Trailblazing Sikh healthcare centre is model for the future
The Nishkam Healthcare Trust set up by Sikhs in Birmingham, celebrates its tenth anniversary this week. It offers wrap around services to the community including health and well-being, counselling, pay what you can afford dentistry, footcare, vaccinations, pharmacy, preventative care for heart complaints and diabetes, and advice on referrals into the NHS. It is situated on Soho Road, Handsworth, among a suite of buildings including a gurdwara, civic association and school, serving an area among the most deprived in England. It employs 15 people but also engages volunteers to offer services, with an income from government grants, donations and fund raising. Its chair, Dr Manvir Kaur Hayer, says it is trailblazing a model of an integrated care system and invites people to visit on Wednesday to see services in action.
Drive by shooting at London church memorial service
Six people including two children were wounded in a drive by shooting in London as mourners were leaving a memorial service. A seven year old girl has life threatening injuries but is stable in hospital. Father Jeremy Trood said there was the sound of a loud explosion as 300 people left St. Aloysius Roman Catholic church, next to Euston station, after a service remembering a mother and daughter who died within days of each other last November.
Justin Welby’s suggested role in royal family reconciliation
The Sunday Times quotes a royal source saying that it is believed a reconciliation meeting between Prince Harry, King Charles and other family members will happen in the next few months before the coronation on 6 May. The article goes on to suggest that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, may play a role as he has previously said that there is always a way forward in such situations “at the right time”, and he is known for emphasising reconciliation within the church. Prince Harry’s book “Spare” has been dissected for its references to religion and spirituality in The Telegraph.
“No evidence” US lecturer in painting row was Islamophobic
The US Council on American-Islamic Relations has said there is no evidence that a university lecturer in Minnesota, sacked for showing a medieval painting of the Prophet Mohammed, was Islamophobic. Erika Lopez Prater included the 14th-century painting in a lesson on Islamic art, but after a student complained, Hamline university announced that her services were no longer needed. In a statement, CAIR said the academic study of ancient paintings depicting The Prophet does not, by itself, constitute Islamophobia.
Sexism, bullying and the silence of women in the Church of England
The Church of England’s chosen path of allowing those who accept the ordination of women and those who don’t to co-exist, is “wreaking damage on the church”, according to the Rev Martine Oborne, chair of Women and the Church “WATCH”, which campaigns for gender equality. She was writing in the Guardian in response to the news that Philip North, Bishop of Burnley, has been promoted to be Bishop of Blackburn, despite his opposition to ordaining women to the priesthood, even though he recognises the validity of their orders. She said: “It’s now more than 30 years since women were permitted to be priests in the C of E, but the church still relies on its exemptions under the Equality Act 2010 to go on discriminating against women. And this discrimination legitimises sexism, bullying and the silencing of women”. Guardian article here
CofE compensation offer for slavery is “chickenfeed”
An academic at University College London has suggested that the Church of England owes £1.3 billion in compensation for the slave trade, as opposed to the £100m it has offered, which he describes as “chickenfeed”. Dr Steve Cushion, from the Institute of the Americas, University College London, was responding to the Church Commissioners’ report intro historic links to the slave trade. In a letter to the Guardian, he said that between 1708–93, the CofE’s income amounted to £633,946, which in today’s value is £1,361,000,000. “If the Church of England were truly repentant, then this would be the sum it would put into the fund”.
Clergy well-being declined during pandemic
A report into the wellbeing of Church of England clergy has found an overall decline since 2019, exacerbated by the pandemic. “Covenant, Calling and Crisis: Autonomy, accountability and wellbeing among Church of England clergy” is the latest in a ten-year study of clergy mood. During lockdowns, some experienced isolation as congregations withdrew. Organisational restructuring also caused stress: “For some, greater diocesan uncertainty and turmoil has meant less reliable support, breakdown in trust and relationship, and increased distance from the diocesan centre. For others, this period has led to greater participation (desired or undesired)”.
Pope gives final blessing at funeral of Cardinal Pell
The funeral of the Australian Cardinal George Pell has been held at St Peter’s Basilica, in Rome. He died aged 81 after complications following hip surgery. Soon after, he was unveiled as the author of an anoymous blog saying the papacy of Pope Francis was a catastrophe. He is remembered as a senior Vatican official charged with reforming its finances, whose conviction for sex abuse in Melbourne was overturned after he had spent 13 months in prison for crimes of which he always protested his innocence. The final blessing at his funeral service was given by Pope Francis. Associated Press report here
Rise of satanism symptom of solitary exploration online
The rise of Satanism, registering 5,054 supporters in the 2021 census, is a symptom of religious affiliation that is now self-identified rather than set down by a tradition, according to academics quoted in a Telegraph feature this weekend. The total number of Satanists, though small in a population of more than 67 million, has doubled in ten years. Professor Linda Woodhead, head of the department of theology and religious studies at King’s College London, is quoted saying the rise is a symptom of the diversification of the religious and spiritual landscape, which features solitary exploration online.
