New 'Mission Theologian' post for Dr Kings
THE Bishop of Sherborne, Dr Graham Kings, has been appointed the
first Mission Theologian in the Anglican Communion. The post is a
partnership between the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Church
Mission Society and Durham University. Bishop Kings, who will
become an assistant bishop in the diocese of Southwark and be based
in London, will conduct research into and publish theology from
around the Communion.
Guilty of assault and drink driving
A FORMER army chaplain and parish priest in Devon, the Revd
David Davies, has been found guilty of assaulting his wife and
drink driving, and sentenced to 120 hours of community service. Mr
Davies, Priest-in-Charge of St George and St Mary, and of St
Matthew's, Cockington, and All Saints', Torre, was accused of
pulling his wife by the hair and pushing her to the ground after
she found him drunk in a park. More than twice over the legal
alcohol limit, he later drove home in his Jaguar. The Acting
Archdeacon of Totnes, the Ven. Clive Cohen, said that the diocese
of Exeter, which had already suspended Mr Davies, would "conduct
its own internal processes".
Publish report, says Dean of Jersey
THE Dean of Jersey, the Very Revd Bob Key, has called for the
publication of a report on his handling of a safeguarding
complaint. Speaking on BBC Radio Jersey on Sunday, Mr Key said that
the review, by Dame Heather Steel, should be made public to draw a
line under the long-running saga. He was temporarily suspended in
2013 by the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Revd Tim Dakin, for
allegedly failing to investigate properly allegedly abusive
behaviour by a churchwarden towards a vulnerable unnamed woman in
2008 (News, 15 March
2013). The report has not yet been published because Bishop
Dakin has sought legal advice.
LGCM relocates to Newark
FINANCIAL pressures have forced the Lesbian and Gay Christian
Movement (LGCM) to close its London offices and move to
Nottinghamshire, and cut a member of staff. After 25 years at
Oxford House in Bethnal Green, LGCM is to move to a new home in
Newark. A letter to supporters said that there had been times in
recent months when "the trustees have been very close to being
unable to meet their financial liabilities, and as a result some
difficult decisions have had to be made to ensure LGCM remains
viable". The chief executive, Tracey Byrne, said: "We believe
these changes will enable us to make some significant cost-savings,
and as a result to . . . reach out more effectively to the LGBT
communities at a time when they have such good reason to be
distrustful of the Christian message."