![]() |
| The Archbishop of Canturbery celebrating 25 years of women’s ordination to the priesthood in 2019 Source: CofE |
Blog notes
'Anonymous' comments for publication must include a pseudonym.
They should be on topic and not involve third parties.
If pseudonyms are linked to commercial sites comments will be removed as spam.
Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Church of England in crisis
Tuesday, 23 November 2021
Red Wednesday 2021
#RedWednesday is the time for people of all faiths, and no faith, to come together in solidarity for Christians and others who are oppressed.
Just one of many stories form Aid to the Church in Need:
"A THREE-YEAR-OLD Christian girl in Pakistan, who was raped by the husband of her school principal, is still a long way from recovery several months on from her ordeal.
"According to the national Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), based in Lahore, Anna was raped at the school she attended in Raiwind, Lahore – which operated out of the house of her abuser, Muhammad Saleem.
"Ms Merab Arif, Communication Coordinator of CCJP said: 'Girls from religious minorities are at high risk of sexual violence and abuse. And not just that, early and forced marriage deprives them as well of their fundamental right to education, health, and freedom of religion'."
ACN #RedWednesday 2021 Petition
We call on the UK Government and the United Nations to take more effective steps to address the double jeopardy faced by women and girls from religious minorities in certain countries suffering sexual violence and persecution.
Tuesday, 24 November 2020
Imagine if she were your daughter!
![]() |
| Maira Shahbaz fears for her life. The 14-year-old is in hiding after being accused of apostasy for breaking off the marriage - an offence punishable by death in Islam |
Catholic altar server Maira Shahbaz is hiding after being accused of apostasy
Over 9,000 have signed petition asking PM to grant her and family asylum in UK
As a backbench Tory MP, Boris Johnson led calls for Mrs Bibi to be given asylum
Maira has now appealed directly to PM, saying in statement: 'Please protect me'
This is not an isolated report.
On Armistice Day, International Christian Concern reported that two Christians, a mother and son, were killed in an incident of religious hatred in a village located in the Gujranwala district of Pakistan. They were shot dead by their Muslim neighbour because as a Muslim family they did not like waste water flowing by their home from the house of an ‘untouchable’.
In Pakistan the term chura or churi is used to denote Christians as low caste and untouchable. It is widely held among Pakistan’s Muslim population that Christians are dirty and as a result must be relegated to the lowest rungs of society
Christians are relegated to the sectors of cleaning and sweeping in Pakistan. While Christians make up around 4% of the population, nearly 80% of them are involved in sanitary department and cleaning jobs that are considered impure for Muslims.
On Wednesday, 25th November, Set Your Captives Free – A Report on Christians unjustly detained for their Faith will be launched in the UK parliament by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
The Report is intended as a springboard for ACN supporters to advocate for the release of those unjustly detained and demand perpetrators be brought to justice. It profiles individuals – young and old – both those kidnapped by extremist groups and others arrested by the state and held without charge.
As part of its advocacy campaign, ACN has so far collected more than 8,500 signatures calling on the Prime Minister to grant asylum to Pakistani 14-year-old Maira Shahbaz, profiled in the report, who is in hiding from her former abductor who has threatened to kill her, saying she is an apostate.
Across the world, people will mark #RedWednesday by wearing red (e.g. putting on a red scarf), using social media to promote the campaign and lighting up public buildings in red.
You can sign the #RedWednesday petition HERE.
Thursday, 21 March 2019
Bishop of Llandaff sacrifices parishioners in latest initiative
![]() |
| Church in Wales parish church of SS Andrew and Teilo, Woodville Road, Cathays, Cardiff. Source: Wikipedia |
The parish church of SS Andrew and Teilo has followed the revisionist path of the Church in Wales to the letter but that has not saved parishioners from being sacrificed by bishop June Osborne. Her latest strategy, presumably for growth, is to give away their church. Parishioners are far from pleased.
"In March 2019 the members of St Teilo’s church have been informed that a decision has been made by the Bishop of Llandaff, June Osborne, to give their church away to an evangelical church called Holy Trinity Brompton. The decision was made with no consultation with the clergy or members of the congregation and wider community and she says the decision is final."
Before its rededication St Andrew's was a chapel of ease to St John the Baptist Church, the civic church in the heart of Cardiff now dedicated to the advancement of transgenderism following the bishop's appointment of a transgender activist vicar.
While the success of HTB is to be admired, it is no reason for the bishop's high handed action, destroying one congregation in the hope of starting another. That is not church planting.
"Church planting is a process that results in a new (local) Christian church being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, new worship center or fresh expression is created that is integrated into an already established congregation. For a local church to be planted, it must eventually have a separate life of its own and be able to function without its parent body, even if it continues to stay in relationship denominationally or through being part of a network." Wikipedia
Church of England Bishops set out principles for church planting.
Among their guiding principles [20 ii]:
"We expect those responsible for church plants to commit themselves to work
to the best of their ability in cooperation with the other churches in the local
area, including the church in whose parish the new church plant is located, as
an integrated part of deanery and diocesan structures. They should aim to use
some of their resources to support the mission of their neighbours and expect
to make regular financial contributions to the diocese, as an expression of the
mutual responsibilities that are a normal part of church life."
Church in Wales bishops have been resolute in refusing permission for orthodox bishops to cross the border. HTB plants have their own bishop for church plants, the Bishop of Islington. There is no indication how this would work in Wales.
We have been here before.
Revisionist bishops have destroyed orthodox Anglicanism in Wales, sacrificing faithful worshippers in pursuit of their secularist agenda. If attempting to address the resulting decline with another experiment is June Osborne's answer parishioners is not taking it lying down.
You can sign their petition here.
Postscripts [22.03.2019]
Church Times: Church in Wales launches its first resource church
[25.03.2019] Anglican Unscripted coverage:
Tuesday, 28 February 2017
Religion and the BBC
From Voice for Justice UK
The Perfidy and Contempt of the BBC
In November last year, following complaints of unacceptable Muslim bias and the deliberate marginalization of Christianity by its Muslim Head of Religion and Ethics, Aaqil Ahmed, the BBC announced that it was axing both the role of Head and the department of religion, bringing all religious programming and coverage under the remit of former Labour MP James Purnell, the head of radio and education.
However, on February 25, the BBC quietly announced that it had appointed another Muslim, Fatima Salaria, as its new Head of Religious Programming.
It would seem therefore that, in clear disregard of their earlier statement, the BBC has not only resurrected this role, but appears to be operating a policy of Islamic prioritization, once again ignoring the pleas of all other religious groups in the UK for proportionate and fair representation.
Ms Salaria’s most notable achievement since joining the BBC in 2015 would appear to have been to commission the TV reality show Muslims like Us, described in the press as ‘Muslim Big Brother’. It may be remembered that in this programme, among the ten Muslim housemates - chosen to reflect the diverse views of Muslims in the UK - was included Abdul Haqq, a Muslim convert, former boxing champion, convicted fraudster … and member of the inner circle of jailed radical cleric Anjem Choudary. But it gets worse, because Mr Haqq reportedly not only supported banned terror group Al-Muhajiroun, but was arrested in 2014 in Dover, and later charged with plotting to go to Syria to fight with Islamic State after spreading terrorist material online.
His inclusion, put forward without comment as merely one view among many, can only have served to ‘normalise’ extremism, and is an affront to all - including moderate Muslims honestly striving to integrate into British culture.
Do we really want someone who commissions programmes like this as head of religion for the BBC? Do we trust her to give proportionate and fair representation to all religious groups? Do we trust the BBC? Or do we share the view of Professor Anthony Glees of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, who told The Mail: “If a BBC executive makes a programme that is notorious and then the BBC promotes them, it tells me that the BBC has in that area lost its moral compass.” (http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/02/25/new-bbc-head-religion-gave-islamist-extremists-platform/).
Ms Salaria is on record as saying the BBC needs to give greater voice to Muslims. It is a view that seems to have been swallowed hook, line, and sinker by dementedly ‘diverse’ Auntie, who seemingly takes every opportunity to undermine and pour derision on those who espouse the traditional Christian beliefs and values upon which our nation is founded. But exactly what voice does Ms Salaria class as authentically ‘Muslim’ and wish to be heard? After all, from the example of Abdul Haqq, she appears to have no problem supporting what the rest of us call extremism,
It goes without saying that there is religious diversity in this country, and all faiths should receive proportionate coverage. But Christianity remains the established faith of the UK and, despite declining church attendance, according to the 2011 census Christians still make up 59.5% of the population (https://faithsurvey.co.uk/uk-christianity.html): a clear majority. Given therefore that Christianity is the main faith of this country, surely the head of religious programming should be Christian - or at the very least, as advocated by Conservative MP Bill Cash, the post should be rotated between the different faiths. Which should include Judaism, Hinduism and Sikkhism … as well as Islam.
As it is, this new appointment seems deliberately insulting both to Christians and to followers of other belief systems, and part of an orchestrated attempt to Islamise the UK. Such an attitude displays not just contempt, but is a betrayal of the principles and values on which the UK is founded. For these reasons VfJUK joins those who argue that the BBC is no longer fit for purpose. We call for urgent investigation into the Corporation’s governance and purpose, and for review of the licence fee.
Please sign our new petition to the Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, calling for urgent investigation into the BBC's governance and leadership.
Sign here.
Wednesday, 16 November 2016
Worldwide Persecution of Christians
The persecution of Christians must be stopped. You can help by signing a petition against the BBC proposals here.
Postscript [18.11.2016]
"Donald Trump’s Pick For National Security Adviser Loves To Stoke Islamophobia" - Huffington Post:
Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Donald Trump’s pick for national security adviser, has stoked Islamophobia by calling Islam a “cancer” and saying fear of it was “justified”. In August, Flynn said that Islam, which has around 1.6 billion followers around the world, was a “political ideology” that “hides behind being a religion.” He also described it as a “cancer” because terrorist groups instructed followers to “get into the bloodstream of the opposition.” He has tweeted that fearing Muslims is “rational.”
Doubters should look at the map. Non-Muslims living in Muslim countries know what fear is. The evidence speaks for itself. Are they are guilty of Islamophobia?
Thursday, 19 May 2016
Royal College of Midwives Must Not Betray the Profession of Midwifery
Update [21.05.2016]
Far from backtracking on her call to abolish the 24-week legal limit for terminating pregnancy, the Chief Executive of the RCM says "Midwives should see abortion as part of their job". Had her mother exercised a choice to abort her foetus immediately before drawing breath, Prof Cathy Warwick, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives would not be around to make such a preposterous claim without even consulting the midwives she represents.
Her excuse? "The role of the midwife is to support women in relation to their reproduction and to care for women." She denied there was any conflict between her role as Chief Executive of the RCM and her position as Chair of the board of trustees of the country’s biggest abortion provider the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, BPAS.
Friday, 12 June 2015
Help make it happen
![]() |
| Swimmers hit the near freezing water at Blackroot Pool in Sutton Coldfield Credit: Express & Star |
![]() |
| Escaping the summer heat in China. Credit: Telegraph |
![]() |
| Do you shower or bathe every day? Credit: Guardian |
![]() |
| How on earth can I use a Canadian toilet without splashing myself? Credit: Travel |

This is the reality for over 750 million people who live without safe water.
Two and a half billion people don't have access to adequate sanitation, one in three of the world's population.
Over 500,000 children die every year from diarrhoea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.
Wednesday, 6 August 2014
To be a girl
Monday, 2 January 2012
Alan Turing's stamp of approval and petition for a pardon.
| Alan Turing (1912 - 1954) |
In 2009 Gordon Brown issued an unequivocal apology to Alan Turing, saying the country owed him a huge debt but that is not enough. He deserves a pardon. An e-petition has been been raised with a closing date of 23/11/2012. You can sign it here - but only because Alan Turing made it possible!
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Pensions plea
Update
E-mail received today (29/02/2012):
"The e-petition 'Public & Private Pension Increases - change from RPI to CPI' recently reached 109,392 signatures and a response has been made to it.
This e-petition has reached 100,000 signatures. The Government has notified the Backbench Business Committee in the House of Commons who will consider its suitability for debate when Parliament returns in September. This e-petition will remain live, and people will be able to continue adding their signatures. The Backbench Business Committe have announced that a debate relating to this e-petition will take place on Thursday 1 March 2012 in the Chamber of the House of Commons. Further information about the debate, and on the workings of the Backbench Business Committee, can be found on the Committee's website at http://www.parliament.uk/bbcom The Government will post a further response to this petition following the debate.
View the response to the e-petition."
Saturday, 9 July 2011
That was 'The News' that was...
And he still expects to takeover BSkyB! Not if 38 Degrees can help it! You may care to sign their petition.
Friday, 17 June 2011
Water Aid's Loo Queue
Water Aid and its partners 'use practical solutions to provide safe water, effective sanitation and hygiene education to the world’s poorest people'. They also seek to influence policy at national and international levels. Currently they are seeking 30,000 signatures for their petition to the UK Government 'to help lift 100 million people out of water and sanitation poverty by 2015'.
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Into Lent
For many Christians Lent begins with the sign of the cross, in ashes, generally on the forehead. Less fortunate Christians around the world from Ethiopia to the Philippines have ashes all around them, their churches burned to the ground often with mosques built on the hallowed ground. There is a good review of the situation here.
I reflected on the horrors being inflicted on fellow Christians after the penitential rite when the celebrant read the commandment:
Thursday, 27 January 2011
"We are all in this together" (11)
Monday, 29 November 2010
Today's children tomorrow: Urgent PETITION














