Britain’s first church minister for drug addiction
The Methodist minister, Rev Laurent Vernet, begins a new role in Glasgow today as minister for recovery — Britain’s first minister for drug addiction. After several years serving a church in Glasgow that offered special services for those with addiction problems, the Strathclyde circuit of the Methodist Church has released Mr Vernet from his previous responsibilities to focus wholly on addiction and recovery problems. Money from the sale of an older building will take the Methodist community closer to providing a church just for those coping with drug, alcohol and gambling problems. It means that Glasgow will see the biggest commitment from a Christian denomination in this country to ministering to people with addictions. His new role follows the pioneering work south of the border in Newcastle upon Tyne, where the Anglican cathedral was the first to run special services for people with addictions and in recovery, led by the Rev Jon Canessa and Methodist minister Tracey Hulme. Report by Catherine Pepinster here
First papal visit to Mongolia is underway
Pope Francis has arrived in Mongolia to visit one of the world’s smallest and newest Catholic communities – the first time a pope has visited the country. The Associated Press explains that there are only 1,450 Catholics and they have only been given official permission to be present since 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union. His schedule includes meetings with political and religious leaders, including bishops, priests and nuns from Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity who have nurtured the community. Political tensions with Mongolia’s neighbours Russia and China will surface at an interfaith meeting on Sunday when the Russian Orthodox church will be present, alongside Mongolian Buddhists, closely tied to Tibetan Buddhism which reveres the Dalai Lama, exiled from China.
Jewish News hails appointment of Grant Shapps as defence secretary
Jewish News reports the appointment of Grant Shapps as the new defence secretary, framing it as an achievement rooted in his presidency of the Jewish youth movement BBYO, formerly the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization Inc, which he said has massively influenced his career path in Westminster. This is his fifth job in a year, formerly energy security secretary, home secretary under ex-PM Liz Truss, business secretary, transport secretary and chairman of the Tory party. He told the Jewish News that his family were loosely observant Jews, who attended the synagogue a couple of times a year. He and his wife took in a Ukrainian family who had fled when the invasion started. Jewish News reports that Malcolm Rifkind is believed to have been the last Jewish defence secretary in 1995.
New Bishop of Birmingham: Christian surfer and marathon runner
The new Bishop of Birmingham is the Rev Dr Michael Volland, currently the Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge, which is in the open evangelical tradition. He has also been Director of Mission at Cranmer Hall, Durham, led fresh expressions of church at Gloucester Cathedral and spent a number of years on the worship planning team for the Greenbelt Festival. His doctoral research at Durham was: ‘An Entrepreneurial Approach to Priestly Ministry in the Parish” and in the principal’s letter at Ridley Hall he wrote: “What we notice in entrepreneurial individuals, teams and institutions are things such as trust, partnership, collaboration, opportunity-spotting, vision, energy, focus, creativity and innovation – all of which are in great demand in the current mission situation”. He has been a member of Christian Surfers UK for 30 years, led beach missions and runs marathons.
Times survey rumbles on: “Defeatist” CofE clergy and a church “responding to customer demand”
The Times’ survey of Church of England clergy continues to cause waves. Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg described the 64 per cent who said Britain could no longer be described as a Christian country, as “defeatist”. He told GB news that the underpinnings of British society are built upon the gospels and Christian values. Britain continues to be a Christian state whereas the European Union is an atheistic state. The Rev George Pitcher, journalist and priest, writes that he is mildly non-clinically depressed at the survey’s findings, because they indicate that clergy think the church needs to be relevant to current social mores, be more popular and get with the programme. But he says the church is not a supermarket responding to customer demand, but a sanctuary for the disillusioned, the marginalised, the unpopular and the oppressed: “We just need to see the world through the prism of our faith, rather than the other way around”.
CofE same sex blessings dispute played out in letter exchange
The Church Times reports an exchange of letters between the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and conservative members of the synod, over prayers of blessing for same sex couples. The conservatives started it by telling the bishops that it was not for them to commend blessings and a full synod vote was required. The Archbishops expressed surprise at the legal tone and said it was primarily theological and pastoral. The conservatives replied undaunted saying any alternative route to a synod vote would lay the way open for a significant legal challenge. Church Times story here
Vicar whose bank account was closed says there’s a sea change in trans debate
The Rev Richard Fothergill, a vicar whose Yorkshire Building Society account was closed earlier this year after he criticised its stand on Pride, has told The Telegraph there has been a sea change emboldening people to speak out on trans issues. In an interview with The Telegraph’s Planet Normal podcast, he said people were pushing back pleading for a dose of reality. In his view, gender change was an ideology, comments which have been criticised as transphobic.
Yorkshire Methodist chapels’ solar panels measured in cups of tea
Seven churches in the Yorkshire North and East Methodist District have been fitted with solar panels to provide heat and light in a more environmentally friendly way. Their effectiveness is being calculated using a Methodist measure – how their energy is used to make one cup of tea. The project has been funded with £100,000 from Centrica’s Energy for Tomorrow, and follows research on how to achieve Net Zero emissions, from architects at the Rural Community Energy Fund. The seven churches, from rural Littlebeck to Queen Street in Scarborough, are used extensively by community groups as well as for worship.
