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In the News

  • ITV: Street preachers guilty of being offensive
    February 28th, 2017

    Two street preachers have been found guilty of using offensive language in Bristol city centre.

    52-year-old Michael Overd from Taunton and 50-year-old Michael Stockwell from New York were convicted of a religiously aggravated public order offence.

    The men were arrested in Broadmead last July after complaints from the public. Thirteen people made statements and the preaching was filmed on a Go-Pro camera, which captured the reactions of those listening.

    The court found that the men "crossed the line" by using the platform to make derogatory comments on other religions and sexuality.

    Read more.

  • Christian News Network: Preachers found guilty of violating UK 'Crime and Disorder Act' after arrests for 'anti-social' opposition to Islam, homosexuality
    February 28th, 2017

    Two street preachers who were arrested last July on accusations of "causing a disturbance" and engaging in "anti-social behavior" after some listeners became offended by their speech about issues such as Islam, Buddhism, homosexuality and divorce have been found guilty of "intentionally alarming" the public with open-air preaching.

    The verdict against Michael Overd of the U.K. and Michael Stockwell of the U.S. was handed down Tuesday in Bristol Magistrates' Court. They were fined nearly $2,500 each.

    The men had been on trial over accusations that they violated a section of the Crime and Disorder Act, which prohibits speech or behavior causing "intentional harassment, alarm or distress” that is “racially or religiously aggravated."

    Read more.

  • CofE Tumblr: Statement on collective worship in schools
    February 28th, 2017

    Following media inquiries about a policy in place in one London borough on the daily act of collective worship, the Revd Nigel Genders, the Church of England's Chief Education Officer, said:

    "It has long been a legal requirement for schools to provide a daily act of collective worship.

    "But schools tell us that, quite apart from any legal obligation, daily collective worship has proved a powerful tool in bringing pupils together, giving them a rare opportunity to pause and reflect in the midst of a busy day." 

    Read more.

  • BBC: Ministers criticised over named person consultation
    February 28th, 2017

    Campaigners opposed to the Scottish government's named person scheme claim ministers have refused to engage with them during a consultation on plans to reform the policy.

    Education Secretary John Swinney launched the "intense" three month consultation last September.

    But the group which mounted a legal challenge against the scheme said there had been no updates from ministers.

    Read more.

  • Mail: Italian DJ takes his own life at Swiss suicide clinic
    February 28th, 2017

    A top Italian DJ who was left paralysed after a horror car smash has taken his own life at the press of a button at a Swiss suicide clinic.

    Fabiano Antoniani passed away after he was approved for euthanasia in a facility in the city of Forch, Switzerland this week.

    The 40-year-old died surrounded by his family and his girlfriend after he battled for years to have approval from the Italian government to end his own life.

    Read more.

  • Telegraph: State schools could scrap Christian assemblies after London council changes rules
    February 28th, 2017

    A London council has become the first to formally encourage its schools to hold non-Christian assemblies.

    Brent council has said its state schools can hold assemblies based on other faiths, the first area to do so.

    Non-faith schools are legally required to hold one Christian assembly a day, but can be exempt if they apply to the local authority's committee for an exemption.

    Read more.

  • The Gospel Coalition: The two things we must say about the transgender debate
    February 28th, 2017

    The challenge with the transgender debate is that Christians must say two very different things at the same time.

    To those pushing an agenda that says your bathroom is my bathroom and your gender is whatever you want it to be, we want to say:

    This is absurd. Patently absurd. There is no scientific reason, no justice reason, no internally consistent reason to think we can be boys or girls just by declaring it so. In our saner moments we know this to be true. No one would allow me to "become" Asian or African American even if I thought that’s who I was deep down. There are facts about my biology that cannot be denied. Why is gender open to self-definition while race and ethnicity are not?

    Read more.

  • Telegraph: Women in the RAF no longer allowed to wear skirts on parade
    February 28th, 2017

    Women serving in the RAF are no longer allowed to wear skirts on parade, as part of a uniform shake-up designed to make the service more inclusive to transgender personnel.

    The change is also understood to have followed feedback from women that marching in skirts is uncomfortable.

    Servicewomen are still permitted to wear skirts on other occasions when not marching. An RAF source told the Sun that the updated uniform policy was designed to reflect the RAF as a "modern and inclusive employer".

    Read more.

  • Mirror: Christian assemblies in state schools could be dumped in ground-breaking move
    February 28th, 2017

    A local council has become the first in Britain to allow its schools to be freed from having to provide daily Christian worship.

    State schools in Brent in north London are now allowed to provide multi-belief assemblies.

    The approach has been hailed by inclusive education experts as 'ground breaking' and could lead to a dramatic change in assemblies across England and Wales.

    Read more.

  • Magistrates to decide if Bristol street preachers 'crossed the line' when angry crowd formed
    February 27th, 2017

    Magistrates are deciding whether two Christian preachers 'crossed the line' when they were arrested in front of an angry crowd in Bristol city centre.

    Evangelicals Michael Overd, and Michael Stockwell are both accused of making religiously-aggravated public disorder after the controversial preachers took to Broadmead on July 6, last year.

    Overd, a 52-year-old from Creech St Michael, near Taunton in Somerset alongside American national Michael Stockwell, 50, from Selden, New York, both deny the offence.

    Read more.