Bishop of Exeter to retire
THE Bishop of Exeter, the Rt Revd Michael Langrish, announced on
Sunday that he will retire this year at the age of 67. Bishop
Langrish has been in post since 2000, and has been a priest for 40
years. His last service will be in Exeter Cathedral on 29 June. He
left the Church of England "in good heart", he said.
O come, all ye Tweeters
THE Christmas Twitter campaign devised by Church House (
News, 14 December) generated almost 9000 tweets, proclaiming
that "ChristmasStartsWithChrist", figures published by the Church
of England suggest. The hashtag was attached to 8878 tweets, many
sent on Christmas Day morning, and some sent from as far away as
Brisbane and South India. A Lent campaign "LoveLifeLiveLent" is
already being considered.
Todd Bentley's "theological nonsense"
criticised
THE Canadian revivalist Todd Bentley has been criticised by a
priest in Croydon for suggesting that the death of Malcolm Wicks,
MP for Croydon North, was divine retribution. In August, Mr Wicks,
who died from cancer in September, urged the Home Secretary to ban
Mr Bentley from the UK, citing concerns about his method of
"curing" people (
News, 24 August). Mr Bentley was subsequently excluded from the
country. In an online video, he referred to Mr Wicks's death as
"the Lord's justice". The Vicar of St John the Baptist's, Croydon,
Canon John Boswell, told the Croydon Advertiser: "I
believe Malcolm to have been one of the most courageous people
faced with death that I have ever met, and someone speaking such
theological nonsense is an insult to his memory."
Archbishop Nichols to meet Soho Mass
congregation
THE Archbishop of Westminster, the Rt Revd Vincent Nichols, has
offered to meet gay Roman Catholics who attend the "Soho masses" at
Our Lady of the Assumption, Warwick Street. Archbishop Nichols
announced last week that the church would be given to the
Ordinariate, and asked the organisers to cease holding the
fortnightly mass and "focus their effort on the provision of
pastoral care" (
News, 4 January). Members of the congregation applauded the
letter, read out on Sunday, in which Archbishop Nichols said he
hoped to express support for them at a meeting in March.
Forty acts of generosity
A "generosity campaign" launched by the Christian charity
Stewardship will encourage people to make a daily act of generosity
during Lent. The "40acts" initiative, now in its third year, will
challenge participants with daily suggestions, including donating
blood and acting as a mentor. More than 5000 people have already
signed up. 40acts.org.uk
Correction: The percentage of state school
students admitted to Cambridge University last year is 63.3, not
43.5, as stated in our Magdalene College feature last week. Our
apologies.
