Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

As many in England and across the Land are gripped by the euphoria of football and the Euros, multitudes are learning how to prophesy and believe in Hope. With the singing of ‘its coming home’ everywhere, people may not realise it but they are actually declaring Hope. In the same spirit of faith, may we declare as believers that ALL of God’s Will and promises for our family of nations are coming home! May revival, transformation and restoration visions or prophecies that many have been waiting for over many years finally begin to be fulfilled in this generation. On 8 July, believers joined a Zoom call to pray and declare God’s will and Kingdom promises over our land. This is a regular event. Those who miss the prayer gathering will find it is available on YouTube and Facebook to watch again.

Thirteen homelessness charities and housing groups made an unprecedented plea to ministers to reconsider the police and crime bill that passed through the Commons this week. It will now go to the House of Lords. They said the bill needs urgent changes to avoid people being arrested and imprisoned for sleeping rough. Traditional Gypsy events like the annual Appleby horse fair face being criminalised, threatening the Gypsy way of life and culture. People will risk fines, imprisonment or confiscation of vehicles, which for Travellers are also their homes. The charities and housing groups said the bill should be scrapped, or amended if it goes ahead. Many people experiencing homelessness sleep in cars; they would be arrested and jailed. An 1824 Vagrancy Act that targeted rough sleeping and begging was abolished, but this new legislation 200 years later would again criminalise them.

Hatun Tash preaches Christianity at Speakers’ Corner, but when she criticises Islam she is assaulted. Police have warned her it is dangerous for her to speak there. Some Muslims want to kill her. But she feels called to preach to Muslims. Her provocative style effectively attracts attention, and people listen. When she wore a T-shirt with a cartoon of Mohammad on it, she was mobbed, arrested, and carried into a police van, to the cheers of the many Muslims nearby. Cartoons of any other figures would be within the bounds of free speech. Only under sharia law would a cartoon of Muhammad be prohibited. One Muslim suggested that ‘wearing that T-shirt is a breach of the peace’.

Sung worship in churches will be allowed from 19 July. Danny Webster of the Evangelical Alliance said that the prospect of worshipping together is exciting but will have many challenges. ‘We need to be very aware that we're in a context where cases are rising and, while the vaccine seems to be doing its job, churches may well want to be cautious and careful with how they proceed in the next few weeks. Every church will come to its own conclusions.’ Danny added, ‘There will be people who are vulnerable, people who are uncertain or anxious that aren't necessarily willing to come straight back into a church. Churches are going to have to act with a lot of wisdom and a lot of grace.’ Pray for an outpouring of wisdom on church leaders as they consider their congregation sizes, venue ventilation, and welfare of church members.

Church and science can seem like separate worlds, but many scientists appear in pews and pulpits across the UK. ‘Encouraging Christian Leadership in an Age of Science’ (ECLAS) affirms the work of faith-filled scientists who bring their vocation in science to the church, as members and active friends of congregations. ECLAS want to help them create spaces of engagement, build confidence and competence around scientific issues, and foster thoughtful, prayerful communities working in the world. They are funding 22 churches in England and Wales creatively to change the conversation between the church and the scientific world, focussing on topics from climate change to mental health, with the aim of showing how engaging with science can lead to a deeper experience of faith. ECLAS are supported by a grant of £400,000 to enable congregations and organisations to host these projects and shepherd follow-up projects for one or more additional congregations by 2022.

Covid-related pupil absence in England has hit a new high since students returned to school in March. Over 640,000 English pupils were not in school due to Covid last week; only 62,000 were confirmed or suspected Covid cases. Gavin Williamson plans to replace the present bubble system with a new increased testing regime so that pupils would only be sent home if they tested positive. Also the mental health impact of the pandemic could have lasting repercussions for young people leaving education to take their first steps on the career ladder, with over one in four 18- to 24-year-olds believing poor mental health will affect their ability to find a job. Research found that while the UK’s public health crisis has eased and the economy is recovering, over 20% of that age group are still reporting poor mental health. Pray for pupils in higher education to receive proactive support to thrive before any further damage is done.

On 6 July Tehran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that it was enriching uranium to 20% at its research reactor. Uranium metal is used to make a nuclear warhead core. The development immediately prompted Berlin, London and Paris, which are all parties to the 2015 nuclear deal - along with the USA, Russia, and China - to issue a damning joint statement accusing Iran of a ‘grave breach’ of its obligations. ‘Iran has no credible civilian need for uranium metal R&D and production, which are a key step in the development of a nuclear weapon,’ the statement said. According to Iran’s foreign minister, this enrichment is needed for ‘peaceful, medicinal and humanitarian uses.’ The three countries urged Tehran to stop the violations and return to Vienna’s negotiating table where the original signatories to the deal have been working for months to mediate indirect talks between Iran and the USA.

New legislation set to replace EU rules will grant the Government and councils greater freedom to support businesses. The Subsidy Control Bill will replace EU-wide state aid rules which require member states to seek approval for government assistance to firms. Ministers said the rules will allow the Government to help companies with grants or loans faster. It has been dubbed ‘the most important bit of post-Brexit legislation yet’.

New ways of engaging people with faith are being pioneered by the Church of Scotland in Ayrshire. It is sending teams of missioners out into the community to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and to build new worshipping communities. Team leader Revd Maggie McTernan said the aim is to connect with people who do not want to worship in traditional ways. ‘There's a challenge of declining attendance at our traditional churches on Sunday mornings. But that doesn't necessarily match with a decline in interest in matters of faith. There are people who have an interest and a concern about faith, but for a whole host of reasons they won't go to church on a Sunday morning. Maybe it's not what they're used to or maybe they have other commitments.’ The vision is an intergenerational church sharing activities, experiences and worship in new ways: Messy Church, prayer walks, sports-based wellbeing projects, online, digital parish and a disability project so that the church is fully inclusive.

‘If people constantly say they want to kill you, you don't feel safe at all’, says Aima, a Black Lives Matter (BLM) activist. Standing up for the rights of black people has a high price for many protesters in the UK. But lack of trust in the police means many threats go unreported. That trust has been eroded by decades of racism. An inquiry into botched investigations into the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence found institutional racism in London's Metropolitan Police. Despite some changes since then, black people and ethnic minorities are still disproportionately represented when it comes to police checks, imprisonment, and deaths in custody. A 2020 survey by the charity ‘HOPE not hate’ revealed 65% of people from ethnic minority backgrounds felt the police were biased against their community. When a new generation of activists addressed the UK’s racial divide they were met with curiosity and sympathy, but that turned into defensiveness and outright denial from some in Britain's ruling class and opinion influencers.