Christian faces sack for beliefs
01 Feb 2011David Booker has worked as a hostel support worker for the English Churches Housing Group, recently taken over by the Society of St James, for four years. Allegations against him followed a discussion with colleague Fiona Vardy. The free-flowing conversation lasted 35 minutes and Mr Booker answered his co-worker’s questions while making clear that he had homosexual friends and was not homophobic. ‘I did say that I didn’t agree with same-sex marriages, I didn’t believe pastors or vicars should marry same-sex partners and I didn’t agree with practising homosexuals being a pastor or a vicar.’ A few days later, he was formally suspended. A formal notice told him: ‘On 26 March 09, whilst on shift with Fiona Vardy, you seriously breached ECHG’s Code of Conduct by promoting your religious views which contained discriminatory comments regarding a person’s sexual orientation’. The charity has the Archbishop of Canterbury as a patron.
Pray: for common sense, enabled by the Holy Spirit, to rule for this Christian and others in like situations. (Ac.4:25)
More: http://domain1239156.sites.fasthosts.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1339&Itemid=1
Christian duty to cut food waste, says charity
14 Jan 2013A charity that runs foodbanks across the UK says Christians should be more responsible when it comes to buying food to stop wastage. The Trussell Trust's comments came after a report revealed that an average family wastes nearly £500 a year on food that ends up in the bin - despite it being perfectly fine to eat. The research by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 'Global Food: Waste Not, Want Not', says across the world people throw away half the food that's produced. Adrian Curtis, Foodbank Network Director for the Trussell Trust said it's an issue we all need to consider carefully. Wasting food doesn't only mean you lose the product but you're also wasting precious resources including land, water and energy. Ten per cent of rich countries' greenhouse gas emissions come from growing food that is never eaten. The report also warns this issues needs to be tackled as the population grows.
Pray: for a comprehensive global reponse to the problem of fodd wastage. (Pr.23:20-21)
More: http://www.premier.org.uk/news/current/Christian%20duty%20to%20cut%20food%20waste%20says%20charity.aspx
Christian doctors back GP over 'Jesus' remarks
26 May 2011
The medical standards watchdog is facing a backlash from doctors after censuring a Christian GP who raised his personal beliefs with a patient of a different faith. Dr Richard Scott, a family GP with 28 years’ experience, is facing disciplinary action and fears he could lose his job after he discussed his faith in Jesus with a patient last year. The 50-year-old is being investigated by the General Medical Council but Christian doctors rallied to his defence and criticised the way that the professional standards regulator had handled the case. In 2010, Dr Scott, who works at Bethesda Medical Centre in Margate, Kent, a practice known for its Christian partners, saw a patient at the request of the patient’s mother. He maintains that he only discussed how his faith in Jesus had helped him at the end of the consultation, and with the patient’s consent. Dr Peter Saunders, chief executive of the Christian Medical Fellowship, said ‘It does seem to me that the GMC have overreacted by censuring him.’ Pray: for Dr Scott at this time of personal challenge and for the GMC to rethink their view in this case. (Ps.89:21) More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8529595/Christian-doctors-back-GP-over-Jesus-remarks.html
A Christian doctor who was sacked because he emailed a prayer to his colleagues has claimed hospital managers targeted him as an NHS whistleblower after he lost an appeal against his dismissal. Consultant paediatrician Dr David Drew, 65, sent a 16th-century prayer by St Ignatius Loyola around his department in April 2009, hoping it would be motivational. Dr Drew, who had an unblemished 37-year career in the NHS, was told to ‘keep his religious beliefs to himself’ by a review panel, which was called to investigate his conduct in March 2010. After refusing to accept their findings, he was sacked from Walsall Manor Hospital, where he worked as a clinical director. Today the father-of-four, who lives in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, with his wife Janet, 63, said the email had been used as a smokescreen to push him out of his post. (See also Prayer Alert 14-2012)
Pray: for Dr Drew and pray that his faith will stand firm against those who wish to get him dismissed. (Ps.119:84)
More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2431814/Christian-doctor-sacked-emailing-prayer-colleagues-cheer-loses-appeal-dismissal.html
Christian doctor sacked following prayer e-mail
02 Apr 2012A Christian doctor is suing his employers for unfair dismissal after being sacked following his sending of a motivational prayer e-mail to colleagues and a Christmas text message to one individual. Dr David Drew’s employers at Walsall Manor Hospital complained that his behaviour was inappropriate after he e-mailed a prayer by St Ignatius Loyola to colleagues for motivation. The employment tribunal in Birmingham heard that his bosses also complained that he sent a Christmas text message to a colleague which read ‘have a peaceful Christmas’. Dr Drew started having problems with his employers after he complained about patient care at Walsall Manor Hospital. He claims that his employers responded to his complaints by accusing him of forcing his religion on colleagues. He was told that unless he agreed to the recommendations and accept them without questioning then he should resign. The hearing continues and is expected to last for three weeks.
Pray: for all involved in this dispute that they will recognise that Dr Drew has not acted inappropriately. (Ps.103:6)
Christian doctor goes to EU Court of Justice
19 Nov 2010
Sheila Matthews, a paediatrician of 18 years, sat on an adoption panel and asked to abstain from voting on whether children should be placed with homosexual couples, due to her Christian beliefs. This resulted in her being dismissed as a medical adviser by Northamptonshire County Council. After a campaign led by Christian Concern she was reinstated in her job yet she was no longer allowed to continue as a full member of the adoption panel.This meant that she lost the opportunity to put vulnerable children in loving homes and her career was restricted. Sheila resigned this March because she felt that she could no longer work somewhere where she was denied the opportunity to fully use her skills. She has effectively been excluded from practising her vocation due to her Christian views. On Wednesday Shelia applied to be heard at the European Court of Justice mounting the legal challenge to determine whether professional medical advice regarding the child’s ‘best interests’ is ‘negated’ by ‘homosexual rights.’ Her case was heard before an Employment Tribunal in Leicester Tuesday. Pray: for the British Isles to adopt the best possible Christian options and practice for children and for religious and professional freedom for Christians in the workplace. (Job 6:29) More: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/nov/10111603.html
Christian demoted for views on gay weddings
26 Jan 2012Christians are being unfairly treated for expressing their beliefs, campaigners have complained, after a housing manager was demoted for speaking out on gay marriage on his own Facebook page. Adrian Smith, a Christian, posted in his own time a response to a news story on the Government’s plans to allow gay weddings in church. The posting, which was only available to his friends, questioned whether the plans were ‘an equality too far’. Mr Smith said the comments, posted on a page which identified the user as a housing association employee, were against equal opportunities policy. Mr Smith is threatening to take the housing association to court claiming damages equivalent to his lost pay. Mike Judge, a spokesman for the Christian Institute, said it is the latest case of a public servant being targeted for their beliefs.
Pray: for Mr Smith and others like him as they stand up for their faith when challenged. (1Cor.16:13)
More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8844445/Christian-demoted-for-views-on-gay-weddings.html
Christian pharmacists fear they could face the sack if they refuse to hand out morning-after pills, under new guidelines issued by a medical regulator. Many pharmacists have conscientious moral objections to dispensing emergency contraception and have in the past refused to do so because the drugs work by preventing a fertilised egg from implanting in the womb. Some chemists and lawyers say the guidance circulated last week by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) effectively strips them of their right to object on religious grounds to handling such drugs. Many Christian, Jewish and Muslim pharmacists object to the drugs. The guidance will also compel pharmacists to make drugs available for IVF, to which some object because of the high numbers of embryos created then destroyed in the process. For the first time under the guidelines, pharmacists are told that their right to conscientious objection on religious grounds is secondary to the contractual demands of employers, such as the NHS.
Pray: for all those who stand up for their faith that God would give them the ability to stand firm. (2Cor.1:21)