Bishop's Comment Topical Comment News Courses Events Vacancies

Bishop's Comment

Christmas is for the kids – we are all God’s children and Christmas is for all of us.

Christmas is for the kids we often tell one another and we like to believe that on Christmas morning, children around the world and in our communities are waking up to a sackful of toys, surrounded by loving families in homes where they can reach their full potential as healthy and well-rounded human beings.

However we are only too aware that for many children this scene is as fantastic as stories of flying reindeers, industrious elves and the man with a beard who has the capacity to visit every home in the world in the space of a few hours.

For some, family members are a threat – and we need well-resourced social services departments to ensure vulnerable children from Haringey to Handsworth can be protected from harm and given safe places to grow and develop.

For others a bag of toys would be the equivalent to the lottery rollover jackpot. The Democratic Republic of Congo is a country I know well and there mothers have to choose between staying in the relative safety of their shelter, where there is nothing to eat, or venturing out and facing violence in order to bring home food for their families. Most take the latter option. www.dec.org.uk/congo

Many children caught up in conflict become refugees or asylum seekers – some in this city. I have been pleased that this year we have been able to work with the Children’s Society to channel funds to destitute asylum seeker children who are homeless in this region. We hope this new area of work will mean fewer children waking up in hostels, fewer families going without adequate food and fewer women being unable to access healthcare when they are pregnant. http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/resources/documents/Research/Living_on_the_edge_of_despair_destitution_amongst_asylum_seeking_and_refugee_children_6115.html

The child we remember at Christmas was not one who would feature in a TV commercial. In fact he probably wouldn’t make it into many soaps. He was born in a stable, he was laid in a feeding trough and he became a refugee. He was at risk of disease, he was vulnerable but he revealed to all people the human face of God.

Like the women in the DR Congo – God took a risk on behalf of his children.

As many of you know, Jesus was well-cared for by his earthly parents. He learnt a trade, carpentry and his parents made sure he was nurtured spiritually. One of the earliest snapshots of Jesus’ life in the Gospel of Luke is when we hear that Mary and Joseph had taken their 12-year-old son to the temple – he was so engrossed they left without him and Mary worries that he has gone missing.

In the same way I am pleased that in this city of faiths children’s spiritual development is taken seriously. We have an excellent RE syllabus that helps children understand dispositions, or ways of being that will help them reach their potential in the 21st century. http://www.birmingham-asc.org.uk/index.php

Next year, 2009, is the International Year of the Child - a timely reminder for us of the importance of children in the lives of our country, our city, our churches and our homes. www.yearofthechild2009.co.uk

Many of our churches are discovering that children have much to teach us: they invigorate our worship, they often ask the best questions – and give the best answers – they pray with ease and they are great at welcoming newcomers. They are not the church of tomorrow but the church of today.

Jesus said that we need to be like children to really understand God properly (Mark 10:14). We need to trust others, we need to believe we have potential and room for development, we need to be able to change, accept new people and new ideas and we need to recognise our vulnerability and inter-dependence.

So Christmas is for the kids – we are all God’s children and Christmas is for all of us. It is our time to welcome again the child Jesus, born in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago, who continues to reveal the face of God, the Saviour of the world, who urges us to live trusting lives, open to each other and to the one who loves us even more than those mothers in the Congo love their child.

May you receive God’s gift of love this Christmas. www.rejesus.co.uk

+David

Top

Topical Comment

Archbishop Rowan Williams' address to the Faith Leaders' Group
When you come to Birmingham, as when you come to many of the great cities of England, and indeed Wales, I think you’re often conscious of a nineteenth and early-twentieth century heritage of civic feeling and civic pride. That’s hugely important in giving a feel, a profile, a look to the city. The building in which we’re meeting is of course a very good example. And that civic identity, I think, meant the provision of public space for music and art and sport and learning. The libraries, the galleries, the concert halls—whether you’re in Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham, Cardiff—are part of the background. And what seems to me really important about that, is that people who thought about cities in those terms, were thinking about citizens in what I’ll call a three-dimensional way. And basic to what I want to say is what I’ll call ‘three dimensional citizenship’. In other words they were looking at citizens not as voters or interest groups, they were looking at citizens as people who needed for their life in the community all sorts of spaces that weren’t just functional or problem-solving, but spoke to something deep and something more than just political, in the narrow sense.

Now, I think in the late twentieth century, we rather lost the plot about three-dimensional citizenship. Many of the great civic centres of England were re-developed in insensitive and frankly barbaric ways. The whole notion of investing in public space that had dignity and excitement about it, took a bit of a dip in the last quarter of the twentieth century, and it’s taken some time to ‘push it back in’ again. And I say all that because I think that in understanding the role of faith in the city, that’s where we ought to start. Faith is crucial to the notion of three-dimensional citizenship. It’s saying that people who live in a city are people you may expect to have relationships and commitments that have to do with religious conviction: they are not just about being voters or consumers (or whatever else they may be) but are all of a piece therefore, with that sense of civic excitement and civic pride. And that of course is where we have to say that it’s not only in the demise of the public libraries and so forth, that we see a bit of a dip in the late twentieth century.

We’re all aware of the way in which national government and sometimes – with respect – local government (doubtless not here) but in some places, has that rather functional and rather limited view of what citizens ought to be or what citizens are. And the model that people sometimes work with, is what I occasionally call the ‘leave your hat at the door’ model: ‘You’re a person of faith? Alright, we will allow you to join in the discussion of what matters in society, nationally or locally, if you leave your distinctive clothes at the door. Don’t bring in your convictions! Don’t bring in the deepest springs of your moral imagination! Leave that outside because it’ll only complicate things and you’ll start quarrelling if you bring all that inside.’

Well, apart from the fact that people quarrel anyway, never mind about religious convictions, this seems to me to balance with a two-dimensional view of the people whose destinies we’re trying to understand, in community. It fails to understand that someone’s religious faith is not a hobby or leisure activity, but something formative of their vision of what human beings are like. And it’s no good saying that you’re faithfully Asian – that’s as irrelevant as, say, your membership of the golf club.

Faith is not something you can leave at the door. So a good civic life (I’m thinking of cities particularly but it goes for national life too) is one where people are encouraged not to be ashamed of three-dimensionality. Now, that doesn’t mean that the common life of the country or the city allows itself to be dominated by any one group or any one confessional or religious community. But it does mean that you’re thinking about what’s good for everyone. The good that religious people look for, needs to be taken on board, not as a matter of private preference or eccentric minority taste, but as something deeply formative. And that‘s where the model that’s sometimes marketed of a multicultural or pluralist society can be so confusing. Those words are used in ways that are very often deeply unhelpful and I speak as someone who recognizes fully and gratefully the reality that those words describe, and yet the words are thrown around in thoroughly unhelpful ways.

For some people, living in a pluralist or multiculturalist society is simply living in a context where you recognize that a lot of people have peculiar private habits, including religion. And that’s fine. Let them do what they want: you want to go to a mosque, you want to go to a golf club, no problem, we’ll let that happen. But what that doesn’t allow for, is not only the level of deep motivation I referred to, but the proper exchange and challenge between religious communities. It’s important that we ask one another quite tough questions; important to be prepared to give an account of who we are and why; important that that vigorous dialogue – what I once called ‘argumentative democracy’ - should be encouraged in our common life as part of the three-dimensional.

Now from among many things that have encouraged me in visiting Birmingham this weekend, I’ll just mention a couple. First, the work being done on the educational syllabus: there is an approach to religious education which buys into the very emptiest and most boring kind of multiculturalism. ‘Let me tell you’ says the teacher ‘about the funny things lots of strange people do’: religion being just an assortment of eccentric behaviours. Many years ago when my wife was working for a publishing firm, she brought home a manuscript of a new religious education textbook, and we turned over the pages together (with eyebrows rising further and further!) waiting for something that suggested that this was about conviction, or challenge, as opposed just to eccentric things people do. (The section on Buddhism, for example showed prayer flags. I wouldn’t start there to explain what mattered to Buddhists! Start with the four known truths and move on, then prayer flags might make sense! Start from the inside out.) All of this remains part of an educational philosophy which is external, superficial, and assumes it’s not about these deepest places. So, to hear about an approach to religious education, in which you as a group are participating mentally and creatively, in order to challenge some of that ‘outside in’ superficiality, is very encouraging.

The second thing of course is the experience yesterday morning at the Springfield Centre, which I’ll take back with enormous gratitude and delight. I think that what was going on there was a very good example of all sorts of things. It was a good example first, of a community that seemed very much at home with itself: that wasn’t nervous or jumpy about its welcoming policy: that was sufficiently at home with itself, to help to make a home for other people too, of all backgrounds. And that’s crucial. To engage in this way is not a sign of weakness or fuzzy edges, it’s a sign of strength and rootedness. That’s important in itself, but also important, if I may say so, is the courageous way in which the city council has been supportive, and has understood that when you see something ‘home-grown’ that appears to be working, you don’t try and replace it with something structured in an office and imposed from the top down. You ‘work with the grain’, you look at what’s happening, what’s working and you support it. And as I said at the centre yesterday ‘National government, are you listening?’ because so often the policies that come from the centre don’t seem to be interested in ‘working with the grain’ as I put it, finding out what’s happening and affirming that. There’s always an assumption, I find, in office after office in Whitehall that first, there’s not very much happening and therefore they have to bring the faith communities together: second, because religious communities left to their own devices will kill each other, so government has to step in and ‘broker’ the relationship. And third, government has to think of things to do that will stop religious people killing each other and ‘roll them out’!

Now, at every level there are such major levels of misunderstandings there, it’s hard to know where to begin. That’s why it is such an encouragement to see that ‘working with the grain’, that recognition that first, there is something going on, and second, religious people, left to themselves, actually don’t kill each other. They get on rather well. And third: the way to do this constructively is sensitively, with an awareness of context, respectful of local initiative, and building out of that. And from that come partnerships like the excellent work that’s done in Springfield, so I think that that is very good news, and it’s part of the way of presenting to society some vision of what this three-dimensionality might look like. Here it seems, is a city that’s willing to allow three-dimensional to flourish without too much anxiety and willing to ‘work with the grain’. I hope that’s true and goes on being even more true. But most of all, I hope that the message is shared.

If you’re up against a government philosophy that is in some of these ways rather ‘clunking’, occasionally, you need some good stories, you need a good civic story to tell, and it looks as if this is one. And in sharing that local story, you are pushing back at that ‘hat at the door’ philosophy in the most effective way, and doing your bit for what I call this ‘argumentative democracy’: democracy in which it’s not embarrassing or impossible to bring into the public sphere arguments that are related to your religious conviction.

Now, in some of the big public controversies over ethical issues that we’ve had in the last few years there’s been this rather odd thing: ‘You’re only saying that because you’re religious’. So if you’re opposed to the Assisted Dying Bill, this is a plot by religious people to force their views on everybody else. Well, yes, of course I oppose this Bill because of my religious convictions! That’s why I oppose the Bill. I do not want to see a society go down that route. I may or may not persuade you of that during the public debate, but don’t tell me to shut up before we even start the argument! That seems to me a way of undermining the three-dimensional quality that I’ve been trying to get at: as if, left to themselves without religious interference, everybody would have the same reasonable view of assisted dying or abortion or whatever! None of us lives in a vacuum and nobody is ‘left to themselves’, none of us comes without community forming our vision and our morality. And we need to push back a little on that assumption that everybody is naturally a reasonable secularist, and it’s only religious people who ‘mess it up’ by introducing all sorts of unnecessarily complicated beliefs and talk about them. So I don’t think I’ll say very much more, but that’s just an outline of where I come from when I try to engage in this discussion about religion in the public sphere. And it’s not just to do with the pragmatic point, that people get terribly frustrated if they can’t bring their deepest convictions into public discussion: it’s also something of a theological point which is attempting to say ‘Politics is too important to be left to politicians’. Politics always needs framing within a three-dimensional picture of what human beings are like. When that is lost sight of, then civic, national and international life dry up. They don’t become rational, safe and orderly, they become either dull or rather menacing. So, there is, I think, a proper theological vision that—as I as a Christian would see it—says, ‘wherever you’re dealing with human beings – social or individual – you’re dealing with them whole: you’re not able to amputate just the bits you can manage and isolate them from the other bits. Because we are all of us shaped by far more relationships, affiliations, loyalties and visions than can be contained just in a functional, political or economic programme.

So in claiming the freedom to engage this way in the public sphere, we are finally saying something hugely important about the human self - or what we mean by humanity - at a time when there’s plenty that’s shrinking and trivializing things. So, good luck to Birmingham! And congratulations to them for what’s been done so far, and let’s see and hear more about it! Thank you.

Address by Archbishop Rowan Williams

Top

News

Surface and highways water drainage: Changes in charging
05 January 2009

PCCs in many dioceses in the Northern Province are now suffering charging regimes which could become adopted throughout the country. The Archbishops' Council advises keeping up local pressure, through lobbying MPs (to ensure they are aware of likely impact on Church and community life) and signing the No 10 website [http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ChurchWaterBills/, now at 38,000 names and deadline for which extended to 6-Apr-09].

This remains a serious situation and both on behalf of the Church of England, and as part of a wider faith, charitable and voluntary sector, so Church of England officers will maintain dialogue with Ministers and officials.
Representations have also been made by non-Church charities such as the Scout Association, ACRE (Village Halls) and sporting charities individually or through Community Matters (the National Federation for Community Organisations, representing over 1,100 member organisations) of which the Churches' legislative Advisory Service is a part. CLAS is also linked with the Charity Tax Reform Group which we understand is considering making wider representations on behalf of the charitable and voluntary bodies to the Office of the Third Sector and Defra. Defra officials confirm these issues are well understood within Whitehall, and that Ministers are considering how to respond.

You'll be pleased to hear that the Private Member's motion, tabled at the York General Synod 2008, received 149 signatures during the sessions (second in the lists), and will therefore be debated at the Feb-09 Sessions. Thirldy, the Labour MP for Chorley, tabled an EDM in Jul-08, which attracted 46 signatures [http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=36468&SESSION=891]: “That this House expresses concern at the decision by United Utilities to introduce a new method of calculating surface water charges and highways drainage services, known as Site Area Charging; recognises the negative impact this will have on churches and places of worship which, in some cases, will now face increases in their charges in excess of £1,000 per year as they are being treated in the same way as all other non-household customers; and calls on United Utilities to review the decision to impose Site Area Charging on churches and places of worship which cannot afford such huge increases in their water bills.”

Date Posted : 01/01/1900

Year of the Child 2009
22 December 2008

Over the last 2 years we’ve been visiting every deanery to celebrate children’s and youth work. Along the way we’ve collected lots of stories of good practice, new beginnings and exciting events.

This event is an opportunity for you to discover what’s happening in children’s and youth ministry across the Diocese - stories from parishes, highlighting good practice and an opportunity to talk to the children’s and youth leaders involved to find out how they got started and what energises them to keep going.

During the morning, leaders will be given a copy of our booklet ‘Transforming Church for Children & Young People’ and each parish will receive a copy of the DVD ‘Will You Make a Difference?’ produced especially for Year of the Child.

Click here to see the photo consent form, and here to see the publicity booklet for parishes.

Please contact Jelena Cammack, tel: 0121 426 0435;
email: jelena@birmingham.anglican.org to book

Date Posted : 01/01/1900

Bishop of Birmingham visits Christmas campaign poster at local bus stop
18 December 2008

The Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Revd David Urquhart gave his blessing to a national Christmas poster campaign at a bus stop on Colmore Row as more than 100 nativity paintings appear across Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull.

The poster, which will be seen by millions at bus stops across the UK, is a 4ft by 6ft reproduction of an oil painting by Royal Academy Gold medal winner, Andrew Gadd. The poster shows Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus, with halos, in an urban bus shelter. The shepherds and wise men are replaced with fellow passengers waiting for a bus. Some are watching the nativity intently; others appear oblivious and are checking the bus timetable and flagging down a bus.

It is expected that the setting of this Nativity and the haunting faces of those depicted will move the millions who will see the image this Christmas, turning real bus shelters into shrines by making them places where people can reflect on how we respond to the real meaning of Christmas in a busy world.

A national effort to explain Christmas

The Bus Stop Nativity campaign is part of an attempt by the Churches Advertising Network to promote awareness of the Nativity story at Christmas. The campaign, which challenges people to Be Part of the Action at Church this Christmas, also includes radio ads, that are currently being broadcast nationally, and an online competition to produce a Christmas ad which was won by Frankie Hipwell-Larkin, from Portsmouth.

The campaign comes as the research shows just 1 in 8 of Britons have a detailed knowledge of the Nativity dropping to 7% of under 18-24 year olds (ComRes Poll of 1000 people December 2007 1015 telephone polled).

The Bishop of Birmingham, said: "It is important that we use all possible means to tell the Christmas story: that Jesus, the Son of God, was born, he knew what it meant to be without wealth, he knew what it meant to grow up disadvantaged, he knew what it meant to turn to God in prayer, faith and hope. I hope this image of the Holy Family, in a contemporary setting, moves those who see it to stop, pray and reflect on what the birth of Jesus means to them in their daily lives."

The painting is by acclaimed artist, Andrew Gadd, who exhibits regularly at Agnew's Gallery, has had work in the National Portrait gallery and currently in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Andrew said: 'It's great to see the posters in place. This has been a very exciting project to work on. I wanted to create an image that does not explain, but demonstrate the values that I think the church wants to communicate. The bus stop when simplified is like a stable. It is after all a shelter; a place people go to but never want to be. So where better to stage a Nativity?"

The Churches Advertising Network (CAN) is an ecumenical group that includes representatives from most of the mainstream churches. Chair of CAN, Francis Goodwin, said: 'We want to challenge people to make them reassess what the birth of Jesus means to them. By using a powerful and contemporary piece of art, from a world renowned painter, we can create an enduring image for our own times. It is important for the churches to re-establish in this generation the wonderful story of the Nativity.'

It is estimated that, nationally, there will be over 100,000 Christmas Church events this year, with millions expected to attend them during December. Some cathedrals are finding their carols services are over subscribed already . Events in Birmingham include living stables, using real people to stage nativity scenes, candlelit carols services and a life-size nativity scene in Bournville Over 1 million children will attend church Christingle services (family Christmas services which benefit the Children's Society).

Date Posted : 01/01/1900

Update from the Church of England
18 December 2008

Seasonal update from CofE

Christingles shine out as special service celebrates the big 40
An estimated 1.1 million people will take part in Christingle services at Church of England churches, cathedrals and schools this Christmas – following a rise of 50 per cent in the last three years. Forty years since The Children’s society introduced the special service to the Church of England, the two organisations are expecting that anniversary services will draw in more people than ever. The number of children and adults attending Christingle celebrations has risen by half since 2004, when three quarters of a million people took part in the services. Read the full story here
More wait less want
Putting the waiting back into wanting has proved an Advent hit for the CofE this year with more than 21,000 visits to the dedicated site by the middle of the month. www.WhyWeAreWaiting.com includes an introductory film featuring the Archbishop of Canterbury and an Advent Calendar with a difference made up of reflections, podcasts, and waiting tips. Read the full story here. The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, also added his voice to calls for people to rediscover waiting, recommending a Spiritual MOT in his podcast on the web-based Advent calendar, WhyWeAreWaiting.com. Details here
Christmas message The Archbishop of Canterbury has sent a Christmas message to churches across the Anglican Communion. “Human beings, left to themselves, have imagined God in all sorts of shapes; but - although there were one or two instances, in Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt, of gods being pictured as boys - it took Christianity to introduce the world to the idea of God in the form of a baby: in the form of complete dependence and fragility, without power or control.” Read the full text here

‘Dare To …’ young people draw own mission message
Young people from dioceses all over England showcased the ambitious new ways they are doing mission at the ‘Dare To…’ event in December at Church House in Westminster - whilst an artist captured the spirit of the day in a new piece of graffiti-style art. The young project leaders welcomed an invited audience of 80 young people from various dioceses - including some of the 10 dioceses that will qualify for pump-priming grants of up to £3,000 from the Church of England’s Youth Evangelism Fund (YEF) in 2009 for the creation of more exciting new projects in their areas. Full details here

Archbishop of Canterbury – call for greener economy
In advance of the EU summit this month, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of the Church of Sweden and the Presiding Bishop of EKD wrote to the President of the Council of the European Union, HE Nicolas Sarkozy, urging him to ensure that "that climate considerations are not marginalised in the search to find short and medium term solutions to immediate economic pressures. Read the full text here

Archbishop of York calls for Mugabe regime to be toppled.
Dr John Sentamu has called for the international community to bring an end to the "charade of power sharing" and to remove the administration of Robert Mugabe from power in Zimbabwe. Writing in The Observer Newspaper, Dr. John Sentamu compared the situation in Zimbabwe to that he faced as a dissident in Uganda under Idi Amin. Read the full story here

‘Don’t leave it all to the BBC’, churches argue
Leaving the BBC as the sole provider of public service media could lower media standards and provide less meaningful news, information and other content, the Church of England and the Catholic Conference of Bishops in England and Wales warned today in their joint response to Ofcom’s Second Consultation on Public Service Broadcasting. Speaking about their submission, The Rt Revd Nicholas Baines, the Anglican Bishop of Croydon and the Rt Revd John Arnold, the Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, are quick to point out that they are not attacking the BBC, but simply supporting an increasingly well understood factor of broadcasting in Britain today. Full story here

Sign up for support
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Andy Burnham, has announced today that English Heritage, the Government's lead adviser on the historic environment, is making available £1.5 million to part-fund 30 Support Officers to help congregations of all faiths manage and maintain their historic places of worship. It is up to each diocese or group to draw up its own job description, depending on the particular needs of their historic buildings. No two Support Officer jobs will be exactly the same. Some will focus on essential repairs, others on opening churches for tourism, community projects and cultural events. Full details here

Lambeth Palace Library opens virtual doors
A new-look website has been launched this month to help Lambeth Palace Library share even more of its 1,000 years of history. The outstanding collections of Lambeth Palace Library, the historic library and record office of the Archbishops of Canterbury and the principal repository of the history of the Church of England, are now more accessible with the launch of the Library's newly redesigned website which can be found at: www.lambethpalacelibrary.org Approximately 20,000 visitors per month currently visit the website, and Library staff hope the revamp will see this number increase. The Library is housed within the grounds of Lambeth Palace and is open to the public, full details can be found on the website or read more background here.

New Chief Finance Officer for National Church Institutions
Ian Theodoreson has been appointed as Chief Finance Officer for the National Church Institutions of the Church of England, including the Archbishops’ Council, the Church Commissioners for England and the Church of England Pensions Board. More details here

New Chair announced for Board of Education and National Society
The Rt Revd John Saxbee, Bishop of Lincoln, has accepted the invitation of the Archbishops of Canterbury, York and Wales to chair the Church of England Board of Education and the National Society Council. He has been in the post since December 1 and succeeds the Rt Revd Dr Kenneth Stevenson, Bishop of Portsmouth, as the Bishop with lead responsibility for the Church of England’s policy on education. Bishop John will also take the lead on speaking on educational issues in the House of Lords, which he joined earlier this year. Full story here

Back to Church Sunday 2008 welcomes back 37,000
Back to Church Sunday is celebrating another rise in the numbers drawn back to church by the event this year. Figures based on returns from dioceses suggest that more than 37,000 people took up the invitation to try church again on Sunday 28th September 2008 – with more than 31,000 of them ‘coming back’ to an Anglican church. A celebration event was held at Lambeth Palace to mark the occasion. Read the full story here

Elections to the Church Commissioners
In the recent round of nominations in elections to the Church Commissioners, four members of the House of Bishops and two Deans were duly nominated. For the full list of names click here
Who are the Church Commissioners?

DVD to help churches make a difference for children
To mark the 30th anniversary of the UN Year of the Child in 2009, and to help support the Churches' Year of a Child 2009, a DVD of resources to celebrate and inspire the work done with children in churches has been produced in a unique collaborative venture headed by Children Matter! and the Consultative Group on Ministry among Children (CGMC). The Will YOU make A difference? Campaign seeks to invite all churches to assess their work with children throughout 2009. Visit here to find out more about Will YOU make A difference? and get your copy of a DVD of resources to inspire and equip you to do just that.

More news from the Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Commissioner Betty Matear of the Salvation Army and Bishop Nathan Hovhanissian of the Armenian Church, have released a statement in response to the humanitarian catastrophe in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Details here
Dr Williams expresses shock and outrage at atrocities in Mumbai. Details here
Dr Rowan Williams, has expressed his sadness on being informed of the death of Patriarch Aleksii II of Moscow. Full details here

:
More news from the Archbishop of York

Archbishop of York marks 60^th anniversary declaration of human rights Read the full story here
Why the CofE should remain, by law, established. Dr Sentamu writes in the Times. Full details here
Dr Sentamu defends role of the Church. Details here

Date Posted : 01/01/1900

Notification of Appointments
11 December 2008

The Revd Martin Hammond

Assistant Curate, St John Evangelist Walmley

To be: Assistant Curate, St Mary the Virgin Pype Hayes (December)

The Revd Jo Evans

Formerly: Vicar, St Peter Harborne

To have Bishop's Permission to Officiate upon retirement (December)

The Revd Canon John Wilkinson

Vicar, All Saints Kings Heath

To: Resign this appointment upon retirement and receive Bishop's Permission to Officiate (December)

Date Posted : 01/01/1900

Lost your job?
08 December 2008

If you, or anyone you know, is worried about redundancy please do not hesitate to download and photocopy our leaflet ‘Lost your job? Click here.

This is also available on our website www.cigb.org.uk. If you are unable to download the leaflet and require a hard copy please contact the CIGB office.

Date Posted : 01/01/1900

Christmas appeal to re-build church devastated by arson
04 December 2008

Just half a million pounds is what is needed for St. Barnabas, Erdington - the church devastated by an arson attack 14 months ago. The aim is to create an excellent centre for the community.

Launching the appeal at the Erdington Christmas Fair on Saturday December 6th, 12.00 noon, along with santa in his grotto and his reindeer in the High Street, The Revd Freda Evans, the vicar said that the funds raised would help pay for the:

· Building of a new community space and furnishing each community area,

· Cleaning the exterior of the building

· Providing exterior lights to highlight the church at night

· Greening the churchyard area to link St. Barnabas to the surrounding community and to create an inviting atmosphere

· A new altar and frontals

· A piano for services and concerts

The insurance claim will cover the re-building work and it is hoped that if there are no delays with the planning application procedure, work can begin some time next summer.

Plans will be displayed for the local community to see once the consultation process begins. The parochial church council of St Barnabas are united in support of the plans and the appeal.

Date Posted : 01/01/1900

Poverty and homelessness action week
04 December 2008

Poverty and Homelessness Action Week is a key part of the Get Fair Campaign. We're producing a hard-hitting piece of doumentary drama: Voices from the Edge. Based on genuine testimonies from people experiencing poverty and exclusion, the Voices from the Edge script will be used in local events up and down the UK, raising awareness of the deprivation that exists in our midst.

This is your chance to make a difference. At the Poverty and Homelessness Action Week website: www.actionweek.org.uk you can download for free the Voices from the Edge script and a host of other resources for running all kinds of local events.

Date Posted : 01/01/1900

‘Hoody shepherds’ bring good news to Birmingham
01 December 2008

Hoody shepherds, Mary made of children’s prayers and rooftop angels are just part of an outdoor nativity trail which has been installed across the city centre to retell the Christmas stories to thousands of people who work, live and shop in Birmingham.

The trail of five installations, entitled ‘Joy to the World’, starts at St Martin in the Bull Ring, with Mary and the Archangel Gabriel. The trail then travels to Carrs Lane Church, with the Three Wise Men. The next stop is a shop front in the Pavilions Shopping Centre where we see Mary, Joseph and the donkey travelling to Bethlehem. From there we travel to St Phillips Cathedral to see the Shepherds and an angel finishing at the craft market adjacent to the entrance of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery for the final Nativity scene. The scenes were made by a group of artists from St Mary’s Church and school in Harborne. The figures in the craft market were made by Catherine Lewis and belong to St Martin’s Church.

The Nativity theme continues with the gallery’s annual Nativity Trail as seen through 500 years of art. Both Nativity Trails were officially launched by the Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Revd David Urquhart who led schoolchildren and city centre church leaders around the outdoor trail on Monday December 1st.

Organiser of the trail, Canon Stewart Jones, Rector of St Martin’s in the Bull Ring church, said: “This nativity trail is a gift from churches in the city centre to the people of Birmingham.

“It has been made possible through people working together including Birmingham City Council, Retail Birmingham, the City Centre Partnership, The Pavilions along with the churches of Believing in Birmingham and I would like to thank them all for making this happen.

“The trail is called Joy to the World and tells the Christmas story that has been told and retold for more than 2,000 years but it has some contemporary twists to help us understand that Christmas is not just about history but about the gift of God for all people in all times - a gift that brings love, joy and peace.

“We chose to represent the shepherds as hoodies as we think that the shepherds in Bethlehem were regarded in their culture pretty much as hoodies are sometimes portrayed today. We left many of the faces blank so people could put themselves in the shoes of the people like Mary and the Wise Men.”

Bishop David said: “I am delighted open these two trails and very pleased that the real story of Christmas is being expressed imaginatively in this city of faiths."

Rita McLean; Head of Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery said; “The Nativity Trail at the Museum and Art Gallery has been a huge success and I am delighted that we can join forces with the city’s churches to tell the story of Christmas for everyone to enjoy.”

Further information from Canon Stewart Jones, Rector, St Martin in the Bull Ring. (0121 6006020 email; stewart@bullring.org )

For more information about the Museum and Art Gallery Nativity Trail please contact Carmel Girling on 0121 303 2923 carmel.girling@birmingham.gov.uk

Photo. Children who helped make the figures sit with the Bishop of Birmingham the Rt Revd David Urquhart by the Hoody Shepherds outside St Philips Cathedral. The clothes of the figures are made of photographs of the young people who gather in the Cathedral churchyard

Date Posted : 01/01/1900

Prayer Calendar Available on-line
26 November 2008

The Winter 08 Diocesan Prayer Calendar is available to download. To download the prayer calendar click here.

Date Posted : 01/01/1900

'Village Church for Village Life' Award
24 November 2008

Following an extremely successful campaign in 2008, Country Life magazine is supporting a second competition - the Village Church for Village Life Award 2009 - worth £10,000.

The award seeks to discover the finest example of a historic, rural parish church that has successfully engaged the wider community to create a focus for village life in the 21st century.

Those who nominate churches will be asked to demonstrate that the whole community - worshipers and non-worshippers alike - has played an active role in the relevant project. In addition, this year the award is being expanded to include projects that make use of 'God's own acre' (the churchyard), and to recognise those that have attempted to make their churches environmentally sustainable.

The 2008 competition received an unprecedented response. Nominations came in from across England with 30 of the Church of England's 43 diocese represented. The quality of the entries was high and provided a startling insight into the level and diversity of projects being undertaken by communities across the country.

Entrants from last year are encouraged to take part in this year's competition.

An article by Sir Roy Strong, together with an entry form and the full criteria for nominations, will be published in the 17th December issue of Country Life to launch the award. An online version of the article and entry form, together with details of last year's award, will be available at www.countrylife.co.uk/villagechurch

For more information, please contact Susannah Glynn at susannah_glynn@freelance.ipcmedia.com

Date Posted : 01/01/1900

Small Advertisements
27 October 2008

Get some time away in the peace of the Lickey Hills…

Let’s face it, we’re all busy being busy. At Lickey Church we’re taking a stand against “busy” and finding some peace, stillness and fresh air on the Lickey Hills. Finding a place for quiet retreat that’s close to home and doesn’t cost the earth isn’t easy. So, we’re doing something about it.

On the edge of the Lickey Hills Country Park—in our newly re-ordered church— you can find prayer zones themed for the seasons, comfy sofas for discussion or quiet reading, and the essential fresh coffee brewing in the Kitchen.
Need someone to pray with? To facilitate discussion? Or to pray for you over the course of the day? We can do that…
All the resources you need can be arranged for you, watch DVD’s on the big screen or move some chairs for large group work… or simply do nothing! Spend some time swishing through the leaves being serenaded by song birds as you take a guided prayer walk (idyllic!). Need some lunch? We’ll see what we can do, you could always walk down the hill to the pub…

Whatever you need…. space to unwind… a time to talk as a team… or just a day out of the busyness… we will do our utmost to assist you, it’s our mission!

For more information contact Sandra Smith at the Church Office 0121 445 1425 or lickeyoffice@btinternet.com

Request for office space

Ann Rowney (0121-333 5868) is looking for office space, ideally a site in/on which to develop an activity centre, by 2012

Lickey Church has 65 kneelers which it no longer needs.

Each one is hand tapestried to a unique design. If you are interested please contact Revd Philip Swan (Tel:0121 445 1262 Email: philipdswan@aol.com). He can send photos if required and negotiate costs (Max £10 per kneeler)

Thomas Jackson’s Darwin’s Error: The Poet Who Died is recently published and, given Darwin’s centrality in recent debates between religion and atheism, will surely be of interest. Darwin was not only one of the greatest scientists, the journal he kept on The Beagle reveals an extraordinarily profound poetic and religious sensibility. But none of this made it into The Origin Of Species. Between the voyage and the book the vivid interior life of this wonderful man perished. Darwin was not so much the enemy of religion as its greatest loss. The book can be purchased from Amazon at £6.59

Date Posted : 01/01/1900

Top

Courses

Asian awareness in Birmingham

Towards understanding and building bridges with other faith groups. To inspire you and your Church to serve & bless the Asian Communities.

Wednesday evenings 7.30 - 9.15pm
14 January: Towards understanding Muslims
21 January: Towards understanding Hindus
28 January: Towards understanding Sikhs
4 February: Towards understanding Asian children & young people
11 February: Towards understanding Asian spirituality and worship

These five training evenings are for individuals and Churches who want to better understand and share the love of Christ with South Asians in their locality. You are welcome to join us for all five sessions or pick 'n' mix what might be appropriate in your situation. Why not encourage others in your Church to attend or maybe your mid-week group to come and learn?

Course Contributors include: Joy Doal, Sue Fearon, Rev Henriette Howarth, Rev Dr Toby Howarth, Pall Singh, Dr Andrew Smith, Richard Sudworth, Revd Robin Thomson, Judi Walsh and Tom Walsh. We shall also have special guests, musicians, testimonies, and opportunities for participation.

Please reserve you place/s.

Venue: Springfield Centre St Christopher’s Church, Springfield Road, Springfield, Birmingham. B13 9NY
Cost: Free for everyone to attend, but people can make a donation at the end of each session.
Organised by:Hosted by the Springfield Centre in partnership with CMS, Diocese of Birmingham, East West Trust, The Navigators and Youth Encounter (SU)

For more information, contact: Rachel Pattinson
Telephone: 0121 325 5331
E-mail: springfieldproject@hotmail.com

Pastoral Care and Counselling Courses

Counselling Skills for Pastoral Care
March –September 2009
A substantial introductory course combining counselling skills, theology and personal growth. Tutor-supported distance learning sandwiched between two short periods in college.

Listening skills
April 2009
A 5-day intensive listening skills course - similar to the above but without any written assignments! Both these courses fulfil the entry requirement to the Diploma below.

Postgraduate Diploma in Pastoral Counselling
Starts September 2009
A part-time course, integrating professional counselling training with theological understanding of human process and development and accredited with Nottingham University. On completion of the Foundation year (20 taught days) there is the option to exit with a Postgraduate Certificate or continue for two further years towards BACP accreditation.

Website: www.stjohns-nottm.ac.uk

Venue: St John's Nottingham
Cost:
Organised by:St John's

For more information, contact:
Telephone: 0115 925 1117
E-mail: ext.studies@stjohns-nottm.ac.uk

Top

Events

Tuesday Talks
06/01/2009

Date: 06 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 1.10 pm. With The Revd Canon Peter Howell-Jones

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Choral Eucharist for Epiphany - Preacher: Acting Dean
06/01/2009

Date: 06 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 7.30 pm.

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Holy Communion Service
07/01/2009

Date: 07 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 1.10 pm.

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Morning Prayer and Holy Communion Service
10/01/2009

Date: 10 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 9.00 am

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Readers' Licensing Service
10/01/2009

Date: 10 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 11.00 am.

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Tuesday Talks
13/01/2009

Date: 13 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 1.10 pm.

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Holy Communion Service
14/01/2009

Date: 14 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 1.10 pm.

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Wholeness and Healing Service
15/01/2009

Date: 15 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 1.10 pm. With Canon Henry Burgess

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Morning Prayer and Holy Communion Service
17/01/2009

Date: 17 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 9.00 am.

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Tuesday Talks
20/01/2009

Date: 20 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 1.10 pm. With The Revd Canon Peter Howell-Jones

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Choral Communion Service - St Philip's Singers
21/01/2009

Date: 21 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 1.10 pm.

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Morning Prayer and Holy Communion Service
24/01/2009

Date: 24 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 9.00 am.

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Choral Evensong with Visiting Choir
24/01/2009

Date: 24 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 3.30 pm. Choir: Melbourne Parish Church, Derbyshire

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Difficult Passage: Transience, Transference and Transition in Psychoanalysis
24/01/2009

Date: 24 January 2009
Venue:

Visit: www.wmip.org With Freud's brief essay 'On Transience' as a starting point, the talk will address these fundamental psychoanalytic concepts as a kind of conceptual family. Rael Meyerowitz will try to show that, as cultural themes and linguistic tropes, they were already central at the very inception of psychoanalysis and have been relevant throughout its history. Yoked together as they are by notions of passing, crossing and mourning, these are clearly enormously important terms in psychoanalytic theory and practice. Rael will draw on case material to illustrate clinically how patients who experience what one might call 'trans-ing difficulties' may struggle in analytic treatment. Rael Meyerowitz is an associate member of the British Psychoanalytical Society.

Cost:
Organised by: Jungian Training Committee

For more information, contact:
Name: Administrator
Telephone: 0870 7518828
E-mail: jtc@wmip.org

Service of Thanksgiving in memory of The Revd. John Weller
24/01/2009

Date: 24 January 2009
Venue: Christ Church Burney Lane Ward End B8 2AS

Time: 2.30pm. All Welcome.

Cost:
Organised by:

For more information, contact:
Name: Peter Smith
Telephone: 0121 783 7455
E-mail: peter@ccbl.org.uk

Christian Unity Week concluding service
25/01/2009

Date: 25 January 2009
Venue: St Chad's Cathedral, St Chad's Queensway, Birmingham, B4 6EU

Start: 5pm. SUNG VEPERS led by Archbishop Vincent Nichols: Preacher Bishop Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham

Cost:
Organised by:

For more information, contact:
Name:
Telephone: 0121 230 6201
E-mail: reception@rc-birmingham.org

Believing in Birmingham Service
25/01/2009

Date: 25 January 2009
Venue: St Chad's Cathedral

Start: 6.00 pm.

Cost:
Organised by:

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Tuesday Talks
27/01/2009

Date: 27 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 1.10 pm. With The Revd Canon Peter Howell-Jones

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Child Protection Awareness Raising
27/01/2009

Date: 27 January 2009
Venue: St Clement Castle Bromwich

Start: 7.00 p.m. For further details and to book places please contact Jenny.

Cost:
Organised by:

For more information, contact:
Name: Jenny Harris
Telephone: 0121-426 0437
E-mail: jenny@birmingham.anglican.org

Holy Communion Service
28/01/2009

Date: 28 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 1.10 pm.

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

Practical Support for Surviving Modern Life
29/01/2009

Date: 29 January 2009
Venue: The Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire

A far-reaching programme of talks, workshops and training events led by leading professionals and academics. They will cover a wide variety of topics and issues immediately relevant and newsworthy to modern-day living. These include: · Protecting vulnerable church members from offenders, protecting children and making churches safer places (David and Pauline Pearson) · Diversity in the counselling room: issues unique to African-Caribbean marriage counselling (Lurliene Miller) · The core issues of sexual abuse, and supporting survivors (Rebecca Mitchell, herself a survivor of abuse) · Pastoral care: what are we equipped to do, and should pastoral care be organised or organic (Teresa Onions) · Supporting people through bereavement (Amanda Georgiou) · Am I good enough for him? Women’s choices in partnerships (Joanne Robinson) · Anxiety disorders: A CBT approach to anxiety, panic and more complex trauma (DR Rob Waller) · Couple counselling and the challenges it presents for the “one to one” counselling style (Christine Tufnell) A full programme of events is available upon request, or may be viewed at: http://www.acc-uk.org/pdfs/acc6pages.pdf

Cost:
Organised by: The Association of Christian Counsellors (ACC)

For more information, contact:
Name: Debbie Hyde
Telephone: 07956 320 486
E-mail: debbie.hyde@oasismedia.co.uk

Morning Prayer and Holy Communion Service
31/01/2009

Date: 31 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 9.00 am.

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Carol Currier
Telephone: 0121 262 1840
E-mail: carol.currier@birminghamcathedral.com

A 'Tour' of the Diocese
31/01/2009

Date: 31 January 2009
Venue: Birmingham Cathedral

Start: 11.00 am. Over the last 2 years the Bishops Advisers for Youth and Children’s Ministry have been visiting Deaneries to give them an overview of what’s happening in their area. Along the way we’ve collected lots of stories of good practice, new beginnings and exciting events. To launch Year of the Child 2009 in Birmingham we’d like to share these stories with clergy, children’s and youth workers in a ‘virtual tour’ around the Diocese. During the morning parishes will be given a copy of the booklet ‘Transforming Church for Children & Young People’. There will also be a film of stories from across the Diocese and an opportunity to talk to the children’s and youth leaders involved to find out how they got started and what energises them to keep going.

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham Cathedral

For more information, contact:
Name: Claire Wesley
Telephone: 0121 426 0432
E-mail: claire@birmingham.anglican.org

Child Protection Awareness Raising
03/02/2009

Date: 03 February 2009
Venue: St Mary Magdalene, Tanworth in Arden

Start: 7.00 p.m. For further details and to book places please contact Jenny.

Cost:
Organised by:

For more information, contact:
Name: Jenny Harris
Telephone: 0121-426 0437
E-mail: jenny@birmingham.anglican.org

St Alban's Spring Lectures - The Anglican Divines of the Twentieth Century
04/02/2009

Date: 04 February 2009
Venue: The Nave, St Alban's Church, Birmingham City

Time: 7.00 - 9.00 pm. Charles Gore: 1853-1932. Speaker: Canon Alan Wilkinson: DD Theologian of Portsmouth Cathedral

Cost:
Organised by: Birmingham City Deanery Chapter

For more information, contact:
Name: Area Dean
Telephone: 0121 666 6089
E-mail:

Top

Vacancies

Unlock Development Worker Birmingham

Salary: £7.50 per hour
Closing date for applications:09/01/2009

For further information
Contact name: Unlock National Office
Telephone: 0114 293 9060
E-mail: office@unlock-urban.org.uk

Rector, St Laurence Northfield

Salary: Diocesann stipend plus housing
Closing date for applications:23/01/2009

For further information
Contact name: Mrs Trish Long, Warden’s PA, Keble College, Oxxford
Telephone: 01865 272700
E-mail: trish.long@keble.ox.ac.uk

P/t Administrator - St Germain’s Parish Church, Edgbaston

Salary: up to £8.50 per hour
Closing date for applications:23/01/2009

For further information
Contact name: Jean McCubbin
Telephone: 0121 420 2884
E-mail: jeanmccubbin@yahoo.co.uk

Priest in Charge of St Philip and St James Hodge Hill

Salary:
Closing date for applications:30/01/2009

For further information
Contact name: The Archdeacon of Aston
Telephone: 0121 426 0400
E-mail:

Team Vicar in the Erdington Team Ministry, with responsibility for St Chad Erdington

Salary:
Closing date for applications:30/01/2009

For further information
Contact name: The Archdeacon of Aston
Telephone: 0121 426 0400
E-mail:

Top

Diocese of Birmingham, 175 Harborne Park Road, Harborne, Birmingham, B17 0BH
Tel: 0121 426 0400 email: website@birmingham.anglican.org

Site map Website designed by Morse-Brown Design and Penguin Boy