Extend listed-churches grant scheme, bishop urges

THE Bishop of Dudley, the Rt Revd Martin Gorick, who is the Acting Bishop of Worcester, has added his voice to calls for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme to be extended past the current deadline of March 2025. Under the terms of the scheme, established in 2001, VAT on eligible repairs or alterations costing more than £1000 to a listed place of worship can be reclaimed. With other campaigners, the Bishop has written to MPs in support of the scheme. He said on Monday that the loss of the scheme, “at worst, could be the difference between being solvent or not. The irony to this discussion is that new-build works are exempt from VAT.” A decision about the future of the scheme is to be made by the Department for Culture Media and Sport in the coming months (News, 22 November).

King backs campaign for carols outdoors

THE King has expressed his support for the cross-denominational initiative Shine Your Light, which encourages churches around the UK to hold their carol services and nativity plays outdoors (News, 11 October). Involving 700 churches of 68 denominations, it was piloted last year and relaunched in October with a new target of 1000 churches and 100,000 Christians to reach a further one million people, both UK residents and tourists. Dr Jonathan Oloyede, the convener of the National Day of Prayer and Worship, which is leading the initiative, said this week that the King’s support was “such an encouragement”. Partners include the Church of England, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, the Evangelical Alliance, the Methodist Church, the Salvation Army, and the United Reformed Church. Shopping centres, village greens, and community centres are among the suggested locations. shineyourlight.org.uk

Party in cathedral ‘not in line with core values’

A CHRISTMAS party in Liverpool Cathedral last week for staff of Liverpool FC was stopped early by cathedral staff after “drugs paraphernalia” were found, a cathedral spokesperson told the BBC. “During an event in the last week, an incident occurred that was not in line with our core values,” the spokesperson said. “The team on duty followed the correct procedures to bring the event to an early close. We want to thank our staff and Liverpool FC for the swift actions taken and partnership working, and will continue to review our procedures and mitigation measures for future events.” The club said that an “incident” had taken place on Thursday night of last week. “We do not condone or tolerate the use of illegal substances at any of our sites or events.” None of the club’s players was present.

Leeds project focuses on homeless people’s creativity

ST GEORGE’S CRYPT, a 95-year-old homelessness charity in Leeds, has launched a public art project, “Lazarus”, to change perceptions of homelessness. A group of homeless people from St George’s Crypt are to be supported by the artists Pippa Hale and David Hawkins, over five months, in creating a public artwork to be displayed in the city. “Homelessness is often seen as a complex, unsolvable issue, but we know that the people we work with at St George’s Crypt are full of creative potential,” the head of health and well-being, Christine Lane, said. “Each participant’s journey is about reclaiming dignity and expressing the stories of their lives in a powerful, creative way.” Leeds Art Gallery, Assembly House, Left Bank Leeds, and Yorkshire Sculpture Park are partners of the project. Ms Hale, a contemporary artist based in Leeds, said that the project would raise up “the voices of those who are marginalised in our society, and values their strength, resilience, and creative expression”. Mr Hawkins, an environmental artist from Skipton, said that the project was about showcasing “creativity and encouraging society to revise their view of homeless people”.

Award for scheme to record closing Scottish churches

SCOTLAND’s Churches Trust (SCT) has been awarded the title of “Religious Heritage Innovator of the Year 2024” to the Future for Religious Heritage, for its initiative to train volunteers to document Scotland’s closing churches and to develop a “rapid church recording methodology” to support this — documenting movable items within each church before they are “inevitably dispersed, sold, or lost”. SCT’s network has so far recorded 50 churches. Its chair, Professor Adam Cumming, said: “It is good to see the hard work and dedication of our volunteers recognised so clearly. We also need to thank the various congregations for their support.”

Vicar apologises over Father Christmas

THE Vicar of St Faith’s, Lee-on-the-Solent, in Hampshire, the Revd Dr Paul Chamberlain, has apologised after telling a group of schoolchildren from Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School that Father Christmas did not exist. The diocese of Portsmouth said in a statement that Dr Chamberlain had made an “error of judgement” when, during an RE lesson, he addressed the group of ten- and 11-year-olds, some of whom reportedly began to cry. “After talking about the nativity story from the Bible, he made some comments about the existence of Father Christmas,” the statement said. “Paul has accepted that this was an error of judgement, and he should not have done so. He apologised unreservedly to the school, to the parents, and to the children, and the head teacher immediately wrote to all parents to explain this.”

RSCM renames its youth choir

THE Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is changing the name of its youth choir from Millennium Youth Choir to the RSCM Youth Choir. The choir, founded in 1999, is for singers aged 16 to 23, and sings music of all styles and periods at cathedrals and churches across the country. rscm.org.uk