Sean Ellis took
social realism to the Philip-
pines, partly for financial
reasons, but it was made
in Tagalog and is
Britains entry for the
Oscar for foreign-lan-
guage film.
The Deeps true story of
an Icelandic fisherman who
survived six hours in
the North Atlantic
after his boat went
down in a storm is
remarkable, while No, a
dramatisation of the 1988
Chilean referendum to end
Pinochets rule, reminded
us of some of the darker
days of American interven-
tionism.
For my film of the year,
several of the above would
be runners, as would the
very different Saving Mr
Banks (all Hollywood
glossy) and Nebraska
(black and white simple
storytelling). For the
sheer joy and enthusiasm
of the cast, and my coming
away from the cinema
delighted (and as Cinema
Paradiso is 25 years old), I have to say that Scottish
musical comedy Sunshine on Leith was my personal
favourite.
Steve Parish
Copyright 2014, The Church of England Newspaper. Registered as a newspaper by Royal Mail. Published by Political and Religious Intelligence Ltd, 14 Great College Street, Westminster,
London, SW1P 3RX, Telephone: 020 7222 8700. Imagesetting by Classified Central Media Limited, 4th Floor, Central House, 142 Central Street, London, EC1V 8AR, 020 7216 6400. Print-
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Happy New Year, College Street-ers! Last year was packed with
shocking/surprising/interesting events, but mostly filled with the entire
nation stalking a bump, and then the baby that caused said bump.
If you have any topics you would like us to cover in the New Year, get in
touch.
Send an email to amaris.cole@churchnewspaper.com. This week
though, we are looking at the lessons we can learn from 2013. Here
are our favourites:
FREE CEN ONLINE FOR ALL STUDENTS! Email your course details to subs@churchnewspaper.com
The fi rst cor rect entry drawn wi l l wi n a book of the Edi tor s choi ce.
Send your entry to Crossword Number 880, The Church of Engl and Newspaper,
14 Great Col l ege Street, Westmi nster , London, SW1P 3RX by next Fri day
Name
Addr ess
Post Code
PRIZE CROSSWORD No. 880 by Axe
Across
7 --- ----- Day, 2 November (3,5)
8 'On the ---- side...will be...the
gate of Joseph...'[Ezek/NIV]
(4)
9 Archbishopric which Pope
Innocent II entitled the Primate
of England (4)
10 Son of Saul (8)
11 '...take other stones to -------
these and take new clay...' [Lev/NIV]
(7)
12 Sacred song used to praise God (5)
15 'So I will very gladly ----- for you every-
thing I have...' [1 Cor/NIV] (5)
17 'Blessed is the one that does not...stand
in the way that ------- take...[Ps/NIV] (7)
20 Israelite prophet who is remembered
for his angry lamentations (8)
22 '---- by naked and in shame...'
[Mic/NIV] (4)
23 NT book re the exploits of the apostles
(4)
24 Runaway slave owned by Philemon (8)
Down
1 'In front of each ------ there was a wall
one cubit high...' [Ezek/NIV] (6)
2 One of the five Philistine cities [Judg; 1
Sam; Jer] (8)
3 'Teach slaves to be ------- to their mas-
ters...' [Tit/NIV] (7)
4 'The angel measured the wall -----
human measurement...' [Rev/NIV] (5)
5 Period of fast in the Christian religion
(4)
6 Nation named after the alternative
name for the patriarch, Jacob (6)
13 Because of their common viewpoint,
the adjective ascribed to the first three
Gospels (8)
14 Agent of God: 'The guardian of the Jew-
ish people' [Dan; Jude; Rev] (7)
16 Publicly proclaim or teach (a religious
message) (6)
18 '------ the weak and the needy...'
[Ps/NIV] (6)
19 Brother or half-brother of Jesus [Matt]
(5)
21 'For my yoke is ---- and my burden is
light' [Matt/NIV] (4)
Solution to last weeks crossword
Across: 5 Whitefriars, 7 Elah, 8 Habakkuk, 9 Israel,
11 Seeing, 12 Dances, 15 Geshur, 17 Fastened, 18
Seth, 19 Archdiocese.
Down: 1 Kish, 2 Bethel, 3 Tribes, 4 Darkness, 5
Wells, 6 Spurn, 10 Ascetics, 13 Ahava, 14 Synods,
15 Gideon, 16 Untie, 18 Shem.
COLLEGE STREET
SW1
CITY OF WESTMINSTER
DONT Twerk
She has gone from the Disney Golden
Girl to the star who Cant Be Tamed.
Miley Cyrus caused a stir last year with
her raunchy dance moves, losing her
wholesome image once and for all.
Lesson: Never Twerk. You will either
look like a fool or put your back out.
DO eat Sushi
Andy Murray tucks
into 50 pieces of Sushi
in one sitting, and goes
on to win Wimbledon.
The 6ft 3in Scot works
his way through 6,000
calories to ensure he
has the energy for his
punishing schedule.
Lesson: Adopt this
fishy-food and you too
will be a champ*.
*maybe
DO keep a secret
Queen B did it again in 2013. After releasing
her digital-only, 31-track secret album, iTunes
announced it broke records by selling over
1million copies in six days.
Lesson: Why not surprise your own fans (or friends)
with an out-of-the-blue treat and see where it gets
you. Probably not millions of pounds richer like
Beyonce, but definitely happier!
DONT be afraid to
Selfie
If the Oxford English
Dictionary is embracing
it, we should too. The
celebrities have been at it
for years, so make like
Kim Kardashian and
pucker up that pout, give
it a go every once in a
while.
Lesson: Give a Selfie a go
but remember no one
wants to see a million
snaps of your mug
plastered over Facebook.

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Church of England Newspaper 03-01-14

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By Katie Hornell and Cait Flynn

Advocacy group AB Colombia

Diocese of Bath & WeIIs

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