New leader for CMS

THE Church Mission Society has appointed the Revd Philip Mounstephen, Chaplain of St Michael's, Paris, as executive leader. Mr Mountstephen succeeds the Rt Revd Tim Dakin, who was appointed Bishop of Winchester last year. He will start work in October.

More church budgets to have zero rating

ALL alteration works that had already been submitted for a faculty, or approval, under the Care of Cathedrals Measure, when the Government announced the Budget on 21 March, will be exempt from VAT, HM Revenue and Customs has confirmed. The end of the transitional period will also be extended until 30 September 2015, allowing qualifying projects to continue to benefit from zero rating for three and a half years.

Voyages: images of travel from Hereford Cathedral's historiccollections, and its 1217 Magna Carta and the accompanying RoyalWrit, are on display at the cathedral until 27 August.

Voyages: images of travel from Hereford Cathedral's historiccollections, and its 1217 Magna Carta and the accompanying RoyalWrit, are on display at the cathedral until 27 August.
THREE Lithuanian men have pleaded guilty to stealing lead from churches across the East Midlands. Tadas Andruska, Andrius Cereska, and Andrius Kvedaras were first charged in March (News, 7 March), after a six-month police investigation into metal thefts from 22 churches across Lincolnshire. They will be sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court later this year.