Displaying items by tag: UK

As many Christians water down teaching to accommodate modern Western culture, Tishrei (new beginnings) will encourage Christians to dig deeper into the unchanging truths of God’s Word. The non-residential Tishrei Bible School will bring the Bible back to the centre of family life, which has suffered a succession of laws undermining the Christian building blocks of the UK (same sex marriage, facilitating divorce, promoting abortion and forcing up childcare costs through excessive regulation). Tishrei will re-establish Hebraic teaching, focusing on the whole of life by learning to ‘walk with God’ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Built on the same foundation as the Bible school and at the same premises is the Cedars School of Biblical Family Life, helping parents to strengthen their families on biblical foundations and enrich their children’s education

Christian parents and teachers are distressed by Relationship and Sex Education that is being welcomed into the classroom. Now a 130-page report of inappropriate sex lessons read by the PM has prompted a call for a review into Sex Education. We can pray for an end to primary school children learning about masturbation; for an end to drag queens telling secondary school children there are scores of different genders and asking what they feel about oral sex. Also, there is supposed to be a review of guidance for schools on transgenderism, which has been consistently delayed. Much of the inappropriate teaching and the harmful school culture stems from the gender identity ideology which underpins nearly all RSE resources, and which leads to schools socially transitioning pupils, often without parents' knowledge, for example, the book ‘My Shadow is Pink’ for 4-year-olds. Pray for parents to be allowed to see the materials which schools are using.

Headteacher Mrs Perry killed herself after an Ofsted inspection that downgraded her school's rating from Outstanding to Inadequate. Now a dam has burst. Her family blame her death on the Ofsted inspection pressure, and many headteachers and teachers are now speaking out about their own experiences of the Ofsted process. There are huge pressures on headteachers, bearing the responsibility of solving societal issues within schools and managing challenges like safeguarding, behaviour management, and academic performance. The stress can be overwhelming. The relationship between schools and Ofsted is particularly difficult due to numerous regulations that have evolved over the past 20 years. Policy changes regarding faith, identity, and sexuality have had a significant impact, particularly on faith schools keen to teach in line with traditional Christian beliefs. Many believe Ofsted inspectors approach these issues with their own ideological bias, adding to the challenge. See

A damning report has found institutional racism, misogyny, and homophobia in the Metropolitan Police - and suggested the force could be broken up if it fails to improve. Met Police Commissioner, Mark Rowley, accepts the findings and systemic failings but says he won't use the term institutional. Officers provided the Review with harrowing testimonies of treatment by colleagues. Complaints were ‘likely to be turned against’ ethnic minority officers, with black officers 81% more likely to be in the misconduct system than white colleagues. Freezers storing victim rape kits were overfilled, and one broke down in a heatwave which meant that rape cases had to be dropped. The PM said trust in the police was hugely damaged, and the London Mayor said it was one of the darkest days in the 200-year history of the force but added it did not necessarily need to be broken up.

Britain’s closest ally, America, has criticised Rwanda’s dire human rights record describing conditions in the country’s detention centres as harsh and life-threatening. Home secretary, Suella Braverman, took a group of journalists on a trip to Rwanda to reveal details of her £120m scheme to send illegal migrants there. The scheme requires all migrants arriving in the UK through irregular means, whether they claim asylum or not, to be deported there. The legality of the scheme will be tested shortly in the UK court of appeal. But the US human rights assessment published on March 21st said Rwanda operated a system of harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, arbitrary detention, serious restrictions on free expression, imprisonment of journalists, and no effective system of collective bargaining. Braverman has dismissed the UK critics of Rwanda as a ‘left-wing blob’, but it may be harder to dismiss the documented findings from the UK’s closest ally.

The Church of England’s qualified decision to bless certain same-sex relationships is harming the witness of the Church, said Californian megachurch pastor and author of The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren. He said he would separate from a denomination over this issue, adding, ‘I believe that gay relationships are not God’s best, and I can make a strong case for that. If we were all gay, none of us would be here - what is the purpose of homosexuality? It can’t ‘pro-create.’’ Warren supports the work of GAFCON, a conservative group of Anglican archbishops and leaders who oppose recent changes to the Church of England’s guidance on sexuality. Warren said, ‘GAFCON believes our leaders have strayed too far from Scripture, it is harming the testimony of the church.’ He added, ‘If you’re harming the testimony of the Church, then the Bible says you should separate from those kinds of Christians.’

NGOs, unions, and charities are joining with Extinction Rebellion for ‘The Big One’ from 21 to 24 April, when thousands will descend on Parliament. Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Earth Day. NHS, Workers Say No, Greener Practice, Global Justice Now, Black Lives Matter, CND, and various trade unions will take part in The Big One, stating, ‘Ordinary people are ready to create a fairer, safer, better world. Politicians don’t recognise people’s needs or listen to millions striking for better pay. They refuse to tackle the climate and ecological crisis, or prioritise people’s poverty in the cost of living crisis over energy company profits. It’s up to us to change society by putting care for people and nature at the forefront. It is possible to rediscover our collective power and change the course of history together. To make this a reality, this moment calls for a mass movement to stand together and become impossible to ignore.’

A spring booster vaccine against Covid-19 is to be available in April to everyone over 75, care-home residents and people aged five and over who are extremely vulnerable, to protect them this summer. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said hospital admissions for Covid-19 showed the risk of being seriously ill was noticeably higher in people over 75. It is advised that a booster jab be given six months after someone's previous dose. Four different vaccines, made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Sanofi/GSK and Novavax could be used. The head of immunisation at the UK Health Security Agency said Covid-19 was still circulating widely with recent increases in the numbers of elderly being admitted to hospitals. It is important that those at the highest risk of severe illness do not become complacent, and we encourage everyone who is eligible to come forward once the booster programme starts. Different versions of the Omicron variant have been spreading the most.

German Cardinal Gerhard Müller and American Cardinal Raymond Burke want the Vatican to put Germany's Roman Catholic bishops on trial for abandoning church doctrine and approving Church blessings of same-sex unions and weddings between divorced Catholics. Cardinal Mueller wants all German bishops who voted to bless same-sex unions to be held to account, tried, sentenced and then removed from their office if they are not accepting the Catholic doctrine. Cardinal Burke has publicly clashed with Pope Francis before and is seen as the leader of the church's conservative wing. He wants sanctions against the German bishops under the Code of Canon Law. British Anglican Chaplain to the late Queen Elizabeth, Gavin Ashenden, said it isn’t just German Catholic bishops who are revising church doctrine; there was an issue of lack of faith across Europe. Polish and Nordic archbishops are also challenging Germany’s path. See

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s budget scrapped the lifetime allowance on tax-free pension contributions. There were other key measures: Free 30 hours per week childcare is expanded to cover children from nine months to two years old. Fuel duty is frozen for another year and government help with energy bills is extended by three months. Funding will be provided for 50,000 places on a voluntary employment scheme for disabled people, called Universal Support. Tougher requirements to look for work and increased job support for lead child carers on universal credit. More places on ‘skills boot camps’ to encourage over-50s who have left their jobs to return to the workplace. Defence spending and corporation tax will be increased. The economy is forecast to grow by 1.8% in 2024 and 2.5% in 2025 and Inflation is forecast to fall from 10.7% last year to 2.9% by the end of this year.