SuBo comes in second

What a fickle bunch the British public are.  One minute Susan Boyle is the darling of the people, after just five minutes on the TV show 'Britain's Got Talent'.  A few weeks later, and she is beaten into second place in the final of the ITV show by the street dance act 'Diversity'.

Susan Boyle has had over 100m views of her initial performance on YouTube, yet still couldn't win in a public vote.

Mouse is sure there's a moral to this story, but can't quite work out what it is yet.

Labour MP tried to claim £5 for a church collection on expenses

Surely a new low in the MPs expenses scandal.  The Telegraph is reporting that Labour's Frank Cook put £5 in the collection plate during a service to commemorate the Battle of Britain, and tried to claim it back on expenses.  This is one of the few outrageous attempts the fees office rejected.

The Telegraph also report, "It is particularly embarrassing because Mr Cook is an official supporter of the campaign to commemorate Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, who commanded the RAF’s 11 Group Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain."

Words simply fail some times.

Rowan Williams to launch London Presence and Engagement Network

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, will launch the Greater London Presence and Engagement Network on Monday 1 June.  The Archbishop's website explains:

The Archbishop of Canterbury will join the Bishops of Chelmsford, London, Tonbridge and Southwark and representatives from 120 parishes across London at a series of events on 1st June to launch the Greater London Presence and Engagement Network (PEN).

The Church of England's Presence and Engagement programme is about valuing and strengthening the major contribution to a strong civil society of parish churches in all the multi religious neighbourhoods of London and across the nation.

Now this sounds pretty interesting.  It is an attempt to equip and encourage churches to engage more widely in their communities in London, following on from similar initiatives elsewhere.  A pretty good idea.  However, the resources available so far are pretty academic style courses or inter-faith talking shop events.  Mouse would like to see community engagement encouraged in a much more simple ways within the communities.  Lets hope that is exactly what comes out of the initiative.

The Buddhist Bishop unlikely to be appointed

Mouse reported on the election of the Buddhist Bishop, Rev Thew Forrester in the Episcopal Church in North Michigan back in March.

The latest development is that his election needs to be sanctioned by a majority of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Los Angeles, and 51 of the 110 members have already declared that they will withhold consent.  25 have declared they will give consent, so it seems unlikely that 31 of the remaining 34 will support the appointment.

Mouse was baffled at the time as to how someone hold this kind of position and declare that they were both a Christian and a Buddhist, so it seems that common sense may win out, even if it is only by a split decision. 

Exclusive: Guest blog post by Sarah Malik - Methodist Church Youth Engagement Strategy

Mouse posted a news item about the £4m investment being made by the Methodist Church in its new Youth Engagement Strategy. Mouse was impressed that the church was tackling issues of youth engagement head on, and putting its money where its mouth is.

In this special guest post, The Methodist Church's Youth President sets out what the strategy is trying to achieve. You have to admit, its pretty infectious stuff.

By Sarah Malik, Methodist Church Youth President:

People often tell me stories of the good old days, when the Methodist Church was flourishing, when their Sunday school was 100 strong, when the children would sit and listen quietly . . . They ask me the question that many people are also asking; 'What's changed?'

The Methodist church has recently re-worked the way they do everything, creating the Children and Youth staff and the Youth Participation Strategy. This means that they can focus on creating a culture of change within the Methodist Church, change that means that the Church is more accepting and understanding towards young people. Change that makes a real difference in people’s lives.

John Wesley was all about change. Changing the lives of people who were considered to be second class citizens, changing the way we understood grace and salvation, changing the lives of those who were in great need, the list goes on.

The Youth Participation Strategy (YPS) focuses on bringing change throughout the Methodist Church, from the roots up. Positive change has often come when a young person catches a vision, and is inspired to make things better.

The YPS is a new development in Methodist Church policy, in which young people are paid to work part time, in their localities, to bring change and to learn and develop. It’s all about creating young leaders who are passionate about their Church because they’ve been given an opportunity to experience what it means to be intimately involved, and are able to inspire other young people to get involved.

It’s not just happening from the roots up either; my role as Methodist Youth President is to be a young participator. To participate in the Methodist Council, the Children and Youth staff meetings, the Connexional Leadership Forum (A meeting of the chairs of district and relevant staff) and many other instances to show first-hand, how powerful and inspirational the voice of a young person can be.

When I ask young people to describe the Methodist Church, they use words like; 'old', 'elderly', 'boring', 'talk at you', 'don't want me', 'look down on us'. They want their Church to be colourful, smart, fun, lively, 'somewhere I can take my friends'.

The Children and Youth staff of the Methodist Church are currently writing their 5 year plan of work. It too is all about change. It’s about enabling and supporting local churches to create a community where young people’s views and gifts can be used in a way that is relevant to them.

I am often asked how young people can be encouraged onto church councils. It’s all about change; changing from the way that we’ve always done things to a way that actively involves everybody, no matter their learning styles or age. Young people often don’t want to sit on church councils for the same reason that adults avoid it; it can be boring!

Change is important. It’s not about removing the pews or buying high tech equipment, it’s about being sensitive to the needs of the whole community, from the 5 year-olds to the 95 year-olds.

It is happening! I was talking to some young people from a particular Methodist church in the Midlands, asking them about how they participate in church life. They struggled to tell me, not because they didn’t, but because participation was so ingrained in everything they did.

Change is coming; it’s coming in the form of young people through the YPS, in the form of people who see a need and respond, from the Methodist Conference itself, and most importantly through the Holy Spirit who always brings change for the better. I for one, am looking forward to the future!

Biblically proportioned ark opens in Hong Kong

Visitors to Hong Kong have a new attraction they can visit. A 450 foot long, Biblically proportioned replica of Noah's Ark has opened for visitors. The project was the brain child of the Kwok brothers, billionaire evangelical Christians from Hong Kong, and is the result of 17 years of discussions.

Whilst the project was inspired by the Kwok's Christianity, it is being marketed as bringing a message of peace and love, rather than as an overtly Christian experience.

The attraction underlines the extent to which Christianity is gaining strength in China. The permission of the Chinese government for the project was granted on the basis that it would be a commercial venture, with no subsidy from the government. As such, there is plenty to do on Ma Wan island, location of the Ark. In a 270,000 square foot site there are extensive attractions and activities.

Friday round up

Here's my round up from the blogosphere. Ten of the best from the blogs this week:


1. The Ugley Vicar reckons the Bishops and MPs are rather like pots and kettles (Mouse isn't quite convinced)

2. Church Crunch give us 20 assumptions as a Christian blogger

3. Bartholomew keeps us up-to-date with the violence at the anti-extremism march

4. Mark Brown on Twitter church

5. Damian Thompson on the Post the Host nonsense

6. Cranmer on Margaret Thatcher granting an audience to the Pope

7. Bess Twiston-Davies on whether dogs have morals (really)

8. Andrew Brown on the rise of Calvinism

9. Rowan Williams awards the £15,000 Michael Ramsey prize for theology

10. A Better Hope asks questions about the Marmite Jesus

Harman snubs anti-Christianity debate

It seems the Mouse has more influence than he thought. After writing his piece on the seeming increase in attacks on Christians in the public services, Conservative MP Julian Brazier asked for a debate on the issue in the House of Commons.

The call for a debate was put to Harriet Harman, Leader of the House, during Business Questions. Harman played down the concerns Mr Brazier highlighted saying, "This is really just a matter of basic good practice and common sense. There is nothing in any law or guidance that requires people to act daft.” Harman also said she would refer his point to the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Mr Brazier cited a “a string of incidents involving health service and local authority workers being penalised for offering to pray for people, for saying “God bless” to them and so on”.

He also highlighted “the worst case of all” of the Christian foster mother who was caring for a sixteen-year-old girl from a Muslim background. When the girl voluntarily converted to Christianity, the local authority banned the mother from fostering and took the girl back into care.

Mouse backs the call for a debate, particularly in light of the new equalities bill, which may put even more responsibilities on public services to consider equality in the delivery of their services.

Who to vote for on June 4

Mouse hopes that all the elligible citizens of Great Britain will be voting on June 4. If you need a little help working out who to vote for, you'd do worse than to visit http://www.vote2009.eu/, a website from the Evangelical Alliance and Care for Europe.

One interesting thing in there is a tool which asks you questions then tells you which party you're most closely affiliated to. (Mouse took a similar test some time ago, which said he was slightly left of centre and towards the libertarian side of the scale).

Mouse took the EU Profiler test and his result is below. All very interesting, but Mouse has to question the tool which seems to have plotted Labour to the right of the Tories and the BNP on social issues. UKIP are significantly to the right of the BNP on social issues, who are considered very centrist. Presumably policies such as calling for the death penalty and the deportation of 'foreigners' are not considered right wing by this particular test. Mouse is actually pretty surprised they even feature in the test.

Mouse thinks a little more calibration is required, and will be sticking with the Political Compass test for now.

Derek Draper becomes a Christian?

One of the stranger news items yesterday. From the Hay Festival, the Guardian meets with Derek Draper, the twice disgraced Labour spin doctor come psychotherapist.

The article states, "Draper is now a practising Christian: when our own Sarfraz Manzoor asked him whether God went Awol when he was online, he said this: "God doesn't disappear ... my connection to God disappeared the moment I received an email contemplating smearing people and I didn't say no."

Well I never. Draper was heavily criticised across the blogosphere for his approach to running LabourList. Cranmer reports the news with the following:

So perhaps Mr Draper might pay His Grace a visit, and tell his readers and communicants:

1) Are you a real psychotherapist?
2) Did you in any way falsify or misrepresent your qualifications?
3) If you did not intend ever to do anything with ‘those emails’, why did you set up ‘Red Rag’?
4) Why would ‘those emails’ fall into your inbox out of the blue?
5) Who is ‘Ollie Cromwell’, the name to which the domain ‘Red Rag’ is registered, apparently in breach of Nominet’s terms and conditions?

A few truthful answers, please, Mr Draper. For that is the Christian way.

There are plenty more questions that Mouse could add on, such as - are you finally ready to tell us who funds the LabourList website you ran? Draper is a spinner to the core, and Mouse is more than a little suspicious about this article, and his description as a 'practising Christian'.

View on homosexuality is not a foundational issue in Christianity

Mouse approaches the issue of homosexuality in the Christian context with great trepidation. He is aware of the great passion which surrounds the issue, and its personal nature for many people, and wishes to treat it with sensitivity and care. He is not a Biblical scholar or theologian, and both sides of the debate would no doubt defeat him with their knowledge of the scriptural correctness of their argument. For this reason, he has hardly written a word about it in the past.

The purpose of this post is simply to note that there has been an unusually high level of focus on the issue over the past few weeks. Mouse used to say that it was merely a media obsession with the issue that kept it high in the public consciousness, but lately it seems to be Christian groups who are keeping the debate at the top of the agenda.

Mouse thinks it is a great shame when this is the case. Not because it is not an important issue that needs to be discussed and resolved, but because there are so many issues which deserve to be on the agenda, but which are crowded out. The appointment of a single gay clergyman in Scotland won more column inches in the Christian media and bloggosphere than has virtually any other moral issue, at a time when there are so many issues worldwide that should be focused on - from North Korea to Burma to Bangladesh to Pakistan to the Middle East. All worthy of our attention, but denied it.

Mouse was inspired to pen this piece in response to an article on Anglican Mainstream (anything but Mainstream, in Mouse's view) by Mark Thompson, which contained the following line:

"The sad but unavoidable truth is that any Christianity which endorses homosexual activity is not authentic Christianity."

The implication in the article is clear - if the church allows this, it is not the true body of Christ, and true Christians should leave that church. That article was followed up by another asking, "What choices do traditionalists in the CofE have?", which is essentially an evaluations of all the options for which church to jump ship to.

The point the Mouse wants to make is simply this. Views on the scriptural interpretation of homosexual activity is not a foundational issue for Christians. It is simply not in the same category as accepting Jesus as the Son of God and our Lord and Saviour. It is nowhere near the importance of accepting that Jesus' death takes away the sin of the world, and that by believing in Him we can be saved. We should not elevate it to that status as the defining issue in our church.

Mouse believes there is a real danger that at some point in the future we will look back at what happened to the church in these times and consider them wasted years. The church is in danger of falling away into insignificance in much of the western world, and our response to that is simply to argue amongst ourselves as to who is the more orthodox in its scriptural interpretation. We must wake up and smell the coffee.

Mouse doesn't know who is right on the issue of how we should interpret the Bible on this issue. But he is damn sure that if that is the only thing we talk about for the next few years, and if we allow it to break us apart, it pretty much won't matter what we conclude, as there won't be anyone left listening to us.

Shell court case continues to raise questions over the Church's investment policies

Today, the case will finally reach court which involves Royal Dutch Shell being accused of asking the military dictatorship in Nigeria 14 years ago to silence Mr Saro-Wiwa and other activists who were campaigning against ecological damage allegedly brought about by oil extraction.

The plaintiffs in Wiwa v Shell, a consolidation of several long-running cases, will also argue that the company is guilty of crimes against humanity, torture and illegal detainment, whilst Shell will robustly deny all charges.

This would hardly be news for the religious media, if it wasn't for the fact that the Church of England holds an investment of £103.7m (as valued in the Church Commissioners annual report) in Royal Dutch Shell.

Mouse won't pre-judge the case, or imply any guilt from the company simply from the existence of accusations. However, the accusations are very serious. As a major shareholder in the firm, Mouse would like to know what the Church has done to get comfortable that it has not been complicit in something terrible in this instance by providing funding to Shell and profiting from its activities.

If it is proved that Shell are guilty of these charges, the case for a revision of the Church Commissioners' ethical investment policy will surely be overwhelming.

Host by post and a street mass

Well done to Damian Thompson for his post on Archbishop Jonathan Blake post the host scheme.
Archbishop Blake is the former Anglican priest, now with the Open Episcopal Church, who blessed Jade Goody's marriage. He has found a neat solution to the problem of those who find it hard to get to his church. He will bless the elements, then entrust them to the Royal Mail to get to you soon after. Blake provides a series of videos on YouTube that you can use as liturgy.

Now, just to put Mouse's next comments into context, he is a big fan of finding ways of making the gospel relevant to those who have not heard or believed it before. Generally, Mouse wouldn't dream of mocking anyone for trying this important mission.

However, the case of the middle class, middle aged Archbishop Blake reading 'street talk' from a script on his table had Mouse progressing very quickly from awkward cringe to belly laughter.

Perhaps Mouse's favourite quote is "... so here I am God. Giving some respect to the guy on the donkey, and all that shizzle with the poor..."

It really is priceless. Stick with it, the gems are dotted throughout.

More NHS madness over Christian workers

Mouse wants to caveat both of these stories at the outset, pointing out that the full facts may not yet be known. However, it is clear that the NHS has learnt nothing from the case of Caroline Petrie, the nurse suspended for offering to pray with a patient. She was later reinstated.

Well there is plenty more madness in the system, with NHS managers seeming to go to any lengths to remove any hint of Christianity from their staff. One commenter to this blog stated that "I personally know of two other nurses and a couple of doctors in the same boat." Mouse also reported earlier this month about the case of the hospital which commissioned artworks which could be based on any subject, except churches.

Now two new cases have come to light. The first is the case of Helen Slatter who faces the sack from Gloucestershire Royal Hospital for her refusal to remove her crucifix on the basis that it 'could harbour infection'. Mrs Slatter has been signed off work with stress, but faces the sack when she returns if she does not comply. The Hospital have said that she can keep the cross in her pocket, but not wear it under her uniform. Madness.

A spokesman for the NHS Trust said, “The issue is not one of religion. The trust employs a uniform policy which must be adhered to at all times.

“Necklaces and chains present two problems - firstly they provide a surface that can harbour and spread infections and secondly they present a health and safety issue whereby a patient could grab a necklace or chain and cause harm to a member of staff.”

The second case is that of Anand Rao, 71, a nurse with over 40 years experience who has been suspended from his job as a bank staff nurse in hospitals run by the Leicester NHS Trust.

He was on a training course, taking part in a role play, and suggested that one way the 'patients' could go to church to ease stress.

Its as if NHS managers have nothing better to do than to pursue these ludicrous cases.

Vin Nichols - Blair lacks 'experience in Catholic life'

Mouse was pretty surprised last month to hear Tony Blair lecturing the church he has so recently joined on issues of sexuality. He called the Catholic Church's view on sexuality 'entrenched' and called for a 'rethinking'.

At the time Mouse commented, "I don't think either the Pope or Vin Nichols, the new Archbishop of Westminster, would go along with that assessment." Well that has now been confirmed by the new Archbishop of Westminster himself. In an excellent interview in The Times Nichols makes it very clear that this was Blair the politician talking, not Blair the Catholic. We read in the interview:

"Tony Blair waited until after he had resigned as Her Majesty’s first minister before he converted to Catholicism, although for years he had attended Catholic mass. Last month Blair gave an interview in which he questioned the Pope’s line on homosexuality, and said that Catholic leaders should be “rethinking” the issue. What does Nichols think about Blair lecturing the church in this way, so soon after joining?

“I think it was extraordinary. I also think his political instincts, which are very strong, are not a good guide to the teachings of the Catholic Church, and a bit more reflection is needed as to the relationship between political instinct in general – and certainly his – and the nature of the truth that the Church tries to put forward . . . Maybe he lacks a bit of experience in Catholic life.”

It has been said that Nichols is a savvy media operator, but gaffed in his comments on the Irish sex scandal, and he has an erratic and potentially embarrassing press secretary he needs to reign in.

This interview is a great comeback, and one thing we won't be able to say is that Nichols hasn't spoken his mind.

HTB's plans for Mayfair and Brighton

Love them or otherwise, Holy Trinity Brompton is one of the few Anglican churches in the UK that has shown clear and significant growth over the past few years.

Mouse commented on their disapproval for the plans for St Mark's church in Mayfair back in March. This run-down listed church is under threat of sale to become a luxury spa. HTB have pleaded to match the deal, but have so far not had much success. However, on Friday, the latest deal with the developers was thrown out. It seems that this is in reality the Diocese realising the true commercial value of the property, and are insisting that the developer, George Hammer, stick to the original deal made some time ago (of around £1m up front, plus another £1m over ten years), rather than the budget deal of £55,000 per year for a lease arrangement.

Mouse thinks this is great news, and perhaps there is hope that it will one day be a thriving church again.

It also comes at the same time that HTB announce their plans for their first church plant outside London. St Peter's in Brighton is an iconic landmark in the city, and will be run by Archie Coates and a team from HTB which includes Jonny Gumbel, Nicky's son.

Mouse also thinks its pretty clear that we should ask some fundamental questions about why so many churches are either in terminal decline or are closing completely, whilst HTB seem to be growing with tremendous speed.

In the past six months you could have sat through the General Synod and the Anglican Consultative Council and barely heard a word about church growth. There would be occasional discussions on mission, and references to 'fresh expressions', but virtually no clear thinking, strategies, goals, targets or actions.

Margaret Thatcher to meet the Pope

After wondering just what the Queen would say to Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, when he attends a Royal Garden Party in July, Mouse is now wondering what the Pope would say to Mrs Thatcher.

It is 30 years since Mrs T first met Pope Paul VI. Now, whilst on holiday with her friend Carla Powell, a trip to the Vatican has been arranged to have a chat with the Pope. This follows on from visits from Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, Charles and Camilla.

Thatcher also met Pope John Paul II in 1980.

Rowan excels himself - the most thoughtful piece on MPs expenses

The Archbishop of Canterbury has been accused of being out of touch with the real world with some of his over-academic talks and articles. His contribution to the debate on MPs expenses, however, is deeply thoughtful and perfectly timed.

The constant drip feed of disgraceful revelations from the Daily Telegraph has become an open sore on the face of British democracy. Parliament is in a state of shock, with a number of MPs already having announced their retirement as a result, and the speaker being dramatically pushed from his position.

With European and council elections looming, it has become accepted that small fringe parties will benefit from the embarrassment of the major parties in Westminster. This has led to fear and dread that the BNP will win European seats for the first time, with outrage amongst the British public seeming to be at its peak.

This is the context in which Rowan Williams chose to intervene. Mouse observed at the outset of the revelations that this is primarily a moral issue, and so expected to hear something from the church.

However, William's article is more broad ranging that that. He does not hold back from condemning the behaviour of MPs who have milked the expenses system. However, he brings a fresh perspective, arguing that the 'ritual humiliation' of MPs is damaging our democracy, and we need to find a way to move past the anger that we are currently experiencing.

Williams adds to these two other elements a call for an ethic of public service in our political system.

The piece is brilliantly timed - to write this earlier would have seemed to have let MPs off the hook. Any later and the damage to our democracy would have been done. It also manages to tread the fine line of condemning MPs behaviour whilst also pointing out the damage that will be done if we are not able to move on.

Mouse thinks this is one of Rowan Williams' finest moments. Well done.

Archbishops speak out against the BNP

Finally, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have spoken out against the BNP. Some (including the Mouse) have been arguing for some time that the Church should make such a statement, but they seem to have been holding their fire until the time was right.

The BNP recently have claimed to be a Christian party, and have used a picture of Jesus and a Bible quote on an election poster. The Archbishops's intervention appears to be timed to have maximum affect in countering these claims close to the election date.

Interestingly, they also have made the wider argument that people should not stay away and abstain, on the basis that this could let the BNP in.

Mouse is delighted with the commentes, and repeats his support for the 'there's nothing British about the BNP' campaign.

+++ Welcome a new Twittering Bishop +++

Steven Croft, Bishop of Sheffield, has got himself on Twitter.

Welcome, Steven. You're now also in the Twurch of England, Bishops and Clergy Twitter stream on the Church Mouse blog. You'll be amazed how much clergy twitter about football, The Apprentice, Britain's Got Talent and The Eurovision Song Contest.

Mouse blocked by Chinese government

The Church Mouse blog has been blocked by the Chinese Government.

Well, they've actually blocked all blogs from the blogger platform. Attempts by the Chinese government to block coverage of the Tienanmen Square massacre on its anniversary are getting increasingly desperate, and surely will become less and less effective. Its easy for Chinese bloggers to bypass this block and post to their blogs using the 'mail to blog' feature. Its also possible for them to set up email subscriptions to their favourite blogs, so this really is a pretty useless effort from the government.

Mouse will not be silenced!

Gallup moral acceptability index

Mouse really wishes some of these statistics were available for the UK. In the US, Gallup have updated their moral acceptability index, showing the proportion of the American public who think various issues are socially acceptable.

It makes interesting. The absolute values are interesting, but so are the trends. Mouse can't quite figure out why divorce seems to be becoming less acceptable, or why buying clothes made from animal fur is becoming more acceptable. Overall the trend seems to be towards more conservative attitudes - just the opposite of what you'd expect as society moves from the Bush era to the Obama era.

Missing link at the BHA

Mouse loves the simple folk from the British Humanist Association.

If you're not familiar with them, they exist to represent "the interests of the large and growing population of ethically concerned non-religious people living in the UK. It exists to support and represent such people, who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs."

Well that's pretty clear. If you are non-religious, non-superstitions but ethically concerned, why not give them a call to see what support they can offer? Actually they offer virtually none, other than the offer to conduct a humanist wedding, funeral or other non-religious ceremonies. The rest of their time is spent 'campaigning' and generally making noise against religion.

The reason for Mouse's interest today is their press release welcoming the discovery of a fossil.

The fossil in question has been nicknamed 'Ida' and is around 47 million years old. She is a remarkably well preserved primate fossil, that closely resembles modern lemurs.

The reason the press release has been issued by the BHA on this, appears to be because they are celebrating Darwin's bi-centenary at the moment, and campaigning for a public holiday to mark his birthday. The question Mouse asks is what on earth does this have to do with Humanism?

The celebration of science in general and Darwin in particular has been shared with many Christians and churches, including good old CofE joining in.

Mouse suspects that the BHA were joining in the bandwagon of celebration of Ida as some kind of 'missing link'. The press certainly latched on to that term, and the BHA join in calling Ida 'the eighth wonder of the world'. The BHA hope that scientific advance will render religion redundant, and that Ida is another step down that road.

Besides the fact that scientific advance has no impact whatsoever on religious claims, the problem in this case is that Ida is not a 'missing link' or any such thing. The New Scientist give us a more accurate description:

"Ida is not a "missing link" – at least not between anthropoids and more primitive primates. Further study may reveal her to be a missing link between other species of Eocene adapiforms, but this hardly solidifies her status as the "eighth wonder of the world".

Instead, Ida is a remarkably complete specimen that promises to teach us a great deal about the biology of some of the earliest and least human-like of all known primates, the Eocene adapiforms. For this, we can all celebrate her discovery as a real advance for science."

So, the BHA believe that you can understand the world through 'reason', but don't bother to check the facts. They really should get off the simpleton hobby horse that science will defeat religion. Mouse would welcome an organisation that really engaged with religions from a sceptical perspective. After all, that really would represent many people in this country, and would help Christians to understand where they're coming from. This bunch are not up to the job.

100 most searched for Bible verses

Biblegateway has published its 100 most searched for Bible verses. No surprises that John 3:16 is no.1.

Mouse is intrigued that Genesis 1:1 comes in at no. 5 - surely the easiest one to find without the aid of an internet search. Do people sit there thinking, "I've heard that bit about God creating the heavens and the earth, but can't remember where that comes in the Bible"?

Looking at the list, however, it really is an inspiring catalogue of God's love for his people.

1. John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
2. Jer 29:11: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
3. Rom 8:28: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
4. Phil 4:13: I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
5. Gen 1:1: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
6. Prov 3:5: Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
7. Prov 3:6: in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
8. Rom 12:2: Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
9. Phil 4:6: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
10. Matt 28:19: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

They also point to the least popular Bible passage. Apparently it’s 1 Chronicles 23-27, which details the organization of the priests and officials under King David. Strange - Mouse thinks its quite interesting. Why not look it up at www.biblegateway.com.

Friday round up

Here's my round up from the blogosphere. Ten of the best from the blogs this week:

1. Ruth Gledhill with a thoughtful and comprehensive response to the report on child abuse in Ireland
2. Bess Twiston-Davies on Jade Goody helping the public face of death
3. Riazat Butt on the Papal iPhone and Facebook applications
4. George Pitcher on the new Archbishop and his beer tent
5. Jonathan Wynne-Jones on the latest outburst from Vin Nichols' press secretary
6. Theos tell us that people are afraid of dying (well, some are)
7. Bishop Nick Baines runs into Bishop Alan Wilson in Germany, and finds him blogging
8. Bishop Alan Wilson has a similar experience
9. Bishop David Thomson on Bishop Ian Cundy's funeral
10. Christianity Today on how to evangelise in Afghanistan

Rowan's welcome to Archbishop of Westminster

Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, as welcomed Vincent Nichols to his new post as the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster. He said,

"In recent years, the relations between the churches in this country have become closer and warmer than perhaps ever before. The fact that the Anglican and Roman Catholic Bishops in England have been able to meet more than once for prayer and reflection, as well as for discussion of the challenges we share in witnessing to the Christian faith in our nation, is a welcome development, and a sign that we all recognise common challenges and a need to pray and act together.

The Roman Catholic and Anglican communities in England and Wales have the God-given task, along with all our other brothers and sisters in the faith, of making the Good News of Jesus compelling and attractive to a generation deeply in need of hope and meaning, in need of something they can trust with all their hearts.

Dear Vincent, I hope that as you join us as a co-president of the Churches Together in England we may work together at this task: as I had the privilege and delight of working with your predecessor, who was and is such a friend and example to us all.

May God give you the strength, the vision and the wisdom you need for the great responsibility he has laid upon you. Be sure of the love and prayers of all your colleagues in the churches of England and Wales as you take up the yoke of Christ in this fresh ministry. We give God thanks for you, and hope for many years of fruitful and exciting work together for Our Lord, in the service of his Kingdom and his justice."

It was a warm and friendly greeting, as indeed it should be. Mouse too welcomes Archbishop Nichols, in spite of what he may have said recently about his press secretary. He has a tough job on his hands. From what Mouse has seen so far, he's a tough guy, so Mouse is praying he does well.

BNP to attend royal garden party - is one having a larf?

What on earth would the Queen say when confronted with the odious leader of the BNP, Nick Griffin? And what would he say to her? We may well find the answers to these questions at the Royal Summer garden party in July, where Mr Griffin has got himself an invite as the guest of Richard Barnbrook, a BNP member of the London Assembly.

A BNP 'spokesman' said today, "Richard Barnbrook has got an official invite in his capacity as a member of the London Assembly and he is allowed to bring a guest, which will be Nick Griffin."

Mouse thinks the Palace should have used a little more discretion and vetoed Barnbrook from the invite list. They're currently revelling in the publicity, hoping it will bring a sense of respectability to the racist organisation.

Its likely that the Queen will be kept a careful distance from the BNP delegation, but Mouse secretly hopes that she marches straight up to them and tells them what she thinks of them. The Queen is very careful not to get involved in politics, but these guys are not politicians. They are thugs in suits. They have just one policy - to remove black and Asian people from Britain. That is not a political party. As such, her Majesty shouldn't feel inhibited in putting her views on them in the public domain, and what better platform to do that than to their faces in her own back garden.

Vin Nichols response to child abuse in Ireland

The soon to be installed Archbishop of Westminster probably had to say something about the 2,600 page report from Ireland's commission into child abuse in Ireland's religious institutions. Some would criticise pretty much anything he said.

Damian Thompson disappeared up the Archbishop's backside with an article entitled, "Archbishop Nichols's response to the Irish child abuse report is perfectly judged" on the basis that the Nichols said some tough things and faced up to the terrible crimes and impact of the abuse.

Riazat Butt took another tack, however, pointing to the Archbishop's comments which appear to describe the abusers as 'courageous' for facing up to their crimes.

"Secondly, I think of those in religious orders and some of the clergy in Dublin who have to face these facts from their past, which instinctively and quite naturally they'd rather not look at.

"That takes courage, and also we shouldn't forget that this account today will also overshadow all of the good that they also did."

Mouse has to wonder whether Thompson was paying attention. This really is a shocking comment from Nichols.

Vatican spinning the spin?

Riazat Butt has a hilarious piece on Fr Lombardi's recent claims that the PR disasters of recent months have made people think about the issues more. Lombardi almost claimed that the gaffes were a cunning plan, and once the outcry died down, people thought much more about the underlying issues.

She quite rightly takes him to task for this attempt to spin the spin. They were straightforward cock ups, and it is pretty poor form to try to pretend otherwise. You can spin to a spinner Lombardi. Trying to sell that to the press shows the naivety at the heart of the Pope's press operation.

+++ Pope to go on Facebook +++

Well blow me down.

The Pope's disastrous PR machine is going for Web 2.0 in a big way. As well as the YouTube channel, they're going for a flashy new website (www.pope2you.net - I kid you not, due to go live 24 May), an iPhone application and a Facebook account.

Unfortunately, it looks like the Pope won't actually engage with any of these things himself, but will use re-cycled quotes, and inspirational messages.

The strategy, outlined by Father Federico Lombardi, Head of the Vatican Press Office, is said to be modelling on President Obama's use of the web. The key difference was that Obama was constantly on his Blackberry, understood the media, and had some personal involvement in it.

I know the Pope is a busy man, but he must realise he can engage with vastly more people on Facebook than he can standing on a balcony in the Vatican.

Mouse says, well done Fr Lombardi. Just make sure we get something personal from the Pope.

Boris Johnson backs London day of prayer

Boris Johnson was once asked about his faith. His response was that it was rather like listening to Magic FM whilst driving through the Chiltern Hills ... it comes and goes.

However, last year he took to the stage in Millwall for the Global Day of Prayer event and asked everyone to pray for his vision of a transformed London.

This year's event, on 31 May, is asking churches in London's 33 boroughs to join together to make a continuous 24/7 prayer chain, and Boris has pledged his support once again.

Carla Bruni on the Catholic Church

Gerald Warner sarcastically asks in the Telegraph whether the Catholic Church can withstand the attack on it by Carla Bruni. She has said that although she was born a Catholic and was baptised, she is now 'profoundly secular'. She also made the same point as Tony Blair that the Catholic Church should 'evolve' on the issue of contraception and that the Pope's comments on condoms in Africa was 'damaging'.

The interesting thing for the Mouse, is that it is those sorts of issues that have driven Bruni away from the Catholic Church, whilst Blair is a new convert and holds the same view.

Vin Nichols must deal with his press secretary

Peter Jennings, press secretary to the new Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, has now embarrassed his boss twice, before he has even been installed in his position.

The first incident was when he called Telegraph reporter Jonathan Wynne-Jones a 'total shit'. The second is reported today, and is rather worse. Jennings verbally savaged a student at an Oxford University dinner. The student concerned has already written to the Archbishop to complain, saying that he had been called "a ----" by Mr Jennings more than twenty times as well as "a worthless piece of ----" and "a low-life peasant".

In response, Jennings has said, he "deeply regretted the incident and any embarrassment caused". He also said that the account circulating was an exaggeration. "I may have called him a ---- once or twice, I don't recollect how many times, but I think it's a storm in a tea cup. In fact, it is a typhoon in a tea spoon."

Jennings has also already written a letter of apology to the victim of his foul mouthed tirade, in which he claims to have been 'provoked' by overhearing him comment on Jennings recent dismissal as spokesman for the campaign for the beatification of Cardinal Newman.

Mouse thinks that there must be serious questions asked about whether an individual with a temper this short is fit for the job he now has. Nichols must now be aware that his position will be undermined every time he is associated with someone who makes an embarrassing comment like this. He must also wonder how long it will be before he says something even worse.

The 'fear of death' survey

The latest survey from Theos / ComRes on attitudes to death makes interesting, but confusing reading. It is not explicitly religious, but has some interesting aspects which impact on Christianity.

The items making headlines are that 50% of people fear either the way they will die, or death itself, and that 42% thought that Jade Goody's death had been good in helping people think about their mortality.

Mouse is surprised the first statistic is so low. Surely even those convinced they are going to a better place have some fear of the actual act that will lead to their death?

As for the second, this is a bit misleading. Whilst 42% did say they thought it was helpful, this was in reference to helping other people think about their mortality - a pretty flaky question. Secondly, a further 20% of people thought it was unhelpful, so the net result is only marginally positive, albeit entirely based on people guessing the effect on others.

More interesting is the fact that only 37% of the population would like a Christian funeral. Breaking this down, only 20% of 18-24 year olds would like a Christian funeral, compared with 53% of the over 65s. This further demonstrates the demographic time-bomb in the church.

The other intersting statistic for Christians, however, have not made it into most press reports, but lay hidden in the actual ComRes report. Only 21% of people agreed with the statement, "I have made peace with God", and only 30% agreed with the statement, "The religious faith I have helps me deal with death of a loved one or prepare me for my own death."

Clearly we have a long way to go in spreading the message that God has already made peace with us, and that he has prepared a place for us in heaven.

BNP slur VC hero

Well done to Iain Dale for keeping awareness up of the true nature of the BNP. On his blog he points to the story in the News of the World about the BNP claiming Lance Johnson Beharry was only awarded the Victoria Cross because he is black.

It is an outrageous slur on a true hero, who saved the lives of his comrades whilst under heavy fire, and reveals the true nature of the BNP. They may try to present a public facade of smart suits and 'reasonable' patriotism. They may even attempt to portray themselves as a Christian party. But the truth is that they are mostly morons with skinheads, who are driven entirely racial hatred.

First female sharia judge in Middle East

Khouloud el-Faqeeh has become a sharia judge in Ramallah, reports the Christian Science Monitor.

Her style is described as, "part Judge Judy, part Sunday School teacher", she is using her position to change society. Islamic justice has often been criticised for being too lenient on men accused of offences against women. Defendants in el-Faqeeh's court are shocked to find a woman on the bench, and are likely to get an extra lecture with their sentence.

What is refreshing about this story is that el-Faqeeh seems to be a really good judge. Basing her decisions on the evidence with impeccable impartiality. Many, including women or government employees, expect el-Faqeeh to bend the rules for them. But she won't. The Christian Science Monitor reports:

"Some defendants on a recent day didn't take the need for two male witnesses seriously, trying to pull strangers from the hallway.

"If you bring two witnesses who don't even know the name of your daughters, how can I rule on something like that?" Faqeeh bellows at one man, who works at the headquarters of PA President Mahmoud Abbas."

Mouse sees this as a beacon of hope. In the officially secular Palestine, many matters related to issues such as marriage, divorce and inheritance are decided by sharia courts, and the position of judge is extremely important. An independent and uncorrupted judiciary is one of the basis for civil society, and this case shows that there is hope that Muslim societies can break the prejudices which have denied women justice in the past.

How the church's ethical investment policy stacks up

Mouse thought he would compare the good old CofE's ethical investment policy against one of the better ones out there.

The Co-Op Bank, and its Internet arm Smile, have been at the forefront of ethical banking, and recently updated their ethics policy based on the views of their members. This is the only ethical investment policy that the Mouse is aware of that is actually based on the views of those who wish to use the service. Lets see how the good old CofE measures up.

There are five categories of the Co-Ops policy:

1) Human Rights

This prohibits investments in governments or businesses which fail to uphold basic human rights, arms sales and the like. The Church's policy is similar, and Mouse can't see any of the large holdings that would breach this.

2) International Development

A couple of interesting things will trip up the Church here. The Co-Op state:

“We will not finance organisations that take an irresponsible approach to the payment of tax in the least developed countries.”

98% of the customers who participated in the review support the bank’s decision to deny finance to those multinationals that avoid paying tax in the least developed countries through the use of tax havens.

“We will not finance organisations that impede access to basic human necessities, eg safe drinking water or vital medicines.”

Malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS, are major public health challenges that undermine development in the poorest countries in the world. According to the World Health Organisation 1.1 billion people have no access to any type of ‘improved’ drinking source of water. 99% of customers who participated in the review supported the bank’s decision to withhold finance from those businesses that systematically restrict access to safe drinking water or vital medicines in developing countries.

Mouse has not analysed the accounts of each company that the Church invests in, but it is almost certain that many of them use tax havens to reduce their tax burden. Many of the Church's investments have significant operations in developing countries, including oil companies and mining companies.

Mouse also suspects that the statement on impeding access to vital medicines is a direct reference to big drug companies who are keeping the cost of anti-retroviral and other drugs high, even in the third world.

Church fails on this one.

3) Social Enterprise

This is a positive statement whereby the Co-Op will seek to support Social Enterprise organisations, including co-operatives, credit unions and community finance initiatives. There is no such positive statement in the Church's policy, and no evidence in the annual report of support of this nature.

Church fails this one.

3) Customer Consultation

This is a commitment to consult the bank's customers regularly on how ethical policies should be updated. No such commitment from the Church.

Another fail for the CofE

4) Ecological Impact

There is some good stuff from the Church on this, however, the Co-Op go much further:

“We will not finance any business whose core activity contributes to global climate change, via the extraction or production of fossil fuels (oil, coal and gas), with an extension to the distribution of those fuels that have a higher global warming impact (eg tar sands and certain biofuels).”

The high price of oil and technological advances mean the exploitation of unconventional fuels, such as tar sands, is now viable. Given the global imperative to deal with climate change, it is concerning that some businesses have begun to invest in these fuels whose extraction and production requires much more energy and therefore has a much higher impact on climate change than conventional fuels. 90% of customers who participated in the review supported the bank’s decision to extend our policy on climate change to withhold finance from businesses involved in the distribution of fuels with a higher global warming impact.

The Church has big holdings in oil companies, such as Shell and BP.

Another fail for the Church.

5) Animal Welfare

Nothing mentioned on this by the Church. The Co-Op, however, say:

We will not finance any organisation involved in:

- animal testing of cosmetic or household products or their ingredients.

- intensive farming methods, eg caged egg production

Some of the Church's holdings make use of animal testing, such as Johnson & Johnson and Unilever. You could also argue that organisations such as Tesco are involved in intensive farming methods, as they are such huge buyers of intensively farmed products.

Church fails again.

The final worry with the Church's policy is that it doesn't even promise to dump investments where there is a breach. Instead, they will pursue 'sustained dialogue' and dump the stock only if the company does not 'respond positively'.

"We consider disinvestment only if a company’s activities fall outside this ethical investment policy or if, after sustained dialogue, it does not respond positively to our concerns."

This is pretty limp. It should simply say that it won't touch the company if they are in breach.

Some will think that applying someone else's ethical policy on the church is an unfair test. However, it is clear that the public and other organisations are ahead of the church of ethical investments, and Mouse thinks its worthwhile comparing them to the leaders.

Mouse is well aware that there may be lower returns associated with such strict investment guidelines. However, Mouse would also point out that the Church's current approach is to take huge risks by investing almost exclusively in property and equities. A more conservative approach would have lower returns, but also lower risk. That would mean that the church would not lose 20% of its 300 year old fund in a single year chasing market leading returns.

Mouses expenses

In the spirit of transparency, Mouse has decided to publish a breakdown of his own expenses for the previous year. He will not be publishing individual receipts, but will break down individual items:

Cheese (£876)
Sawdust (£217)
Refurbishment of exercise wheel (£93)
Grooming (£715)
Vet bills (£3,198)
Small and medium water bottles (£24)
Other nibbles (£18)

During the year, Mouse moved his second home from the cavity in the vestry wall to behind the skirting board in the Lady Chapel. He therefore claimed £1,327 under the 'Second Holes Allowance' to refurbish his second hole.

Mouse can assure his readers that all these expenses were withing the rules.

The 'Catholic Karma Sutra'

Few things make Mouse squirm more than hearing someone stand up in Church and talk about sex. Well, one Polish Franciscan Friar, Father Ksawery Knotz , has gone one step further and published a graphic sex manual. In the book, "Sex as you don't know it: For married couples who love God", Fr Knotz says that arousal 'pleases God' and advises that sex should not be boring, but should be 'saucy'.

The obvious question is how is a celibate Franciscan Friar in a position to offer such advice? Fr Knotz answer is that he has listened to many couples discussing their sex lives, and has run a website with sex advise for married couples. Mouse is not convinced.

But besides that, there is a desperate need for Christians to engage with sexual ethics in a modern and grown up way. In Britain we suffer from some of the highest rates of sexually transmitted disease and pregnancy amongst teenagers in Europe. The root of that is a failure to engage with the ethical and moral dimension of sex, and talk only of the mechanical, health and social aspects.

'Jesus in Jeans' sculpture

The 'Jesus in Jeans' sculpture has been unveiled at Our Lady Immaculate and St Philip Neri Catholic Church in Uckfield.

At £35,000 its not exactly a snip, but Mouse welcomes the attempt to see Jesus in a new light, and provoke some debate. Mouse's main observation is that they look more like slacks to me.

Its definitely a vast improvement on the 'scary Jesus' sculpture that was recently taken down from St John’s Church in Horsham, West Sussex, on the basis that it was frightening the children.

There's nothing British about the BNP

Some of the chaps from ConservativeHome have set up a site to show that there is nothing British about the BNP. This is very welcome, particularly since the BNP started is despicable campaign claiming to be a Christian organisation.

The major parties are stuck, not knowing how to handle the BNP. The fear is that giving them 'the oxygen of publicity' by attacking them gives their odious message some kind of legitimacy simply by serious politicians debating it.

Mouse is happy for the blogs to pick up the mantle and say clearly do not vote BNP.

Friday round up

Here's my round up from the blogosphere. Ten of the best from the blogs this week:

1. Damian Thompson reveals the young and trendy (!?) Archbishop Vin Nichols
2. Archbishop Cranmer reckons the Lisbon Treaty increases the influence of churches (Mouse isn't so sure)
3. Ruth Gledhill gives us the best account of the appointment of Aaqil Ahmed as head of religion at the BBC
4. Bess Twiston-Davies on why Christians are nicer people
5. Riazat Butt on how the church lost £1.3bn last year
6. Bishop Nick Baines on MPs expenses and the 'new priesthood' of the press
7. Bishop Alan Wilson on MPs expenses and bunny rage
8. Jan Ainsworth on the Church's role in education
9. Faithworld on the Pope learning to dialogue with Muslims
10. Thinking Anglicans pull together final thoughts on the Anglican Consultative Council

Religious people are 'just nicer'

Modesty forbids that the Mouse would confirm or deny this story, but Beliefnet are reporting that a study in the US has found that religious people make better citizens and are 'just nicer'. The report is based on a study by Harvard University professor Robert Putnam and University of Notre Dame scholar David Campbell in their book, "American Grace: How Religion is Reshaping our Civic and Political Lives". Beliefnet report that they found:

"Religious people are three to four times more likely to be involved in their community. They are more apt than nonreligious Americans to work on community projects, belong to voluntary associations, attend public meetings, vote in local elections, attend protest demonstrations and political rallies, and donate time and money to causes -- including secular ones.

At the same time, Putnam and Campbell say their data show that religious people are just "nicer": they carry packages for people, don't mind folks cutting ahead in line and give money to panhandlers."

What's more, they found that the relationship was causal - i.e. it was their faith that drove them to behave in these ways, as the same individuals became more socially responsible after they had started attending churches.

It should be no surprise that Christian communities foster community spirit and generosity, but this is the kind of thing that no-one in the UK would say for fear of being shouted down by aggressive secularists.

Award winning radio from Brixton prison

Mouse's heart was warmed when he heard this story. Electric Radio, the in-house radio station for Brixton Prison, won two awards at the Sony Radio Awards last week.

The radio station was an initiative brought in by the governor, Paul McDowell, which intersperses music with advise on issues such as drugs. It is a great initiative, which is well liked by the inmates. It also provides inmates with an opportunity to get involved and learn skills which will be a huge benefit to them when they leave the prison.

You can find out more about the initiative at the Prison Radio Association, and in a good piece by the Guardian. The vision from the PRA is to create a national network reaching every prisoner in the country. Mouse has become a supporter.

Church Commissioners - losing £1.3bn 'creditable'

Yesterday the annual report of the Church Commissioners was published. This follows on from the announcement of their unaudited results a couple of months ago.

The report, and the associated press release, is an extraordinary exercise in spin and misdirection. The bottom line is that the £4.4bn fund is now 20% smaller than it was, having lost roughly £1.3bn.

Andrew Brown, Secretary to the Church Commissioners, said: “In a very difficult financial situation, we believe the Commissioners have achieved creditable returns for our beneficiaries."

Losing 20% of the fund is not creditable. It is a catastrophic failure, based on chasing market leading returns by taking huge risks. The fund's stated aim is to achieve results of 5% above inflation - an insanely high target for a legacy fund of this nature. The result has been relatively good performance in the good years, and disastrous performance in the bad years. The annual report confirms that the fund has taken on far too much risk, by sitting on a portfolio of risky equities and property investments, rather than the safe options of fixed income investments, such as government bonds.

The Commissioners are trying a few nifty pieces of misdirection to make their performance look better than it really is. The press release states:

Over the past 10 years, the Commissioners’ total return on their investments has averaged 5.7 per cent per year, ahead of the 3.7 per cent return of the WM All Funds universe comparator**. In the last year, the Commissioners’ return of -19.6 per cent was less than the WM All Funds return of -17.2 per cent.

The total returns of the FTSE100 index and the IPD UK commercial property universe were around minus 30 per cent and minus 22 per cent respectively during the year.

Both of these comparators are irrelevant. The WM All Funds Universe is a benchmark based on 229 pension funds. This is a useful reference point, as much of the Church Commissioners' fund is now used to pay clergy pensions, but it is not a pension fund per se. It also provides vital short term funds to diocese and other church bodies. The FTSE movement is interesting note, but since it is highly volatile the movement can depend on which day is selected (today the FTSE is around 4,500 - having recovered over 10% from its January position).

The reason the church fund outperformed the pension fund benchmark for most of the past 10 years, is because it took higher risks.

The fund was made up of over 55% equities and only 5% in low risk cash and bonds. The rest was largely big holdings in property. Compare this with the Lloyd's of London investment portfolio. That held around 70% in cash and bonds and only 10% in risky equities. They generated a more conservative, but still healthy, return of a little under 6%. Mouse is familiar with the investment strategies of pension funds, and they are far more risk averse than the Church Commissioners.

The Commissioners fund is not just a historic legacy, but it is vital to church funding. It lost a fortune in the 1990s on property investments, and we had thought they had learned their lesson. Not so it seems. They still targeted market leading returns by taking big risks.

In addition, it is not just the wisdom of the investment strategy that will be questioned. The Commissioners definition of 'ethical investments' is sure to come under scrutiny. Here are some of their larger equity holdings:

Royal Dutch Shell £103.7m
BP £92.8m
Vodafone £78.3m
HSBC £75.0m
GlaxoSmithKline £60.6m
AstraZeneca £40.2m
BG £35.0m
BHP Billiton £29.3m
Tesco £27.5m
Unilever £26.1m
Nestle £22.9m
Standard Chartered £21.2m
Anglo American £18.4m
Centrica £17.2m
Exxon Mobil £17.2m
Microsoft £16.8m
Reckitt Benckiser £16.8m
National Grid £14.4m
Wal-Mart £13.9m
Procter & Gamble £13.2m
BT £13.1m
Rio Tinto £13.1m
Roche £12.2m
Barclays £11.8m
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial £11.5m
AT&T £11.5m
Prudential £11.2m
Pfizer £11.2m
Novo-Nordisk £10.4m
Aviva £10.0m
Chevron £9.2
Scottish & Southern £9.1m
Royal Bank of Scotland £8.4m
Cadbury £7.0m
British Energy £6.9m
Cable & Wireless £6.8m
Pepsico £6.7m
Lloyds TSB £6.4m

Mouse thinks there needs to be major change in the way this fund is managed, if we are to make sure that it does not continue to suffer from the 'boom and bust' casino investment strategy that it has been on for the past 10 years.

Pope's press officer boobs again

At the end of a largely successful trip to the Holy Land, the Pope's press office comes up with another gaff.

John Allen reports:

During a press briefing in Jerusalem today, the Vatican spokesperson, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, chided reporters for repeating what he called a falsehood – namely, the claim that the young Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, was once a member of the Hitler Youth.
"The pope was never in the Hitler Youth: never, never, never," Lombardi said.

Unfortunately, the Pope himself has said that he was (involuntarily) in the Hitler Youth:

The relevant documentation comes from the 1997 book Salt of the Earth, based on an interview which then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger granted to German journalist Peter Seewald. Here is the exchange, which appears on page 52 of the English edition:

Seewald: "Were you in the Hitler Youth?"

Ratzinger: "At first we weren't, but when the compulsory Hitler Youth was introduced in 1941, my brother was obliged to join. I was still too young, but later, as a seminarian, I was registered in the HY. As soon as I was out of the seminary, I never went back. That was difficult, because the tuition reduction, which I really needed, was tied to proof of attendance at the HY. Thank goodness, there was a very understanding mathematics teacher. He himself was a Nazi but an honest man, who said to me, ‘Just go once and get the document, so that we have it …' When he saw that I simply didn't want to, he said, 'I understand, I'll take care of it,' and so I was able to stay free of it."

Lombardi announced a while ago that he was to resign after a series of media cock-ups. For the sake of the Pope, Mouse thinks he should go quickly.

Top 10 corporate charity donors

The Directory of Social Change has produced a ranking of corporate charity donors, ranking companies based on total pre-tax donations to charity.

Directory of Social Change (DSC) Senior Researcher and Author John Smyth said: Companies invested over £800 million in the voluntary sector last financial year, but the majority of cash donations came from a core of committed companies. In fact, three quarters came from just 50 of the 500 companies surveyed in our company giving guide."

The analysis provides a couple of interesting nuggets. Firstly, there has been a big decline in giving-in-kind from companies, whilst cash giving has continued to rise. Secondly, there is a big dependence on a small number of companies, with banks being top of the list.In the current economic climate, this is worrying.

Top 10 corporate givers by UK community contribution:

1. Barclays PLC, £38.9 million
2. Lloyds TSB Group plc, £37.5 million
3. HBOS plc, £18.6 million
4. HSBC Holdings plc, £18.4 million
5. Marks and Spencer Group plc, £15.0 million
6. Northern Rock plc, £14.3 million
7. Ecclesiastical Insurance Group plc*, £14.1 million
8. Shell, £13.0 million
9. Fidelity Investment Management Limited, £11.8 million
10. HESCO Bastion Limited, £11.5 million

The ACC and the Anglican Covenant

The Anglican Communion excelled itself at the ACC. There had been much debate in the blogosphere about whether the revised draft of the covenant for the Anglican Communion would sent out for 'ratification' by the ACC. Some asked what 'ratification' would really mean. Others debated the time frame, still more discussed how the ratification process would work, who would be included and what would happen if someone said no.

Well we needn't have worried. The debate at the ACC ended it total chaos, with no-one entirely sure what had been agreed or what would happen next. The official explanation of what was agreed clarifies a little. They state:

The ACC:
a. thanks the Covenant Design Group for their faithfulness and responsiveness in producing the drafts for an Anglican Communion Covenant and, in particular, for the Ridley Cambridge Draft submitted to this meeting;
b. recognises that an Anglican Communion Covenant may provide an effective means to strengthen and promote our common life as a Communion;
asks the Archbishop of Canterbury, in consultation with the Secretary General, to appoint a small working group to consider and consult with the Provinces on Section 4 and its possible revision, and to report to the next meeting of the Joint Standing Committee;
c. asks the JSC, at that meeting, to approve a final form of Section 4
asks the Secretary General to send the revised Ridley Cambridge Text, at that time, only to the member Churches of the Anglican Consultative Council for consideration and decision on acceptance or adoption by them as The Anglican Communion Covenant;
d. asks those member Churches to report to ACC-15 on the progress made in the processes of response to, and acceptance or adoption of, the Covenant.

In other words, nothing was decided. It was referred to the Standing Committee, with an update at the next ACC (in 3 years time).

Overall, that could be considered progress by some, but since Mouse thinks the whole enterprise is a gigantic waste of time, this seems to him to be dragging the whole affair on ad nauseum.

When will we get back to mission, evangelism, church building and so on? I know that is going on as well, but it is undeniable that these internal arguments are diverting a massive amount of time, energy and resources. Mouse thinks they would be better spent elsewhere.

Head of Channel 4 calls for more Christian engagement with the media

Mouse's mole at the Baptist Assembly didn't tip him off on this one (you know who you are), so he has had to wait to read this in the Baptist Times.

Andy Duncan is head of Channel 4, and is a Baptist. He has told the church to engage more with the media and become more media savvy to engage with young people.

“It's interesting that we have a relatively low engagement from the Christian community. On occasions we get a lot more contact from other faith groups, who stress their side of the debate pretty heavily … Are Christians engaging enough? I think it's an interesting question.”

Duncan also told the Assembly that the church needed to be more 'media' savvy if it wanted to engage with the younger generation.

"The media world is changing very fast for the younger generation.The first thing my 14-year-old daughter will do when she comes home from school is go to the computer, ahead of the television.It's really important for churches to be media savvy, to understand the importance of things like social websites for the younger generation.”

These messages are a statement of the totally and utterly obvious. Anyone who has ever spent more than a few minutes with someone under the age of 25 knows that the internet is the primary source of information and communication. Everyone under the age of 25 is a member of at least three social networking sites (Facebook is pretty much mandatory, Twitter becoming more so, and likely another from MySpace, Bebo or others depending on age and demographics).

Its great to see that the Methodist Church is taking youth engagement seriously, but Mouse is yet to see anything comparable in the other churches. Yet they're all sitting on a demographic time-bomb leading to extinction if they don't engage better with young people.

Engagement with the media is an absolute must too, but the two are linked. Any decent journalist has his finger on the pulse of all the relevant social networking sites and blogs. If you can get your message out there, it will be picked up.

Christian programming is more problematic. Duncan pointed out that viewing figures are often low for Christian programmes. However, it is clear that having a Christian perspective in broader programming can only happen when Christians are engaged with the media.

What Duncan didn't tell us, however, was how to do that ... any ideas?

Francis Maude's expenses - a personal reflection

Mouse once met Francis Maude. It was during the 1997 election campaign, when he was making a political comeback after having lost his seat in 1992.

Maude was out knocking on doors in his constituency in Sussex, which remained a safe seat despite the over-riding political climate that demanded a change after 18 years of Tory government. Maude felt this mood a few times that day, and while Mouse was with him he suffered a tirade of abuse from one member of the public, who finished with the lines, "I can't stand you politicians. You're all in it for the money."

Maude was visibly annoyed by this insult, and for the briefest of moments, he lost his legendary cool, and replied angrily, "You've no idea what I'm giving up to do this." Realising that he was in danger of losing it completely, he left it at that and moved on.

After being a little shocked that Maude had lost his cool, but was left feeling impressed that this affront to Maude's integrity was genuinely irritating. The truth was that Maude was giving up a highly lucrative career in banking to return to politics, so he was not 'in it for the money'.

Fast forward 12 years, and the Telegraph report the following:

"Francis Maude, the shadow minister for the cabinet office, attempted to claim the mortgage interest on his family home in Sussex. This arrangement was rejected by the Fees Office. Two years later, Mr Maude bought a flat in London a few minutes walk from a house he already owned. He then rented out the other property and began claiming on the new flat: the taxpayer has since covered nearly £35,000 in mortgage interest payments."

The Christian perspective is to demand the following actions:

1) Maude, and others in a similar position must either explain why their claim was appropriate (not just within the rules). If they can't they should repay the money, apologise and promise to work day and night to rebuild trust. If the cases are really bad, party discipline should be enforced by de-selections;
2) The rules must be changed immediately to prevent this sort of affair again - we can't wait months and months for the Kelly inquiry to report; and
3) We (the public) should accept the apologies, actions by parties and change of rules and move on. We will clearly not be able to trust politicians as much as we did before, but we can't go on like this. Many MPs have changed their second home designation for perfectly good reasons, and should not be under suspicion simply for that. Representative democracy does not work if there is no trust in the representatives. We will soon have our chance to vote on them, so the slate must be wiped clean then.

As for Maude, Mouse is sad. That respect has gone. He will have to work hard now to explain why he bought that flat rather than live at the one he already owned. Like most of these cases, it is one where there appears to be no need to play the system. He would have been fine with the flat he already had. What a desperate shame that he wanted more.