Former Archbishop of York Attacks Church Bureaucracy; Barnabas Fund questions aid to countries with persecution; Young Gaelic speakers encouraged to become global citizens; Media review – Tory MPs’ fury at ‘bid to gag’ gay marriage rebels; The equal marriage bill is commendable, but flawed
Former Archbishop of York Attacks Church Bureaucracy
Dr David Hope, a former Archbishop of York, issued an urgent warning today for the Church to shake off “the disabling shackles of hierarchy and bureaucracy” and to focus instead on meeting people where they are.
Preaching in York Minster at the consecration of Canon Glyn Webster as the new Bishop of Beverley, Dr Hope gave clear advice to the new newly ordained bishop and to the wider church which he served as Archbishop of York for a decade until 2006.
He described the challenges of contemporary ministry as demanding and said that bishops clergy and laity should concentrate on “those personal relationships, networks and interactions which make for the wholeness and well-being of family, community and society.”
Whilst in office, the former Archbishop was a frequent critic of the church’s reliance on committees and synods and he reminded his congregation that Jesus had never “formed a committee, set up a working party or dreamed up a Synod. No – he simply met people where they were – Peter and James and John – and called them – ‘come follow me’; an invitation to discipleship – later to become an appointment to apostleship.”
He added: “How the church today needs urgently to shake off the disabling shackles of hierarchy and bureaucracy so that it can be free to travel light, to embrace an altogether new asceticism – a theology of ‘enoughness’ as Lambeth 1998 puts it, to live the gospel so that the light and life of Jesus may be the more manifest to all and for all.
Dr Hope suggested that difference in the Christian Community on a wide range of issues could be dealt with differently: “Where there are differences and disputes, instead of acrimony there ought to be sensitivity, a readiness to listen deeply and carefully to the one with whom we differ.”
With particular reference to the vote at General Synod on women bishops Dr Hope, a traditionalist, said: “ [all] need to exercise particular care in ensuring that their sometimes strongly felt and strongly held views in this matter, as indeed in others, are expressed with care and understanding one towards another.”
Dr Hope then urged the congregation to be the first to engage in what they were really called to be: “the one single issue which ought to be occupying all our endeavours – the one thing on which surely all can unite is our commitment to evangelisation – the challenge in the world of the super highway, in a nation where there is anxiety for the present and fear for the future on the part of so many, is how we communicate effectively and convincingly and without compromise the astringent message of God’s love for us.”
Barnabas Fund questions aid to countries with persecution
Barnabas Fund is urging the UK Government to do more to ensure the countries it sends aid to are respecting human rights.
It has questioned the millions of pounds in aid being sent to the likes of Eritrea, Sudan and Pakistan where Christians are experiencing hardship and discrimination because of their faith.
In Eritrea, which received over £3million during the last financial year, Christians are being detained in metal shipping containers and tortured in order to make them recant their faith.
Sudan received over £32million in aid last year, but Barnabas Fund describes the government as an “extreme persecutor” of Christians. The organisation has been evacuating thousands of Christian women and children in the face of growing hostility.
Christians continue to experience persecution in Pakistan as a result of the blasphemy laws, which are being misused by extremists. False accusations have led to attacks, lengthy imprisonments, and death sentences, although no one has yet been executed for the offence.
Christian women also face abduction by Muslim men, who force them to convert to Islam and marry them. Christians complain that little is done to prevent these injustices and perpetrators often escape justice.
Despite these human rights abuses, Pakistan received over £211million in aid from the UK Government last year.
In a response to Barnabas Fund’s concerns, the Department for International Development said it “robustly assesses” the suitability of governments receiving aid and that respecting human rights is one of the factors taken into consideration.
“We may judge that specific human rights concerns are sufficiently serious to merit a suspension of our financial aid to that government,” DFID said.
“If financial aid is suspended, we make sure those funds are provided in alternative ways so that the poorest do not suffer as a result.”
Barnabas Fund said that the total withdrawal of UK aid from a country where Christians are being persecuted could make things worse for the most disadvantaged.
“Yet propping up regimes that abuse their most vulnerable citizens hardly encourages change”, it added.
“While the UK Government pays lip service to the importance of human rights, it is questionable whether it is truly putting its money where its mouth is in the payment of aid to countries that persecute Christians.”
Young Gaelic speakers encouraged to become global citizens
Catholic aid agency SCIAF is promoting engagement in development issues among Scotland’s young Gaelic speakers.
SCIAF has launched a set of posters in the Gaelic language encouraging young people to become active global citizens.
The posters are being displayed in schools across Scotland where Gaelic is spoken or taught. They carry slogans calling the youngsters to be the change they want to see in the world, and regard people everywhere as their neighbours.
The new posters are part of a wider strategy to engage with the Gaelic community in Scotland.
The development agency’s famous WEE BOXES, to be launched this Lent, will also feature a Gaelic slogan for the first time. SCIAF’s Director, Patricia Chale, said: “Engaging young people across Scotland is vital if we are to make hunger, poverty and injustice a thing of the past.
“This must involve the wider community, including in areas where Gaelic is the main language.
“I hope the new posters will encourage more young people in our Gaelic-speaking communities to become active global citizens and encourage others to get involved in supporting SCIAF’s life-changing work.”
Rosemary Ward, of The Gaelic Books Council and Gaelic spokesperson for SCIAF, commended the organisation for pro-actively reaching out to the Gaelic community.
“The new resources are a valuable contribution to the promotion and preservation of the Gaelic language and will hopefully encourage more young Gaelic-speakers to feel included in the agency’s drive to promote active global citizenship,” she said.
Media review
Tory MPs’ fury at ‘bid to gag’ gay marriage rebels
By Macer Hall, Daily Express – Outraged Tory MPs last night accused ministers of attempting to stifle debate over plans to legalise gay marriage. MPs will get a free vote on the issue, they were promised yesterday. But Westminster sources indicated details of the Bill to introduce same-sex weddings will not be debated first in the usual full sitting of the Commons.
Instead the Bill will go straight to a committee of MPs. With up to 100 Tory members expected to rebel on the issue in the Second Reading on February 5, opponents claimed the move was an attempt to hide the bitter rift within the Conservatives.
Tory MP David Burrowes, a leading opponent of the Bill, said: “Redefining marriage is a hugely significant step that should be subject to a full debate in Parliament.
“This is a very divisive issue, both in the country and in the Conservative Party.”
Fellow Tory MP Stewart Jackson said: “The Government is terrified of the debate. This is going to be rushed through and MPs are going to be railroaded into supporting the Government’s timetable.
“It should put a proposal in a manifesto and then come back with it with a mandate after it has been put to the electorate.”
The equal marriage bill is commendable, but flawed
by Peter Tatchell, Pink News – While legalising marriage equality is welcome and commendable, the government’s refusal to end discrimination against straight couples in civil partnership law is flawed and wrong. Opposite-sex couples are legally prohibited from having a civil partnership and for no rational reason David Cameron intends to keep it that way.
Despite proclaiming that the legalisation of same-sex civil marriage is driven by the principle of equality, the government’s forthcoming legislation will retain the inequality of the current legal ban on heterosexual civil partnerships.
This will mean that for the first time in British law gay couples will have legal privileges over heterosexual couples. More at –
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/01/26/peter-tatchell-the-equal-marriage-bill-is-commendable-but-flawed/