Bishop decries Harland & Wolff’s collapse

THE collapse of the Belfast shipmaker Harland & Wolff is a “troubling development”, the Bishop of Down & Dromore, the Rt Revd Harold Miller, has said. Harland & Wolff Heavy Industries, famous for building RMS Titanic, and her sister ships RMS Olympic and HMHS Britannic, officially went into administration on Monday. All 130 of its remaining workforce have been made redundant, it was reported. Bishop Miller said that the company had “played a central and iconic role in the province’s economy to date”, and urged its leadership to do everything in their power “to secure the future of the company”, and for the Government to provide new employment opportunities to its workers.

Hampshire priest prohibited for life after sexual misconduct

THE Revd Simon Sayers, formerly Rector of Warblington with Emsworth, has been prohibited from ministry for life after he was found guilty of unbecoming or inappropriate conduct by a Portsmouth diocese tribunal. Mr Sayers had engaged in an extramarital affair with a woman to whom he had been giving pastoral support, in 2010. Published last week, the ruling states that the “only realistic penalty” was prohibition for life. He had previously been suspended for five years, in 2016, after two sexual incidents with a 16-year-old schoolgirl in 1995, when he was a Team Vicar in the Hornsey Rise Team Ministry in London diocese. A spokesman for Portsmouth diocese said last week: “The penalty reflects the seriousness of this misconduct”.

Ecclesiastical publishes new guidance on managing risks

ECCLESIASTICAL, the church insurers, and the Health and Safety Laboratory have published guidance for churches on how to manage risks from slips and trips. The information, which can be found on Ecclesiastical’s website, includes suggestions such as using a contrasting shade of varnish on wooden staircases to highlight the edge of steps, and attaching lights to the underside of handrails. ecclesiastical.com

Welsh volunteer organists to receive coaching

THE Royal School of Church Music in Wales has launched a new coaching scheme for volunteer church organists. The scheme, Complete Church Organist, focuses primarily on helping amateurs play hymns and songs with confidence, as well as how to deal with stops. It was endorsed by the Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd John Davies, who said that he hoped that it would lead to more organists.