Skip to content

Archive site notice

You are viewing an archived copy of Christian Concern's website. Some features are disabled and pages may not display properly.

To view our current site, please visit christianconcern.com

In the News

  • Telegraph: Ministers told to sack Ofsted chief over threat to raid Sunday schools in extremism crackdown
    January 17th, 2016
    Ministers should sack the chief schools inspector over a threat to raid Sunday schools, a senior Tory MP has said.
     
    Sir Michael Wilshaw, the head of Ofsted, has alarmed by MPs by saying he will use new powers targeted at extremists to intervene in Sunday schools teaching.
     
    His comments are at odds with ministers who have insisted that the powers are not targeted at Sunday schools.
     
    Up to 20 Tory MPs will meet with Sir Michael, and Nicky Morgan, the Education secretary, next week to express their concerns. A debate in Parliament is also scheduled for Wednesday.
     
    David Cameron, the Prime Minister, unveiled the plans last year for Ofsted to crack down on a minority of Muslim madrassas where children had their “heads filled with poison and their hearts filled with hate”.
  • Care Not Killing: Dr Kevin Fitzpatrick OBE - RIP
    January 15th, 2016
    CNK remembers a great advocate, campaigner and friend following his death from cancer on 14 January

    Kevin, who would have celebrated his 60th birthday later this month, worked with Care Not Killing over a number of years, and he will be remembered particularly for his work to bring to public attention the reality of legalised euthanasia in Belgium.
     
    He made powerfully the case against euthanasia and assisted suicide on TV, radio and in print around the world and was an enthusiastic and engaging debater and public speaker: truly, a light has gone out in the public face of opposition to uncontrollable, unethical and unnecessary legal change.
  • Telegraph: Eugenics is inevitable because parents will always want to 'enhance' their children, experts warn
    January 14th, 2016

    Eugenics is inevitable because parents will always want to enhance their children, and rogue clinics may already be offering treatment to the highest bidder, experts warned today.

  • Christian Today: Open Doors says Syria and Iraq are 'the tip of the iceberg' - there has never been a worse time to be a Christian
    January 13th, 2016
    There has never been a worse time to be a Christian, according to persecution charity Open Doors who will launch their annual report this afternoon.
     
    "Global persecution of Christians is more extreme than ever before," the charity said in a statement ahead of publishing its 2016 World Watch List. The list highlights the 50 countries with the worst persecution record and will be discussed at a launch event at the House of Commons later today.
     
    Working on a points based system, the list reflects the dramatic surge in persecution recorded by the charity. While the lowest ranking country in 2013 had 35 points, this year's lowest ranking country had 53 points – an increase of more than 50 per cent just to make it on the list.
     
    Lisa Pearce, Open Doors' CEO, said the rapid rise was a "cause of great concern" and urged the UK government to do more to protect Christians around the world.
     
    "The persecution of Christians is getting worse, in every region in which we work – and it's getting worse fast," she said.
  • CofE: Church publishes 2014 attendance statistics
    January 12th, 2016
    New Church of England statistics for 2014 published today show that just under one million people attend services each week.  The survey, carried out over four weeks in October 2014, found 980,000 people attending church each week, with 830,000 adults and 150,000 children.
     
    The statistics also show that 2.4 million attended a Church of England Church at Christmas in 2014 and 1.3 million people attended a service at Easter. Additionally, 2.2 million people attended special Advent services for the congregation and local community whilst 2.6 million attended special Advent services for civic organisations and schools.
     
    The statistics also highlight the other services carried out by the Church of England on a regular basis. In 2014 the Church carried out just under 1,000 weddings, 2,000 baptisms, and almost 3,000 funerals every week of the year.  Some 12% of births during 2014 were marked by a Church of England infant baptism or thanksgiving service whilst 31% of deaths were marked by a Church of England funeral.
     
  • BBC: Kenya's Evangelical Alliance opposes registration plan
    January 12th, 2016
    Kenya's evangelical churches have condemned government plans to make it tougher for religious bodies and clerics from all faiths to operate.
     
    The move was aimed at stopping the growth of evangelical churches, said the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya.

    But a leading Anglican cleric welcomed the proposals as an attempt to end the "commercialisation" of religion.

    The proposals require all religious bodies to register, and for preachers to have police clearance.

    All religious institutions would also be required to submit their statements of faith to a government-backed body for examination.
  • Telegraph: Leeds red-light district made permanent fixture with 'prostitution zone' three weeks after sex worker murder
    January 12th, 2016
    A red-light district has been made a permanent fixture less than three weeks after a sex worker was killed in the area.
     
    The street prostitution zone has been allowed to continue indefinitely despite the death of 21-year-old prostitute Daria Pionko who was found with fatal injuries inside the "managed area" in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

    A 24-year-old man is currently awaiting trial for the murder of Miss Pionko.

    Councillor Mark Dobson, Leeds City Council's executive member for Safer Leeds, called the death of Miss Pionko a "tragedy" but insisted a managed area was needed to protect sex workers.

    Under the scheme sex workers are allowed to ply their zone in the designated part of the Holbeck area of the city between 7pm and 7am, but council chiefs are looking at extending the hours women can work.
  • Telegraph: Tory MPs warn that Sunday schools could be banned from teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman
    January 11th, 2016
    Sunday schools could be banned from teaching children that marriage should be between a man and a woman, under plans to force them to undergo regular Ofsted inspections, Tory MPs will warn.
     
    The Conservative MPs - Sir Gerald Howarth, David Burrowes, Gary Streeter and Fiona Bruce MP - warned that the changes could have a "seriously detrimental effect on the freedom of religious organisations".

    The proposals follow warnings by the Prime Minister about a small minority of Muslim madrassas and other groups where he said children have their "heads filled with poison and their hearts filled with hate".
     
    However campaigners said Ofsted inspectors could be sent into Sunday schools, church youth groups, Scout troops and even bell-ringing circles to search for signs of children being "radicalised".
  • BBC: Church split over homosexuality would be a failure - Welby
    January 11th, 2016
    A split in the Anglican Communion over homosexuality "would not be a disaster, but it would be a failure", the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.
     
    Speaking before a meeting of world Anglican leaders, Justin Welby said he wanted "reconciliation", but that would mean "finding ways to disagree well".
     
    Views range from Churches in the US and elsewhere who accept openly gay clergy to those who condemn homosexual acts.
     
    There are fears of a permanent schism in the 80m-strong Communion.
  • Mail: Senior Church liberals pile pressure on Archbishop to stop the 'vilification' of gay Christians
    January 10th, 2016
    More than 100 senior Church of England liberals will today increase pressure on the Archbishop of Canterbury to support reforms aimed at stopping the 'vilification' of gay Christians.
     
    In a strongly worded open letter to Justin Welby, the signatories – who range from bishops and cathedral deans to MPs – call on the Church to 'repent' for treating gay people like 'second-class citizens'.
     
    The letter will heighten tensions at a week-long meeting of the world's Anglican leaders which begins in Canterbury tomorrow, at which the Archbishop hopes to avert a permanent split between warring factions in the Church.