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."