Bible Society appoints new president
THE General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK, Bishop Angaelos, is to take over from the former Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Richard Chartres, as president of the Bible Society, it was announced last week. Bishop Chartres, who was president for six years, said that he was delighted by the appointment: “I have seen the organisation flourish, and I am excited to see it enter a new phase, as it seeks to partner more closely with the missional work of the church in this country.” Bishop Angaelos said that he was honoured to fill the post.
Canon Banting’s PCC welcomes GAFCON bishop
THE PCC of St Peter’s, Harold Wood, in Romford, has welcomed the consecration of Canon Andy Lines as Missionary Bishop to the UK for GAFCON. In an open letter, the staff, churchwardens, PCC, and Vicar, Canon David Banting, “invite the Bishops of the Church of England to recognise such an episcopal appointment as ‘a gift and not a threat’ and that it is good, necessary, and timely”. Canon Lines was consecrated by GAFCON Primates in the United States in June (News, 7 July).
”This development was long anticipated,” the letter says, “and indeed promised as a godly and necessary response if certain doctrinal or moral Biblical boundaries were crossed, as they were in the Scottish Episcopal Church this year, or are threatened as they presently and increasingly are in parts of the Church of England.”
Letters
Brighton priest wins ‘Good Funeral’ award
THE Assistant Priest of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Brighton, the Revd Christyan James, has won Minister of the Year in the Good Funeral Awards. The winners were announced at a ceremony in London this month in partnership with the custom coffin-makers Greenfield Creations. Other categories included: Most Helpful Funeral Advice Website; Coffin Supplier; and Care of the Deceased.
www.goodfuneralguide.co.uk
Former diocesan director of education jailed
A FORMER director of education for the diocese of Lincoln, John Bailey, was found guilty of multiple child sex offences carried out over five decades from 1955, and sentenced to six years in prison, at Lincoln Crown Court on Thursday of last week, writes Donald Nannestad. Mr Bailey pleaded guilty to 25 charges of indecent assault on three 14-year-old girls between March 1955 and January 1982. The court heard that his victims complained to the diocese about his behaviour several years ago, but no action was taken at that time. Two of the charges predated the 1956 Sexual Offences Act and had to be brought under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act. Grace Hale, prosecuting, said that one victim had been repeatedly abused by the defendant over seven years from the age of four.
First intake combines pioneer and youth training
THE first 32 students have been enrolled on a new two-year pioneer-youth-ministry course from the Church Mission Society and the Frontier Youth Trust this week. The qualification, a Certificate of Higher Education in Theology, Ministry and Mission, has been commended by the Ministry Division as “an exemplar for pioneer ministry training”, CMS says.