Let me take you down … to a revolutionary Sally Army project
John Lennon, who once claimed the Beatles were bigger than Jesus, has become the key to a highly innovative project by the Salvation Army — to use tourism to fund its social action work and the Beatles to encourage people who would never consider stepping inside a church to find out about Christianity. At the centre of this unusual project in Liverpool is a place made famous around the world by John Lennon’s song, Strawberry Fields Forever, remembering a place that Lennon knew well from childhood: Strawberry Field, a children’s home run by the Salvation Army. Now, within those grounds is a new building — the children’s home long demolished — that provides prayer space, a café, an exhibition about Lennon and the Beatles, together with his piano, and a training project to help young people with special needs get into work. Today (22 August), the annual International Beatles Week begins in Liverpool, drawing in thousands of Beatles fans who takes tours of the city, and it is hoped that many will make their way through the famous red gates of Strawberry Field. Read Catherine Pepinster’s report on our website here.
Bishop “hugely disquieted” by custodial sentences on young people involved in riots
The Bishop leading on prisons for the Church of England, Rachel Treweek, has told the Church Times that she is “hugely” disquieted by the sentencing of young people involved in the summer’s riots across the country. She said rioters “need to bear the consequences” of their actions, but expressed concern about whether custodial sentences were helpful in the long term. And she called for a more creative and effective approach to criminal justice, as Britain’s prisons were already overcrowded even before severe custodial sentences were passed after the riots. Church Times report here
Patriarch in Jerusalem says negotiations are “the last train”
The Catholic Laton Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, has told Vatican News that there is a path for peace in the Middle East, but not at an institutional level. Political and religious leadership is in crisis, he says, and the current negotiations are “the last train”. He emphasised the need to “work for a ceasefire and suspend the military operations to begin a healing process, to build mutual trust”. He saw small signs of hope in the commitment to open clinics, to reopen a school that has been closed for a year, and restart the dynamics of “normal” relationships. He admitted that inter religious dialogue is difficult at the moment with no public meetings and a struggle to talk to each other. He suggested promoting dialogue in small communities instead. The US secretary of state Antony Blinken, has just completed three days of intense negotiations in the region, but left without a deal.
Petition to re-instate school chaplain gathers support as Archbishop told his response was plainly wrong
A petition to enable the Rev Dr Bernard Randall to return to preaching in the Church of England, has been signed by 23,383 people. Dr Randall was sacked by Trent College, Derbyshire, in 2019 after a sermon telling pupils they shouldn’t feel forced to accept LGBT ideology, or any ideology. He was speaking after the group “Educate and Celebrate”, whose strapline is “smashing heteronormativity in the classroom”, was invited into the school. The Church of England diocese said he was a safeguarding risk and banned him from preaching for five years. But in persistent challenges led by Christian Concern, he has been cleared by Prevent, the Local Authority Designated Officer, the Teaching Regulation Authority and the Disclosure and Barring Service. Now Gregory Jones KC, reviewing the case on behalf of the clergy discipline tribunal, said Dr Randall’s case was “egregious” and the Church’s “error gross”. He said the Archbishop of Canterbury had been plainly wrong in dismissing concerns about Dr Randall’s “blacklisting”. Dr Randall is former director of studies for Theology at the University of Cambridge and former chaplain at Christ’s College Cambridge.
Lord Farmer distances himself from daughter in law’s right wing views on Zionism
Lord Michael Farmer, Christian vice chair of the Council of Christians and Jews, has taken to Twitter / X to distance himself from his own daughter in law, the American right wing commentator Candace Owens. Jewish News reports that she is renowned for increasingly vehement attacks against the Jewish community, speaking of a Zionist media empire, and that “Canaanites in the Bible loved war, sexual perversion and promiscuity, child sacrifice and violence.” It came to a head at the weekend when she published a vlog on Twitter “The Truth about Zionism”. Lord Farmer, who converted to Christianity in his 30s, tweeted: “In view of public comments from a high-profile member of my family, I want to put my own views on antisemitism and Israel’s current military campaign in Gaza on public record”. In a long thread, he spoke of the plight of Israeli hostages and the civilians in Gaza, the incomprehensibility of the Holocaust, and his view that such sadism lies dormant in the heart of everyone. Candace Owens later posted that there was no family rift. She married to Lord Farmer’s son George, a conservative American political commentator, in 2019.
Newton Aycliffe housing scheme on church commissioners land is out for consultation
Another housing development scheme on Church Commissioners land is up for public consultation in the county of Durham. The Commissioners have submitted a planning application, with Durham County Council, to build 1435 homes on agricultural land near Newton Aycliffe. Known as the Copelaw scheme, it’s envisaged that 15 per cent of the housing will be affordable. This is one of a number of schemes proposed for Church Commissioners land, with the intention to provide 30,000 homes in 60 schemes including Falmouth, Lincolnshire and Northallerton. Church Times report here
Judge orders outside expert to sort out New Orleans archdiocese finances
A US judge has ordered an expert to sort out finances in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, which is going through bankruptcy as it faces multi million dollars worth of payouts to clergy abuse survivors and lawyers’ fees accrued in the process. Attorneys for both sides, the archdiocese and creditors, wanted more weeks to come up with competing plans. But Judge Meredith Grabill said people were tired of the prolonged discussion which had already spanned almost five years and run up $40million in legal fees which the archdiocese is liable for. A recent Louisiana court hearing paved the way for child sex abuse victims to make civil claims no matter how long ago the offence occurred, and there are 500 such cases awaiting against the archdiocese. Guardian story here
