Dr Sentamu launches new grants to tackle poverty

NEW funding worth £1 million each year will be given out by the Church Urban Fund (CUF) to churches and Christian organisations working to combat poverty. The £1-million Together Grants programme was launched on Wednesday by the Archbishop of York, Dr Sentamu, during a visit to the Handcrafted project in Durham, which is supported by CUF.

Bishops urge end to Roma discrimination

ANGLICAN bishops from England, Scotland, and Wales have joined Roman Catholic bishops to back a call by Amnesty International to end persecution of Roma people in Romania. The bishops, together with representatives from British Judaism and the Sikh and Hindu communities, have signed a letter to the Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, in northern Romania, demanding an end to anti-Roma discrimination in the town.

Cleric celebrates marriage in wife's old wedding dress

A PRIEST in Yorkshire is planning to hold services to celebrate marriage - wearing vestments made from his wife's wedding dress. The Revd Richard Burge, Priest-in-Charge of Roberttown with Hartshead and Scholes, in the diocese of Wakefield, said that he would wear the chasuble made from wife's 17-year-old gown at several services of blessing for married couples in the coming weeks.