Bishop-designate of Sherborne named

THE Archdeacon of Buckingham, the Ven. Karen Gorham, has been appointed the 36th Bishop of Sherborne, in the diocese of Salisbury. She will be consecrated on 24 February at Westminster Abbey. Archdeacon Gorham trained for the ministry at Trinity College, Bristol, and worked as a priest in Yorkshire and Kent from 1995 to 2007, when she became Archdeacon of Buckingham. She has been a member of the General Synod for 12 years.

Equality watchdog called in over cinema advert

THE Church of England’s communications office has formally complained to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) about the rejection of its Lord’s Prayer advertisement by the agency Digital Cinema Media (News, 27 November). In a statement, the Church House division said that it was making a claim of religious discrimination because it had a duty to "protect the free practice of all faiths in this country", and had asked the EHRC to investigate DCM’s blanket ban on all religious advertising.

Low percentage of Christmas-card profits passed on

SOME shops are giving as little as ten pence per pack of charity Christmas cards sold to the charities that they are supposed to support. An investigation by the consumer watchdog Which? showed that, while some retailers such as WH Smith were giving 100 per cent of the sales of its charity Christmas cards, others, such as the Co-operative and Lidl, were handing on as little as seven or eight per cent, equivalent to just 10p.

Fresh Expressions cuts staff as project changes tack

THREE members of the national staff of Fresh Expressions will be made redundant under new proposals by the organisation. The group said that, as it looked increasingly to form partnerships with denominations and other organisations, there was less need for a large centralised staff team. The director of communications, media officer, and resources manager have all lost their jobs, while new positions have been created. Fresh Expressions said that it hoped churches would embed the values of the movement in their own organisations.

First Jersey census on religion shows Christians dominate

JUST over half of the residents of Jersey consider themselves to have a religion, and the majority of those are Christian. The official Jersey Annual Social Survey included a question on religion for the first time this year. Fifty-four per cent of those surveyed said that they had a religion, and 97 per cent of those were Christian: 44 per cent were Anglicans; 43 per cent were Roman Catholic.

Government funding for church-roof repairs announced

CONGREGATIONS, organisations, and trusts of all faiths can now apply for a share of £25 million to meet the cost of urgent roof repairs, after a second round of government funding opened on Wednesday. The first round of the Listed Places of Worship: Roof Repair Fund — £30 million in total — was announced by the Chancellor in March. Synagogues, Buddhist centres, and churches are among those who can benefit from grants of between £10,000 and £100,000.

CiW urges ‘positive choice’ over organ donation

THE Church in Wales has urged people to make a "positive choice" to sign the organ-donation register, after a change in legislation on Tuesday means that adults in Wales are automatically registered as organ donors unless they opt out. In a statement on Wednesday, the Welsh bishops said that organ donation was a "wonderful example of what it can mean to love our neighbours", and encouraged people to register to remove "any doubt about their wishes" in the event of their death.