Cornish skeletons may show Christian presence
SKELETONS discovered during the excavation of St Piran’s Oratory, at Perranporth, in Cornwall, suggest an early Christian presence at the site, archaeologists believe. Dated to about 800, the bones “help to confirm the early medieval origins of a religious centre”, James Gossip, of the Cornwall Archaeology Unit, who led the excavations, told the Western Morning News. The existing building is thought to date from the 11th or 12th century.
Bishops to descend on Yorkshire in ‘historic’ mission
THE Archbishop of York, Dr Sentamu, plans to lead 21 bishops in a four-day mission across Sheffield diocese from 10 to 12 September. A press release from the diocese described it as “the first time so many bishops have worked together in mission in this way, in a single diocese, in the long history of the Church of England”. Hundreds of events will take place in schools, pubs, universities, shopping centres, and churches.
John Ewington dies
THE Hon. General Secretary Emeritus and Vice-President of the Guild of Church Musicians, John Ewington, died at home last Friday. He was 79.
Somerset churches to help speed up broadband
CHURCHES in Somerset are to play a key part in delivering superfast broadband to communities in the county. A new partnership between the diocese of Bath & Wells and a local internet provider, Wild West Net, means that church towers will be used as a fixed wireless point from which signals will be transmitted to other premises (Features, 20 March). Two pilot schemes are being planned.
Bishop blogs opposition to assisted-dying legislation
PROPOSALS to change the law on assisted dying should be “put to death”, the Bishop of Bristol, the Rt Revd Mike Hill, wrote on his blog last week. A former hospice chaplain, he rebutted the suggestion that opponents “don’t care about those in great distress in the hour of death. . . The Christian Church has a long and noble history of seeking to assist people to die well without killing them.” The fear of being burden could be subject to “ruthless manipulation”, he warned, and more palliative care was required. “We need to think some more about dying well, but this kind of legislation really isn’t the way forward,” he wrote. “It needs to be stopped.”
