New mayor bans Christian prayers
Christian prayers have been dropped from the beginning of council meetings by the new mayor of Bridport in Dorset. David Rickard has decided to replace the prayers at full meetings of Bridport Town Council with a ‘short time of quiet, private contemplation’. He announced the move at his mayor-making ceremony but the decision has proved highly controversial. Councillor Sandra Brown, a former mayor, warned that many members of the council were against the decision. She said: ‘I feel very strongly about it and there are several of us on the council who are quite dismayed by it. Sadly though I don’t think there are enough of us to make him change his mind’. David Tett, another former mayor and independent councillor, said: ‘I am a traditionalist. I am disappointed to see the prayers thrown out of the window like that. It is totally uncalled for.’
Pray: that those who support prayer would receive backing to see this ruling reversed. (Ps.20:2)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/new-mayor-bans-christian-prayers-at-council-meetings/
Trevor Phillips wades into debate on religion
Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, has made a wide-ranging intervention into the growing debate on the place of religion in modern society. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph before the publication of a landmark report into religious discrimination, he attacks ‘fashionable’ views mocking and marginalising religion and says his Equality and Human Rights Commission will stand up for believers. Mr Phillips becomes one of the first and most high-profile figures in public life to warn that people of faith feel ‘under siege’ from ‘fashionable’ anti-religious views - which he admitted the Equality and Human Rights Commission had been wrongly identified with. ‘There is a view that says religion is a private matter and it's entirely a choice. I think that's entirely not right. Faith identity is part of what makes life richer and more meaningful for the individual'.
Pray: for Trevor Phillips, as he is likely to be criticised for his positive views on religion. (1Co.16:13)
A celebration to mark 200 years of Church Schools
The Service of Thanksgiving and Celebration held at York Minster last week was a special service to celebrate 200 years of Church schools led by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu . The Christian Churches were the first to provide mass education in England and Wales, and the National Society was established to provide schools for poor children. These schools were to teach basic skills and also to provide for the moral and spiritual welfare of the children. There are now over 4,600 Church of England primary schools and more than 220 secondary schools in England and Wales educating approximately 1 million children. The Society also became the first organization to train teachers. The Revd Jan Ainsworth, General Secretary of the National Society said ‘Education for children in this country should also allow them to understand something of what the Christian faith offers and to use that as they find their own way through life.’ Pray: for Church schools, their staff and children; also for the National Society. (Ex.18:20)
Church schools under threat, warns Bishop of Oxford
The Church is in danger of being driven out of public education by Government reforms and a generation of teachers ignorant of even the basic tenets of Christianity, a senior cleric has warned. A rush to introduce new academies and changes to the curriculum could threaten the very ‘survival’ of the church schools system unless urgent action is taken, according to the head of the Church of England’s Board of Education. The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev John Pritchard, also warned that a tide of secularisation had undermined the standard of teaching of the Christian faith. Even in schools run by the church itself many teachers now lack a ‘default understanding’ of Christianity, he said. The warnings are contained in a hard hitting report about the state of faith schools and religious education to be debated by the Church of England’s General Synod next month.
Pray: that the Church would take up the challenge to bring faith back to the centre of church school life – see also previous story. (Dt.4:9)
