Ordinand died of drug-related causes, says coroner
AN ORDINAND at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, Martin McGann, who was found dead in his room at the college on 19 July, died of drug-related causes, a coroner has concluded. The Daily Mail reports that the assistant coroner, Nicholas Graham, concluding an inquest in Oxford Coroner’s Court, on Tuesday, said: “There is insufficient evidence to suggest he intended to take his own life.” The inquest heard that McGann, who was 37 and had practised as a barrister before starting ordination training, had ingested methamphetamine after coming to believe, wrongly, that the police were going to arrest him.
Cottrell laments hardship caused by low pay
IT IS “simply not good enough” that low-paid workers endure “unacceptable hardships”, the Archbishop of York has said. In an article for The Yorkshire Post on Monday, at the start of Living Wage Week, Archbishop Cottrell wrote: “Key workers experienced a £1.6bn living wage gap during the pandemic and would be, on average, over £900 better off had they been paid the real Living Wage in this period.” He also wrote of how “a fifth of all UK workers are in insecure and precarious work,” and “two-thirds of those already in low-paid work have found their pay being reduced during the pandemic.” The Archbishop commended the Living Wage Foundation for announcing “new rates that cover what we all need to earn to get by”. He continued: “Their movement will see almost 9,000 businesses elect to give their 300,000 workers not only what they need to survive, but to thrive as well.”
Messy Church founder to lead Growing Faith Foundation
THE founder of Messy Church, Lucy Moore, has been appointed the first head of the C of E’s Growing Faith Foundation, it was announced on Monday. The Foundation will build on the work of the Growing Faith initiative (Features, 19 March), which began in 2019 and seeks to promote partnerships between churches, schools, and households, “to encourage and nurture Christian faith in those of all ages within those communities”, a statement from Church House says. Initiatives that have arisen out of the Growing Faith initiative include the “Faith at Home” video resources used during the pandemic (News, 1 May 2020). Mrs Moore set up Messy Church in 2004, originally as a Fresh Expression in a church near Portsmouth. This form of church now takes place in more than 3500 settings, in more than 30 countries.
Franklin Graham UK mission to take place next year
FRANKLIN GRAHAM, the son of the late US evangelist Dr Billy Graham, is to come to the UK next year for his God Loves You mission, his organisation announced on Monday. It was due to take place last year, but was postponed owing to the pandemic and some venues’ cancelling bookings because of past remarks that Mr Graham had made concerning same-sex relationships and Islam (News, 31 January 2020). Mr Graham had previously said that he was determined that the mission would be held, despite criticism from bishops and others (News, 14 February 2020).
Christmas shoeboxes are collected
THE annual campaign Operation Christmas Child, run by the charity Samaritan’s Purse, began collecting donations this week. Samaritan’s Purse said that during National Shoebox Collection Week, which ends on Monday, more than 1000 churches, schools, and businesses in the UK would be providing places for people to drop off shoeboxes containing items that would “bring joy and hope to vulnerable, isolated children, many of whom are living in some of the most difficult circumstances worldwide”. A spokesman for Samaritan’s Purse said that 265,975 boxes were donated from the UK last year, when the campaign was run online, owing to the pandemic (News, 11 December 2020). Information about drop-off locations can be found at samaritans-purse.org.uk/find-your-drop-off-location. Boxes can also be donated online. shoeboxonline.samaritans-purse.org.uk
Award for designers of new Lambeth Palace Library
THE new Lambeth Palace Library, designed by Wright & Wright Architects (Features, 19 March), has been named Supreme Winner at the 2021 BDA Brick Awards, and winner of the Public Building category. The award’s judges praised the Library’s “excellent, courageous, and rigorous . . . use of brick as a primary cladding material”, and noted the building’s “understated elegance”.
