Icon stolen from Magdalene College, Cambridge
A GILDED icon that depicts the Virgin and Child with two archangels was stolen from Magdalene College Chapel, Cambridge, between Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, the College reports. The Chapel Dean, the Revd Sarah Atkins, said that “the icon vanished from its place beside the altar” while the building was open to the public. The icon was created by Dom Anselm Shobrook, an Anglican Benedictine at Alton Abbey, in Hampshire. It was donated by Professor Eamon Duffy in 2009 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his election as a Fellow. The College is appealing for information about its current whereabouts.
Dr Inge, retiring, receives Lanfranc Award
THE Archbishop of Canterbury has presented the retiring Bishop of Worcester, Dr John Inge, with the Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship. The award, which recognises outstanding work in theological education, was given on 20 September before a ceremony in Lambeth Palace Chapel conferring doctorates to graduates of the Lambeth Research Degrees in Theology programme, whose Council Dr Inge has chaired since 2019. Dr Inge said that he was “surprised and delighted”. He has been Bishop of Worcester since 2008, and will formally retire on Wednesday (News, 3 May). A service in Worcester Cathedral on Sunday marked the end of his public ministry in the diocese. In his sermon, Dr Inge said: “I feel that I have received so much more than I have given. I am profoundly grateful — to you and to God.” The process to appoint he next Bishop of Worcester has started, but an announcement is not expected until summer 2025 at the earliest.
Former choirmaster sentenced for child abuse
A FORMER organ teacher and choirmaster at St Peter’s, Hersham, in Surrey, Sean McNally, 71, of Todmorden, Calderdale, has been sentenced at Kingston Crown Court to three years in prison for non-recent child-sex offences. He pleaded guilty on Monday to five sexual offences against a boy between 1973 and 1976, Surrey Police report. At a hearing in July, Mr McNally had also pleaded guilty to two counts of indecency with a child and three counts of indecent assault on a male person. Two of the charges involved more than 40 occasions of touching and indecent assault of the child victim, who was aged ten-13 years old and was McNally’s pupil at the time. The child was groomed, the Police report. “McNally would then play on the victim’s faith, making him swear to God that he would never tell anyone about the abuse.”
Pott Shrigley carries off top magazine prize
THE Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards for the best church magazines in the country this year have been awarded to C of E publications, in a competition run by the Association for Church Editors (ACE). The announcement was made on Saturday at the annual ACE meeting in the Methodist Central Hall, Westminster. The Gold Award went to Ho†Pott, from St Christopher’s, Pott Shrigley, in Cheshire. The editor, Kath Matheson, said: “It’s lovely that our attempts to bring the Christian message, as well as stories relating to local people and events, to our rural community have been recognised in this way.” The Silver Award went to Connections, at St Mary the Virgin, with Hudswell, Downholme and Marske, in Richmond, North Yorkshire, edited by John McCormack; and the Bronze Award went to In Touch at Otley Parish Church, in West Yorkshire, edited by Stephen Hey. The ACE, a not-for-profit interdenominational organisation, celebrated its silver jubilee this year. churchmag.uk
Project seeks to improve public-sector religious literacy
A NEW initiative, the ReLIT standard, developed by the Religion and Belief Literacy Partnership, has been launched to improve religious literacy in the public sector. It seeks to help public-sector organisations to understand, respect, and engage with faiths and beliefs better when shaping policy and delivering services. The project builds on recommendations from the Bloom review: an independent assessment of faith engagement. Mark Hammond, project lead and former head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, told Premier Christian News that establishing “a standard to aspire to” would significantly enhance religious literacy in the public sector. A consultation event held this week had received strong support from government departments and public-sector organisations, he said.
Death of worried flat-owner ‘tragic’ says bishop
A LEASEHOLDER, Amanda Walker, who gave evidence to the House of Lords in July 2023 about how the cladding scandal had affected her well-being, has died, aged 51. She had told peers that the worry that her flat was an unsaleable fire risk had “consumed” her life. Her family reported this week that Ms Walker had been found dead in bed in January. A post-mortem examination was held, and an inquest is due to be held next week. The former Bishop of Kensington, Dr Graham Tomlin, now the director of the Centre for Cultural Witness at Lambeth Palace, ministered to the Grenfell community, and has been campaigning for the Government to address the crisis. “This is such a tragic story,” he posted on X on Monday. “It gives an urgency to sorting out the cladding crisis. It needs the focus of government and the construction industry to find a solution soon.”
Dr Mann shortlisted for T. S. Eliot Poetry Prize
THE most recent poetry collection by the Archdeacon of Bolton and Salford, the Ven. Dr Rachel Mann, Eleanor Among the Saints (Carcanet 2024), has been shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Poetry Prize. The prize awards £25,000 to the author of the best new poetry collection published in the UK or Ireland. Shortlisted poets receive £1500 each. “Our shortlisted poets are wonderfully diverse in style, theme, and idiom, embracing myth, pop culture, sport, faith, trans identity, AI — a gamut of present and past life,” the poet and judging chair, Mimi Khalvati, said. Dr Mann said this week that she was “flabbergasted” by the news.
LICC releases YouTube series for young Christians
THE London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC) has released a new YouTube series, Unscripted, hosted by Ennette Lainchbury, LICC’s Emerging Generations Champion and a co-host of the Growing on the Frontline small-group course. “Imagine a cross between an after-work pub chat and LICC’s signature style of biblical insight on culture and you’re there,” a press release says. “As the name suggests, each episode of Unscripted is an unfiltered, authentic conversation about topics including online dating, swearing, veganism, and holidaying with your significant other before you’re married. Each topic is addressed in an informal, relatable, and biblical way.” The free-to-watch series is aimed at young Christians. Episodes will be released fortnightly.