Inquest held into the deaths Steve and Kathy Burch
AN INQUEST into the deaths last August of a retired priest in Coventry diocese, the Revd Steve Burch, and his wife, Kathy Burch (News, 6 September; Obituary, 25 October), concluded that they were killed after an 81-year-old Audi driver, John Pickering, “lost control” of the vehicle, colliding into the couple as they were walking near Beaumaris Pier, on the Isle of Anglesey, Coventry Live reports. Pickering, who also died in the crash, was found to have “applied the accelerator rather than the brake” as he took a sharp bend “well in excess” of the 20mph speed limit, having initially been attempting to get out of a tight parking space so that his wife could get into the car. He was not wearing a seatbelt. The inquest heard that the couple had “no time to react”. All three were pronounced dead at the scene.
New board members for Churches Conservation Trust
THE Bishop of Ramsbury, Dr Andrew Rumsey, and the Canon for Congregational Discipleship and Nurture at York Minster, the Revd Timothy Goode, have been appointed to the Churches Conservation Trust’s board of trustees. The other new trustees are: Dr Ingrid Samuel, a former civil servant; Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, a former political secretary to Prime Minister Theresa May; Michael Bithell, a former Group Finance Director of United Westminster and Grey Coat Foundation; and Vivienne King, the founder of Impactful Places, an independent sustainability consultancy.
Scientists in Congregations awards presented
A TOTAL of £71,735 has been awarded to nine Christian organisations in England and on the Isle of Man to explore the relationship between science and faith. The Scientists in Congregations awards, of up to £10,000 each, were presented last week to Trinity Network, Bristol, for its science-and-faith video course; Food for Purpose CIC for its Healthy Church Initiative; Great St Mary’s, Cambridge, for its project “Communicating Hope: Science, faith, and sustainability”; St Clement’s, Cambridge, for “Stewarding God’s Creation in the Heart of Cambridge”; Knowle Parish Church, Solihull, for its project “Eco-Lent 26”; St German’s Cathedral, Peel, for its project “Mars – From imagination to science”; St Mary and Pope Kyrillos VI Coptic Orthodox Church, London, for its project “Give Joy to the Face of the Earth”; Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School, St Albans, for its “Science and Faith Symposium: Building a better world with our parents, pupils and priests”; and St Cuthbert’s RC Church, Durham, for “Created and Called: Discovering God’s story through faith and science”.
Remote-control system helps tower clocks to keep time
THE 1899 pendulum clock in the tower of St Mary Magdalene’s, Bridgnorth, in Shropshire (right), is now keeping time with a remote-control system that removes the need to scale the tower steps to adjust the time by hand. After seeing an elderly parishioner struggle to ascend the tower to complete the task each week, the founder of Axis Micro Systems, Mike Proudman suggested a low-cost solution connected to a five-relay programmable microcomputer, and controlled by means of a smartphone.
Jury deliberates on Chris Brain charges
THE trial of the founder of the Nine O’Clock Service (NOS) on charges of rape and indecent assault entered its final stages on Tuesday, as the jury withdrew to consider its verdict. Chris Brain, 68, of Park Road, Wilmslow, founded and led the NOS in Sheffield in the 1980s and early ’90s before the “rave-church” movement collapsed amid claims of sexual and mental abuse.