The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE installed as Bishop of London

From London-

The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE has been installed as the 133^rd Bishop of London at St Paul’s Cathedral.  The service coincided with International Nurses Day, Florence Nightingale’s birthday, echoing Bishop Sarah’s own former career in the NHS as a nurse, including as Chief Nursing Officer, before her ordination.

Clergy, staff and friends, from across the Diocese of London, the wider capital, and the Church of England, came together as Bishop Sarah followed the tradition of knocking three times on the Cathedral’s Great West Door with her pastoral staff, marking the beginning of the installation. The full-service sheet can be accessed here.

Bishop Sarah’s sermon, on the theme of ‘being subversive for Christ’, remarked that 150 years ago this week, suffragettes placed a bomb under the same seat in which she had just been enthroned as the first woman to be Bishop of London. She also spoke of the need to challenge injustice and inequality, and of the pivotal role the Church has to play across London.

More here-

https://www.london.anglican.org/articles/rt-revd-rt-hon-dame-sarah-mullally-dbe-installed-bishop-london/

Message to the Diocese from Bishop Sarah – the next Bishop of London

From the Diocese of London-

May God the Son, come among us in power and reveal in our midst the promise of His glory. Amen

I have to admit that I am both delighted and slightly terrified at being nominated to the See of London. I have lived and worked for over 32 years in London (although I have to confess for some of that it was south of the river so I hope you will forgive me). So returning to London is for me returning home.

Having made a commitment to follow Jesus Christ as a teenager, in the words of the hymn by Horatio Bonnar, I have found in Jesus Christ my Star and Sun. Jesus Christ has been good news for me and I look forward to sharing that with others as I come to London.

More here-

https://www.london.anglican.org/articles/message-diocese-bishop-sarah-next-bishop-london/

and here-

https://livingchurch.org/2017/12/18/bishop-moves-to-london/

and here-

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/former-nurse-appointed-first-ever-female-bishop-of-london-a3721956.html

and here-

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-religion-churchofengland-bishop/church-of-england-appoints-first-female-bishop-of-london-idUKKBN1EC19D

London welcomes first purpose-built Anglican church in 40 years

From Premier-

The first new purpose-built Anglican church to open in London for 40 years has been unveiled during a ceremony attended by local residents and the Bishop of Edmonton.

The official launch of St Francis at the Engine Room on the new Hale Village housing development in Tottenham Hale was also attended by local MP David Lammy.

Priest Missioner at the church, Fr Andrew Williams said: "After four years working from our temporary space it is wonderful to move into our permanent home, a community centre and church from which to base our work in the wider community of Tottenham Hale."

The congregation, which has grown to 500 weekly attendees since the church was founded in 2013, had been meeting at the old Engine Room community centre in Hale Village.

More here-

https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/London-welcomes-first-purpose-built-Anglican-church-in-40-years

Bishop of London announces retirement in 2017

From London-

The Bishop has written to clergy and parishes across the Diocese of London to share the timetable for his retirement, with his last public engagement as Bishop of London being Candlemas at St Paul’s Cathedral on 2 February 2017. The Bishop, who has held the post for over twenty years, will continue his work and engagements as normal until Christmas and will continue to hold the post of Dean of HM Chapels Royal until the appointment of the 133rd Bishop of London.

It has been a privilege and a delight to serve in the Diocese of London as priest and bishop for well over thirty years. I have seen confidence return and church life revive. The recently circulated progress report on Capital Vision 2020 is an eloquent testimony to a renewed confidence in the gospel, more strenuous compassion and more extensive service of our neighbours in the most diverse city on earth, together with burgeoning creativity. At the same time the annual accounts reveal that we have ended the financial year in balance for the tenth year in succession.

More here-

http://www.london.anglican.org/articles/bishop-london-announces-retirement-2017/

PROMINENT LONDON CHURCH ‘ILLEGALLY’ HOSTS MUSLIM PRAYERS

From London-

Church traditionalists have reacted with shock to a full Islamic service being held in a major London church, with the Church of England vicar proclaiming his love for Allah.

Although many official mosques in the United Kingdom are hosted in de-consecrated, former churches abandoned as the nation’s resident Christian population recedes, this is thought to be the first time a full Muslim service has been held inside an active church in England.

The event, which was held to celebrate International Women’s day, was organised through the ‘Inclusive Mosque Initiative’, and has been criticised not only for breaking canon law but for insulting the struggle of persecuted Christians in the Muslim world. Proceedings were kicked off with the Islamic call to prayer, followed by talks and worships, with the ordinary church furniture cleared away to make space for prayer rugs.

More here-

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/03/13/watch-prominent-london-church-illegally-hosts-muslim-prayers/

also here-

http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/8137

Pentecostal churches thriving in London as traditional denominations decline

From The National Secular Society-

Since 2005, there has been a 50% increase in the numbers of people attending Pentecostal Churches in London — a phenomenon explained by a large influx of immigrants from Africa during that period.

In the same period, the number of Anglican church-goers has declined by 9%, while Catholic worshippers have risen by 1%, again mainly due to immigration from Eastern European and Latin countries.

The new study carried out for the evangelical group The London City Mission by the Brierley Consultancy showed that 230,000 people attended Pentecostal services last year compared to 198,300 at Catholic Masses.

According the Churches Census, which recorded congregation sizes on a Sunday in October 2012, Pentecostal churchgoers now make up 32% of Sunday worshippers in London, compared to 27% for Catholics and 12% attending Anglican churches.

In 1979, 333,700 Catholics went to church on Sunday. This represents a decline of 40%, the same percentage decline as for Anglican churches.

More here-

http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2013/07/pentecostal-churches-thriving-in-london-as-traditional-denominations-decline

Gritty Comfort TV

From The Living Church-

When screenwriter Heidi Thomas unveiled her TV series Call the Midwife, common wisdom at the BBC said no one would watch it. After all, an almost all-female cast of nurses and of nuns who pray for patients and sing the Daily Office seemed hardly the stuff of a TV blockbuster.

Call the Midwife proved the doubters wrong, attracting the biggest audience for a BBC series in more than a decade. Despite carping reviews claiming the series over-sentimentalises the tough lives of poor people in London’s East End, British audiences love it. So too audiences in the United States and Australia. The pain and deprivation in the immediate post-war years in London’s Docklands has gradually emerged. Few happy-ever-after plots here.

U.S. audiences will shortly be treated to the second season of Call the Midwife, which has become a surprising but deserving rival for the sumptuous but lame-brained storylines of Downton Abbey.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/gritty-comfort-tv

Christians were dragged from St Paul’s while they prayed

From London-

A group of Anglican clerics have called on St Paul's Cathedral to fully explain why praying Christians were dragged by police from the steps of the famous landmark during the eviction of the Occupy London Stock Exchange camp.

Five praying Christians were forcibly removed from the cathedral steps during the operation, despite the fact that an eviction order had only been granted for the land opposite St Paul’s which is owned by the City of London Corporation.

The group had gathered on the steps to pray for the evicted protestors in the mistaken belief that they would not be removed.

The five Christians that were forced off the steps have written an open letter to St Paul’s calling on them to explain whether the cathedral gave police permission to remove them.

The letter to Canon Pastor Michael Colclough, seen by The Independent, has been countersigned by twenty-one people including 11 Anglican clerics and six Baptist ministers.

More here-

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/christians-were-dragged-from-st-pauls-while-they-prayed-7547262.html

Court orders occupiers out of St. Paul’s Cathedral

From The Washington Post-

Britain’s High Court on Wednesday (Jan. 18) ordered anti-corporate protesters evicted from a camp they have occupied for three months outside London’s iconic St. Paul’s Cathedral.

The demonstrators, identifying themselves as the Occupy London Stock Exchange movement, set up their camp on Oct. 15 as part of a global “Occupy” campaign targeting corporate greed.

But after a lengthy legal battle, High Court Justice Keith Lindblom granted possession orders and injunctions against the protesters to the City of London Corporation, which owns the land, calling the action “entirely lawful and justified.”

When the encampment, which eventually included some 200 tents, was set up, it forced the closure of the 17th-century St. Paul’s for the first time since World War II.

At first, cathedral authorities told London police to stay back while allowing some protesters inside the premises. The protests triggered debate within the cathedral’s clergy, leading to the resignations of Dean Graeme Knowles and Canon Chancellor Fraser Giles when the corporation pushed initially to get the demonstrators moved.

More here-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/court-orders-occupiers-out-of-st-pauls-cathedral/2012/01/18/gIQAnDXw8P_story.html

The nativity gets updated for the modern age

From London-

There's a beautifully groomed Mary in a blue party dress, a fashionable Joseph gazing adoringly at the baby, and wise men carrying a Faberge egg, a crystal bottle of perfume and a decorated skull.

With only twelve days to go until Christmas, a church group unveiled a poster Thursday to remind people of the religious aspect of the holiday — while making a statement about modern-day extravagance.

The poster, deliberately designed to look like a fashion photograph, has the words: "However you dress it up, Christmas starts with Christ."

Francis Goodwin, chairman of multi-denominational religious group ChurchAds that organized the poster campaign, said the image is meant to remind people of the origins of Christmas.

"We are not killjoys, we do not object to giving presents and having a good time," he said. "This is just a reminder that the real reason for Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ."

Goodwin said he hoped the poster would also modernize the traditional Christmas image.

"We wanted to update the Christmas message, to put a new image out there," he said. "Most people outside the church think the nativity just means the traditional Victorian images we all recognize — it's not something that is relevant to many people."

More here-

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700207827/The-nativity-gets-updated-for-the-modern-age.html

London moves to evict protestors near cathedral on Occupy movement's 'action day'

From ENS-

Protestors around the world joined those in New York and other parts of the United States who marched and demonstrated on Nov. 17 in a Global Action Day marking the two-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Morning livestream video views of Wall Street marchers ran beside views of marchers in Greece. The OWS website listed plans for university student strikes in Spain, Belgium and Germany, and "spontaneous solidarity actions in Tokyo."

Begun Sept. 17 and inspired by the Arab Spring movement, OWS protests against greed and economic inequality have spread to more than 2,400 locations across the country and around the world. Recent days have seen police in many locations working to oust encampments of protesters, from New York to Portland, Oregon, to Halifax in Ontario, Canada.

In England, the City of London Corporation on Nov. 17 proceeded with eviction notices for protestors camped on the land it owns surrounding the precincts of St. Paul's Cathedral, giving them until 6 p.m. (1 p.m. EDT) to clear the "public highways" or face legal action. The protestors have said they have no intention of moving from the site.

Cathedral officials initially supported legal measures to clear protestors, but following widespread criticism – resulting in two senior clergy resigning – agreed to suspend such action.

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_130544_ENG_HTM.htm

News UK news Occupy London St Paul's brought to its knees by confusion and indecision

From London-

It is a national icon, rebuilt by Wren after the Great Fire of London, which became a symbol of British resolve during the Blitz, but the clergy of St Paul's Cathedral have through their bizarre and indecisive handling of the protest on their doorstep conspired to create a crisis unprecedented in the institution's history.

Two leading figures in the clergy have stepped down in less than a week along with a part-timer, another member of staff is off sick with stress and there is the possibility of a violent Dale Farm-style eviction from the steps of the cathedral.

Even if that can be avoided, as all parties say they want, the decision to start legal proceedings against the Occupy the London Stock Exchange movement will almost certainly lead to an expensive and lengthy court battle.

Paul Handley, editor of the Church Times since 1995, cannot remember a crisis to have engulfed an Anglican cathedral on such a scale or with such publicity. "It's not just about the Church, it's the Church and a political event. The Church is capable of shooting itself in the foot. All those rows about gay sex that occupy it, we're used to it. But when it's something that touches the life of the nation, it's on a different scale altogether. It's beyond their ken.

"St Paul's is a place where many different forces collide, it is a national icon, it is in the City of London. The dean has had the mayor of London, the home secretary and David Cameron all on his back. There's been a huge amount of pressure."

More here-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/31/st-pauls-knees-confusion-indecision?newsfeed=true

ENGLAND: St. Paul's Cathedral dean announces resignation

From ENS

The dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, has resigned saying his position "was becoming untenable" due to mounting criticism of the way the cathedral has responded to some 200 anti-capitalist protestors who've been camped outside since Oct. 16.

Dean Graeme Knowles, who made the announcement during an Oct. 31 press conference, said that the last two weeks have "been a testing time" for the chapter (senior cathedral clergy) "and for me personally." He said that he believes he is no longer the right person to lead the cathedral.

Knowles' resignation comes four days after the Rev. Giles Fraser left his post as canon chancellor because the cathedral had decided to support legal action to remove the protestors.

Fraser said he could not support what he said might be "a course of action that could mean there will be violence in the name of the church."

Since the arrival of the Occupy London protesters, Knowles said that the cathedral staff has "been put under a great deal of strain and ... faced what would appear to be some insurmountable issues. I hope and pray that under new leadership these issues might continue to be addressed and that there might be a swift and peaceful resolution."

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_130361_ENG_HTM.htm

Bishop silent on bid to 'cleanse' cathedral

From Lomdon-

London's Anglican Bishop Richard Charters ducked questions on the church's plans to smash the anti-poverty protest camp at the foot of St Paul's today.

Dr Chartres met face-to-face with members of Occupy London Stock Exchange for the first time yesterday morning - but his message was much the same.

The bishop has repeatedly called for the 300-odd protesters to abandon their camp, erected in St Paul's Square more than a fortnight ago after police barred them from a privately owned square directly outside the exchange.

But the cathedral's clerics sparked a public outcry on Friday when they said in a statement that they were prepared to take legal action to evict the protesters.

The move cracked open a rift within the church, pitting church leaders, who said the protest had made its point, against grass-roots groups who accused the cathedral of abandoning Christian principles - and the building's ancient tradition of sanctuary.

Others have alleged pressure from the City itself in light of the Cathedral's dependence on wealthy, well-connected trustees and FTSE-listed corporate donors.

More here-

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/111376

Anglican Archbishop of York speaks out on riots

From Independent Catholic News-

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu has issued the following statement on the recent riots in England:

"Like everyone else, I am shocked and appalled by the behaviour of individuals this week who simply have no care and respect for other people.

We need to send a message to those who rioted and looted, committed crimes of arson, burglary, theft and violent acts against people and property; that not only was their behaviour mindless and destructive, but has a massive human cost. These vile and evil acts can never be justified.

We cannot simply measure the damage in pounds and pence. It is not just about the rebuilding of shops and homes set on fire. It is not about the cost of repairing windows and walls. It is about the communities that have been torn apart by a selfish underclass that has little respect for hard work and decency. An underclass laid bare in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and the Damilola Taylor Murder Review reports.

To this end, I want to raise two areas of great importance.

First, the difficulties experienced by the police in controlling the riots:-

If the police cannot do it, vigilante groups will. Nature abhors a power-vacuum. For the sake of responsible civil order, the police must be equipped and enabled to keep the peace, which is the first responsibility of government - prior to anything else it may properly undertake. The broader question of the resourcing of the police should
not be too glibly tied up with current plans for cuts in public expenditure, but the public does need to be reassured that first things are coming first, and that police resources are not subject to some false principle of equal sharing of burdens among governmental
departments.

More here-

http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=18757

Top 10 religious themed musicals

From the London Times. I didn't even know there were ten religious themed musicals. (Not quite sure how Jerry Springer gets in the mix)

Nazis persecuting Jews in wartime Warsaw: a grim subject, you might think. Hardly suitable material for the cheery, sing-a-long format of the musical.

Yet last night Imagine This, a show set in the 1942 Warsaw ghetto opened in London. Already bookings have been taken until 2009, and as our reviewer reports, dark, tricky themes are handled sensitively. Religion and the musical might seem an odd match. In fact, as the list below suggests, a healthy appetite for the faith-themed musical exists on both the West End and Broadway.

Top of the list, without question, is....

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5190143.ece