Dean of Lincoln defended
THE Acting Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Revd Stephen Conway, has written an open letter to the diocese in which he suggests that the retiring Dean of Lincoln, the Very Revd Christine Wilson, paid an unfairly high price for the safeguarding investigation in which she had to step back from duties for a year (News, 26 April 2019, 20 March 2020). “It is well-known that Dean Christine was caught up in the safeguarding debacle leading from allegations made against the Canon Chancellor. He was subsequently found not guilty; but both the Bishop of Lincoln and Dean Christine were disciplined for a reporting error with regard to the safeguarding breach,” the Bishop writes. Whereas the former Bishop, the Rt Revd Christopher Lowson, later received an apology from the national Church, Dean Wilson “received no corresponding recognition”.
Rainbow frontal up in court
ST NICHOLAS’s, Leicester, is awaiting a consistory-court ruling on whether it can continue to use a Progress Pride rainbow altar frontal, produced by a congregation member, having applied for a retrospective faculty after objections were raised from around the country. Canon Karen Rooms, the Acting Dean of Leicester and formerly Priest-in-Charge of St Nicholas’s, described the frontal as “a profound invitation for people who have experienced rejection, hate and abuse, sometimes from those in the Church”. A judgment is pending.
Church House wins eco-award
The Church of England’s main administrative building, Church House in Westminster, has received a Bronze Award from A Rocha UK, the Christian environmental charity, after adopting practices to reduce waste and engaging in a large-scale renovation project. The renovation works, which began last year, will involve the installation of energy-saving devices across the building (News, 10 June 2022). In a statement on Tuesday, Church House said that it was also requiring its suppliers to demonstrate environmental awareness to minimise further the building’s carbon footprint. The church relations manager of A Rocha UK, Helen Stephens, said: “We are really pleased to give Church House Westminster the Bronze Award, not just for the work going on to transform the building, but also for the way environmental concerns run through the conference operations. We hope it encourages other church offices to join the Eco Church award to help them identify ways they can become more sustainable.” Church House contains the offices of some of the National Church Institutions, and hosts the London meetings of the General Synod.
Pensions Board to lead new mining commission
THE Church of England Pensions Board will provide the chair of the new Global Investor Commission on Mining 2030, backed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and Cape Town. The commission was launched on 25 January, and aims to improve standards across the industry, including safety standards, labour practices, land rights, and environmental sustainability. The chief responsible-investment officer for the board, Adam Matthews, said that the commission will “target sector-wide reform to be supported by investors, banks, insurers, and companies that demand minerals”. Mr Matthews, who will chair the new commission, said that “to achieve net zero requires an expansion of mining”. The commission aims to build on lessons learnt from the collapse of the Brumadinho dam in Brazil in 2019, in which 270 people were killed (News, 8 February 2019).