Church Mouse religious news quiz of the week

Following on from the success (???) of last week's quiz, Mouse has come up with another religious news quiz for this week.  Each question relates to a religious news story from the press this week.

If you have problems using the quiz below, you can also play it here.

Eastenders storyline is not anti-Christian (its just a bit rubbish)

There has been a fair bit of flapping from some Christian sources about the Eastenders storyline in which the  character Lucas, a pentecostal pastor, has become a serial killer.  Complaints have been flying about, suggesting that it is anti-Christian to portray a Christian character in this way.

Mouse's take on this is that it is not anti-Christian.  However, it is pretty rubbish.  Eastenders specialises in laughable plots, and this one fits that category very nicely.  Mouse doesn't for a moment believe that anyone will watch the programme and have their views of Christians effected in any way.

The BBC have had to take the criticism seriously and have responded with the fair point that there are several other Christian characters in the soap who are portrayed more sypathetically.

He is a very damaged and dangerous individual who has created a twisted version of the Christian 'faith' in his mind to hide behind and to convince himself that his actions are acceptable. As the story unfolds, we will see other characters questioning Lucas' claim to be a Christian.

As Lucas has become increasingly unhinged, his obsession and reliance on the Bible and the scriptures has become increasingly frantic and desperate. This represents this character's emotional breakdown, and it is very clear that this is absolutely not normal behaviour.

In episodes yet to broadcast, we will see the characters Grace, Mercy and Dot - all three of whom are Christians - question and discuss Lucas' frame of mind.

Mouse's advice is to avoid getting hot under the collar about this, and either enjoy the gripping tension of the drama or laugh at its stupidity (depending on your point of view).  However, to take it as a serious social comment is really to miss the point.

Put solar panels on the roof and solve the Church's financial problems?

Well perhaps not, but British Gas reckon the Church of England could raise £34m per year from solar panels if they took maximum advantage of the opportunities.  Here's how British Gas explain:

British Gas' research shows that solar panels on Britain's religious buildings could generate over £29 million a year through Feed-In Tariffs, a scheme which pays households and organisations for generating "green" electricity.

They could also make further savings of nearly £5 million a year by not having to buy electricity, as their energyneeds would be met through the solar panels.

There is, of course, one major omission from British Gas's analysis is what the capital outlay would be to install the equipment necessary to reap these great rewards, and it is not surprising to see a comment at the end of the statement that British Gas is in the market for the installation of solar panels.

So Mouse proposes something.  Why not establish a fund out of Church Commissioners money to support churches in the installation of solar panels, not just as something which is available for parishes to draw down if and when they want to, but as something for diocese to actively push forward as a program.  In other words, dioceses would have projects to install as many solar panels as possible.  Naturally many parishes would oppose the idea of sticking ugly black panels on the roofs of their beautiful and historic church buildings.  And in many cases it would be entirely inappropriate to install solar panels, but in many cases it is.

The reality is that there are two reasons why it won't happen.  The first is a lack of energy from Parochial Church Councils, who are at the moment the only people who could initiate this sort of project.  The second is the requirement for some initial capital outlay, which is simply not available to many parishes.

Both of these could be solved.  The prize - £34m per year.  Surely worth it.

Friday round up

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

1. Bishop David Chillingworth would like some help with what to say to the Pope

2. The Twurch of England blog on the Twitter Communion, and Mark Meynell on the same

3. George Pitcher writes in the Guardian on a familiar topic - good to see his writing, but a bit odd to see him in the Guardian

4. Damian Thompson on Jewish hostility towards Christians

5. Vic the Vicar on the crooked vicar and his dodgy weddings

6. The Super Badger is delighted with the Haiti debt write-off

7. The Benedictine Nuns of East Hendred on praying for the sick

8. Lanky Anglican introduces a Monday Round Up - good idea that

9. FaithWorld on the 'God particle'

10. Tall Skinny Kiwi spots some interesting blog advertising, and suggests its not worth it

Papal visit T-Shirt design competition

Mouse is loving the idea from The Guardian's Comment is Free section to design a T-Shirt to mark the Papal visit to the UK.  This comes in response to the National Secular Society's sale of "Pope Nope" T-Shirts.  They aren't very good, you see.  So the Guardian is asking readers to design a T-Shirt.

Mouse expects that most will be pretty hostile to the Pontiff, as this is the nature of most readers of CiF, however, Mouse will be putting his little grey cells to use in attempting to come up with something more sympathetic, from an Anglican perspective.  Do let him know if you have any ideas to contribute.

Changes to Mouse's blog roll

Mouse realised that three entries on his blog roll are now out-of-date, so has updated.  Out come Ruth Gledhill (now hidden behind a paywall), David Keen (retired from blogging) and Cranmer (strangely absent from blogging).  In come BRIN News (invaluable source for all things statistical), Clayboy and Rev'd Lesley.  There are many more blogs that I value reading regularly, but these are the ones that I would direct you to if you are exploring the Christian blog world.

Sunday reflection

With kind permission from Devotions Chop Chop.


Lengthening Your Life

The fear of the LORD adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short. Proverbs 10:27

Having the fear of the LORD in your life is healthy. You enjoy life much more. You appreciate the little things. You don’t have to pretend. You can be who you are. Your life on earth may be 20 years or it may be 90, but John 10:10 tells us that Jesus came to earth that He has come that we may have life and have it to the full.

Often the things of life drag us down. We get discouraged and ask, “what’s the use?” Brothers and Sisters, don’t be disheartened. Renew your strength day by day. Draw strength from God and Him alone.

“but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31

The Church Mouse religious news quiz of the week

Mouse has found a little more time than he expected over the past few days.  Some of these have been in the early hours of the morning, but still they are potentially productive hours nontheless.

And so Mouse conceived and developed a potential new feature for the blog.  The idea is that this is a religious news quiz based on stories from the last week.  Seven questions represent the seven days.  This one was done quite quickly, so if its well received and not too much effort to maintain, this could be a regular feature.

If you like it, you can forward on a link, or even grab the quiz to embed in your own blog using the 'Spread the Word' button at the bottom.  It seems to be a little slow responding, but do bear with it - Mouse reckons its well worth it.  And do let me know what you think.

Desmond Tutu to stand down from public life

Mouse is pushing his luck by breaking his paternity leave from blogging, so will simply post a link for you to read a little more about this story.  The headline above speaks for itself.

Friday round up

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

1. Heresy Corner on the Vatican's PR machine

2. The Vicar's Wife has ten top tips for surviving as a vicar's wife

3. Geoffrey Lean on the money making possibilities of solar panels on church roofs

4. FaithWorld on the perils of fire eating in Saudi Arabia

5. Bishop Nick Baines has some big questions about the Big Society

6. Jubilee Centre blog wants to give out some awards to Christian blogs

7. The Ugley Vicar on Eastenders

8. Damian Thompson clarifies Mel Gibson's brand of Catholicism

9. Revd Lesley on the grief of divorce

10. Thinking Anglicans analyse the voting at Synod (one for Synod geeks only)

Mobile Mouse

Mouse is trialing a mobile version of his blog. If you read this on a mobile device it should now appear in a mobile friendly version. Mouse will explain fully in due course.

Please do let Mouse know what you think.

7 Links for bloggers

Mouse came across this 7 links challenge, and since he is essentially on a blog break, decided it would be a fun way to stay in touch.  Here goes.

1. Your first post - it was an introduction.  Mouse doesn't remember writing it, and it is rather interesting to read it back now.

2. A post you enjoyed writing the most - tough one, but Mouse has gone for a post he did with his top 5 incidents when politicians got something thrown in their face.  It followed the incident when Peter Mandleson got green custard thrown over him.  The research was fun.

3. A post which had a great discussion - Mouse's blog tends to attract comments rather than initiate debates, however, many comments are interesting and of value in their own right.  Perhaps a post where the comments were more interesting than the post was the one where Mouse looked at the question posed to the three party leaders during the last general election about the upcoming Papal visit.  Mouse thought the question was a disgrace, but no-one else seemed to be talking about it.

4. A post on someone else's blog that you wish you'd written - another difficult one to call, as there are too many to choose from.  Mouse provides a top 10 every week, and would have been pleased with just about all of those entries.  However, he has picked out this one by Phil Ritchie, who was upset by the gambling advertising being shown during the World Cup.  Mouse chose this partly because he make a great point, and partly because it was brilliantly written.

5. A post with a title that you are proud of - the search for a link here shows that Mouse is not good at titles.  He's had to go for 'Queen supports FCA? Don't you believe it', not so much because its a good title, but more because it turned out to be stunningly accurate.

6. A that you wish more people had read - that's actually quite easy.  Mouse had a guest post from Sarah Malik, who was the Youth President of the Methodist Church at the time.  Mouse wishes there had been a greater response from the Church of England.

7. Your most visited post ever - had to check the stats for this one.  It was a close call for the top 3, but the winner was 'Farewell Wesley Owen', on the sad demise of the Wesley Owen bookstore chain.

Now, why not try this on your own blog?

CofE dip toe in the iPhone app world

Mouse has grabbed a couple of minutes before Mrs Mouse and Baby Mouse No.2 return from hospital to direct his readers towards the first iPhone app from the good old CofE - looks to Mouse like a trial before they go for something a bit more 'mainstream'.

What the papers didn't say Part 2: Guest post from General Synod member Justin Brett

Synod member Justin Brett provides his reflections on the recent Synod session, covering what else happened, besides the debates about women bishops.


Justin is a Latin teacher and a Lay Member of General Synod for the Diocese of Oxford (although he now lives in Chichester). You can find more posts by him on the General Synod Blog and also on his own blog The Dodgy Liberal. The title of the latter might tell you something about his church-related views.

The views below are Justin's own views, and may not represent the views of the Mouse.

Justin writes:


What the papers didn't say Part 2

The General Synod Blog (completely unofficial, written by my friend Alastair and occasionally by me) has a useful post giving a list of what else happened at Synod [http://gensyn.blogspot.com/2010/07/so-what-happened-at-synod.html ] apart from the big news item. There are a couple of things from it that warrant a little more detail, and which might be of interest to generally Church-minded people. The first concerns pensions. Don't get me started on the iniquity of most of what we've done about that, but... One positive thing about February's Synod was the vote to extend full survivor's benefits to surviving Civil Partners of clergy. That rule change was among those that needed to be ratified this time round, and despite some opposition from people standing up and saying that this meant that we were equating marriage and civil partnership, it went through in the end almost unopposed. For those of us with more liberal attitudes to sexuality, that is an encouraging development.

The next thing involves donning the political anorak for a short while. A year ago we were presented at York with a report about recommended reorganisation of church structures that would have removed many of the old committees and replaced them by much smaller groups and set up scrutiny groups of Synod members that would have met once a year. Unsurprisingly, Synod was not terribly happy about this, and told people to go away and come back with something that allowed for more Synod members to have a direct part in the decision making process rather than simply reacting after the fact. Sure enough, a new report turned up this time round and we duly passed it. It reduced the numbers on Boards and Councils by approximately 1/3, while keeping the same proprtional mix of Synod members and others. One of the things that has been bubbling under the surface for the whole of this Synod has been the feeling of a pressure for change within the structures of the Church. A considerable part of this - the introduction of the Archbishops' Council - pre-dates my time on Synod. Over this last five years, however, there has been considerable pressure to ensure that things are done in a more 'streamlined' fashion, and a worry for many people - myself included - that 'streamlined' means decided by the same small number of largely unaccountable people and presented for subsequent scrutiny as a done deal.

My third point of interest is at least tangentially related. We had several Diocesan Synod motions to debate this time round, one of which was about the legal status (or not) of Deanery Synods, and the other of which was about job sharing. Both concerned issues that had come up in individual Dioceses and which frankly needed sorting out. In the case of deaneries, there has been quite a lot of noise made over the last few years about how Deaneries are frightfully important and should be doing lost of interesting stuff. Unfortunately, they have no legal identity, which means that they have trouble doing things like
registering for Gift Aid, and any legal responsibility is shared between the members of the Deanery Synod as individuals. The motion from Coventry Diocese was very clear about what it wanted, but was passed only in an amended form. As proposed it would have involved writing new legislation, as it is we will simply have another report. The secretariat are good at reports. The motion on job sharing was passed unamended, despite attempts to do a similar amendment job on it, and so new legislation will be required. The major objection to this - reading between the lines - seemed to be that it would be difficult. I am not sympathetic!

There is a sort of bureaucratic inertia which tends to respond to requests almost automatically with responses such as, "We don't do it like that" or "That's not really what you want" or "Let's write a report on that" or "We've always done it this way". It is easy to characterise such responses as laziness, but that's too simple an explanation. It has seemed increasingly to me that what we see is a sort of  complacency - a presumption that the centre always knows best. It is not difficult to see the link between my two points above - the same presumption that 'we know best' will see no problem in restricting policy
development to a chosen few (on the grounds that they know best), will also see nothing wrong in attempting to re-write requests from the wider church on the grounds that those making them don't really understand the problems. It is inevitable that one particular issue will dominate the General Synod elections this time around, but I do hope that people will pay attention to this question as well. Does the central bureaucracy exist to serve the Church or not? And if it does, why does there sometimes seem to be the impression that it's the other way round... If anybody out there manages to make it to general synod hustings, I would encourage them to raise these issues with the prospective candidates.

Sunday reflection

With kind permission from Devotions Chop Chop.


Choice Silver
The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. Proverbs 10:20

You pray and pray for wisdom and for the right things to say. You pray that you don’t say anything foolish, then you realize after a conversation, that what you had said was exactly what the person needed to hear (and you had no idea you had said it until you analyze the conversation). That’s probably the way it’s supposed to be: you being totally unaware that God was using you at a moment when gloating or basking over that knowledge might have spoiled the moment.

Wisdom comes in ways we never expect it but it does come our way when we pray for it.

Blog break

Mouse will be taking a short blog break due to the unexpectedly early arrival of Baby Mouse No. 2. He arrived safe and sound, but five weeks early on Saturday morning. As a result Mouse has drafted up this short list of priorities.

1. Mrs Mouse and the baby mice

2. Blogging and everything else

Mouse has a couple of things pre-written or guest posted to come, but otherwise it'll be radio silence for a little while.

Round up of Bishop's comments on #Synod

After Mouse's rather grumpy posting about the lack of commentary from the hierarchy of the good old CofE on the decisions taken at the latest session of General Synod, he finds that quite a few Bishops have commented.

1. Rt Rev'd John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford

2. Rt Rev'd Graham James, Bishop of Norwich

3. Rt Rev'd Richard Chartres, Bishop of London

4. Rt Rev'd Tim Ellis, Bishop of Grantham

5. Rt Rev'd Nick Baines, Bishop of Croydon

6. Rt Rev'd Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet (Flying Bishop)

7. Rt Rev'd John Broadhurst, Bishop of Fulham (Chairman, Forward in Faith)


H/T Thinking Anglicans for several of the links

Friday round up

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

1. Peter Ould with Sympathy for the Devil (and Raoul Moat), and Jubilee Centre blog and LankyAnglican pick up the theme

2. Riazat Butt on women bishops (in honour of her sterling work in York via Twitter)

3. Stephen Tomkins gets behind the GodBlock

4. Julian Kossoff wonders whether Reform Judaism is doomed

5. Gavin Drake has some sensible thoughts on the Vatican's new list of evils, which includes priestly child abuse and ordaining women

6. Ugley Vicar on Anglican Orthodoxy, with Clayboy and Sam Norton picking up the theme

7. Kelvin Holdsworth is grumpety on the CofE's border crossing

8. BRIN on attitudes to Muslims in Britain five years after 7/7

9. Eurobishop is one year old - well done!

10. Vic the Vicar has a friend who is "Out of office: Looking for God"

Public perceptions of women bishops

At the risk of this blog becoming a running commentary on the issue of women bishops, Mouse did find this rather interesting, so thought it worth passing on.  A YouGov survey has been conducted of the general public on their views on women bishops and gay bishops.  Mouse was a little surprised by the results.

Mouse expected that the vast majority would have been in favour of both women bishops and gay bishops.  In fact, the general public was pretty split on gay bishops, with only 39% responding that the Church of England should allow the appointments of bishops who are gay.  When it comes to women bishops there is much clearer support, but still Mouse was surprised that only 63% responded that the good old CofE should allow the appointment of women bishops.

As with any survey, there is plenty of room for interpretation, however, the headline number are surprising.

What is perhaps most surprising of all is that it looks like the opinions of the general public are actually probably pretty much aligned to the opinions within the church.  We have no way of gauging opinion within the church, of course, but Mouse's best guess is that it is probably more liberal than these numbers indicate for the public at large.

Can we say goodbye to those accusations that the church is 'out of touch'?  Doubt it.

Q. Do you think the Church of England should or should not allow the appointment of Bishops who are gay?

Should 39%
Should not 27%
Have no opinion either way 31%
Don't know 3%

Q. Do you think the Church of England should or should not allow the appointment of female bishops?

Should 63%
Should not 10%
Have no opinion either way 24%
Don't know 3%

h/t BRIN

Vatican loses money in 2009

The Vatican has made a financial loss for the third consecutive year, according to the Catholic News Service.

In 2009 the Vatican City State made a loss of over $9.8m.  The separate budget of the Holy See, finished 2009 with a deficit of more than $5m and all this, despite an increase in giving from churches worldwide.  The Vatican started publishing accounts in 1981, in part to challenge the image that the church was rich.  Whilst making a financial loss does sort of make that point, Mouse is not convinced.

The Holy See had income of almost $320m in 2009, and employs over 2,700 people.  This includes the Vatican Secretariat of State and its diplomats around the world.  On this scale of operation it really should be possible to get costs under control and break even.  Similarly the Vatican City State employs slightly under 2,000 people.

Whilst it seems that the Vatican has enough cash for this not to be an issue, it strikes Mouse as rather problematic for churches to preach about the problems of debt if they run deficits for years themselves.

What the papers don't say: Guest post from General Synod member Justin Brett

Synod member Justin Brett provides his reflections on the recent Synod session.


Justin is a Latin teacher and a Lay Member of General Synod for the Diocese of Oxford (although he now lives in Chichester). You can find more posts by him on the General Synod Blog and also on his own blog The Dodgy Liberal. The title of the latter might tell you something about his church-related views.

The views below are Justin's own views, and may not represent the views of the Mouse.
Justin writes:

What the papers don't say

My thanks, as ever, go to the Church Mouse for allowing me rambling space on his blog. It goes without saying that what follows is purely my own opinion, and therefore that all complaints, slanders and rotten eggs should be sent in my direction and not his...

Perhaps after five years at Synod I should no longer be surprised at the extent to which the media misreport what they see and hear. Some of it is simple ignorance, but some of it is also the desire to make headlines at any cost - be that accuracy or depth of reporting. Nevertheless, as you can guess, I am cross. Three generic headlines have annoyed me over the last few days. The first is the variation on "Church of England to appoint women bishops". Get it right, please. Yes, we are a step closer to that position, but we haven't got there yet. The legislation is about to go out to the dioceses for consultation. That process will take at least a year, and may result in some changes being made by the House of Bishops, following which it may have to go the rounds of the dioceses again. My best guess for when it comes back to Synod for final approval is February 2012, and presuming it secures the necessary majorities it then has to go to Parliament. Only at the stage of final approval will that first headline be true.

The second one is the variation on "Church of England to split over women bishops". I hate to upset the doom-mongerers, but despite their best efforts the coming split has not happened quite yet. There are a variety of reasons for this, but the most important one is that those opposed to the ordination of woment are still part of the Church of England because it is their home and they care deeply for it. That - somewhat ironically - is the reason why they are fighting so hard for what they regard as proper provision. Plenty of people have been feeling hurt and dismayed over the last few days - on both sides of the issue - but the exodus has not happened yet, nor is there any reason for it to happen at the moment. We have until the first woman is ordained bishop (if the legislation goes through) to come up with provision that will make those opposed feel secure while upholding the desire of the majority to see women ordained on equal terms. We may not have got it right yet, but there are still plenty on either side willing to try.

The final headline is the variation on the theme of 'Archbishop suffers defeat in Synod' or 'Archbishop's authority challenged'. The two Archbishops put forward an amendment to the Measure on Saturday which was defeated by the narrowest of margins. Both put their case during the debate, but neither made any attempt to pull rank. In fact they did quite the opposite - ++Rowan saying explicitly that this was not to be seen as a loyalty test. This was not a Prime Minister facing a backbench rebellion. At the very worst it was a Prime Minister seeing a free vote go contrary to the way he had voted himself. In fact, ++Rowan's authority remains strong When he addressed Synod before the debate on Monday he made two things quite clear. The first was that he wanted to see the legislation committed to the Dioceses with Clause 2 (which had caused the trouble on Saturday) intact. This duly happened - by a large majority. The second was that he did not expect to see attempts to delay the legislation through procedural motions. There was one such attempt at the end of the debate by the leader of the Catholic Group on Synod, but it resulted - ironically - an a strong endorsement of the legislation as it stood, with more than 3/4 of Synod voting not to delay it. This was not the action of a leader without authority, nor the reaction of a Synod without respect.

Of course, that's all the newspapers had time for, but there were some other things done at Synod that seem to have slipped below the media radar, and it is these that I hope, with Mouse's permission, to focus on in my next post.

British Humanist Association beat CofE to issue statement on women bishops

Here's an extract from the British Humanist Association's statement on the vote at Synod passing the legislation to allow women bishops.  Mouse thought it was in need of some commentary, and the good old CofE are yet to make any comment on the passing of legislation through Synod on women bishops:

"a Measure was passed that seeks to increase permitted discriminatory actions against women bishops and priests. [OK, we can't let that go.  Firstly there are currently no women bishops, so how can we increase discrimination against them.  Secondly it reduces the differences between male and female within the church, not just in allowing women bishops for the first time, so how on earth is that 'increasing' discrimination.  Thirdly, the measure had nothing to do with priests - women priests are not affected, unless they want to become bishops, of course.]  For example, the Measure, whilst not establishing a separate male-only class of bishop, would allow male bishops to refuse to ordain female priests [sort of - bishops can currently refuse to ordain women priests and but the Measure requires them to make alternative arrangements for ordaining women if they refuse to do it themselves], and allows parish councils [you mean PCCs - Parochial Church Councils.  Parish councils are an arm of local government and have nothing to do with the church] to restrict certain activities to male bishops [no it doesn't - it allows PCCs to ask for alternative oversight by a male bishop, but provides no statutory requirement for the diocesan bishop to provide it], such as episcopal ministry [Mouse can only assume that you have no idea what this term means and have copied and pasted it from the draft legislation - it means the ministry of a bishop, and you seem to have used the term quite out of context so that this sentence is now meaningless] and pastoral care."

Perhaps you can see that Mouse thinks the BHA is not terribly well informed on this one.

Jesus on Google Earth

The face of Jesus can be seen on Google Earth.

For those who thought that in these times the face of Christ only appears on burnt toast or on the lids of Marmite jars, you can rest assured that the Lord is making his presence known in the world through modern technology too.  This one was spotted on Google Earth.  Mouse thinks its rather good.

Congratulations to Zac Evans from Southampton who noticed this in a field in Hungary whilst looking for holiday destinations (is that how its done these days?).

Typealyzer on The Church Mouse blog

Mouse was intrigued when he saw this at eChurch Christian Blog.  Here's what the Typealyzer thinks about the Church Mouse:

The logical and analytical type. They are especially attuned to difficult creative and intellectual challenges and always look for something more complex to dig into. They are great at finding subtle connections between things and imagine far-reaching implications.

They enjoy working with complex things using a lot of concepts and imaginative models of reality. Since they are not very good at seeing and understanding the needs of other people, they might come across as arrogant, impatient and insensitive to people that need some time to understand what they are talking about.

Can the good old CofE influence the media agenda more?

The news reports over the past week covering first the Jeffrey John debacle then the General Synod have been almost universally dismal.  Yet we've heard virtually nothing from the good old CofE itself giving the other side of the story.  Could they have managed the media better?

Within hours of the defeat of the Archbishops' amendment on the legislation on women bishops at General Synod, we had statements from all sorts of interested organisations.  WATCH, Anglican Mainstream and  Forward in Faith all had something to say.  This was repeating the pattern of the previous week, when we saw a running commentary on the 'confidential' process of selecting the next Bishop of Southwark.

Similarly, Forward in Faith and WATCH had both put out a statement on the passing of the legislation for women bishops before some of the delegates had even left the synod chamber in York.

Meanwhile, hundreds of column inches of comment have been created, almost all of which which prominently feature the claims that the Archbishops had been humiliated after their amendment was defeated or that hundreds of traditionalist and conservative clergy are now on the brink of leaving the CofE as a result of this Synod vote.  Jonathan Wynne-Jones nails his colours to the mast with the headline "A divided church faces its darkest hour".

However, so far we've heard nothing official from the Church of England or the Archbishops on either topic.  The CofE news page has been dutifully reporting a 'summary of business done' at Synod without any comment, as if nothing could be more uninteresting.  Mouse's reckons they should be doing more to influence the media agenda.

After the Jeffrey John fiasco had run its course, and the second leak from the Crown Nominations Commission stated that he would not be nominated for the post, we started to hear some common sense from the Bishops.  Bishop Nick Baines and Bishop Pete Broadent (in the comments in this blog) pointed out a few important facts which had been misreported.  They set out the reality of the process, and made clear the damage that had been done by the leaker, who had breached their oath of confidentiality and dragged poor Jeffrey John to hell and back through a media storm.  There is no such thing as a 'favoured candidate', although the media had reported that John was just that.  Nor was he 'blocked' - he simply wasn't selected, along with a number of others in the short list who won't get the job.  The fightback came too late, however, to prevent the media frenzy.

Likewise, Mouse reckons the good old CofE should be doing more to shape the media agenda right now.  Let Mouse paint a picture to illustrate.

Imagine a divided House of Commons was arguing bitterly over a controversial piece of legislation, when the government tables an amendment to its own bill, with the prominent backing of the Prime Minister.  The defeat of that amendment would be a huge personal blow to the authority of the PM.

That analogy is what is in the minds of the media when they report the failure of the Archbishops' amendment in the Synodical process.

However, the analogy is flawed.  The Synodical process is not like the Parliamentary process.  The Archbishops' amendment was sponsored by them, but was not necessarily their own personal preference.  It was there to provide the Synod with another option to debate to give them every chance of finding a compromise.  Rowan made clear in the debate itself that he did not consider the amendment a 'test of loyalty', and asked them to debate it as they would all the others on the agenda.

So what would a government have done in the face of such a defeat?  They would have put up some compliant ministers and back benchers to deny that they had lost any respect for the PM, and to explain why the amendment was proposed and to give their take on why it failed.  And they would have done it straight away - within minutes, most likely.

What the good old CofE should have done is to put up some Bishops and clergy to explain why the Archbishops sponsored the amendment and to give their full backing to the Archbishops.  In fact, they would probably argue that the Archbishops authority had grown as they had shown the humble leadership that puts the good of the church before their own views, and still allows the Synod to form its views.

Now that the Synod has run its course, and the legislation has been passed, headlines of doom and gloom are also a long way off the mark.  Firstly because the legislation was passed by an overwhelming majority, and supporters of women bishops, who make up a clear majority of the church, are now pleased to see the process going forward.

However, there is still a long way to go in this process.  The legislation will be taken back to the dioceses for their approval, then will return to the General Synod for ratification.  Opponents have already made clear that they will continue to push for amendments to provide them with stronger 'protection', and will not rush into anything.  It is still very possible that amendments could be made by the Dioceses, or that the legislation could fail when it returns to Synod.

So predictions of a mass exodus as a result of this Synod vote are based on a flawed understanding of the process.

And yet, where are the voices of reason from the church setting out the facts and the boring realities?

You may ask why this is important.  Well just pop next door and invite your neighbour to your next outreach event and ask what they think of the church.  Perceptions matter.

Synod must now pass the legislation on women bishops

Mouse has been following the Church of England General Synod via Twitter - something which is incredibly easy now with a high number of tweeters in the chamber, including the prolific @riazatbutt and @ruthiegledhill.  Mouse can't get the audio feed working, so the first Synod thought is for the organisers to get this in a format which is rather more accessible next time.

Mouse doesn't need to tell anyone who has been even lightly following events what the big news is.  The amendment to the legislation on women bishops proposed by the two Archbishops has been defeated.  The intention of this amendment was to give a method of alternative oversight by a male bishop to those who do not accept women bishops.  Its defeat leaves three options for Synod when the main legislation is debated tomorrow, and it is to this that Mouse turns his attention.

Option 1 - legislation passes as proposed.  This will annoy the heck out of traditional Anglo-Catholics and conservative evangelicals.  The Anglo-Catholics have been waiting to see what happens here before deciding on whether to take up the Pope's offer of a new home, whilst the conservative evangelicals have been making threats about this for a while.  So the likely effect would be that we would see a few more defections to Rome, and a few more parishes withholding their parish shares.

Option 2 - legislation is defeated.  This would be a surprise, but is a possibility.  This would put the process in turmoil, as Synod has already decided to proceed with women bishops - the current debate is about how to do that, not whether to do it.  To reject the legislation entirely would therefore presumably put the process back to the next Synod for the Revision Committee to have another go.

Option 3 - opponents find some procedural method for introducing a delay.  Clearly options 2 and 3 are now the focus for opponents of women bishops.  Their hope will be to push things into the next Synod, then to attempt to get more of their numbers elected to Synod for the next session, as this is the last session of the five year Synod term.

Mouse thinks that options 2 and 3 would be bad.  The issue must now be resolved.  To have another six months or year or argument, threat and division just to go through all of this again does not benefit anyone.  Mouse cannot think of any development which could take place over the next year to change the current debate.  It has already been going on for decades.  The nettle must now be grasped, as painful as that is for pretty much everyone involved.

Mouse predicts that the numbers who would actually carry through their threats of defection and the like will be pretty low when theory turns to reality.  Ordinary members of the congregation virtually never see their bishop.  In the past ten years, Mouse can only remember his bishop visiting the church in two occasions, and one of them did not involve an appearance to the congregation at large.  It will be difficult to convince Anglo-Catholic parishes to give up their beautiful church building to join the Ordinariate, just because the bishop that they never see may one day be a woman.  They know this, which is why support for the Ordinariate has been virtually non-existent.

Evangelical parishes will be well aware that withholding their parish share does not hurt the Diocese or Archbishops, but parishes in poor areas within their Diocese who rely on subsidy, or even their own church plants, which are often initially subsidised until they become self-reliant.  They know that the Diocese pays their clergy wages, provide their clergy housing and pay their pension, so the most likely outcome is for them to pay a parish share that they think is a fair reflection of these costs and nothing more.

Mouse hopes and prays, of course, that none of this comes to pass.  He has been heartened by comments by those in the chamber about how gracious the debate was, and hopes that this does not change even though many are now very disappointed by the defeat of the Archbishops' amendment.

Sunday reflection

With kind permission from Devotions Chop Chop.


Mouth of a Fool
Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin. Proverbs 10:14

Even though I’m fairly soft spoken in large crowds, my mouth gets me into a lot of trouble, and if you’re normal, yours does too. Going back to yesterday’s devotional, if you are storing up wisdom and knowledge, you are less likely to say hurtful and, yes, stupid things…even if you’re trying to keep it real, as they say. Just because something is honest doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the appropriate thing to do. If a five year old brought home a water color painting, would you as a parent say, “what in the world is THAT, kid?” Then you crumble it up and toss it over your shoulder? It’s honest, isn’t it? Yes, but it certainly isn’t appropriate. Likewise, telling someone her dress is ugly or that he is fat (even though you may think it) is not appropriate and may be hurtful.

Today as you go about your business, consider the things you say to people and how you might come across. Ask someone you trust to tell you honestly how you are perceived by others. Then be willing to take steps to improve that approach.

Social media boot camp

This one was brought to Mouse's attention by Jonny Baker, but Mouse thought it was something worth mentioning as well.  It looks like a beginners course in social media, so well worth promoting within the church.

Date: Saturday 4th September 2010

Location: London Institute of Contemporary Christianity 

Timings: 9:30am - 3:30pm

Costs: £10 registration

Social Media has exploded into everyday life with people sharing a tidal wave of photos, videos, words and audio. It's no longer a question of whether to get involved in Social Media, but how to.

The Social Media boot camp on Saturday 4th September will explore, safely, personally and simply:

1. What is Social Media, why is it here and why is it important?
2. The main popular tools of Social Media including blogging, Facebook and Twitter
3. How you might better use Social Media for your own communication and life
4. How your organisations, church, and ministry might engage strategically and meaningfully with Social Media

We'll be led on the day by two Christians who are experts in Social Media, Dave Merwin of Pure Blue, and Lee Goodger of Edelman.  

The organisations partnering in this event (Evangelical Alliance UK, London Institute of Contemporary Christianity,London School of Theology and George Fox Seminary), are passionate about resourcing Christians and the local church, as they themselves learn to work with Social Media.

So for an orientation for you and your organisation around Social Media, make sure you book your place early.  

If you have any questions please email slipstream@eauk.org

Labour leadership contenders at the Christian Socialist Movement

Mouse has been struggling to get information on what was said by the Labour leadership contenders at the hustings held by the Christian Socialist Movement.  Whether you are a party supporter or not, the strength of the opposition party can have a significant impact on the actions of government, so it is of importance to everyone.

There is now a brief write up on the Evangelical Alliance website, and another on the Ekklesia website.

It sounds to Mouse like they all served up a large dollop of 'motherhood and apple pie' policy commitments that they thought would be of particular interest to Christians.  Andy Burnham is the only Christian out of the bunch, so Mouse hopes that afterwords he had a word with the Miliband brothers about these quotes.

“I'm not a religious person but actually I'm a person of faith. I have faith in people" D Milliband

"[I learnt] not a religious faith but a simple faith - if you saw an injustice then you had to do something about it" Ed Milliband

Oh dear.

Friday round up

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

1. Bishop Nick Baines with Media Literacy: Lesson 1

2. Eunice Atwood posts her first blog post as the new Vice-President of the Methodist Conference

3. Revd Lesley has ten reasons not to be married to a priest (then had another ten)

4. The Dodgy Liberal has a lesson concerning the debating of women bishops

5. Clayboy coins a skeptical maxim

6. Kelvin Holdsworth looks at the goings on south of the border

7. Lanky Anglican remembers 7/7

8. David Keen says farewell to his blog readers, and kicks the blogging habit

9. FaithWorld has some thoughts on the Papal visit to the UK

10.  BRIN on the postponement of reform of the Act of Settlement (hardly a surprise)

Print and weep Synodical Bingo

Tomorrow is the start of the July session of General Synod.  It is sure to be generating quite a few column inches of coverage.  Since most stories are pretty predictable, Mouse thought he would liven up your reading of the papers with a 'Print and Weep Synodical Bingo' game (click on the picture for a larger version).

Its pretty self explanatory - simply tick off the words as you read reports in the papers.  Let Mouse know if you get a line and you will win a £1 Luncheon Voucher.  A full house will double the prize all the way up to £2 in Luncheon Vouchers.

Good luck.

Breaking: Telegraph report that Jeffrey John rejected for Southwark job

What a roller-coaster.  Jonathan Wynne-Jones is now reporting that Canon Jeffrey John, the gay Dean of St. Albans, has been rejected by the Crown Nominations Commission for the role of Bishop of Southwark.

Quite where JW-J is getting his information from is a questions which may well be returned to by the CofE authorities, but that's hardly the most important issue here.

JW-J reckons this is bad news for everyone, but clearly some people will be delighted by this news.  It is rather typical of the good old CofE that this has reared its head just days before a marathon General Synod debate which could be the final stage in the approval of legislation to admit women bishops.  Classic media cock up.

July (=June) Wikio religious blog rankings

The latest Wikio blog rankings are up.  There's been a bit of a re-shuffle across the board.  Bishop Alan makes it back into the top 250 this month.  Clayboy is also up in the rankings, and Thinking Anglicans have been posting lots of interesting links lately, pushing them up the rankings.  However, this is another month where most religious blogs have fallen.  What Does The Prayer Really Say seems to have disappeared from Wikio, although the blog is alive and well.

Mouse expects the interest in General Synod and other issues will push up religious blogs next month.

Numbers in brackets show last month's rankings.

48. (46) Archbishop Cranmer (who seems to have stopped blogging)
89. (78) Heresy Corner
163. (168) Bartholomew's Notes on Religion
168. (196) Thinking Anglicans
171. (165) The Church Mouse blog
196. (220) Islam in Europe
198. (167) St. Aidan to Abbey Manor
217. (229) Clayboy
224. (214) John Smeaton, SPUC Director
228. (188) The Hermeneutic of Continuity
232. (222) Of course, I could be wrong...
236. (outside top 250) Bishop Alan's Blog
254. (236) An Exercise in the Fundamentals of Orthodoxy

GS Misc 961 - the high point of General Synod?

So is everyone excited about the big moment of the July session on the Church of England's General Synod?  Yes, Mouse is talking about the non-agenda item GS Misc 961.  Well, its not really an item, just a report to Synod which won't be debated or discussed at all.

What do you mean, "what is GS Misc 961"?  Its the update from the Joint Implementation Committee of the Anglican-Methodist Covenant, of course.  This is our chance to respond to the historic address from the President of the Methodist Conference at the last session of General Synod, in which he stated that the Methodist Church is prepared to cease to exist for the sake of mission.

And here it is in all its glory.  Mouse can't help feeling a little disappointed that this didn't make it onto the actual agenda.  But he does understand that there are other things to be discussed.  Mouse also cannot avoid feeling disappointed that in spite of the gesture from the Methodist Church, the JIC is still only meeting three times per year.

Still, its good to see that Synod will be discussing its relationship with the Church of Scotland, and how that can be taken forward.




THE COUNCIL FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY GS MISC 961

ANGLICAN-METHODIST COVENANT: JOINT IMPLEMENTATION COMMISSION UPDATE ON WORK IN PROGRESS, JUNE 2010

The Joint Implementation Commission was set up by the Methodist Conference and the General Synod when they approved the Covenant in July 2003. The remit of the JIC is to monitor and promote the implementation of the Covenant. The first phase of the JIC came to an end in July 2008, and a refreshed Commission was appointed with Professor Peter Howdle and the Right Revd Christopher Cocksworth, Bishop of Coventry, as co-chairs and the Revd Ken Howcroft and the Revd Canon Dr Paul Avis as co-conveners. The JIC meets three times a year.

The JIC is encouraging our two churches to work together as one in all the ways that are already possible, while it continues to address more long-term issues. The following areas will be included in the substantial interim report that the JIC intends to bring to Conference and Synod in 2011.

• The interchangeability of ordained ministries, and the role of the historic episcopate in this, continues to be a priority for the JIC. The JIC is being informed by the Faith and Order bodies of both Churches.
• The JIC is also doing innovative work on shared local unity in mission in order to maximise what is already possible under the rules of our churches.
• An important and constructive consultation on the ministry of deacons in our two churches was held at the Methodist Diaconal Order’s Centre in April 2010.
• The JIC has been collating responses from dioceses and from the Methodist Connexion on its 2008 report Embracing the Covenant. 
• Scottish and Welsh Methodism each have a voice on the current JIC, and the Church in Wales and the Scottish Episcopal Church are represented.
• Fresh Expressions remains a major joint initiative under the Covenant; the United Reformed Church has recently become a partner in the organisation.
• Under the Covenant, a joint working party is looking at the ecclesiological implications of emerging expressions of Church; this group has direct links with Fresh Expressions.
• The United Reformed Church has a representative on the JIC; both our churches are developing their relationship with the URC.
• Elizabeth Hall has been appointed as Safeguarding Officer for both churches, succeeding the Revd Pearl Luxon.
• The JIC is researching current joint training of Local Preachers and Readers in order to promote this further.

PAUL AVIS
General Secretary: The Council for Christian Unity
Co-Convener: Joint Implementation Commission
7 June 2010

Major losses to the religious blogging world

Mouse would like to pay his respects to those who have given great service to the religious blogging world, but who's posts we no longer receive into our RSS readers.

George Pitcher has left the Telegraph
The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley have packed up and moved on
Bess Twiston-Davies and Ruth Gledhill have been hidden behind the Times paywall
David Keen has prioritised real life, and given up the blog

To get Mouse through this difficult time, grieving the loss of these great blogs, he has been greatly comforted by Dave Walker, who has got into the habit of posting a cartoon every day.

Jeffrey John & Southwark - is Rowan breaching his own moratorium request?

Here's one thing Mouse has not yet had explained sufficiently.  In Rowan Williams' Pentecost Letter to the Anglican Communion he stated his intention to wrap The Episcopal Church of America over the knuckles for breaking the moratorium requested of it on the election of partnered homosexuals as bishops.  Given that he clearly takes seriously the request from the Primates to stop appointing partnered homosexuals as bishops, how can he then approve the nomination of Canon Dr Jeffrey John for Bishop of Southwark, as he is in a civil partnership?

Some have argued that this is a totally different situation because Canon John has stated that his relationship is celibate.  It is certainly true that you get into a logical minefield here, as strictly speaking the issue for conservatives is actually sex outside marriage, rather than homosexuality per se.  Therefore, in theory there should be no problem with someone who does not have sex with anyone.  We therefore hear the argument that the problem with Dr John is his teaching on homosexuality and a failure to repent of his past sexual sins (although how we know what he has and has not repented on is another issue).  But in the context of the moratorium request, this seems like a bit of a technicality.

So is Rowan seeking to establish a new precedent whereby partnered homosexuals are exempt from this moratorium provided they are celibate?

Doesn't make much sense to me.

Rumblings in Southwark over the appointment of the next Bishop

The Telegraph have set a few hares racing with their story today that Canon Jeffrey John has been shortlisted for the vacant position of Bishop of Southwark, to succeed Bishop Tom Butler.  For those who don't follow Anglican politics closely, the issue with this is that Jeffrey John is gay.

Mouse offers up a couple of thoughts.

1. We don't know whether this story is accurate or not.  It would be a highly surprising appointment for no other reason than that Southwark would normally be given to someone already acting as a Diocesan Bishop in a smaller Diocese.  Southwark is one of the largest and most diverse in the Province, consisting of half of London.  For the role to go to someone who is not acting as a Bishop at any level would be a big surprise.  Purely on this basis, Mouse is not yet convinced that the story is accurate.  It has already been suggested to Mouse that this leak is simply to soften up Reform types, so that they act with relief when someone else is appointed who is still on the liberal wing, but is not themselves openly gay.  Mouse would be surprised if the good old CofE could organise anything quite a sneaky as that, but it is telling that it has been suggested at all.

2. The immediate reaction has been fascinating.  Rev John Richardson has already blogged a very well thought out piece, pionting out that Jeffrey John's lifestyle is within the Church's official teaching and warns opponents to be careful what it is they are opposing.

...it would be difficult to condemn Dr John’s appointment on the grounds that he is in a relationship with someone of the same sex. The Church of England accepts the existence of civil partnered clergy, and although some (including myself) may think this is a mistake, the House of Bishops has made it clear that this acceptance is based on the provision of assurances that such relationships are sexually celibate. Moreover, Dr John has (as I recall) declared that this is the case for his own relationship.
There are therefore no current grounds within the Church of England’s teaching and practice regarding Dr John’s domestic arrangements for condemning his appointment as a bishop

In fact, the only grounds I can see for objecting to Dr John’s appointment in principle lies in his teaching about human sexuality.

3. Mouse once again points to the archaic way that Bishops are appointed, and suggests that this story demonstrates that there must be a better way.  The Telegraph claim that the shortlisting of Jeffrey John was approved at a "confidential meeting, chaired by Dr Rowan Williams".  If the story is accurate, then it clearly wasn't as confidential as some thought.  However, Mouse is unclear what part of the official process this type of meeting would play.  Perhaps it was something outside the formal process to ensure that the Archbishops would not publicly object to any of the candidates.  Or perhaps something else.  Whatever the answer, the current process for appointing Bishops is not fit for purpose in this day and age.

As for any further views, Mouse will simply wait to see what happens and pray for moderation and understanding on all sides of this debate.

Sunday reflection

With kind permission from Devotions Chop Chop.  And very best wishes to those folk in the US, celebrating Independence Day.

Dependence Day
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36

As you read this, many Americans will be celebrating their Independence from England 234 years ago. (No hard feelings, Brits, we still love ya!)

Within my reading audience are those of you who doubt the validity of the Word of God. You have scoffed at its teachings and laughed at its practitioners (us). But you still come back for more. So I have to ask why? Why bother? I’ll tell you why but you won’t like this answer: because you are looking for your own independence inside. You’ve done as others have done but you’re not satisfied; you’re empty.

This is your Day of Independence, and your Day of Dependence in one fell swoop. You can leave your life of sin today. You know you sin but you just can’t get rid of the guilt and shame. You may have even done horrible things. There is forgiveness. The Bible teaches that “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved.” Romans 10:9-10

So where does the Dependence come in? When you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart, you are no longer independent and cast away from God. You are dependent on God for your salvation.

That’s all there is to it. Period. Nothing to do except Believe.

Guest Post: Anna Drew on the Methodist Conference 2010

The annual gathering of Methodists has just taken place, and it has been a fascinating event.  It has hit the news for its decision to boycott Israeli goods and for Rowan Williams' address, which has received rave reviews.  In an exclusive guest post, the Methodist Church's media head, Anna Drew, sums up what went on.

Anna writes:

Running the media office for the British Methodist Church has its ups and downs, and one of the most exciting (and, very occasionally, stressful) points of the year is the annual Methodist Conference – the governing body of the Church. I’m writing this post on the train from Portsmouth to Waterloo (just passing through Eastleigh) after an encouraging, engaging, joyful and tiring ten days in Portsmouth.

So, here’s a quick lowdown on a couple of key items from this year’s Methodist Conference. The representative session of the Conference kicked off last Saturday with the inauguration of our new President (Revd Alison Tomlin) and Vice President (Deacon Eunice Attwood). It would usually be a joyful celebration, but was even more so as Conference celebrated the news that Methodists live an average of 7 years longer than the average Brit (special thanks to Mouse for a heads-up on that one!).

As a total theology geek, I was chuffed to bits that the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams would be visiting the Conference on Tuesday, shortly after we had celebrated 150 years of Methodist chaplaincy to the armed forces. This was the first time Dr Williams had addressed the Conference in 6 years, and representatives seemed to think that it was well worth the wait. Dr Williams spoke eloquently about the apostles Peter and Paul and what the contemporary church might learn from them. And in a further 40 minute session he answered questions from Conference representatives on topics ranging from the Anglican-Methodist Covenant to women bishops and the Trident nuclear weapons system. He was truly at his best when speaking from the heart, which (in my opinion) he did a great deal.

But by far the most controversial item on Conference’s agenda this year was a report entitled ‘Justice for Palestine and Israel’. Among the report’s 11 resolutions was one pledging to boycott goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Even before the debate we were hearing the concerns of some in the Jewish community about what the report might mean for Jewish-Methodist relationships, and we were honoured to be joined in the gallery during the debate by leaders from the Jewish community.

The debate came, a variety of voices were heard and the Conference passed all of the resolutions, including the boycott, but also decisions that urged Methodists to take part in well-informed prayer and inter faith dialogue, and to visit the region for themselves. A lovely chap who came to cover the story for the Jewish Chronicle remarked to me that he’d never been to a conference quite like this one – everyone had been rather polite and measured, whereas it seemed that he had expected a right royal bunfight (my words, not his).

Other discussions included ministers’ pensions, social media, youth participation, carbon reduction, the living wage and a comprehensive new hymn collection for the Methodist Church (to be published in 2011).

Overall, a productive, interesting and busy Conference. But my favourite moment? Sitting in the sunshine at Gun Wharf Quays, scoffing ice-cream and shooting the breeze with two wonderful colleagues on my one afternoon off – bliss!

Friday round up

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

1. Bishop Nick Baines on beards (deep stuff)

2. Phil Ritchie with a stunning piece on the gambling adverts during World Cup football games

3. A few views of new BBC sit-com Rev - Sam Norton, David Keen, Bishop David Chillingworth, Lanky Anglican, Orange blog, Paul Roberts, Kevin Scott, onetimothyfour, Rectory Musings, Tracing Rainbows, Thoroughly Good Blog

4. Bishop Alan Wilson on the Bible and culture

5. Jubilee Centre blog on religious discrimination in schools

6. onehandclapping on having fun in church

7. Tall Skinny Kiwi on a church where you can bring your dog and order a beer

8. Cristina Odone is praying for Christopher Hitchens following the news he has throat cancer

9. David Keen on the Best Instrumental Worship Album .... Ever!

10. Tikhtak on Tender's World Cup campaign

New proof of God's existence - Mayor bans council prayers, then his trousers fall down in public

Mouse commented on the National Secular Society's campaign to have council prayers declared illegal, removing the council's current right to choose for themselves how they conduct their business.  Mouse has been monitoring the situation since then, and noted that the BHA were delighted to see that Colin Hall, Lord Mayor of Leicester, stopped the practice, calling it "outdated, unnecessary and intrusive".

Clearly the Lord was not so impressed, as he has now humbled the mighty Mayor in possibly the most embarrassing incident Mouse has ever heard of for a public official.

The Lord Mayor of Leicester, was addressing a function for children from three local schools when his trousers fell down.  It sounds rather like a Carry On film scene, but Mouse has seen the mighty had of God at work in this.  Surely this is proof that God intervenes in the world.

The Mayor has since apologised for any distress caused.

The big question remains, however.  Does anyone have a photo of the incident?

Guest post: Dr Bex Lewis on #MediaLit

A few days ago Pete Phillips from CODEC guest blogged on the Church and Media Network Conference, and mentioned an upcoming course organised by CODEC and the Church and Media Network, called as MediaLit.  The course describes itself as "an opportunity for first class training and resources in media for ministry for those engaged in formal pre-ordination training, those already engaged in local or national ministry and anyone concerned to connect Christian faith with communication in a digital age. "

MediaLit has now taken place, and Mouse wanted to bring it to your attention.  Below is a guest post from Dr Bex Lewis on what it was all about.  Bex has a PhD in Second World War posters (http://ww2poster.co.uk), teaches History & Media Studies, whilst working on Blended Learning projects for the Universities of Winchester & Durham.

#MediaLit, 21^st-25^th June 2010,

“God is a communicating God… he’s not a silent God who has to be tempted into communicating with his people” is how MediaLit, a week-long course held at St John’s College, University of Durham, kicked off. The course, with origins in an event for ordinands from the College, was aimed at those ‘concerned to connect Christian faith with communication in a digital age’. As we listened to core tutors and visitors from a number of Christian organisations, we were to discover that “God is much bigger than our laptops”.

During the course it was emphasised just how central the media is to our modern day society – and we’re not just talking ‘new media’ here, important as that has become. Many stats were dragged out, but the bottom line is that we need to be where the people are – and most of them are engaged with the media every day – including TV, newspapers and online.  We saw many shocking representations of Christians on TV – not all of them fiction…  Delegates felt that we need to stop blaming the media (it’s not the Messiah OR the Devil), engage with what is there, and produce materials which we’d be proud to stand up for. Through practical sessions, including ‘finding news stories’, ‘being interviewed’, ‘creating a video’ and ‘building a blog’ felt that they had been given more confidence to engage and use appropriate technologies. 

New media in particular is strongly tied up with ‘collaborative’ working, and there was enthusiasm for ensuring that engaging with the media was not seen as “oh, the vicar does it”, but a gift that those in the congregation can use. A great variety of online resources were highlighted, and the notion of ‘accommodation theory’ ran throughout the week – accommodate to the world in which you live, know your audience, and speak in the same language.  Most Christians were engaging with the media world as non-Christians and for the same reasons (to understand the world, for recreation), but leaders were engaging less and complaining more – and it’s those people we need to train!

A clear message emerged during the week, that it is important to focus on the tools that we are using, and to recognise that the tools will keep changing, that what is appropriate for some will not be appropriate for others, and anything to be done should be done well (but that risks needed to be taken) – always bearing in mind the message. Big questions emerged with regards to ethics on TV, and, separately, whether there was a place for separate ‘Christian’ media, or whether this gives mainstream media an ‘out’ and encourages ‘bubblisation’. There’s so much creativity in the Christian community, so how do we release that, on a local and national level?

More detail can be found by reading Bex’s notes from MediaLit.

The event was organised by CODEC and the Church and Media Network.  The feedback from the course was so positive, that the next event is being planned. If you are interested in being put on the waiting list, please email: theresa.phillips@durham.ac.uk