Churches to remember road-accident victims

A PRIEST who was called to the scene of a fatal accident outside her church has encouraged churches to light candles and say prayers for the victims of road-traffic accidents on Sunday, which is the World Day of Remembrance for road-traffic victims. The priest, the Revd Charlotte Ballinger, Assistant Curate of St John the Baptist's, Chipping Barnet, prayed over the body of a 66-year-old cyclist who had been killed instantly outside her church, and later officiated at his funeral.

Dr Williams pays tribute to Ugandan AIDS campaigner

THE Archbishop of Canterbury awarded the Cross of St Augustine at Lambeth Palace last Friday to Canon Gideon Byamugisha, a Ugandan Anglican priest, for his work in tackling HIV/AIDS. Dr Williams described Canon Byamugisha, who was the first African religious leader to declare publicly that he was HIV-positive, as "a beacon of hope, whose energy and joy have been an inspiration to be alongside".

Videos for the poor

A SERIES of nine short videos has been released online by Christian Aid, Compassion, and Micah Challenge. The series, The Jesus Agenda, is presented by the Revd Joel Edwards, the former director of the Evangelical Alliance, who said that it was intended "to mobilise the worldwide Church to speak up for the poor and speak out against the evil of extreme poverty".

thejesusagenda.org

Bible-reading apps prove a hit with busy readers

BIBLE-reading apps produced by the Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF) have exceeded 100,000 downloads, it was announced this week. The deputy chief executive of the BRF, Karen Laister, said that three apps - New Daylight, Guidelines, and Day by Day with God - "provide our content in a format that people on the move need, to accommodate regular Bible-reading into their busy lives".

USPG name-change comes into force next week

THE name of the Anglican mission agency USPG will change on Tuesday to "United Society" or "US" for short. The chief executive of the agency, Janette O'Neill, said that its name "had become a barrier. People thought we were old-fashioned and preachy." The name-change was criticised at the General Synod earlier this year, after it was announced (News, 20 July).