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In the News

  • Guardian: Jill Saward, campaigner against sexual violence, dies aged 51
    January 5th, 2017

    Tributes have been paid to Jill Saward, who became a campaigner against sexual violence after she was raped in her father’s west London vicarage more than 30 years ago, following her death from a stroke at the age of 51.

    Saward said 10 years ago that she did not want to be known for ever as "the Ealing vicarage rape victim" after she endured one of the most notorious sexual crimes in recent history. "Something different would be nice. But it’s not going to happen now."

    Her family said in a statement: "It is with deep shock and great sadness that we must announce that Jill Saward (Jill Drake) died this morning in New Cross hospital, Wolverhampton, following a subarachnoid haemorrhage on Tuesday."

    Read more.

  • The Washington Post: Liberal churches are dying: But conservative churches are thriving
    January 5th, 2017

    Mainline Protestant churches are in trouble: A 2015 report by the Pew Research Center found that these congregations, once a mainstay of American religion, are now shrinking by about 1 million members annually. Fewer members not only means fewer souls saved, a frightening thought for some clergy members, but also less income for churches, further ensuring their decline.

    Faced with this troubling development, clergy members have made various efforts to revive church attendance. It was almost 20 years ago that John Shelby Spong, a U.S. bishop in the Episcopalian Church, published his book "Why Christianity Must Change or Die." It was presented as an antidote to the crisis of decline in mainline churches. Spong, a theological liberal, said congregations would grow if they abandoned their literal interpretation of the Bible and transformed along with changing times.

    Read more.

  • The National: Don't leave religion to the bigots opposed to LGBT inclusion, urges Church of Scotland minister backing schools campaign
    January 5th, 2017

    The faith agenda must be "seized back from the bigots and the haters" opposed to LGBTI inclusion, a Church of Scotland minister has said.

    Highland minister Reverend John Nugent spoke out as he declared his support for the Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) campaign, which is pressing for Scottish schools to overhaul the classroom approach to LGBT issues and wipe out bullying based on sexuality and gender identity.

    Human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar and actress Emma Thompson are amongst high-profile backers.

    Read more.

  • Schools Week: Christian schools claim Ofsted used them as 'soft target' after 'inadequate' judgements
    January 4th, 2017

    Ten of the 24 schools which follow the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) programme in England were inspected by Ofsted at the request of the Department for Education (DfE) in October last year, following an investigation by The Independent which published ex-pupil complaints against the curriculum.

    Safeguarding issues such as pupils being in “unsafe” surroundings and poor pre-employment checks on staff were highlighted. Progress in reading and mathematics was also questioned and described as “painfully slow” in one school.

    But Christian Concern, a charity providing legal advice to the schools about a possible judicial review of the reports, said the drive for “British values” explained why Ofsted had inspected the schools.

    Read more.

  • Telegraph: One in three children send naked selfies online because parents let them 'roam free' on the internet
    January 4th, 2017

    Children are being bullied, lured into sharing sexually pictures and groomed by abusers online because parents have left them to “roam free” on the internet, the Government’s young people’s tsar has warned.

    Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, said “wholly irresponsible” adults had effectively abdicated their role as protectors, leaving youngsters to “fend for themselves” on the internet because they do not understand it.

    Many parents’ only strategy to keep their children safe in a largely unregulated new environment was simply to “hope” that nothing bad happens to them, she said.

    Read more.

  • Guardian: Children in England sign over digital rights 'regularly and unknowingly'
    January 4th, 2017

    Children are being left to fend for themselves in the digital world, regularly signing over rights to their private messages and pictures unknowingly and with scant advice from parents or schools, according to England’s children’s commissioner.

    Almost half of eight- to 11-year-olds have agreed impenetrable terms and conditions to give social media giants such as Facebook and Instagram control over their data, without any accountability, according to the commissioner’s Growing Up Digital taskforce.

    The year-long study found children regularly signed up to terms including waiving privacy rights and allowing the content they posted to be sold around the world, without reading or understanding their implications.

    Read more.

  • Christian Today: Gospel singer Kim Burrell won't apologise for gay comment: 'I love you and God loves you, but God hates sin'
    January 4th, 2017

    Gospel singer Kim Burrell is standing tall and not allowing the storm of criticism whipped up by pro-gay people to affect her.

    She made it clear that she is not apologising for her recent sermon at a Houston church where she referred to gays and lesbian sex as "perverted," CBN News reported.

    Burrell, who is also a pastor at Love and Liberty Fellowship Church in Houston, Texas, told her congregation in her sermon: "That perverted homosexual spirit is a spirit of delusion and confusion and has deceived many men and women, and it has caused a strain on the body of Christ."

    Read more.

  • Time: Gospel singer Kim Burrell addresses backlash after homophobic remarks
    January 4th, 2017

    Gospel singer Kim Burrell has responded to negative reactions to a sermon that she gave at a church in Houston, Texas where she used the word “perverted” in reference to gay people, according to the New York Times.

    During the sermon, which was taped at the Love & Liberty Fellowship Church, Burrell refers to the “perverted homosexual spirit,” which drew backlash online, ahead of Burrell’s slated performance of a song from the film Hidden Figures alongside Pharrell on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday.

    In a pair of videos posted to Facebook Live last Friday, Burrell did not take back her words, but said that her words had been misrepresented by her “enemies” who had posted only a part of her original sermon.

    Read more.

  • Christian Today: The 12 worst countries for Christian persecution around the world
    January 4th, 2017

    The staggering levels of persecution against Christians around the world is documented in a new 'Hall of Shame' list released by watchdog International Christian Concern (ICC).

    ICC on Wednesday said that North Korea, Iraq, Syria and Nigeria were the worst state persecutors of Christians, while Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, China, India and Egypt were "perennial abusers of religious freedom".

    The persecution watchdog also listed a third category, 'New and Noteworthy', in which it placed countries where "events... indicate declining religious freedom and are cause for alarm".

    Read more.

  • BBC: 'Trojan Horse': Plea to ensure witness anonymity
    January 4th, 2017

    The government is being urged to ensure witnesses in the so-called "Trojan Horse" inquiry are not revealed.

    Those who gave evidence to an inquiry into the alleged schools scandal fear their identities may be revealed despite a promise of anonymity.

    The action comes after the witnesses received letters saying their interview transcripts would be passed to the lawyers of teachers facing tribunals.

    Read more.