Some extracts from the Presidential Address by The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell
In a letter that was sent a few weeks ago to Faith Leaders from the now Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, it is clear that he sees and wants to understand more about the impact people of faith have on communities today.
Let’s be clear, we know that politicians of all parties admire and covet the values that underpin our faith – during the cost of living crisis that still rocks so many of our poorest communities, during the Covid pandemic, and by our continued commitment to social justice our values mean that it is our instinct to put the needs of others before our own.
But this is where we may need to be a bit more bold. We need to say that these values that we hold dear do not exist in a vacuum. They are shaped by beliefs and practices; what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, and what we do in response, the daily reading of scripture, the life of prayer and worship, the iron rations of the sacramental life. Then these values then become real and become the lived outworking of a Christian life. The very best advertisement for the Gospel.
The great Archbishop, William Temple, articulated a Christian vision and a Christian narrative for the world, one which shaped what we came to know as the post war consensus and the beginnings of a welfare state and a vision which I pray will be rekindled and reworked in our own day.
Here in this Synod, and following the publication of the Housing Commission report, Coming Home, we have also been engaged with the massive challenges that face our society today, not least how to provide decent housing.
Other huge challenges face our new government, the huge challenges that face our nation and our world, of which we in the Church of England stand ready to help because the scriptures that shape us demand it.
I was recently in New York, and I had a very powerful and moving meeting with the UN Deputy Secretary who spoke about the need of shared values as a way of countering extremism and populism and of the growing recognition within the UN of the importance and the place of faith in ensuring that there is a narrative for the world which is about our common humanity, our respect for the earth and all people in it, and of how developing this narrative, this story, and confronting hateful extremism, needs the active voice of healthy communities of faith.
As a new government forms, let us be bold in presenting the Christian narrative for human well-being, a narrative that is rooted in Christ and makes no sense without Him; let us pray for our King and government and our new Prime Minister.
William Temple once famously said, “I believe in the holy Catholic Church, and sincerely regret that it does not presently exist.” He knew that the Church God longs us to be transcends our current divides and disagreements and requires a greater trust in God and in each other.
At William Temple’s enthronement as Bishop of Manchester he said this –
“I come with a burning desire; it is that in all our activities, sacred and secular, ecclesiastical and social, we should help each other to fix our eyes on Jesus, making Him our only guide… Pray for me, I ask you, not chiefly that I may be wise and strong, or any other such thing, though for these things I need your prayers. But pray for me chiefly that I may never let go of the unseen hand of the Lord Jesus, and may live in daily fellowship with Him.”
Sisters and brothers, let us tread the path of the way of Jesus Christ.
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New anti-bullying guidance for Church of England schools published
The Church of England has published new anti-bullying guidance for use in its 4,700 Church schools.
The document, entitled ‘Guidance for preventing and tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying’ is the first of a new suite of resources and will come into effect from September 2024 after a consultation period.
This suite, named ‘Flourishing for All: Anti-bullying guidance for Church of England schools,’ will expand with additional sections in the coming months.
In total, five resources will address bullying on the basis of protected characteristics, including race, special educational needs and disability, religion and belief, as well as sexist bullying and sexual harassment, alongside the anti-HBT bullying guidance released today.
With a consultation now open, schools, parents, or other stakeholders are invited to respond individually or on behalf of a group.
The guidance is informed by a range of statutory and non-statutory frameworks and guidance documents for schools, including the recent draft government guidance on Gender Questioning Children (2023) and by the final report and recommendations to NHS England from Dr Hilary Cass (2024).
The new Church of England guidance will reflect any changes in the final Government guidance once published.
The Church of England’s Chief Education Officer, Nigel Genders, added: “The Anti-Bullying Alliance has recently revealed that nearly 1 in 4 children in England report frequent bullying. Over the last ten years, the terminology has changed, and with the rise of social media, the debates on gender and sexuality have become polarised, which does nothing to help the young people whose wellbeing should be our first priority.
“We hope these new resources will help to support anti-bullying efforts in schools, ensuring dignity and fairness for all children, which reflects the Church of England’s vision for education.
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New network of worshipping communities in schools and colleges launches pilot phase in 40 locations
The Church of England has recently launched a new network of 40 worshipping communities, furthering its vision of becoming younger and more diverse.
The new FLOURISH network will establish partnerships between schools or Further Education colleges and their local churches, aiming to engage a large number of children, young people, and their families.
An initial two-year pilot programme will introduce these worshipping communities through churches partnering with primary schools, secondary schools, and FE college settings across 12 Dioceses: Bath & Wells, Birmingham, Bristol, Chester, Derby, Lichfield, Peterborough, Portsmouth, Salisbury, Southwark, Southwell & Nottingham, and Truro.
The FLOURISH network builds on the momentum of leaders dedicated to strategic partnerships between church, school, and home, inspired by the pioneering efforts of the Church of England’s Growing Faith Foundation. This foundation has been instrumental through its programmes, networks, research, and events.
As part of the pilot, 200 adult leaders from schools, colleges, and churches, along with 800 young leaders from the schools and colleges, will receive training and development. This initiative will be led by The Church of England’s Education team in collaboration with Ministry Development colleagues.
The FLOURISH worshipping communities will be based on five core principles:
- Young people’s voices are instinctively at the centre of all leadership decision-making and implementation
- Clearly articulated and shared purpose to grow a younger and more diverse community of Christian disciples
- Strategic leadership partnership between school/college and at least one church community (with appropriate long-term governance and resource commitment)
- Intergenerational faith development experiences involving children and their families of all ages
- Worship that is fully integrated into the regular rhythms, practices, structures and resources of the school/college’s vision for flourishing of children and adults.
The 40 pilot locations will share their insights at local, diocesan, and national levels to assess whether this innovative approach to worshipping communities in educational settings could be a viable opportunity for Dioceses to consider in future strategic funding plans.
While many pilot locations are in Church of England schools, the initiative also includes community (non-CofE) schools, Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), and FE colleges, with over half serving communities with above-average disadvantage metrics and a significant proportion serving highly diverse populations.
The worshipping communities will begin their pilot phase in Autumn 2024, with research into the growth and effectiveness of this approach shared throughout the two-year pilot.
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Food is weaponised in Sudan
The brutal civil war in Sudan has pushed the country to the brink of famine. And even food given by humanitarian agencies is now being used as a weapon in the conflict.
So says the South Sudanese RC Bishop of Yei, the Rt Revd Alex Lodiong Sakor Eyobo, who says that both sides of the war are harassing the humanitarian agencies. “And when humanitarian agencies are harassed, they stop delivering food because they also have to protect their own lives.”
World Vision Sudan’s interim national director, John Makoni, said: “The biggest challenge aid agencies are facing is humanitarian access. We need unhindered access to reach the people most in need with life-saving assistance. Any further delays can be catastrophic and will result in deaths.
The Sudan and South Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference warns that the very fabric of Sudanese society has been torn apart. Millions of people are shocked and traumatised, disbelieving the level of violence and hatred.
UNICEF has warned that more than 700,000 children under five are at risk from dying. One mother has cooked up dirt in water, “just to put something in her children’s stomachs.”
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Do not expect much from Iran’s new President
So says the charity Open Doors.
It warns that the election of the cardiac surgeon Masoud Pezeshkian as the new ‘reformist’ President of Iran is not a signal that the lives of Christians are likely to improve, even though Pezeshkian has lived and studied in the United States.
A persecution analyst with Open Doors’ World Watch Research Unit explains: “His election won’t bring any radical change, simply because the power is in unelected hands, not the elected ones.”
Instead, “we will see a continuation of the arrests and heavy prison sentences, especially since the regime knows it doesn’t have much support and therefore had to crack down hard on all dissent. This affects Christians as well as other minority groups.”
Iran is ranked ninth on the Open Doors’ World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most persecution for their faith.
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Church concern at the UK housing crisis
The ‘deep roots’ of the UK housing crisis requires a long-term strategy, as well as immediate solutions for homeless people and for those living in rural areas.
So said the Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, in a recent debate in the House of Lords. As the C of E’s lead bishop on housing, she asserts: “Too often housing has been viewed as a financial asset, rather than a fundamental human need.”
She went on: “The housing crisis has been escalating for decades, so we should not under-estimate just how long it will take to fix. I cannot overstate the need for long-term thinking in tackling the housing crisis.”
In the meantime, rough sleeping continues to rise, and thousands of children remain in temporary accommodation.
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Public will be able to feel the tree rings of Sycamore Gap
Members of the public are now able to feel the rings of the felled Sycamore Gap tree, thanks to a new art exhibition.
The 200-year-old sycamore was cut down last year in a “malicious act of vandalism”. But it has now been ‘brought to life’ through a series of five prints, created from a disc of the trunk.
The prints are on display at four locations along Hadrian’s Wall. One of them, named Access, has been hand pressed, so that the 3D shape of the wood and tree rings became embossed on the paper. Visitors can touch the print and feel the rings.
The National Trust explains that the art exhibition is only part of an attempt to “ensure there is an enduring legacy of the tree informed by the huge public response to its loss.”
The five bespoke prints have been named ‘Heartwood.’ They were taken from a 90cm disc of the original tree. They show every tree ring, groove and detail from the cross-section of the almost heart-shaped trunk.
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Visit the C of E online page
There is now a range of digital resources for to you connect with God at this difficult time. These include:
Time to Pray app (https://www.chpublishing.co.uk/apps/time-to-pray) which is free and has an accompanying daily audio offering on SoundCloud and iTunes.
Mental health reflections (https://www.churchofengland.org/faith-action/mental-health-resources/supporting-good-mental-health)
Tips to tackle isolation (https://www.churchofengland.org/faith-action/mental-health-resources/dealing-loneliness-and-isolation-five-top-tips)
Finally, there are the Church’s smart speaker apps, which provide a range of Christian resources. https://www.churchofengland.org/our-faith/our-smart-speaker-apps In March alone, the number of people using the Alexa app rose by more than 70 per cent.
More details at: https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/church-online
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