This is our weekly newsletter of religion news and updates about the Religion Media Centre, which we post every Friday afternoon.
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Only 21 British universities now offer single-honours theology and religious studies degrees, as student numbers decline and departments shut or merge. Academics at our Religion Media Centre briefing considered the reasons for the decline, amid calls to reimagine the purpose and content of the discipline, challenge misconceptions, and communicate well with schools and parents. View the briefing or listen to the podcast via links here, read the article here.
The place of new right Christians in the political life of the UK came into focus when stories emerged of JD Vance courting James Orr, Danny Kruger and Sir Paul Marshall while on holiday in the Cotswolds. The influence of white evangelicals on Republicans and Trump is well documented – but the US-based Public Religion Research Institute says it’s more accurate to understand this as the influence of charismatics. In a summer webinar, academics discusssed how it came to be that charismatic ideas of God-given leaders, warfare against demonic powers and Christian dominion over the world have swept through American religion and politics over the past 50 years, and are now swirling around the centre of political power. The webinar can be viewed here. Read our article here.
A jury hearing 37 indecent assault charges and one charge of rape against Christopher Brain, the former Church of England priest and leader of the “Nine O’Clock Service”, has been discharged after a case lasting eight weeks. He was found guilty of 17 charges, not guilty of 15 others, with five more including rape, unresolved. After the verdict, lawyer Richard Scorer said the case “could and should have been prosecuted 30 years ago”. The Bishop of Sheffield, Pete Wilcox, offered an unreserved apology for failures which should not have happened. Story and link to backgrounders here.
A vast red timber Lutheran church in northern Sweden, situated on land at risk of subsidence due to iron ore mining, has been lifted from its foundations and moved along rollers to a new site 3 miles away. Kiruna Church is 35 metres high, 40 metres wide and weighs 672 tonnes, and its slow journey at 500m an hour took two days, attracting a global audience on live feeds. BBC report here and CNN round-up here.
More headlines ..
Here are headlines from this week’s daily bulletins. Sign up here to receive them.
- Ukrainian bishop: giving away land ‘would be tragic’
- The dangers of the Christian ‘Vance Anglosphere crusade’
- YouGov poll suggests belief in God is rising in Britain
- Quiet revival: myth or reality? The Church Times investigates
- Islamophobia definition review delayed til autumn
- National Secular Society makes series of complaints about religious charities
- Interfaith wellbeing festival planned for Bank Holiday Monday in London
- Orthodox bishops denounce Alaska Archbishop’s meeting with Putin
- Russian Orthodox incursion into Africa condemned
- Mail reports drug dealing at Westminster Cathedral
- New Archbishop of Wales replies to critics of her sexuality
- ‘Welsh Camino’ pilgrimage route gets £78k to improve the journey
- Pro-lifer investigated for third time for silent prayer near abortion clinic
- Two elderly Sikh men attacked outside Wolverhampton railway station
- A profile of Reform backing theologian James Orr and his influence on JD Vance
- Who are the young people in the Quiet Revival?
- Buckland Abbey monks’ songs, silenced by Henry VIII, are heard again
- Pope hosts lunch at his summer palace for the marginalised in the local area
- ‘Outlaws’ and IDF attack on Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza condemned by Anglican diocese
- Ukrainian Orthodox Church refuses to sever links with Russia
- Cardinal reads out names of Israeli and Palestinian children killed in the war
- Central Oxford mosque vandalised in hate crime
- Nominations requested for faith community action ‘Dangoor’ awards
- Diocese of Coventry at centre of village dispute over 250-year-old tree
- Chris Brain, leader of the ‘Nine O’Clock Service’, guilty of 17 cases of indecent assault
- The timber Kiruna Church in northern Sweden has arrived at its new home
- Church treasurer jailed for four years for stealing £285,000
- 80 Orthodox rabbis say Israel has moral obligation to prevent mass starvation
- Royal Navy’s first Hindu chaplain starts work in Plymouth
- Xi Jinping visits Tibet on 60th anniversary of China’s rule
- US judge blocks ten commandments display in Texas schools
- Pope Leo planning to flat share in the Papal apartments
- Jury discharged in trial of Chris Brain, leader of the ‘Nine O’Clock Service’
- Bishop – ‘deeply sorry’; Lawyer – ‘case should have happened 30 years ago’
- Religious Studies GCSE remains popular but more teachers needed
- Reframing theology and religious studies at British universities
- Global prayer chain for Ukraine taking place this Sunday
- World Jewish Relief delivering medical care to Gaza
- 50 dead in attacks on a mosque and nearby villages in Nigeria
- Islamic Relief in Pakistan appeals for urgent action on climate change
- Greenbelt prepares for Jeremy Corbyn
- Charity Commission inquiry into Darul-Uloom School
- ‘Focus on the Family’ founder James C Dobson has died aged 89
- Quiet revival: myth or reality? The Church Times investigates
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