These articles were first published in our August edition of the newspaper, click here for more.
Buses and Underground signs were wrapped in rainbow flags by Transport For London as part of London’s Pride week, in early July.
50 Santander bikes (formerly Boris bikes) were adorned with the same symbol. Skittles, the sweets known for their ‘rainbow colours’ were produced in totally white packets as ‘only one rainbow deserves to be the centre of attention’. Facebook now issue a rainbow flag as one of seven standard emojis to use to ‘like’ a status.
Plans for a Counter-Extremism Commission were announced in the Queen’s Speech in early June.
Free-speech campaigners called for the government to pause its plans and consult widely. The Queen’s Speech did not mention the plans for an Equality Oath, or Ofsted entering Sunday schools and youth clubs. However, the government has continued to advocate both these strands of its counter-extremism strategy.
Living Leadership announced the appointment of Luke Hammond to the position of Formation Conferences Coordinator in mid-June.
Formation Conferences exist to build strong foundations for church and programme interns taking their first steps in ministry. To find out more, head to www.livingleadership.org/formation or contact Luke on luke@livingleadership.org
Lord Shinkwin’s role as Commissioner at the Equality and Human Rights Commission was abolished just 36 hours before he was due to attend his first meeting in late June.
He is well known for campaigning for parity in abortion laws and said ‘as a congenitally disabled person, I would have been a prime candidate for abortion’. According to a select committee, the UK is not meeting its commitment to Disability Rights so the abolition of his role is questionable, and could perhaps be linked to his non-liberal approach to abortion.
Early June saw Bible Society celebrating 40 years of the Bible a Month project.
Back in 1977, a small group of people joined the initiative to give a Bible a month. Since then over 23,000 people have joined the gang and through their gifts they have given over 7 million Bibles. It’s surprising what a small, regular gift can achieve.
London City Mission announced the strengthening of their leadership in June with the appointment of four new members to the team.
Reverend Tayo Arikawe joined the mission as Director of Ministries and Caroline Millar as Church Development & Partnerships Director. This followed the appointment of Pamela Brown-Peterside, who joined in April as Field Director for West London, and Imtiaz Khan who became Field Director for East London in June, having been with the Mission for nearly 12 years.
The Church of England’s synod which met in the city of York voted, on 9 July, on a number of contemporary issues emanating from LGBT groups.
These included support for banning ‘gay conversion therapies’ and issues around a transsexual liturgy and how to ‘welcome’ trans people in the church. Nuanced amendments were put forward, but some describe these as being ‘lost’ as the culture’s values ascended to overtake biblical teaching.
More detail can be found in Rob Munro’s article.