Cowherder’s famous lines discovered in Rome
A LOST copy of “Caedmon’s Hymn”, the oldest poem to be written in English, has been discovered inside a manuscript at the National Central Library of Rome by two researchers from Trinity College, Dublin. The poem, nine lines long, is said to have been composed by Caedmon, a cowherd from Whitby, after a divine visitation. Composed more than 1300 years ago, it was recorded in Latin in a copy of The Ecclesiastical History of the English People by the Venerable Bede in the eighth century. The manuscript in Rome shows that the original Old English poem was reinserted into the Latin within 100 years of Bede’s finishing his work.
New Faith Minister announced — ninth in ten years
THE Labour MP for Barking, Nesil Caliskan, has been appointed as the new Faith Minister after Miatta Fahnbulleh resigned from the post in a letter urging the Prime Minister to resign (News, 15 May). A British Turkish Cypriot, Ms Caliskan has a degree in politics and international relations from Reading University, and led Enfield Council from 2018 to 2024. The Religion Media Centre has observed that she is the ninth Faith Minister in ten years
Dr Grenfell raises plight of Jason Moore in the Lords
AN ALLEGED miscarriage of justice in the conviction of Jason Moore for the murder of Robert Darby was raised by the Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich, Dr Joanne Grenfell, in her maiden speech in the House of Lords last week. Mr Moore was convicted in 2013. His case has been under consideration for six years by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. “I hope we will give due weight to those whose voices are hardest to hear — individuals maintaining their innocence over many years from within prison, and the families who stand alongside them,” Dr Grenfell said. Last year, she found a key witness in the case (News, 20 June 2025).
Interim ministers to get nationally funded training
CRANMER HALL, Durham, and Ripon College, Cuddesdon, announced this month a new director of interim-ministry training, the Revd Helen Gheorghiu Gould. The new post is funded through a share of the Church of England’s £4.8-million Innovation Fund and is intended to supply nationally funded training and support for interim ministers (IMs) and transition ministers. Legislative changes approved by the General Synod in July 2015 allowed for short-term clergy appointments under Common Tenure, enabling IMs to be widely deployed (News, 17 July 2015).
Feast of Creation to added to Revised Common Lectionary
A NEW Feast of Creation has been added to the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) for trial use by the Consultation on Common Texts (CCT), an ecumenical body representing more than 20 denominations, which produces liturgical texts used by many Christian churches worldwide. It is the first addition of a new feast to the RCL since its release in 1983. First proposed by the Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios in 1989, a World Day of Prayer for Creation has gained the support of several ecumenical bodies, including the World Council of Churches. In February, the General Synod took note of a report by the revision committee for a new Feast of God the Creator to be celebrated on the first Sunday in September, and referred it to the House of Bishops (News, 27 February).
‘No fundamental objections’ motion to be put to Synod
A PRIVATE member’s motion stating that “there are no fundamental objections to being in a committed, faithful, intimate same-sex relationship, and that such a relationship can be entirely compatible with Christian discipleship” will be debated in the General Synod in July, the Business Committee has confirmed. It has been tabled by Professor Helen King, of Oxford diocese, an authorised lay preacher, who is a classicist and the author of Immaculate Forms: Uncovering the history of women’s bodies (Books, 20 September, 2024).
United Reformed Church rebrands magazine
THE official magazine of the United Reformed Church has changed its name from Reform in response to concerns about its connotations of the political party Reform UK. The magazine will now be called Reformed.
Founder of Barnabas Fund dies
DR PATRICK SOOKHDEO, the founder of the Barnabas Fund, has died, aged 79, it was announced on Tuesday. A statement was published by TBF Trust, part of a group of charities known as the “Barnabas Family”. Dr Sookhdeo led the Barnabas Fund, dedicated to supporting persecuted Christians overseas, for 22 years until his resignation in 2015. That year, he was found guilty of sexual assault and intimidating two witnesses (News, 27 February 2015). He always maintained his innocence. In 2024, the Charity Commission announced that it was investigating the Barnabas Fund over serious concerns regarding its compliance with charity law and the use of charitable funds (News, 11 October, 2024), widened to four other charities connected to it, including TBF Trust, in 2025. The TBF statement said: “Patrick served faithfully for over 50 years with courage, conviction, and devotion to his saviour Jesus Christ. His life and work a testimony to the depth of his faith and his love of our persecuted brothers and sisters.”