Tadcaster floods a climate warning, says Cottrell
THE flooding in Tadcaster, the third in a decade, is evidence of the need to change to tackle climate change, the Archbishop of York, the Most Revd Stephen Cottrell, told the congregation of St Mary’s, Tadcaster, during a sermon on Sunday. “We urgently need to change the way we inhabit the planet, lest we end up so destroying its fragile equilibrium, that floods and storms and forest fires completely engulf us.” His own house, Bishopthorpe Palace, had flooded four times in the 18 months since he had arrived. In 2015, St Mary’s flooded in a matter of minutes, after the flood defences next to the church were breached (23 December 2016).
Herefordshire vicar removed from office for six months
THE Vicar of St Peter’s, Bromyard, and Stoke Lacy, and Rural Dean of Bromyard, the Revd Clive Evans, has been removed from office for six months, almost three years after being suspended. The findings of the tribunal held under the Clergy Discipline Measure are published here. The diocese of Hereford said on Monday that the decision was that “his conduct was unbecoming to the office of a clergy person.” Its statement continued: “We commend the bravery of those who brought these allegations forward and acknowledge how difficult this would have been. We apologise unreservedly to them for what has happened and for what they have experienced.” The penalty imposed was a six-month prohibition from any office in the Church of England and an anonymity order had been made; “so it is illegal to name or identify the victims in this case.” Mr Evans was suspended in April 2019. Two years later, the PCC wrote to the Bishop of Hereford, requesting a resolution and citing “great stress to all parties involved”.
Artists offered £10,000 to ‘reimagine’ St Paul
A COMMISSION of up to £10,000 is being offered to artists invited to “reimagine the biblical Paul”. The project Reimagining Paul: Apostolic Portraits of Masculinity, funded by Sheffield University’s Sir Henry Stephenson Trust, is led by Grace Emmett, a visiting researcher at the Sheffield Institute for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies. “We’re used to seeing Paul depicted in certain modes — convert, letter-writer, preacher — but I’m fascinated to see how our perspective on Paul and his letters might change if we draw inspiration from texts not commonly subject to artistic imagination,” she said. Proposals can be in any visual or digital medium; the deadline for submissions is 11 March. It is planned that the work will tour cathedrals later this year. sheffield.ac.uk/siibs/news
May deadline to apply for science grants
TEN grants, each worth £10,000, to enable recipients to “engage with scientific topics and affirm the role of scientists within their communities” are being offered to churches by Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science . Any church of any Christian denomination in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland can apply in the fifth round of Scientists in Congregations, due to close on 2 May. eclasproject.org/congregations