News
Round Up Countering
Terrorism: Power, Violence and Democracy Post 9/11 Countering
Terrorism: Power, Violence and Democracy Post 9/11 Churches
have a vital role to play in combating the threat of
terrorism, states a recent report from a working group of
the Church of England’s House of Bishops. ‘’Countering
Terrorism: Power, Violence and Democracy Post 9/11 examines
the issues around terrorism; international order and
American power; and political reform and the Middle East;
and sets out 13 Christian principles for addressing
“a world characterised by power and violence.” The
100-page report cites the "complex relationship
between religion and violence" and the churches'
"tradition of self-examination and penitence"
that "could make a distinctive contribution to the
quest for reconciliation." It
states: "Religion is now a major player on the
public stage of the world in a way that few foresaw two
decades ago. We believe that the churches have an
important role to play, not simply in urging the
importance and applicability of Christian principles, but
in a proper awareness of the role of religion, for good
as well as ill, and initiatives it might take towards
reconciliation between adversaries. On
terrorism, the Bishop of Oxford writes in the preface:
"All governments have a proper responsibility to
take the necessary steps to safeguard their citizens….
But citizens need to be vigilant that these steps do not
infringe hard won civil liberties, particularly the right
to due process of law. The churches have a particular
message here based on biblical insights about fear and
how playing on the fears of enemies makes for unwise
policies." Moving
on in a mission-shaped church The
Church of England has now published a study guide to give
even more people access to last year’s major report,
Moving
on in a mission-shaped church, the study guide, will help
spread news of the agenda-setting message of the 2004
report, Archbishop
of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams said: "God calls us
to help people in every place and culture respond to the
love and grace in his Son, Jesus Christ. To do that well
in our time we need to grow many different fresh
expressions of church life within and alongside our
traditional parish churches: a mixed economy. I hope that
every Church Council and home group in the land will
engage creatively with this material; and take action as
a result." Moving
on helps parishes and groups to consider which, if any,
of the 12 categories of fresh expressions of church might
suit them. It provides background and discussion
questions and lists changes being introduced nationally
to help local churches develop fresh expressions. "Through
stories, practical explorations and questions, church
members are encouraged to step out in faith and join in
with the Spirit's work," said the Rev Tom Stuckey,
President of the Methodist Conference. The
mission-shaped church is becoming a reality throughout
the country. For people excited by the idea but daunted
about how they can actually get started and apply them,
this is the tool to help begin the journey. Moving
on in a mission-shaped church is published by Church
House Publishing, priced £5 (per pack of 5) and is
available from all Christian bookshops and Church House
Bookshop, 31 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BN, tel.
020-7898 1300, e mail bookshop@c-of-e.org.uk, or on the
web at: www.chbookshop.co.uk (mail order available). New
statistics show the costs of church repairs New
statistics show the financial contribution that
volunteers are making across They
reveal that parishes across The
cost of repairs undertaken does not include the hundreds
of thousands of hours' labour and other help given by
volunteers who care for churches, or the cost of minor
works and maintenance. For
the first time, statistics on major church repairs are
included in the figures. These accounted for more than £100
million spent by local churches and parishes in 2003.
An additional 'one-off' question, asked parishes for
their estimates of repairs still outstanding. This
amounted to more than £370 million, 87% of which is for
listed churches. Key
features of the 2003/4 statistics Licensed
Ministry * The
number of people licensed to minister in the Church on a
voluntary basis continues to increase. There are
now 1,855 non-stipendiary ministers, 545 locally ordained
ministers and 8,426 licensed readers ministering across
Church of England parishes. * The
number of stipendiary parish clergy has decreased by 6%
since the turn of the millennium to 8,897 in 2004.
Ordination numbers fluctuate but are being maintained at
about 500 overall each year. This is split between
stipendiary ministry (approximately 60%), non-stipendiary
ministry (around 30%) and locally ordained ministry (about
10%). * The
Church provides more than 1200 chaplains for institutions
and organisations including the armed services,
hospitals, prisons, schools, higher and further
education, a figure that has decreased by 18% since 2000. Church
finance * More
than £100 million was spent by local churches and
parishes on major church repairs in 2003. More than
£370 million of repairs are estimated to remain
outstanding, 87% of which is for churches listed for
their historic or architectural significance. * Tax
efficient planned giving by church attenders continued to
rise over 2003 to £7.55 per week on average for each
subscriber. The number of people supporting their
local church in this way has increased by 18% since 2000. Adults,
children and young people *
Adult attendance at church and cathedral worship was 1
million over a typical week and 900,000 on a typical
Sunday. Both these figures increased by 2% in 2003
while adult attendance across a typical month (over 1.3
million) increased by 1%. *
Eight dioceses ( *
Similar numbers of children and young people attend
activities other than worship but nevertheless connected
with the local church. Churches and parishes
reported 375,000 children and young people less than 16
years of age attending such activities over a typical
month in 2002/3. This involved the support of
around 100,000 adult volunteers. Christmas
and Easter *
Attendance at festival services in 2003 on Christmas Day/
Eve and Easter Day/ Eve show a change in fortunes with
both increasing by 2% to 2.65 million and 1.5 million
respectively. 27 dioceses saw an increase in
attendance on Christmas Day/ Eve and 30 dioceses saw an
increase in attendance on Easter Day/ Eve. Church
'membership' * In
2003 parish electoral rolls stood at 1.2 million having
experienced a small increase of 2% following the major
revision in 2002. *
Church weddings increased by 2% and church funerals by 3%,
while the number of baptisms and confirmations fell by 5%.
Blessings in churches and cathedrals following civil
marriage fell by 700 or 12 %. *
Other key statistics are: 72 per cent of people in Church encouraged
to Get OUT More in new campaign from Church Army Since
1882 when its work was described as "dragging
the church into the gutter", Church Army has been
making waves for mission. Today,
Church Army, the mission agency deploying the largest
number of evangelists across the This
work is described by Church Army as pioneer evangelism-
seeking to reach those that are otherwise outside the
influence of the church- truly mission-shaped in deriving
its style and shape from the mission context rather than
from an understanding of what it thinks church should be.
Only two months ago, the Deputy Prime Minister John
Prescott commented that Church Army was:; "focussed
in making a real difference where it counts- out in the
real world with real people." Church
Army has developed a reputation at the cutting edge of
mission work. Back in 2000 Church Army set up word-on-the-web
an innovative web based ministry which now goes out to
around 8,000 subscribers in over a hundred nations. It
was the first mission agency to invest in nightclub
evangelists, and runs the Evangelicals
shaping future of the Church in the UK Evangelicals
are key to the future of the Church in the Under
the heading ‘churchmanship’, editor of
Religious Trends Peter Brierley, predicts for the year
2020 that, “evangelicals dominate”. This
supposition is based, in part, on figures from recent
years that show larger evangelical Church of England
churches increasingly taking the lead. The
journal states that the majority of the Church of England’s
large churches (i.e. the ones with a congregation of 350
or more) are evangelical. Heather Wraight, Deputy
Director, Christian Research, commented, “These 163
churches, 1% of the total number of Church of England
churches, represented 6% of the total average
congregation in 1989. This rose to 8% by 1998 and 11% by
2003, and is projected to become 14% by 2010 then rise
once again by 2020.” The
elderly deserve protection - Archbishop The
Archbishop of Canterbury has given a sombre warning that
a more permissive approach to euthanasia and assisted
suicide in In a
keynote speech on the challenges confronting an aging
society, Dr. Williams said: " What begins as a
compassionate desire to enable those who long for death
because of protracted pain, distress or humiliation to
have their wish can, with the best will in the world,
help to foster an attitude that assumes resources spent
on the elderly are a luxury." Dr
Williams will add: "Investment in palliative
medicine, ensuring that access to the best palliative
care is universally available, continuing research not
only into the causes but into the behavioural varieties
of dementia and so on - how secure would these be as
priorities if there were any more general acceptance of
the principle that it was legitimate to initiate a
process designed to end someone's life?" Fresh
Expressions proves a significant church boost When
the Archbishop of Canterbury recently commissioned the
new Fresh Expressions team at |