Canadian city bans help to overcome unwanted same-sex attraction

May 28, 2020 by

Canadian city bans help to overcome unwanted same-sex attraction

by Anthony Murdoch, LifeSite: The new bylaw comes with fines of up to $10,000 or a year-long prison term for any business, extremely broadly defined, that offers ‘conversion therapy.’ A Canadian city banned businesses from offering help to those with unwanted same-sex attraction. In a 14-1 final vote yesterday, the Calgary City Council passed the third reading of the “Prohibited Businesses Bylaw-20M2020” (page 531), making it become law. The new bylaw 20M2020 makes it illegal for a...

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‘Daily Hope’ free phone line, bringing hymns and prayers to people’s homes, takes over 100,000 calls

May 28, 2020 by

‘Daily Hope’ free phone line, bringing hymns and prayers to people’s homes, takes over 100,000 calls

from ITV News: A free phone line for people to listen to hymns and prayers during lockdown has been so popular it’s already received over 100,000 calls. Daily Hope is funded by the Archbishop of Canterbury and set up by Pippa Cramer and her husband Steve from their home in Claygate in Surrey. “I’ve had amazing feedback. A lot of people are feeling quite isolated, lonely, frightened – I don’t think you can underestimate how scary it can be at the moment for...

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How do we value a life?

May 28, 2020 by

How do we value a life?

By Martin Down, CEN: Let’s start at the beginning. We obviously value a human life more than we value the life of an animal or an insect. I cheerfully swat a mosquito or a fly, and most of us cheerfully eat meat, at the cost of the life of a cow or a chicken. An Animal Rights activist might say that a cow or a chicken has as much right to life as I do. But if it were a matter of saving the life of a child or a dog in a house fire, most people, even Animal Rights activists, would save the child...

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Tell the Justice Secretary not to speed up divorce

May 28, 2020 by

Tell the Justice Secretary not to speed up divorce

from Coalition for Marriage: Dear marriage supporter, The Government’s reckless ‘no-fault’ divorce Bill is likely to be discussed by MPs soon. Please contact Robert Buckland QC, the Secretary of State for Justice, and urge him to drop the Bill. Ending a marriage will be easier than getting out of a mobile phone contract. The fault grounds will be abolished. A person could end their marriage on demand and the spouse being divorced would have no say. A victim of adultery or domestic violence...

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Anglican Communion: Anxious Times

May 28, 2020 by

Anglican Communion: Anxious Times

by Charles Raven, GAFCON: What are we learning about the Anglican Communion under the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic? This crisis has highlighted many unknowns, but some things do become clearer. Reactions to the unexpected are revealing. Africa is likely to be the region that ends up suffering most. Although the death toll, at the time of writing, is much lower than that in the West, the impact on the region’s economy and food security will put growing millions at risk even if the disease...

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Day of Prayer – Unlock the Gaol! – May 30 – Livestream

May 28, 2020 by

Day of Prayer – Unlock the Gaol! – May 30 – Livestream

from Voice for Justice UK:   Programme Session 1:  Welcome and Introduction: Revd Lynda Rose, CEO of Voice for Justice UK Session 2:   The Miracle of Dunkirk: David Lindsay, joint leader of Prayer for the Nation Session 3:   A nation deserving judgment: Revd Dr Clifford Hill, Director of Issachar Ministries and editor-in-chief of Prophecy Today UK. Session 4:   Repent and keep on repenting: Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, President of OXTRAD and former Bishop of Rochester Session 5:   Repenting...

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The Blessings of a Global Church

May 28, 2020 by

The Blessings of a Global Church

by Charles Raven, Latimer Trust: In August 2008 the Rt Revd Gavin Reid, former Bishop of Maidstone and leading evangelical, wrote an article for the Church of England Newspaper entitled ‘Why I am no longer an Anglican’.   Was he then withdrawing from the Church of England? No, far from it, but he had run out of patience with the Anglican Communion. Writing just after the first Gafcon conference had met in Jerusalem to launch a movement of Confessing Anglicans, he wrote ‘The crucial issue for...

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Officials are considering changes to law so small weddings can take place

May 28, 2020 by

Officials are considering changes to law so small weddings can take place

by Jack Wright, Mailonline: Churches are planning on allowing wedding witnesses to observe ceremonies using video conferencing technology under government proposals. Ministers are considering changes to the law to allow witnesses to dial-in remotely rather than attend wedding ceremonies physically post-lockdown. This could allow small weddings to go ahead and vulnerable guests and others who cannot attend a ceremony to watch happy couples get married. The move would also be a boon to anyone...

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Cleanse, don’t close, the Titus Trust

May 28, 2020 by

Cleanse, don’t close, the Titus Trust

by Julian Mann, Anglican Ink: Now that the Iwerne camps at which the serial abusers John Smyth and Jonathan Fletcher groomed their victims are closing, should the evangelical Christian organisation running the holidays since 1997, the Titus Trust, close as well? Because the victims of Smyth’s savage beatings made disclosures to various current clergy in the Church of England with former Iwerne dormitory officer, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby hearing of the abuse in 2013, its...

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Reclaiming the rainbow

May 28, 2020 by

Reclaiming the rainbow

by Jo Bartosch, spiked: When the likes of ‘non-binary’ singer Sam Smith were a mere sparkle in a drag queen’s eye, the rainbow was used by those fighting for lesbian and gay liberation as a symbol of resistance and acceptance. A little like the checked shirt or suspiciously well-manscaped facial hair, it was a sign for those of us in the know that we would be safe and welcome wherever we saw it displayed. But in recent years, it has become a gaudy symbol of pernicious groupthink. It has been...

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