Soul Survivor leaders are suspended in safeguarding investigation
Soul Survivor trustees have announced that two leaders who stepped in when the founder Mike Pilavachi was suspended, have themselves been suspended in relation to the handling of allegations against him. The Rev Andy Croft, senior pastor of Soul Survivor church in Watford and the protégé of Mike Pilavachi, and assistant pastor Ali Martin who is training for ordination, were suspended after the National Safeguarding Team received new information in their investigation. They are looking into allegations that Mike Pilavachi massaged young men in his inner circle and wrestled with them to the floor. His Soul Survivor movement is within the Church of England, runs many churches here and abroad and used to organise annual festivals where 30,000 young people would gather for charismatic praise and teaching. Its influence within the Church of England is profound and the safeguarding story has been met with deep shock among its followers.
Call for Bishop of Oxford to be suspended over safeguarding response
Martin Sewell, a former child protection lawyer and a current member of the Church of England’s General Synod, is calling for the Bishop of Oxford, Steven Croft, to be suspended from the House of Lords. He told Premier Christian News that he has written to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards following the publication of a review into the abuse of a teenager by the late Rev Trevor Devamanikkam, who took his own life before he was due to appear in court. The review said Steven Croft, then bishop of Sheffield, did not act upon information after the incident was reported to him. The Bishop wrote to all clergy in his current diocese last month when the review came to light, explaining the context and apologising. The Diocese of Oxford said he would not be standing down. The bishop is the father of the Rev Andy Croft, who has himself just been suspended from Soul Survivor over his own safeguarding response, see story above.
Statement expected on Church of Uganda’s support for criminalising homosexuality
The Archbishop of Canterbury is expected to break his silence over the controversial decision of the Church of Uganda, to back a new law which criminalises homosexuality. It would mean a 20-year sentence for engaging in same sex relations, and the death sentence for “aggravated homosexuality” such as rape or spreading HIV. Several Church of England bishops – London, Chelmsford, Newcastle, Worcester and Selby – have tweeted their opposition to the Church of Uganda’s stand and there has been growing demand for the Archbishop of Canterbury to speak out, as head of the global Anglican communion of which Uganda is part. The statement, when published, will appear here.
Pat Robertson, Christian televangelist, has died
US Christian televangelist Pat Robertson, who forged a close relationship between the religious right and the Republican party, has died aged 93. A Southern Baptist minister, he started the Christian Broadcasting Network in 1961 , based in Virginia and became famous through presenting the “700 Club” TV chat show, amassing a fortune estimated at $100million. It was while running for the Republican party’s endorsement as presidential candidate in 1988, that he started the strategy of courting evangelical support for the party, a tactic now commonplace. He is seen as the prime mover in ensuring that the Christian right became an influential force in American politics and secured their continuing support in GOP campaigns. He maintained a close relationship with political leaders, inviting Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump onto his TV show, but courting their displeasure through bold, conservative critique on public policy.
Clergy propose pay rise of 9.5 per cent
The Church Times reports that the Church of England Employee and Clergy Advocates (CEECA) union branch has proposed a pay rise of 9.5 per cent next year in response to rising inflation and the cost-of-living crisis. CEECA is within the Unite Union and has 2071 members, of whom 1838 are clerics.
Stained glass window showing Jesus on a slave ship replaces Colston window in Bristol church
Permission has been granted for stained glass windows dedicated to the slave trader Edward Colston in St Mary Redcliffe Church, Bristol, to be replaced with windows depicting Jesus on a transatlantic slave ship, a cross-Channel migrant boat and a civil rights march. The original window was taken down after the statue of Colston was toppled into the harbour three years ago by anti racism protesters. The Chancellor of the Diocese of Bristol said excusing or ignoring the slave trade is a sin. The new design by Ealish Swift, a junior doctor, was chosen in a competition to find a permanent replacement. The first of the four new panels shows Jesus as a black man aboard a Bristol slave ship, referencing the story of Jesus calming the storm.
Bar Council demands end to discrimination against Ahmadi lawyers in Pakistan
The Bar Council has issued a statement saying it is profoundly concerned by recent announcements in parts of Pakistan that Ahmadi Muslims lawyers must renounce their religion in order to practise at the Bar. It says the District Bar Association of Gujranwala and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council issued notices that anyone applying for admittance to the Bar must positively assert they are Muslim and denounce the teachings of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and its founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Nick Vineall KC, Chair of the Bar of England and Wales, has written to the chair of the Pakistan Bar Council requesting that action be taken to remedy this discrimination.
Islamic Relief Worldwide founder honoured with charity award
The co-founder of Islamic Relief Worldwide, Hany El-Banna OBE, has been awarded the Daniel Phelan Award for Outstanding Achievement. His 40 years in humanitarian relief work began as a part time concern while he was an NHS doctor, but he left medicine to build Islamic Relief Worldwide into the world’s biggest western Muslim aid and development agency. It operates in 40 countries with 450 staff, and is one of the 30 biggest UK charities by income.
Vicar refuses to leave church after no confidence vote because Holy Spirit guides him to stay
An almighty row is blazing in the Grade I-listed St Mary the Virgin Church in the picturesque village of Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire. The annual parish meeting passed a no confidence vote in the vicar, Father Oliver Learmont, but he is refusing to budge saying he is being guided by the Holy Spirit to stay. The Telegraph quotes the parishioners objecting to his high church tendencies: “I don’t expect we’ve had a vicar we refer to as ‘Father’ at the church since the Reformation.” There is also the matter of painting the 18th-century church organ pipes, altering the layout of the church interior and being accused of allowing a drift and decline. The treasurer and secretary are not standing for re-election, a veteran churchwarden has warned he will stand down and the choir isn’t singing. Fr Learmont says some of the accounts of church life are misleading. The diocese is offering everyone pastoral support.
