Bishop of Norwich is appointed Lord High Almoner
THE King has appointed the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, as the next Lord High Almoner. The position, which dates back more than 900 years, makes Bishop Usher responsible for the annual Royal Maundy Service, when the monarch gives specially minted silver coins to selected older people in recognition of their service to churches and communities.
Carlisle churches collect candles for Ukraine
MORE than 30 churches in the diocese of Carlisle have, over two months, collected nearly a quarter of a tonne of candles to send to Ukraine. The candles have been transported to Swindon Humanitarian Aid Partnership (SHAP), which oversees the shipments to Ukraine to help those people who are struggling without power and heat. A churchwarden at St Michael’s, Burgh by Sands, Carolyne Baines, first read about the SHAP project in the Church Times (News, 23 February). She said: “The response to the appeal has been beyond everyone’s expectations, and an amazing 230kg of candles have been collected.”
Jords releases Christmas single for Christian Aid
A LONDON-based choir, iNSIGNIA, based in Archway, has worked with the Croydon-born rap artist Jords to create a Christmas single, “Hold On To Hope”, to raise funds for Christian Aid. The choir is part of the worship team at the multi-denominational church Worship Tabernacle. Deborah Okeowo, a minister and one of the team leads for iNSIGNIA, said: “We had a great time recording with Jords, and we hope that, on listening to this song and really taking in the lyrics, people will be comforted.” christianaid.org.uk/our-work/hold-on-to-hope
Church charity receives King’s Award
THE charity Transforming Plymouth Together, through which churches in Plymouth address social challenges related to poverty and inequality, has received the King’s Award 2024 for Voluntary Services, it was announced on the King’s birthday last week. Its initiatives include the newly opened Hygiene Hub, dementia-friendly carol services, warm-welcome spaces, financial education, and food-security projects, including school-meal provision during the holidays.
Ecclesiastical tops home insurance table
THE insurer Ecclesiastical has retained its top spot in the Fairer Finance Home Insurance league table for the 20th year, taking the title of the UK’s most trusted home-insurance provider. Ecclesiastical was ranked first in the list of 47 insurers, including the Bank of Scotland, the TSB, the NFU Mutual, the Nationwide, and Lloyds Bank, retaining Gold Ribbon status for another year. Fairer Finance, an independent consumer group, surveys about 20,000 UK banking and insurance customers throughout the year.
Correction: The Anna Chaplaincy, founded by Debbie Thrower, has marked ten years as a national movement, not as stated in our news story last week (News, 15 November); nor is the chaplaincy sponsored by OSJCT. We apologise for these and other inaccuracies in the story, a correct version of which can be found online.
Crockford: Church House Publishing has requested that we confirm that the motive for the changes taking place in Crockford online (Diary, 15 November) is not financial gain. Certain users already receive an enhanced service at a lower price than standard users. Prices are available on the website: www.crockford.org.uk/subscribe. A spokesman said: “We are currently reviewing how we publish data relating to clergy who have died — an aspect of Crockford online not reviewed in more than 20 years — with the aim of ensuring responsible stewardship and sharing of all data relating to clergy, both living and departed, in print and online.”