Garden industry backs fixed date for Easter
GARDEN centre and flower growers support the Archbishop of Canterbury’s plans to agree a fixed date for Easter, according to industry magazine Horticulture Week. A slow start to the season for the industry has been compounded by Easter falling early this year, and many retailers believe moving Easter to the same weekend in April every year would boost sales. A spokesman for Archbishop Welby told Horticulture Week: “I don’t think what the garden centres of England want is going to carry the day, with the best will in the world, and international [religious groups’] agreement is a tall order, but it looks like it has a fair wind at the moment.”
Irish diocese embarks on Bible-reading marathon
THE diocese of Derry and Raphoe, in the Church of Ireland, has begun a four-day public reading of the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, the Rt Revd Ken Good, began by reading the first seven chapters of Genesis at St Eunan’s Cathedral, in Raphoe, before handing over in an ecumenical gesture to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Raphoe,Dr Philip Boyce, who read chapters eight to 14. In total, 192 will read, each for 30 minutes, as the project works its way through the whole Bible. The project was dreamt up as part of the diocese’s Year of Opportunity 2016, which aims to focus attention on mission.
Kendall House victims preparing to sue C of E over birth defects
CHILDREN of women who were given huge doses of sleeping pills and other prescription drugs while pregnant at the Church of England’s Kendall House home in the 1970s and '80s are preparing to sue the Church, claiming birth defects and other problems were caused by the drugging. The Sunday Times reported that damages would be sought for as many as 25 children, many of whom are now adults. The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Revd James Langstaff, announced last month the chair of an independent review into the Kendall House case would be Dr Sue Proctor, who previously led a review into Jimmy Savile’s crimes (News, 19 February).
Isle of Man brings relief
THE Isle of Man has won an award from Toilet Twinning, part of Tearfund, after linking its lavatories with more than 130 latrines in developing countries. Last week, a special van topped with a toilet made a seven-hour tour of the island, visiting some of the facilities that have been twinned. Churches Together in Man has played central part in the project.