Beware of dodgy history this Halloween

Mouse noted an excellent post from Catherine Beyer over at the About.com blog on alternative religions.  The post warns of the dangers of pseudo history at Halloween time.

She points to some of the "nonsense" often written about Halloween, such as the pseudo history related to Samhain, Celtic Lord of the Dead.  The issue with these "histories" is that they relate to dark periods in history where there are no contemporary records of what the people actually believed.

The problem is that many Christians often pick up on these histories as part of a wider view that Halloween is demonic and evil.  Here's just a warning to make sure any criticism is not based on mythical history.

Latest Church statistics - good news!

You might have to work your way past a few dodgy headlines to find it, but those who actually read the latest church statistics will have seen plenty of good news.

First up, parish giving statistics were published.  Against all expectations giving was up in 2008, shaking off the recession.  This is pretty remarkable in itself.  The fact that over half a million people now give by tax efficient planned giving is amazing.  Total giving by parishes was £925m in 2008, up from £898 the year before, of which £52m was then given away by parishes to other charities.  Fabulous stuff.

Next we hear that the bishops have managed to cut their costs by £400,000.  Bishop Nick Baines quite rightly unloads both barrels on one report which implied their costs had gone up.

After that we see further good news in the number of people put forward for ordination training.  A further 491 were put forward in 2009, making a total of 1338 in training. In total, 564 new clergy were ordained in 2009.  These numbers go up and down a little every year, but these are healthy numbers.

The next set of stats is on parishes which have voted for either Resolution A, Resolution B or have opted for oversight from a flying bishop.  Resolution A is the means by which parishes refuse to accept women to preside or celebrate communion and Resolution B is the means by which parishes refuse to accept a woman as incumbent.

Headlines latched on to the fact that the number of parishes which have requested oversight from a flying bishop has increased significantly over the past 10 years, and now stands at 363 (2.8% of all parishes), stating that the number of parishes opposed to women priests has increased.

This is not true, however, as the number of parishes who have opted out of women's ministry has reduced.

The story is a little more subtle to Mouse.  Firstly the increase of 22% since 2000 in parishes overseen by flying bishops is off a very small base, so percentages are a bit of a distortion.  Secondly the full picture shows that the number of parishes which have passed Resolution A and B has fallen reasonably significantly and now stand at 802 Resolution A parishes and 966 Resolution B parishes.  Mouse reckons that means that the total number of parishes who object to women priests is actually falling, whilst the remnant is hardening in a small number of parishes.

So we have plenty of ordinands, giving increasing despite the recession, bishops costs down and fewer people unhappy about women priests (OK, Mouse does actually think that's good news).

More mis-information from the BHA

OK, Mouse won't keep on like this, but something needs to be said.

The British Humanist Association carried a headline yesterday, "Church of England publishes figures showing sharp decline in attendance".  This is a reference to the release of further church statistics yesterday.  Except there are a couple of problems with the headline.

1. The attendance statistics were published in February.  Yesterdays' release was of other related stats.
2. The statistics do not show a decline

That is all Mouse has to say on the matter.

Friday round up

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

1. Revising Reform has an utterly fantastic take on Synod, Reform and all that

2. Peter Ould uncovers some poor electoral practices within the CofE

3. Jeremy Fletcher is not a fascist

4. Fr David Cloake has some words of advice for newbie bloggers

5. Vic the Vicar has a whole series on Christian brands - Mouse commends them all to you

6. Cranmer on the secularist census campaign

7. Heresy Corner has a guest post from Julian Mann (who didn't like me linking to his blog, due to my lack of enthusiastic support for Lambeth 1:10)

8. Clayboy on sex, blogs, Anglicans and oral love (it's not actually rude, it just sounds it)

9. Postmodern Bible has some excellent tips on connecting with people online and off

10. Phil Ritchie on The Big Silence

BHA's census campaign - that wouldn't be misleading at all would it?

The British Humanist Association yesterday launched a campaign to change the way you answer the 2011 census.  They want you to tick "No religion".  Well, actually they want you to answer the question accurately.  Which is presumably what everyone wants.  They claim that the misleading question being asked leads people to tick "Christian" because of a vague cultural affiliation, which results in a misleading result.

To some extent they are right in as much as other surveys which have asked other questions have received other results, and the census question is probably the broadest in terms of capturing those who affiliate with a religion, rather than those who might call themselves "members" of that religion.

So what, you may well ask.  And you would be quite right.

But the BHA don't stop there.  They realise that they have little chance of hitting their fundraising target of £12,000 for this campaign if it is solely about inflating numbers in a survey.  And this is where the story goes badly wrong.

The BHA go on to claim that the result of the 2001 census, the last census which was the first to include the religion question, resulted in real changes to government policy, which have "entrenched religious priviliged and increase discrimination on grounds of religion".

Mouse can hardly think of a more insulting message to policy makers than the BHA telling them that not only are they stupid enough not to be able to understand the result of a simple census question, but that they then go on to form policy on the back of it, without using any other sources of information to tell them about the religious make-up of Britain.

The BHA cite examples of policies which have been justified on the basis of this single question in the 2001 census:

• Increase in the number of faith schools
• The continuation of collective worship in schools
• The public funding and support of ‘interfaith’ and faith-based organisations above the support offered to secular organisations
• Suggestions of an increase in the role of faith in Britain under the coalition government
• The appointments of government advisors on faith
• Contracting out public services to religious organisations
• Keeping the 26 Bishops in the House of Lords as of right
• Continued high number of hours dedicated to religious broadcasting
• Specific consultation at government and local level with ‘faith communities’ over and above other groups within society
• Continued privileges for religious groups in equality law and other legislation

In fact, further claims are made elsewhere on the campaign website including the most curious claim of all, that the Police "assign resources" based on the result of this question in the census.  If this is an attempt to scare people into giving the answer they want, it is a pretty odd way of doing it.  I look forward to the response from the Police on this implication of institutionalised religious discrimination, based on a single question from a ten year old survey.

Now you have to read the wording of the claims very carefully to try to work out what they are claiming directly and what they are insinuating, inferring and implying.

The first direct claim is logical, albeit not backed up with evidence.  This is that the census is used by policy makers to inform their policies - which is probably true.  They state:

The Census gives the official figures about various aspects of the population. Data is used by government both locally and centrally as evidence to back up their policy decisions. If the number of people who appear to be religious is inflated, policies regarding service delivery, equality work and many other areas will be affected. 

and further:

Local authorities use census data when making decisions about resource allocation and the types of organisation which they want to deliver services.

The next claim is more opaque.  This is that this census question has been "used to justify" various policies.  This does not specify who has been using these statistics and backs off from the claim that this question specifically has influenced any decisions by policy makers.  It is a long way from saying "the government has used this statistic as the basis of their decision making" on the various policies stated.

And a good job too.  As it clearly is not.

Nevertheless, the logic of the argument is clear.  This statistic is misleading.  Government use census statistics.  This has been used to justify bishops in the Lords, faith school expansion etc.  So the reader is left with the impression that this statistic has been used in government decision making on these policies.

The claim of a direct link between the 2001 census, when the religion question was first asked, and the policies listed above simply cannot be supported. Let's just take a single example to illustrate the point.

Bishops have been in the House of Lords for centuries.  There was a debate about their role when the previous government abolished hereditary peers entitlement to sit in the Lords in 1999 (before the religious question was asked in the census).  Since then there has been a debate on Lords reform which has included the role of the Bishops.  They were not put there in 2001 after the last census.  Their role was supported in the 1999 reform before the census question.  Since 2001 Lords Reform has not been either progressed or stalled by religious issues in any way, but due to a lack of consensus on the make-up of the House and the manner in which Peers should be elected or appointed.

Perhaps the BHA would respond that they only claimed that the census result had been used to justify bishops in the Lords.  And no doubt someone at some point has used that statistic as part of their argument for bishops in the Lords.  But this is a long way from claiming that this argument has made a jot of difference to the world.  Which it has not.

To claim a link between the census and the presence of bishops in the Lords is utterly bogus.

It should come as no surprise, then, that this "campaign" has attached with it a fundraising campaign and a membership drive.

It is little known that the BHA is an organisation in a rather dire financial situation.  Their annual accounts show that they have been running significant deficits for some years, which ran at almost £145,000 for 2009 on total income of under £900,000.

Mouse speculates that the latest high profile campaign is really an attempt to turn around their financial situation by appealing to their hard-core supporters, rather than a serious attempt to advance the cause of humanism in Britain.  It certainly seems a pretty odd war to wage.

Mouse reckons that the nature of this campaign, using unsupportable claims about the census to secure donations and members, is pretty shoddy stuff.

New Twurch podcast

Over at the Twurch of England website, the latest of Peter Ould's interviews is up as a podcast.  This time Peter was talking to the Revd Pam Smith, the priest in charge of i-church in the Diocese of Oxford. We chatted about how i-church fits into the Church of England, issues of sacraments and what the next few years might have in store.

Mouse commends it to you as well worth a listen.

Guest blog post: Krish Kandiah with his reflections on Lausanne III

Last week one of the largest and most significant gatherings of evangelicals has been taking place. 4,000 evangelicals got together in Cape Town under the banner of the Lausanne Movement to talk about how they can deliver the gospel to the whole world.

Mouse asked Krish Kandiah for his views on the gathering now that he is back in the UK, and he kindly provided the words below, which he also posted on his own blog.

Krish is Executive Director: Churches in Mission and England Director for the UK Evangelical Alliance. He is also part of the theme development group for Spring Harvest, an external examiner for Oak Hill College and Associate Research Fellow at London School of Theology. Prior to this Dr Kandiah was the Director of the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics and also Tutor in Mission and Evangelism at Wycliffe Hall. He was also a member of the Oxford University Theology faculty.


Krish writes
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As I flew back to the UK from Cape Town this morning I was sat next to a complete stranger who had not been to the congress. She asked me what it had been about and what difference it would make. These are the two questions that we need to ask ourselves at the end of the third Lausanne Global Congress on World Evangelisation, and here is my attempt to begin to answer them.

I’d love to have eavesdropped on other people’s reflections as over 4000 similar conversations were probably taking place on planes, trains and automobiles as the exodus from the International Convention Centre began. I have no doubt that the majority of them were, like mine, brimming with encouragement that there is so much to thank God for in terms of the vibrancy of the church all around the world. I personally met believers from Sudan, Turkey and Hong Kong that gave me great reason to be excited from the way in which they demonstrated that “God is on the move.” The buzz of excited conversations during break times, the enthusiasm that delegates showed for discursive small group bible study at the congress itself as we met around tables, the exuberance of our communal worship as we all tried to dance like Africans or sing like Latin Americans – are all great encouragements that will stay with me for many years to come. And I enjoyed a number of very useful introductions that will be tremendously useful for partnerships in mission – from New Zealand to Sri Lanka to North America to Romania.

However, it is very difficult to quantify and assess whether the congress was worth its $16 million dollar budget and what must have been nearly 650 000 working hours of senior global leaders. (5000 delegates and staff x 10 days (+ travel time) working from 830am – 9.30pm each day). Yes it was encouraging, yes we heard some amazingly challenging testimony and some very encouraging reports, and yes we heard four plenary sessions that were I thought seminal to our moving forward as a church ( Antoine from Rwanda, Ziya Meyal from Turkey, Raymond Fung from Malaysia, and Chris Wright from England). All these challenged colonial pride, faith in pragmatism, the reductionist gospel and triumphalism of much of the western missionary movement and called us to deeper discipleship, a bigger gospel and authentic partnerships. But the real significance of this challenge will be in what happens next.

The first half of the Cape Town Commitments has been drafted. It is a weighty theological statement, but it is framed by love and relationality. Here is the structure of the document:

PART ONE
FOR THE LORD WE LOVE:
OUR COMMITMENT OF FAITH


1. We love because God first loved us
2. We love the living God
3. We love God the Father
4. We love God the Son
5. We love God the Holy Spirit
6. We love Godʼs word
7. We love Godʼs world
8. We love the gospel of God
9. We love the people of God
10. We love the mission of God


PART TWO
FOR THE WORLD WE SERVE: OUR COMMITMENT TO ACTION

Chris Wright has done a masterful job as chief architect / secretary of the group. Here are some stand out quotes I have digested so far:

We fall into syncretism, enticed by the idols of greed, power and success, serving mammon rather than God. We accept dominant political and economic ideologies without biblical critique.

Such love for all peoples demands that we reject the evils of racism and ethnocentrism, and treat every ethnic and cultural group with dignity and respect, on the grounds of their value to God in creation and redemption.

We love the transformation the gospel produces. The gospel is God’s life-transforming power at work in the world. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.  Faith alone is the means by which the blessings and assurance of the gospel are received. Saving faith however never remains alone, but necessarily shows itself in obedience. Christian obedience is  faith expressing itself through love.  We are not saved by good works, but having been saved by grace alone we are  created in Christ Jesus to do good works.

We confess that we have not always shown such loving solidarity with our persecuted sisters and brothers, being more concerned for our own safety.

We commit ourselves to the integral and dynamic exercise of all dimensions of mission to which God calls his church.God commands us to make known to all nations the truth of God’s revelation and the gospel of God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ, calling all people to repentance, faith, baptism and obedient discipleship.God commands us to reflect his own character though compassionate care for the needy, and to demonstrate the values and the power of the kingdom of God in striving for justice and peace and in caring for God’s creation.

This is all right and proper and helpful, but I wonder whether we picked too many topics to meaningfully engage with for one congress: truth, reconciliation, world religions, priorities and partnerships.

My favourite times of the congress happened in the non-programmed time, as there was incredible opportunity to make the most of the huge variety of people that gathered for the congress. Perhaps this is always true of conferences and congresses, but it makes me wonder if there’s another way to find these opportunities to relate. But as we try to find ways to bring “the whole gospel through the whole church to the whole world” these congresses are the closest thing we have to getting at least some of the right people in the same room. Political wrangling, power plays, polemics and posturing aside, and even without a clear mandate or a clear end product – this was a fantastic occasion.

My answer to the lady on South African Airways Flight 220: The global church is alive and kicking, God is on the move doing some extraordinary things around the world and we need to make sure we are following his lead.

Synodical arithmetic - is there really a blocking minority against women bishops?

Mouse noted with a raised eyebrow the joint pronouncement from the Catholic Group on Synod and Reform that they believe they have established a blocking minority on the legislation on women bishops through the latest Synod elections.

The joint statement claims that the two groups had swapped lists of candidates who were affiliated to the groups and that they believed that enough people on their lists would vote against the legislation to block it entirely.

Mouse may return to the subject later, and why blocking the legislation would be a catastrophe and put the Church into another decade or so of internal wrangling on this issue, but right now, lets look at the claim itself.

As is often the case with statistical issues, BRIN have taken a look at the numbers.

The first and most obvious point to make is that the outlook appears pretty uncertain how anyone would vote on the topic right now.  46% of Synod are new members, compared with the last quinquennium, so have no voting record to examine.  It seems far from obvious that members would vote down the legislation simply because they are affiliated with Reform or FiF.  It is also worth noting that the vote will not be held for another 12-18 months, so declaring victory now would appear rather premature.

The gender balance is also worth noting.  In the House of Laity men outnumber women with a mix of 54% - 46%, meaning women are significantly under-represented compared with the church membership, where women constitute 60-65% of the CofE.  In the House of Clergy, the new Synod is comprised of 71% men and 29% women, which is actually a higher proportion of women than are in full or part-time stipendiary ministry, although Mouse reckons there are far more women in non-stipendiary roles.

Mouse pauses on these numbers as it is often claim that the liberal trend in Synod has been caused by increasing numbers of women on Synod.  It is certainly not the case that that women are over-represented on Synod, however, and nothing should be assumed on voting intentions based purely on gender.

Mouse will leave it to others to attempt to gaze at the crystal ball and guess the voting intentions of those who have not yet begun their Synodical careers.  From where Mouse sits, it is far from clear that a blocking minority has been established, although it may be rather close.

Dead Sea Scrolls to go online

The Dead Sea Scrolls will be getting the full Google treatment.  Not only will they be going online, but they'll be enhanced and made available with translation.

It looks like a great collaboration which will achieve something for both parties.  The main aspect is one of preservation.  The scrolls will be preserved, since the images created will mean that they no longer need to be handled or otherwise tinkered with.  Google get themselves some pretty unique publicity and a stunning website, which Mouse is sure they will only allow the most tasteful and high quality advertising to adorn.

Either way, it's a win for anyone interested in the scrolls and the insight they bring.

Many thanks to Fr David Cloake for sending Mouse this lovely picture of the jar containing the scrolls from his recent visit.  Apparently it was the only photo he was allowed to take.

Take your Bible to work day

Well it's today, so if you're already at work and you're hearing this for the first time it may be too late.  But you may still be interested in the initiative.

The Bible Society have designated today Take Your Bible to Work Day, as a way for Christians to show that they are not ashamed.  The idea sits on the back of Bible Sunday, and is backed up by some interesting research.  It appears that some Christians would be wary of taking a Bible to work for fear of looking like a religious nutter.  However, that view is generally not shared by atheists, indicating that it may be misplaced fear.

An ICM poll has showed that 14% of workers would feel uncomfortable if a colleague started reading a Bible at work, and only 2% thought it might lead to a formal response from their employer.  However, 43% of Christians said they would feel uncomfortable reading the Bible at work.

Mouse can't find the full data either at the ICM site or Bible Society site, so can't do much digging into the numbers, but he reckons that 14% is actually not a tiny number.  It is also unlikely to be an evenly distributed 14% so some Christians may find work a more hostile environment for them to openly read the Bible than others.

In principle, however, Mouse thinks there is absolutely no reason on earth why a Christian, or anyone else for that matter, should not read the Bible at their workplace.  If we head down the road that says this should be discouraged we may find ourselves on a very slippery slope heading in the opposite direction from a liberal society.

Sunday reflection

With kind permission from Devotions ChopChop.

Diligent Hands

Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor. Proverbs 12:24

This is an interesting verse and is as applicable today as it ever was. Look at the overachievers or the shakers and movers in our society. They’re ruling us now. They were diligent, had concrete goals for obtaining power and an unstoppable drive to get there. This can be said about any legitimate form of government. The diligent and the ruthless rise to the top. The weak, timid, and passive become ruled, or as this verse states “ends in slave labor.”

But it can also be said about business. Those who hustle in the workplace and who do the things that others don’t want to do will never hurt for employment, all things being equal.

So how does all this relate to our walk with Christ and what He wants us to do? “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…” Ecclesiastes 9:10. It could be planting a garden or planting a church, the principle’s the same.

In a similar vein, be very careful about the time-wasters in your life. You know what they are; and you know how to deal with them.

Societies for every faction within the CofE is disastrous - please do not join one

Mouse has spent two days with his head in his hands.  He was unable to blog yesterday as he was full of despair.  Rowan tells us that the Anglican Communion is doing just fine.  Yet Mouse is somewhat concerned.

First up we have the Anglo-Catholics.  They seem to be splitting down the middle, with Chairman of Forward in Faith, Bishop John Broadhurst, stating that he is off to join the Ordinariate.  However, he has utterly confused everyone by stating that he intends to remain Chairman of FiF and that FiF is not a Church of England grouping.  This will be a surprise to the members of FiF, who are exclusively from the CofE.  It was also a surprise to the Catholic Group in General Synod who have "distanced themselves" from his position and are encouraging people to stay in the CofE and fight on against women bishops.

The "stick and fight" contingent then announced that they will be setting up the Society of St Wilfred and St Hilda.  To what end we do not know.  In fact the only thing we do know about this society is that this group is exclusively for Anglo-Catholics.  Perhaps FiF wasn't doing it for them any more, so they wanted to re-brand.

Next up we have the Conservative Evangelicals.  Not happy with existing groups such as Anglican Mainstream, Reform and the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans UK, they have voted to set up a society themselves.  Actually, it was just a majority of the 170 members who turned up to their annual conference who voted for this move.

Mouse is utterly bemused.  FCA UK was only set up last year, although a look at the "latest news" section on their website shows that it has done precisely nothing since it's high profile launch.  So times have moved on and we are to have yet another factional grouping to accommodate Reform's 1,700 members.  To what end, we do not know.  In fact the only thing we do know about this society is that this group is exclusively for Conservative Evangelicals.  Perhaps Reform and FCA aren't doing it for them any more, so they wanted to re-brand.

What a dreadful mess.  Factions within the church are not happy just being factions, they intend to build bigger walls around themselves so they are not contaminated by others from within their own church.  And they have the nerve to say this is being done in the interest of mission.  Please try explaining all this to someone of Generation Y for whom Christianity is "a distant cultural memory" and then tell me that these groupings help mission.

Mouse was planning on posting yesterday on how shocked he was that Rowan and the leadership of the Church of England had not said a word in response to all these developments when Rowan made a masterful announcement that he would like to establish a joint CofE / Catholic group to plan the transition for those who wish to leave the CofE and join the Catholic Church under the Ordinariate.

Brilliant.

To say no would make the Catholic Church look pretty churlish.  To adopt will bring the whole thing out in the open.  Genius.

Mouse has a word of advice to those looking to establish walls around their factions.  Stop.  Stop now.  Please.

There seems to be a view emerging that societies can be a model under which bishops can be appointed for factions so that the faction can segregate itself from other factions within the church which it doesn't like.

So Mouse can announce today that he is establishing the Society of St. Magnus for Orthordox Church Mice.  I demand a Mouse bishop to oversee my congregation (of one).  If you're not a Mouse, please don't talk to me any more.

Friday round up

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

1. Bishop Alan on social media and the church

2. Christianity Today explain what Lausanne Cape Town 2010 is

3. Postmodernbible on how oldsters beat twenty-somethings on social media

4. Charlie Peer on why we should reform the Synod system

5. Phil Ritchie on beer and bible

6. Maggi Dawn on the Christian New Media Awards she helped judge

7. eChurch Christian Blog on the digitized Dead Sea Scrolls

8. Cranmer on Trident and aid

9. A better hope on why secularism is a big mistake

10. The Church Sofa introduce a weekly round up - good idea chaps

Homer and Bart are true Catholics - Official Vatican Newspaper

And who are we to disagree?  The official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano has declared The Simpsons as "true Catholics".

The newspaper has praised the show for the way it authentically portrays issues of faith in an accessible way that people of all ages can engage with.

The Simpsons are among the few TV programmes for children in which Christian faith, religion, and questions about God are recurrent themes.

This is true, and Mouse is a fan.  In the show, Homer sleeps during the sermons and distrusts, and routinely humiliates, his evangelical neighbours, whilst the vicar constantly seeks to avoid working too hard for the Gospel.  Whilst clearly The Simpsons does not portray a wholly reverential, but it does make issues of belief and how we live out our faith real and accessible.  On occasions it also takes on the topic of inter-faith dialogue.

The newspaper comments on one particular episode where Bart is expelled from his school and is sent to a Catholic school, where the charismatic teacher, voiced by Liam Neeson, converts Bart and eventually Homer to Catholicism, much to Marge's dislike

Mouse is not so sure he would call The Simpsons true Catholics, but he certainly believes that their portrayal of Christianity brings it to life for many, including many young people.  In an age where many people simply have no connection with the church of with other Christians, this influence makes a big difference on the way christianity is perceived.  The writers of The Simpsons may not have intended it, but are certainly doing some good work for Jesus.

Guest Post: Maria Toth, host of the Christian New Media Awards 2010

Mouse was a finalist at this year's Christian New Media Awards, in the Best Christian Blog category, but didn't take home the gong.  He was beaten to it by the excellent Sophia Network blog (for the second time! Jenny Baker's blog beat Mouse in the Surefish.co.uk awards last year).

Mouse asked awards host Maria Toth from Premier for her reflections on the evening she not only hosts but also organises.  Mouse was unable to attend in person this year, but judging by the tweeting going on throughout the night, it sounded like a great evening.

Mouse has included a full list of winners, runners up and finalists at the bottom of the post.

-----------------------------------------------

On Friday evening 100 people from around the country gathered to meet face to face - rather than in cyberspace - for the Christian New Media Awards 2010 held at the Wren Church of St Stephen's, a prototype for St Paul's Cathedral . While most people were hanging around nervously in their tuxedos and dresses waiting to see if their website or blog would win an award, I was considering how long I would last in high heels! Co-hosting with Steve Chalke was great fun, especially when he told the media savvy crowd to turn off their mobile devices! The gasps from around the church made it seem as if he had asked them to turn off their oxygen supply rather than their phones. Many rebelled and some delightful tweeting activity took place throughout the evening as a result.

When the Bishop of London took to the podium he told us that he would take his "mitre off to the blogging community", if he was wearing it, as a sign of respect and admiration for all those using the world wide web to promote the Gospel message. The responsibility of deciding who won awards in each of the categories was this year left to three judges: the Bishop of Buckingham; Cambridge University Chaplain Maggi Dawn; and Pete Phillips of CODEC.

A group from Hope City Church who drove down from the north for the ceremony didn't make it home until 3.30am due to problems on the motorway! Hopefully they thought it was worth it because not only did they get a delicious 3-course meal, but they also scooped two awards: Dave Gilpin who pastors the church won Best Leadership Blog* and they also came out top for the Best Large Church website. Andrew Fergusson of the Christian Medical Fellowship provided some amusement when he announced that he didn't know what his prize of a 'Blu-ray player' actually did, but seemed pleased that he had won the Best Christian Organisation category all the same! We concluded the evening by watching Rend Collective's version of 'How Great is Our God' played on iPhone app instruments rather than real ones with many people singing along! Entries were of a really high standard this year. Roll on 2011.

*on his homepage you can find a sermon about how buying some Calvin Klein underwear links to God!

Best Christian Blog

Winner: Sophia Network Runner up: Jonny Baker & Cartoon Church (joint) Finalists: The Church Mouse, Epilogue TV

Most Inspiring Leadership Blog

Winner: Dave Gilpin Runner up: Richard Littledale Finalists: Father's House Trust, Dave Gilpin,Adrian Warnock, Dave Webster

Best Small Church Website

Winner: New Life Salford Runner up: Ribble Valley Church Finalists: Living It, Christ4U, Stibbard Methodists

Nest Newcomer Blog

Winner: Sunday Latte Lamentations Runner up: Transpositions Finalists: Science and Belief,Pretty Little Wilderness, Project Awaken, Lauraoli

Best Christian Blog for under 25's

Winner: Saved by Grace Runner up: Purposeful Purity Finalists: Hidden with Christ in God, That Theology Student

Best Large Church Website

Winner: Hope City Church Runner up: Jesus House Finalists: Reading Family Church, Making Jesus Famous, Christ Church London, Ebenezer Church, Walking With You,

Best Christian Organisation

Winner: Urban Saints and Christian Medical Fellowship (Joint) Runner up: Church Army Finalists:24/7 Prayer, Father's House Trust

Best Christian Music Site

Winner: Worship Central Runner up: Musicademy Finalists: Matt Redman, London Community Gospel Choir

People's Choice Award

Winner: The Papal Visit

Best use of New Media in a Christian Project

Winner: Story4all and Test of Faith (Joint) Runner up: North Bristol Noise Finalists: Methodist Church iPhone App, Easter Live

Best use of New Media in a Christian Campaign

Winner: Relive Resouces Runner up: Make Jesus Famous Finalists: Make the Cross Count, Raised with Christ

Best use of Rich Media for Christians

Winner: Kore Runner up: Lost in Wonder Finalists: Revelation TV, Friends & Heroes, James Chung

About the Twurch and other online Christian Communities

One of the many papers presented at the recent Christian New Media Conference was one by Rev'd Peter Ould on the subject of online Christian Communities.

Mouse had a particular interest in this, as Peter is the man behind the Twurch's incarnation as a stand-alone website, after Mouse constructed a crude hack on the side-bar of his blog.  You can find a link to the paper over on the Twurch blog.  Mouse was interviewed for the paper, amongst a number of others, and the interviews will also be made available on the blog.

The Cliff Christmas No.1 campaign

First we had the Rage Against The Machine campaign to prevent another X-Factor No.1.  Then we had the Christian campaign to get Delirious? to No.1 for Easter.  Now a campaign has begun to get Cliff Richard to top spot in the charts for Christmas.

This time, the campaign has been launched by top Christian blogger Archbishop Cranmer.

Mouse has rather mixed feelings about this, as he did the Easter campaign.  On the one hand it would be great to see a Christmas single which had some relation to the Christmas story.  His Grace has put the case for Cliff's "Little Town" to be top of the pops this year.  For those who don't know it, Little Town is in fact O Little Town of Bethlehem.  Nothing could be more appropriate.

However, on the other hand Mouse is not sure this would be a great advert for Christianity.

This has been done a number of times before, both successfully with Cliff's Millennium Prayer, and unsuccessfully - almost disastrously so with Heartbeat's Tears From Heaven in the 1980s.  A good discussion of these cases can be found on the Church Times blog following the Delirious? events last year.

The main question seems to be whether attempts to "manipulate" the charts (yes I know that's what the X-Factor is, but leaving that aside) put off more people than it attracts.  A lot depends on how the campaign is run, who runs it and what song is picked.

So, in this instance I guess you pay your money and take your choice.

Ordinariate will have at least one parish congregation in it

Thank goodness for that.  Bishop John Broadhurst won't be on his own in the ordinariate, assuming they let him in.  It has been making headlines on the BBC and elsewhere throughout the weekend that the Parochial Church Council of St. Peter's, Folkestone, have stated their intention to join the ordinariate.

A quick look at the church website leaves one with no illusions as to where their priorities lie.  The logo at the top of the homepage is not that of the Church of England, but that of Forward in Faith.  Before you find out that it is an Anglican Church, you discover that it is a Forward in Faith Parish under the pastoral care of the Bishop of Richborough, one of the two flying bishops.  In fact, a former flying bishop, the late Bishop Michael Houghton, was the vicar at St Peters in the 1990s.  The current vicar, Revd Stephen Bould, is a member of the Society of the Holy Cross, according to the Telegraph, which seeks to "further the Catholic faith" and has warmly welcomed the ordinariate, encouraging people to join it.  St. Peter's was always going to be one of the churches where those most likely to join the ordinariate current worship.

And Mouse says good luck to them.  Mouse hopes they flourish in their new home.

However, this really does not mean anything about the wider church.  There were always going to be a few congregations where a majority sought to leave in unison, and St Peter's was one of the most likely.

Jonathan Wynne-Jones reports that the congregation of St. Peter's averages 35-40 for the main Sunday mass, and that "most" of the congregation support the move.  So not all then.  Mouse was pretty shocked to read that the PCC of St. Peter's had not even consulted the congregation before issuing this statement.  Mouse imagines a few of the regulars spluttering out their cornflakes as they saw their church on BBC Breakfast over the weekend.  It sounds like we're talking about roughly 30 people here at the top end.  A pretty tiny number of people to be making headlines in this way.

It also takes us to the question which seems to be emerging of whether departing congregations should be able to "take their churches with them".  Mouse points out that churches do not belong to the congregation, so actually the question is whether a departing congregation should be given a farewell gift  of property which is potentially amounts to a multi-million pound golden goodbye.  You can guess that Mouse's view on this is that the answer should be an emphatic no, particularly so when we're talking about 30 odd people.  To Mouse's mind it is rather like a group resigning from their employer en masse and asking to take the office computers and photocopier with them, since they'd been using them for the past few years.

Let's hope the opportunity is taken to plant a new church in this soon to be vacant plot which is capable of growing.

Is Bishop John Broadhurst ineligible to join the ordinariate?

Bishop John Broadhurst, Bishop of Fulham, announced what had been widely expected this week when he said that he would be resigning as Bishop of Fulham and will be joining the ordinariate when it is up and running.  Mouse mentioned it on the day, but said it was so predictable there was nothing to add.  Mouse may have been wrong.

Mouse spotted a technicality which could be an embarrassing problem.

The terms of the ordinariate, as set out in the "Complimentary Norms" state:

Those baptized previously as Catholics outside the Ordinariate are not ordinarily eligible for membership, unless they are members of a family belonging to the Ordinariate.

This was no doubt written as a way of stopping Catholic congregations for seeking to take advantage of the terms of the ordinariate and leaving the mainstream Catholic church to join the scheme.  However, one potentially unforeseen eventuality may arise when someone is baptized as a Catholic, then leaves the Catholic Church and becomes and Anglican, then seeks to leave the CofE to join the ordinariate.

This is potentially an issue because it is well known that Bishop John Broadhurst was baptised as a catholic.

For what it's worth, Mouse's view of Bishop John Broadhurst's speech at the FiF annual gathering, in which he announced his intention to join the ordinariate, is that it is in breach of the Clergy Disciplines Measure.  Bishop John said, "I don't feel I have any choice but to leave the Church and take up the Pope's offer. The General Synod has become vindictive and vicious.  It has been fascist in its behaviour, marginalising those who have been opposed to women's ordination."

Does a bishop in the Church of England to describe the governing body of that church as viscious, vindictive and fascist qualify as "engaging in conduct that is unbecoming or inappropriate to the office and work of the clergy"?

Bishop of Fulham to join ordinariate

This was reported by the Catholic Herald yesterday, but you can listen to Bishop John Broadhurst yourself on the FiF website.

There are no surprises, so Mouse has very little to add.

Guest blog post: Water, by Superbadger

Hello everyone, Superbadger here, guest writing as part of Blog Action Day 2010 which this year focuses on water. Allow me to introduce myself, 3 years ago Tearfund asked me to help them with their campaigning and since then an army of Superbadgers has risen up from within the church, passionate about speaking up on behalf of poor people around the world using digital media, social networks and smart phones to get access to decision makers around the world. My friends we’ve used Facebook to badger Obama, Tweeted the UN Secretary General and multinational corporations and we even challenged David Cameron on his first day as Prime Minister to use his term of office to ensure that the promises within the Millennium Development Goals to halve extreme poverty by 2015 are achieved.

Today is Blog Action Day but it is also Global Handwashing Day…a celebration of a tiny act, so often overlooked, which has an immense impact.

Today more children will die due to diarrhoeal disease caused by dirty water and poor sanitation than AIDS, measles and malaria combined. This is an issue forgotten by those in power but the Church can be the voice of so many, calling out for justice, calling out for access to clean, safe drinking water and decent sanitation for all.

The picture above is 13 year old Stidia, she lives in a village in Uganda called Kigazi. In Kigazi the women do the lion share of the work, water collection or growing crops are not part of a man’s role, and twice a day Stidia goes down a steep mountain to collect water and travel back up. Sometimes it takes up to 2 hours meaning she misses vital school classes.

However working with Tearfund’s church partners these women are trained in construction and plumbing and are now able to build rainwater tanks, pit latrines and promote the benefits of good hygiene.

In the village church Pastor Jackson is also building people’s self-esteem and confidence. He speaks out publicly and preaches against attacks which happen at the spring against girls of Stidia’s age. And, he reports that the church has doubled in size since Tearfund’s partner enabled the installation of water tanks. He is keenly aware that for girls like Stidia they need both material change and spiritual transformation – they need Jesus. And through his church, both are happening.

‘People want to give thanks’, says Pastor Jackson. And the clean water has reduced the number of funerals he holds. ‘Before the intervention of the project there were so many people dying as compared to the present. Some deaths were caused by sanitation related diseases, some caused by drinking dirty water. There is a tremendous improvement.’

So today as part of the global church will you use your voice and help us to mark Global Handwashing Day by putting your hands up for water, sanitation and hygiene. Help us build a huge creative petition to pass onto Andrew Mitchell MP, Secretary of State for International Development calling on him not to overlook this vital issue over the coming months. Click here to learn more.

Superbadger blogs at http://besuperbadger.wordpress.com/ and is on Twitter @Superbadger

Friday round up

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

1. Bishop Alan on two roads to remembrance

2. Jubilee Centre blog on the keys to happiness

3. Catherine Meyer puts us on alert for Halloween pseudo-history

4. The Ugley Vicar asks why Reform has failed

5. Archbishop Cranmer launches a campaign to make Cliff Christmas No.1, whilst the New Humanist search for alternative suggestions

6. FaithWorld on Arab Christians

7. Lesley Fellows on blogophobia

8. The Urban Pastor on how to ruin your small group

9. The Church Sofa on the Natwivity

10. Quaerentia wants to help in a tragic situation - why not join him

Philip Green and the Church of England

Sir Philip Green's report on efficiency in government procurement makes interesting reading.  The high street mogul points to massive savings that could be made in central government by centralising contracts to make better use of the government's bulk buying power.

Sir Philip quotes examples where multiple government departments are buying the same products and services at widely varying prices, and the savings notch up to big numbers if you assume that these could all be bought at the best price.

Everything from utilities to IT to travel, office supplies

So the question for Mouse is what Sir Philip would say if he did this review at the Church of England.

There aren't many things which are centralised at the moment.  There are 16,000 CofE church buildings, give or take, so Mouse wonders how many contracts there are across the CofE for electricity, water, gas, insurance, IT and numerous other things.  You can bet that many are doing their best to get the lowest rates they can, but simply don't have any purchasing power to negotiate with providers, so have to take list price.

The problem tends to be that the task of moving to a centralised model requires investment at the centre before savings can be made elsewhere.  In other words, if a diocese was to try to centralise procurement of utilities, for example, it would need to invest in that procurement capability and move churches onto that model before churches would start to see savings from reduced rates.

Stewart Cutler took a look at Sir Philip's report and puts it in the context of a stewardship issue.  Good point.  What kind of savings are to be had from this type of approach?  Who knows, but Mouse's instinct is that there must be real cash savings to be made, and since every penny saved on utilities is a penny which could go into mission surely it is something which should be explored.

With thanks to Simon Robinson to pointing Mouse to Stewart's post.

Tony Blair and Christopher Hitchens to debate religion

This really does look rather interesting.

Tony Blair and Christopher Hitchens are to square up in the sixth semi-annual Munks Debates next month.  The motion being debated is, "Be it resolved, religion is a force of good for the world", which lines up pretty nicely with the world views of both men, albeit in opposite directions.

What's really interesting with this debate is that both men admire and respect each other.  That gives us the prospect of a much more grown up debate than we often see on this subject.  Hitch commented, "It’s not like I’m going to be arguing with [U.S. televangelist] Pat Robertson. Mr. Blair’s a much more complex person than that."  Quite.

Unfortunately the debate will be in Toronto, so not much chance of Mouse popping along to watch.  For those who happen to be in Toronto, tickets will go on sale tomorrow.

Attacking the BBC's policy on religion is nonsense

Every now and then the National Secular Society do something that is frankly quite staggering.  Mouse commented before when they argued that Religious Education should be banned from schools, as an example of the muddled thinking that comes from an instinctive hatred of faith.  This time the NSS have reacted to new editorial guidelines from the BBC.

Now lets just start from the point that the BBC is not the place for loonies of all variants to exercise their rights to free speech.  It is a public interest broadcaster, paid for by a compulsory license fee, and has a duty to impartiality and not to be offensive to those who have no choice but to fund the organisation.

Still, the Headline from the NSS is certainly stark: "BBC’s new guidelines on religion place a dangerous restriction on free speech".  Gosh that does sound terrible.  Read on.

The ever reasonable and wholly rational Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, explains the impact of the new guidelines, "Almost anything that isn’t wholly reverential towards religious beliefs can be perceived as offensive by some believers. The idea that any comment that could be offensive to a religious person must be editorially approved shows that the BBC has become ridiculously timid and fearful of religious controversy."

That's ridiculous.  Mouse is ready to draft a letter of complaint to the BBC.  Have they really mandated that anything which could be perceived as offensive by any religious believers must go for special editorial approval?

Actually, before Mouse goes a bit Points of View, lets just check what the new editorial guidelines actually say.

The introduction explains that the objectives of the guidelines on religion are to comply with the OFCOM Code, which requires "The religious views and beliefs of those belonging to a particular religion or religious denomination must not be subject to abusive treatment" and "must not seek to promote religious views or beliefs by stealth", nor "improperly exploit any susceptibilities of the audience".

So far so reasonable.  Don't abuse religious believers, and don't promote their views by stealth.  Fair enough.

The Principles behind the new guidelines are set out as:

12.2.1 The beliefs and practices of religions and denominations must be described with due accuracy.

12.2.2 The religious views and beliefs of an individual, a religion or denomination must not be misrepresented or abused, as judged against generally accepted standards.

12.2.3 We must be aware of the religious sensitivity of references to, or uses of, names, images, deities, rituals, scriptures and language at the heart of the different faiths and ensure that any uses of, or verbal or visual references to, them are editorially justified within generally accepted standards. Examples include the Crucifixion, Holy Communion, the Qur'an, the Jewish Sabbath and similar.

12.2.4 We must consider the religious sensitivity surrounding the observance of holy days and the principal festivals of the great world faiths to avoid unnecessary offence from material that might be more acceptable at other times.

OK, so religion has to be portrayed accurately and without being abused, must use holy terms and visual representations when they are within generally accepted standards and must avoid "unnecessary offence".  Well that's reasonable too.

Ah, here's the bit that Mr Sanderson doesn't like - mandatory referrals.

12.3.1  Any content dealing with matters of religion and likely to cause offence to those with religious views and beliefs must be editorially justified as judged against generally accepted standards and must be referred to a senior editorial figure or, for independents, to the commissioning editor.

So actually, what needs to be referred are instances where matters are likely to cause offence when "judged against generally accepted standards".

So nothing about approval being needed to broadcast any criticism of religion, or anything which might be considered offensive to any believers.  Just material which would be generally accepted as offensive, in order to comply with OFCOM requirements.  Do we have any examples which would previously have been permitted, but which now would need referral?  No.

Mouse's conclusion is that either Mr Sanderson didn't bother to read the guidelines before he unloaded both barrels about it, or he is deliberately misrepresenting it.

The British Humanist Association also attack the guidelines, but to their credit they seem to have actually read them before they launched their assault.

BHA Campaigns Officer Pepper Harow commented, ‘It is a shame that the BBC has given in to pressure from religious groups to introduce additional restrictions on the criticism of religion. Obviously it would be wrong to allow incitement to violence or to purposely try to offend people because of their sincerely held beliefs but these guidelines go further than this; they protect religion from any unchallenged criticism and require senior approval for any content that religious people may consider offensive. As any discussion on the sensitive issue of beliefs has the potential to offend someone, the new guidelines represent a serious curtailment of free speech.’

The BHA quote the offending section as stating "Religion and religious views may be criticised but we should ensure there is appropriate context and critical views are open to challenge".  They interpret the guidance as stating that any criticism of religion must be challenged.  Which it plainly doesn't.

What neither the BHA nor the NSS point out is that the principles here are also applied to virtually every other group in society by the BBC.  Viewpoints, lifestyles and belief systems should be represented authentically and accurately, and when offense is likely to be caused to anyone it should be editorially justified and cleared before going ahead.  This is contained in the section on 'contentious views', which include all manner of issues.

Mouse has commented before that attacking the BBC seems to be a hobby for the more vocal elements of the secularist groups and some religious groups.  Yet these new editorial guidelines only add a very small amount to the old guidelines, and give no sensible grounds for attack.

Blog action day 2010 - water

Just a short parish notice to let everyone know that Mouse will be taking part in Blog Action Day this year.  The video explains, but essentially it is an initiative to raise awareness of a particular issue by getting bloggers to post on the same subject on the same day.  This year the topic really is vital - water.  Mouse couldn't resist.  In fact, he will have a very special guest posting for him on the topic.

Blog Action Day is on Friday, so get your thinking caps on if you're a blogger and want to take part.  You can register on the website to track the impact.  So far they reckon blogs with readerships of over 25m people have signed up (presume there is massive double counting though).  Still, not bad, eh.



Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

The blessed cat of Birmingham Oratory

Mouse found this little footnote on the Papal visit rather amusing.

It is known that Pope Benedict XVI is a cat lover, and a story has emerged about an incident during his visit when he stopped to bless Pushkin, resident cat in the Birmingham Oratory.

Apparently Pushkin is a ten year old half persian, and caught the Holy Father's eye as he was visiting Britain.  Father Anton Guziel relates the tale:

As soon as the Pope arrived the most terrible howling could be heard. There was an awesome presence there and Pushkin wanted to acquaint himself with it.

Once the Pope had prayed, he saw the cat and smiled delightedly and came over and he started to talk to him. He said, 'aren’t you pretty, aren’t you pretty? What’s his name? How old is he?’ Then he stroked him, tickled him under the ears and shook Pushkin’s paw. At that point the cardinals all rushed in and started taking photographs.

However, this is not the most amusing part of the encounter.  According to the Telegraph, Pushkin has now been receiving "a stream of fan mail" since his Papal blessing.  I suppose it is true that Britain is a nation of cat lovers.

Bishop Burnham - I won't be setting up an Ordinariate whilst on study leave

The Church Times mentioned almost in passing last week that both flying bishops are now on three months study leave.  As of today both Keith Newton, Bishop of Richborough, and Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet, will not be providing episcopal oversight to traditionalist parishes, but will be ... errr ... studying.

Lesley Fellows spotted this, and asked why both flying bishops felt the urgent need to study at the same time, with one commenter describing it as a diary clash of biblical proportions.  It certainly cannot be a coincidence.

Last week both bishops denied that they have decided to leave the Church of England to join the ordinariate with a pretty open ended denial.  Bishop Burnham said "If there is to be an announcement, it will be early in the new year", whilst Bishop Newton said "There's nothing definite yet."

The news that they are both to be off work for the next three months will no doubt leave many with the impression that they are both now busying themselves organising their departure.

Mouse therefore can clarify a few additional details.  Firstly, Mouse has checked with the CofE and it seems that the leave is a period of paid leave.  More importantly, he also asked the bishops what they will be doing.

Keith Newton was giving little away, simply stating "I hope to be doing some serious reading and making a retreat."   Bishop Burnham, however, denied that he will be involved in setting up an Ordinariate, stating:

Study leave for me is the normal sabbatical break enjoyed by C of E clergy. My one previous opportunity for a sabbatical (Hilary Term 2001) was lost because of my appointment as bishop. Between 9th October and 31st December I shall be neither running the Ebbsfleet project nor involved in setting up an Ordinariate.

This final statement is perhaps the most significant aspect of all of this, as Bishop Burnham had been seen as possibly the most prominent pro-Ordinariate of the bishops.  The Catholic Herald had reported that an Ordinariate could be up and running in the new year quoting Bishop Burnham and Bishop Newton as the two leading lights who would formally take up the special canonical structure.  Of course, this does not mean that he will not be going.

Sunday reflection

With kind permission from Devotions ChopChop.

What’s On Your Lips?

From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him. Proverbs 12:14

What’s on your lips these days? Are you complaining, whining, telling your sad story for those willing to listen?

Or are you beaming with joy and encouraging someone at every opportunity? Chances are good that we’re someone in the middle between the two, some days closer to the Encourager, many days nearer the Whiner.

One of the secrets to being effective in our witness and day to day ministry opportunities is to be faithful.

When I first became a Believer in Alaska, a wise old gentleman summed up the Christian life like this: “We live; we sin; we repent; we get back up and do it all over again.” We certainly don’t wallow in the mire of our bad actions and words, nor do we pretend sin (including our wayward tongue) doesn’t exist. We live somewhere in the middle, acknowledging that we do sin, but not letting the sin weigh us down(Hebrews 12:1).