Reviving the ‘art of church’
Gently she writes with crooked handwriting in her notebook next to me. More lines than curves in her script, but it’s not a foreign language or anything. Lying open beside her scribbled prayers and notes is a Bible. The text printed there, though much cleaner, is completely unreadable to me. She likes reading God’s Word in her heart-language, Welsh. Sitting among Greater Europe Mission’s new candidates, I met Catrin and her American husband Corey. They both have a thoughtful mildness that gave way to urgent passion when asked about their plans on the field. As a team they have a burning desire to see the Church reborn in Wales and a vision that transcends nationality, placing people at the focus of this movement. Catrin shared how Wales, living in the shadow of revival 100 years ago, has lost its first love. ‘Church shows what God is like,’ Catrin says, ‘It’s the way God disciples: you learn to show grace to people who aren’t like you, learn from people fifty years older than you, serve people you don’t like, bear with one another. The church is a taste of what God’s Kingdom will be like.’
Justin Welby on religious freedom
The Archbishop of Canterbury gave the opening keynote address on Wednesday at the Council of the Wise, a two-day dialogue in Abu Dhabi on integration, religious freedom and flourishing societies. It was organised by the Muslim Council of Elders and Christian leaders from the Anglican Communion. In his opening statement he said, ‘It is fitting that we meet in a country which has taken practical steps to enable religious minorities to meet, teach, worship and express themselves. It shows a confidence in granting freedom, and a self-confidence which is fitting and proper. This freedom cannot be taken for granted in a world currently beset by a crisis of confidence in the rights it pledged itself to uphold in the aftermath of the Second World War.’ See also article 3 in this week’s World section, about limits on people’s freedom.
Sainsbury's support campaign on food waste
The Evening Standard’s campaign to tackle food waste and hunger has won the backing of Sainsbury’s and the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan. The supermarket chain made an undisclosed donation to the charity ‘The Felix Project.’ It also agreed to create more food donation partnerships between Felix and its stores and depots. Mr Khan became the project’s most famous volunteer after being picked up from City Hall in a Felix van and donning a hi-vis jacket to help deliver fresh surplus fruit and vegetables to residents of St Mungo’s charity in Southwark. He said, ‘With the best will in the world you are going to have surplus food, and this campaign ingeniously turns the problem of food waste into a social solution to help address food poverty.’ Sainsbury’s chief executive said arrangements are in hand for Felix to collect fruit and vegetables from fifteen Sainsbury’s stores as well as an online distribution centre, with the prospect of more partnerships to come.
Transgender ideology and the BBC
The BBC’s programme ‘Just a Girl’, aimed at children aged 6 - 12, is available online on the children’s website CBBC. It’s a fictional video diary of Ben who calls himself Amy and wears girls’ clothes explaining to viewers that he was born as a boy and is in the process of halting puberty and becoming a girl. The programme has had the public, campaigners and MPs complaining about how utterly inappropriate this is for children. Family Education Trust said, ‘The more we promote the idea that a boy can be born into a girl’s body and a girl can be born into a boy’s body, and drugs and surgery can put things right, the more children will become utterly confused.’ But the BBC has defended this piece of propaganda, insisting that it ‘reflects true life’ and there is enough context for children to understand the theme.
