Secret documents expose gay marriage law
Secret documents that have hidden the truth behind the recent changes in the marriage laws, have been exposed by the Daily Mail. Schools could be required to teach children about gay marriage, Government documents reveal. Officials at the Home Office and the Department for Education concede that teachers may be under a legal obligation to inform children about same-sex marriage once it has passed into law. Under the Education Act 1996, pupils must learn about the nature of marriage and its importance for family life in sex education classes. Officials and ministers knew there was an issue, but said nothing to the public. The secret Government emails came to light following a Freedom of Information request. They show that Government officials were worried about how the media (and therefore the public) would react if it became known that redefining marriage would affect school lessons.
Pray: that the truth would be exposed and those responsible would not continue to hide or distort the truth. (Ps.25:5)
More: http://www.theway.co.uk/feature.php?id=8869&this=Secret_documents_exposes_Gay_marriage_law_
Christian group goes to court over cancelled marriage conference
Christian Concern is taking the Law Society and a government-owned conference centre to court after they cancelled the group's marriage conference. The conference was organised by Christian Concern and the World Congress of Families to debate the nature and role of marriage in light of the Government's consultation on legalising same-sex marriage. The Law Society cancelled Christian Concern's conference booking on the grounds that it breached their equalities policy. The group then booked the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, opposite the Houses of Parliament. However, the booking was cancelled by the conference centre the day before the conference was due to start on 23 May. At the time, Christian Concern sought an emergency injunction overnight but as no lawyers from the Treasury Solicitors Office were available, the injunction was unable to proceed. Despite the last-minute cancellation at the QEII Centre, the conference was able to go ahead as scheduled after an alternative venue was found.
Pray: that moves by organisations to hold back discussions on marriage be thwarted. (Heb.13:4)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christian.group.goes.to.court.over.cancelled.marriage.conference/30188.htm
Christians back call for banking code of conduct
The Association of Christian Financial Advisers (ACFA) has come out in support of calls for a mandatory code of conduct for the banking industry. The ACFA said it wants to see ethics put back at the centre of banking and a return to the founding Quaker principles of ‘honesty, integrity and plain dealing’. Arwyn Bailey, of the ACFA, welcomed the accountability shown in Mr Diamond's resignation. ‘In falling on his sword and resigning Bob Diamond has done the honourable and probably inevitable thing. The pressure must have been intolerable, for both him and his family,’ he said. Barclays chairman Marcus Agius, who announced his resignation one day before, will now become full-time chairman and oversee the process to appoint Mr Diamond's successor. ‘Without question Mr Diamond is the man who carries the can, but given such pressure for him to resign, who would be willing to step into his shoes?’
Pray: for much higher standards of moral integrity in international banking and commerce. (De.8:18)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christians.back.call.for.banking.code.of.conduct/30187.htm
UK: New online library for evangelism
A new online library has been launched for people interested in evangelism and new forms of church, which will provide them with free access to research papers and theses. The website, SCOLER (The Sheffield Centre Online Library of Evangelism Research) is a joint initiative between the Church Army’s team of researchers at The Sheffield Centre and the Churches Group for Evangelisation. The purpose of the library is to make deeper thinking around evangelism and new forms of church available to people who want to study further, and to demonstrate this level of learning to the wider church. Each thesis, at either MA or PhD level, has its own webpage giving details of who wrote it, which college validated it, the full abstract and a free PDF to download.
Praise: God for this initiative and pray that this tool will increase and equip the saints for evangelism. (Eph.4:12)
More: http://www.churcharmy.org.uk/pub/nc/News/News2012/20120607scoler.aspx