Parishes in Margate, in Canterbury diocese, rated as one of the most deprived areas in the country, are among the recipients of the latest tranche of Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment (SMMI) funding.

In total, the diocese has been awarded £3.2 million for a five-year programme of church-planting, or setting up new congregations and revitalisation, it was announced on Friday.

SMMI is a new funding stream through which the Archbishops’ Council allocates funding to dioceses…. It replaces Strategic Development Funding (SDF), Strategic Capacity Funding, and Strategic Transformation Funding. It includes a £340-million Diocesan Investment Programme for the current triennium (2023-25), comprising a £100-million of Lowest Income Communities Funding…, and a remaining £240 million fund for which all dioceses can bid. Bids must be in line with the priorities of the overarching Vision and Strategy priorities for the 2020s.

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Millions given to help revitalise Kent churches. https://t.co/sWA9LMExmq #ebound #eboundavx #ukchurches #churchheritage

— E-Bound AVX (@EboundAVX) March 26, 2024

The provincial proposal being advocated by CEEC and the Alliance would involve the exercise of geographical episcopacy as it would involve bishops having responsibility for particular geographical areas. I have previously made this point in a theoretical description of what a conservative third province (the ‘Province of Mercia’) might look like.

‘Like the existing provinces of Canterbury and York, the new province would consist of parishes, deaneries, archdeaconries and dioceses. The number of dioceses that would initially be formed would obviously depend on how many parishes opted to join the new province, but one possible pattern would be for there to initially be four dioceses, one in the Southwest, one in the South and Southeast, one in the Midlands and East Anglia, and one in the North. Chaplaincies in Europe would come under the diocese for the South and Southeast.

Each diocese would initially have one bishop and one of these would be the archbishop of the province. There would be no fixed archiepiscopal diocese and the office of archbishop would subsequently be held by the senior bishop of the province.

A parish church in each diocese would be the cathedral. This would contain the bishop’s chair and would be used for diocesan services such as the enthronement of the bishop, ordinations, and the renewal of ordination vows on Maundy Thursday. The diocese would be named after the location of the cathedral and the incumbent would carry the title Dean. There would be no cathedral chapter and when not being used for diocesan services the cathedral would act as a normal parish church.’

As can be clearly seen in this description the geographical nature of episcopacy would be maintained in such a provincial arrangement. Bell’s suggestion that the geographical nature of the episcopate precludes a provincial solution is therefore mistaken.

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I have just posted a new blog post, 'Geographical episcopacy – a further response to Charlie Bell.'https://t.co/5qMh71WfIv

— Martin Davie (@MartinBDavie) March 11, 2024

Againat a background of running costs of £30,000 a day, and an income down by £1 million a year since the pandemic, the Dean of Canterbury, the Very Revd David Monteith, has defended the decision to hold silent discos this month.

Dean Monteith also suggested that there was a “gentle evangelistic dimension” to such events….

A 1990s silent disco was held in the cathedral for two nights this month, eliciting criticism from some quarters after footage was shared online. An online petition (“Anglican Deans, stop turning our great cathedrals into nightclubs”) has collected more than 2600 signatures. It was organised by a Roman Catholic layman, Dr Cajetan Skowronski.

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I looked at the scale of the financial challenge facing cathedrals, as highlighted by @liturgicalben in a recent article.

‘Our commercial activities utterly subsidise our worship.’https://t.co/eo1NXJ0fj9

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) February 26, 2024

A 7% increase in the National Minimum Stipend (NMS), set to come into effect in April, has been welcomed by the trade union Unite.

The increase, agreed by the Archbishops’ Council, acting as the Central Stipends Authority (CSA), will see the minimum stipend jump from £26,134 to £28,670.

Last July, the CSA announced a five-per-cent increase for 2024. The greater uplift to seven per cent has been made possible because dioceses, which will have to fund the stipends, need pay less into the Church of England pensions scheme. In December, the Pensions Board announced a drop in the contribution rate by three percentage points from April this year: to 25 per cent of the previous year’s National Minimum Stipend.

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A seven-per-cent increase in the National Minimum Stipend (NMS), set to come into effect in April, has been welcomed by the trade union Unite https://t.co/jroZM9yEUY

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 7, 2024

A homeless shelter has warned it may have to close because it only has enough money to run for another “four to five months”.

Churches in Reading Drop-In Centre (CIRDIC), a shelter based in St Saviour’s Church Hall in the town, says it costs £100,000 per year to run, and it currently only has about half of that.

Manager Mabel Gregory said it would be “dreadful” for the community if the centre had to close.

She said rising prices had made running the shelter “very, very difficult”.

“Our gas bill has gone up to £1,000 a month,” she said.

Read it all.

It would be beyond terrible were CIRDIC to close. It's been providing vital services for Reading's homeless for many years.https://t.co/dZDISP2hyP

— Karz From The 'Ding 🙄💙🦆☕🍺🍷🥃🦉🐧🧀 (@FFSKarz) January 17, 2024

“The story of a wealthy businessman who annually gives out hundreds of $100 bills to strangers motivated a group of Phoenix students to start their own Secret Santa club. Steve Hartman has their story in “On the Road.””

Watch it all.

Cathedral assets vary so widely that the richest cathedral holds 70 times more than the poorest, figures published in a written answer to a question at last month’s meeting of the General Synod have shown.

The Bishop of Sheffield, Dr Pete Wilcox, who chairs the Mutuality and Transparency in Finances Group, had asked what account the Church Commissioners had taken of the disparity; and the Dean of Peterborough, the Very Revd Chris Dalliston, had wanted to know what use would be made of the figures in supporting cathedrals in the financial challenges that they faced.

The figures date from 2020. Norwich topped the league table, with net assets of £73.5 million. Salisbury was the next highest, at £62.5 million, closely followed by Durham and Canterbury at 62.3 and 62.2 respectively. Lincoln (57.6), York Minster (50.7), Winchester (49.7), St Paul’s (42.4), Chichester (38.0), and Lichfield (32.7) completed the top ten.

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"All parts, all communities of the nation should have an equal access to the mission and ministry of the Church of England, including stipendiary ordained ministry, and that must mean an equal access to financial provision for how we get there." https://t.co/68igkkdZfM

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) December 5, 2023

I am sad to say I had a brain freeze during this one and mixed up Elijah and Elisha with reference to the Naaman story (2 Kings 5). My apologies.

The parable of the talents, depicted in a 1712 woodcut. The lazy servant searches for his buried talent, while the two other servants present their earnings to their master. pic.twitter.com/w5SEAtydJk

— 🌿_ (@rebeca6169) March 30, 2021

A total of £2.8 million has been allocated for 30 Church Buildings Support Officers across the country to give specialist advice on the management, conservation, repair and development of church buildings, including community use alongside worship.

A further £6.2 million has been allocated across 41 dioceses for making grants of up to £12,000 for repairs to churches. The grants will focus on small-scale but urgent works and ‘stitch in time’ projects that could save larger sums in the long term. The fund will also be able to help cover the cost of essential improvements for the mission and ministry of a church.

The grants come from the £11 million Buildings for Mission, funded by the Church Commissioners and administered by the Archbishops’ Council over the period 2023 to 2025.

Emily Gee, Director for Cathedrals and Church Buildings for the Church of England, said: “Buildings for Mission will help to fund the repair and improvement of church buildings through the dioceses, as well as to boost professional advice and grant money for rural and urban church buildings most in need.

Read it all.

“Our churches and cathedrals are invaluable signs of our Christian presence and heritage."

£9 million to be awarded to dioceses for repairs and specialist advice to parishes.

Read more at https://t.co/kMmg8WbQPX.

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) November 9, 2023

The congregation raised the entire $1.6 million needed to purchase the property outright in less than three months. Shelton remarked, “The faithfulness of the Lord brings all of us to greater faithfulness, obedience, and generosity every day. The Lord has been good to St. John’s Parish Church these last 15 months, and we are sure He will continue the good work He has begun.”

Senior Warden, Ben Dixon, said, “I feel extremely fortunate to be part of this process, one that we as a Parish have not undertaken in almost 300 years. It is exciting to own new property on which to build a church. It has also been a blessing to experience the steadfastness of our congregation as we stepped out in faith during this process. While this is only the beginning of our journey, we now have a place to call home, to minister to the people of Johns and Wadmalaw Islands, for many years – and generations – to come.”

Read it all and watch the video.

Up to 19 churches in a town could close because of rising costs.

The plan has been put forward by the Diocese of Liverpool, which oversees churches in Wigan, Greater Manchester.

It has already outlined four churches that will be “released” with another 15 sites at risk of closure.

The diocese said they had to “face the reality that they cannot afford to invest” in all churches as it currently costs £1m per year to maintain church buildings in the borough.

Read it all.

Emma Thompson makes for an unlikely rebel. Her Christian faith was nurtured through Anglican choral music and the Book of Common Prayer. She teaches Sunday school and conducts a choir in her church.

“The local level, in my book, is where all the good happens — the love, the looking after your neighbour, the delivery plan for being a Christian,” says Thompson, a former City solicitor and now a company secretary and freelance journalist.

Her passion for local parish churches is fierce to the point that, she says proudly, the two most senior clerics in the Church of England have described her as a “rascally voice”.

Attendance in the Church has fallen by nearly 40 per cent since 1979, according to the British Religion in Numbers online data resources, and by more than 15 per cent alone since 2013.

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My piece in today's @thetimes https://t.co/er0y6xwgox

— abigail frymannrouch (@abigailfrymann) September 30, 2023

Most Churches in the Anglican Communion are tackling the realities of the climate crisis every day, a global audience has heard. But the overwhelming nature of the crisis, and the attendant denial and cynicism, have hugely undermined efforts to act for change, the chair of the Anglican Communion Environmental Network, the Rt Revd Julio Murray Thompson, has said.

Bishop Thompson, a former Primate of Central America, was addressing participants from around the world in webinars on the Lambeth Call on the Environment and Sustainable Development (News, 11 August): part of a structured series on how each of the calls — specific requests determined at last year’s Lambeth Conference — is progressing.

A key part of the [partial 2022] Lambeth [gathering] Declaration was the acknowledgement: “We contribute to the problem. We contribute to the solution. We are both local and global. We connect with one another, share our experiences, and can leverage our networks and Anglican identity to mobilise for action. We do not speak from just one position but from many. We do not only speak to others; we speak also to ourselves.”

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Anglican environmental chair warns against climate denial https://t.co/4BnOXWDLg9

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 22, 2023

The Government’s decision to row back on its green commitments is shameful and short-sighted, the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, has said.

In a speech on Wednesday afternoon, the Prime Minister announced plans to delay Net Zero targets, although he said that he still wished to meet the deadline of 2050. Measures an­­nounced included delaying by five years a ban on new petrol and diesel cars and delaying phasing out gas boilers.

If the country continued to im­­pose existing targets, he said, “we risk losing the consent of the British people and the resulting backlash will not just be against specific pol­icies, but against the wider mission itself.”

Bishop Usher, the C of E’s lead bishop for the environment, posted on social media on Wednesday morning, after news had leaked that Mr Sunak intended to water down the targets: “It will be another shame­­ful day if [the Government] rows back on its Net Zero policies. Shortsighted, it will erode credibility at home & abroad. This isn’t the time to seek political advantage with games. Leadership and action are needed, not delay and procrastina­­tion.”

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“Whilst it is right that he has kept our international commitments, postponing changes leave necessary adaptations to the last minute, rather like last-minute exam cramming — a risky gamble" – @bishopnorwich https://t.co/JCbZB6N6AJ

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 21, 2023

Read it all.

Anglican Diocese of #SouthCarolina Moving to Purchase Land for Camp and Retreat Center https://t.co/DldUEvojnd #faith #parishministry #anglican #religion #retreatcenters #realestate [Diocesan picture] pic.twitter.com/9KTEUErDPO

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) September 15, 2023

As the UK sweltered under a ferocious autumn sun this week, Christians took part in 13 climate pilgrimages around the UK, from Glasgow to Brighton, to highlight public concern regarding the climate crisis, and to call on the Government to end new oil and gas expansion.

The Met Office announced that the heatwave in England and Wales this week was the first time since records began that temperatures have been higher than 30ºC for six days in a row in September.

The Revd Vanessa Elston, a pioneer priest in Southwark diocese, took part in a pilgrimage in Battersea. She said: “The public are really concerned about the climate issue. We don’t want to be paying sky-high energy bills to fossil-fuel companies in a cost-of-living crisis. Renewables are cheaper; so it’s high time our leaders made them a viable option on a large scale.”

As temperatures rose, leaders of the G20 group of nations met in Delhi, where they called for peace in Ukraine, agreed that the world needed $4 trillion to fund the energy transition away from fossil fuels, and called for accelerating efforts towards a “phasedown of unabated coal power”; they said that poorer nations needed financial support to ensure a “just transition”.

Before the summit, church leaders representing more than 600 million Christians, had called on the G20 leaders to implement progressive carbon taxes and to end subsidies for fossil fuels, which could raise $3.2 trillion for the needed energy transition.

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Christians held a prayer vigil outside World Vision this week, calling on them to stop banking with @Barclays – the largest funder of fossil fuels in Europe.

My latest piece for the @ChurchTimes on growing pressure for charities to clean up their banking.https://t.co/EtrzeomRfm

— Joe Ware (@wareisjoe) September 14, 2023

The ability of the Church in Wales to bring people together in good conversation and partnership should never be underestimated, the Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd Andrew John, told the Church’s Governing Body on Tuesday.

In a presidential address that drew parallels with the story of Nehemiah, and focused on challenge and opportunity, he announced the Church’s hosting of a two-day all-Wales climate summit in the second part of next year. It will draw together academics, activists, pressure groups, and stakeholders to discuss the health of the country’s waterways, and the impact of industry, agriculture, and residential domestic use on its landscape.

Wales had the opportunity to redesign its approach to energy, water, land use, and the sustainability of food supply at every level, Archbishop John said. “We are not the experts, save we know what good signposting looks like, and what human flourishing involves. We have a role as people of neutrality that invites confidence.

“Our capacity and commitment to show what human society could look like is well understood and appreciated. We have seen that church must mean much more than gathering and breaking bread on Sunday; that our commitment to justice, to the creation, to the poor might take us into uncomfortable places. That is what the Kingdom of God invites and involves.”

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The ability of the Church in Wales to bring people together in good conversation and partnership should never be underestimated, the Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd Andrew John, told the Church’s Governing Body on Tuesday https://t.co/bJUxYcLzBw

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 6, 2023

The consultation asked diocesan stakeholders for views and suggestions on how dioceses might cooperate to use resources better and on how The Church can best enable the important ministry of suffragan and area bishops, including whether any structural changes should be considered.

In the letter, Dame Caroline Spelman and Martin Seeley, Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich say that there will not be any centrally-led structural changes to dioceses, or combinations of dioceses as a result of the consultation.

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No ‘big bang’ restructuring of Church of England dioceses, says Commission https://t.co/aNgLuS18Bz

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) August 3, 2023

Awards of nearly £13 million have been made for dioceses to help churches reach more children, young people and families, from toddler groups to apprentice youth ministers, in the latest round of grants for mission from the Church of England.

The grants from the Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board of the Archbishops’ Council will revitalise parishes and start new congregations. The investments build on already successful projects to create new congregations and reach children and young people in areas including Bolton, Bournemouth, Guildford, Southampton and Wakefield.

In the Diocese of Guildford, £3.27 million has been awarded for the first phase of a nine-year project to reach young people of secondary school age with the good news of Jesus Christ in partnerships with schools.

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Our latest grants for dioceses will help churches reach more children, young people and families.

Read more about the projects that will be funded at https://t.co/59728umQib.

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) July 28, 2023

I am pleased to update you that we have crossed another important milestone in the progress we are making towards our church sanctuary construction. Since the beginning of the initiation of our contract with Habersham Land Company, the transfer of the property has been contingent upon the financing.

As you know, we have raised the pledge commitments over a number of years, therefore a bridge loan from a lending institution was needed. More specifically, we needed to provide a loan commitment letter from a Bank to prove we could, in fact, build the building.

We have believed for a few months now, that we had enough money in pledges and cash on hand to prove that a bank would want to enter into a loan relationship with us. However, this past Wednesday, the first bank did extend a commitment letter to us. Therefore, what we hoped for and saw good reason to believe would happen, has happened. We have satisfied the conditions to close on the property.

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The Parish Church at Habersham in the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina nears groundbreaking for new Common Worship building https://t.co/CszGrBO217 #southcarolina #parishministry #anglican #acna #religion #lowcountrylife #stewardship #realestate #beginnings #worship pic.twitter.com/4KgndQ4GKl

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) July 27, 2023

The Church of England has taken note. This week, a proposal suggested by members of the Blackburn diocese to trial waiving the statutory fees for couples planning a church wedding (up to £641), was voted through by the General Synod. “While everyone likes the principle of free weddings, there is understandable anxiety about the unknown effect on church finances of doing so: the amendment to authorise a regional trial means we can allay those concerns,” pointed out the Rev Tom Woolford, who originally raised the issue.

The Blackburn diocese cited a 50 per cent fall in Church of England weddings over two decades. Whether saving £641 if you marry in a church away from where you both live, or £539 if you marry in your home parish, on a day that, on average, costs £18,400, will encourage tens of thousands of couples to flock to churches remains to be seen.

“I’m hoping and praying the trial goes really well and we can bring a motion for the full abolition of wedding fees in due course,” the Rev Woolford said. The Archbishop of York, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, described it as “a chance for us to do something which I believe could be really good for us, good for our soul”.

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🔴 The General Synod has waived statutory fees – but will the new tactic work?https://t.co/GoAB1QjEdn

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) July 13, 2023

Christians care about justice. The Bible sets before us a vision of a Kingdom in which the hungry are fed, the sick are healed, and all live in harmony with one another and the created world. We know that it is our duty and joy to build that future Kingdom now, which is why we are so quick to condemn inequality and speak out against poverty.

But, if we are to condemn injustice and inequality when we see it elsewhere, we must also be willing to address it in our own structures. And one area where we stubbornly refuse to do this is finance.

The new Bishop of Liverpool, Dr John Perumbalath, wrote to colleagues recently to outline the severity of his diocese’s financial situation — one that has resulted in urgent engagement with the national Church and a partnership with an independent reviewer to help them identify financial solutions.

This is not because of mistakes on the part of Liverpool diocese; indeed, that diocese has for years benefited from some of the finest financial managers in the Church, and has shown courage and agility in naming and addressing underlying issues. The problem is that it has no inherited assets, whereas the average level of endowment in dioceses nationally is £40 million.

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.@bpblackburn: “If we are one Church, why should not every diocese benefit from that average endowment figure of £40 million? [It] would both wipe out our structural deficit and give us a surplus to invest in mission, without touching the capital sum.”https://t.co/fb7pMrzXPC

— Adrian Hilton💎 (@Adrian_Hilton) July 7, 2023

“It’s amazing what trash is left in our parks, both on our beach and in the interior of the park,” Wilson said, adding that park rangers cannot issue littering citations. “So much work goes in from volunteers to staff, both in parks and on the beach, just picking things up.”

In the U.S., the upcoming Fourth of July holiday typically brings millions of visitors to coastal beach areas for holiday festivities. The significant amount of litter and trash left behind has led the California-based Surfrider Foundation to dub July 5 as the dirtiest day on the beach.

Wilson, who has worked at the park since 1994, said she is bracing herself for what she will find that day. She urges the public to pick up their trash in order to protect the environment.

“A lot of times, we just throw up our hands and think, ‘What can I possibly do? I’m just one person.’ But everybody can make a difference,” Wilson said. “If you pick it up, that means an animal won’t.”

Read it all.

In the U.S., the 4th of July holiday typically brings millions of visitors to coastal beach areas for festivities. The amount of litter and trash left behind has led the California-based Surfrider Foundation to dub July 5 as the dirtiest day on the beach. https://t.co/hujzVUzKB8

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) July 5, 2023

The Church of England could rent out parish churches instead of selling them under proposals to deal with dwindling congregations.

At present, churches struggling to fill pews are often merged with other parishes and their buildings sold off.

However, under plans being considered by the General Synod, the Church’s legislative body, buildings would be allowed to lie “fallow” with the option to reopen them in the future.

This could mean renting them out at times and also offering them to other institutions, such as local authorities or even other Christian denominations, under a shared ownership deal.

Read it all.

The Church of England could rent out parish churches instead of selling them under proposals to deal with the crisis of dwindling congregation numbers. Plans emerged in papers ahead of #synod later this week.https://t.co/MG3xaIK0Pk

— Gabriella Swerling (@GabriellaSwerl) July 1, 2023

Last year I identified four areas where greater funding is need now, and these have become no less urgent in the last 12 months.

First, with the cutting of stipendiary ministry we are facing the real possibility of the C of E withdrawing from large parts of the country. Perhaps that needs to happen, in order for new and effective ministry to be re-established at a later date—but we cannot just ignore this reality.

Secondly, clergy stipends have been in long-term decline, and there is a real sense of hardship amongst those clergy with children and without a second income. Given the overall financial situation, including the Commissioners’ assets, I think this is a scandal.

Thirdly, in 2015 the clergy pension was unilaterally reduced by a third, by what I regard as a sleight of hand. Questions in Synod have confirmed that this would cost a mere £25m per annum to rectify. (I say ‘mere’ in the light of the numbers above). This must surely be put right, and better provision made for housing for clergy in retirement who were not able to buy their own property during ministry. If you are a member of General Synod, please sign my Private Members’ Motion proposing that we address this.

Fourthly, our residential theological colleges are under threat and financial pressure, for a range of reasons, but principally because of the disaster of the RME changes, and because of the unmanaged growth of other forms of training. Historically, these have been vital sources of theological learning; we have already lost what was the largest college, and it would be a tragedy to lose another. These are assets which can never be regained once they are lost.

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The Church Commissioners have posted another excellent set of results for last year. The assets have doubled in ten years—and increase 17-fold in 30. Why, then, are dioceses and parishes still under such financial pressure? @WalkerMarcus @AngelaTilbyhttps://t.co/yIHfw5Nlt6

— Dr Ian Paul (@Psephizo) May 26, 2023

We thank you, creator God,
for the goodly heritage you offer us,
from green downland
to the deep salt seas,
and for the abundant world
we share with your creation.
Keep us so mindful of its needs
and those of all with whom we share,
that open to your Spirit
we may discern and practice
all that makes for its wellbeing,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

–The Rev. Peter Lippiett courtesy of Xavier Univeristy

The SC Chamber is celebrating #EarthDay

Do YOUR part in taking care of the world we live in! 🌎 pic.twitter.com/i4KIUMOZOJ

— SC Chamber of Commerce (@scchamber) April 22, 2023

The City of York Council and the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England have given the go-ahead to install photovoltaic panels on the roof of York Minster.

The cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, is considered one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe.

The installation of 199 solar panels on the South Quire Aisle, dating back to 1361, will generate 75,000kWh of power annually and surplus power will be stored in underground batteries to power evening services and events.

Additionally, a panel inside the Minster will display power production and carbon savings, promoting the importance of decarbonisation to visitors.

Authorities say that the decarbonisation project can play a significant role in helping Minster achieve its commitments to sustainability.

Read it all.

Will this be the UK’s first net zero cathedral?

Nearly 200 solar panels will be installed on the roof of York Minster while excess power will be stored in underground batteries@CityofYork@churchofengland

#energycrisis #climatechange #ClimateCrisis https://t.co/ygjaM1rEW7

— Energy Live News (@EnergyLiveNews) March 14, 2023

Parishes across England and Wales can now register to participate in Churches Count on Nature, an annual scheme where people visit churchyards and record the plant and animal species they encounter.

An adult and child taking part in the Churches Count on Nature, using a magnifying glass to look at wildlifeCaring for God’s Acre
The biodiversity survey, supported by environmental charities A Rocha UK and Caring for God’s Acre, as well as the Church of England and the Church in Wales, will take place from June 3 to 11, 2023.

In the last two years, 900 counting events took place across churches in England and Wales, and over 27,000 wildlife records were submitted to Caring for God’s Acre. Churches across all denominations take part in the count each year.

The data will be used to determine where rare and endangered species are located in the country and to aid churches of all denominations to increase biodiversity on their land for the enrichment of the environment and local communities. This year, species on some of the 17,500 acres of churchyards in England alone will be mapped, with a further 1,282 acres of churchyards in Wales.

As graveyards and church land are usually undisturbed and not used for farming, they can be host to a great variety of wildlife not seen in other green spaces, particularly in urban areas. Old churchyards often have fantastic flowery and species-rich grasslands as they have been so little disturbed over the centuries.

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Parishes across England and Wales can now register to participate in Churches Count on Nature. 🌳

Read more at https://t.co/wrywVybO6C.

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) March 8, 2023

A better way to think about the moral import of gambling, and by extension the ubiquity of online sports betting, is to consider what it reveals about the gambler. The Hebrew and Christian scriptures warn many times against the excessive desire for wealth. It is remarkable, for example, that the last of the 10 commandments forbids the inward, private act of coveting: that is, the desire for what rightfully belongs to someone else. Jesus asserted—similarly referring to an unseeable sin—that a man cannot serve both God and mammon. The apostle Paul called the love of money “the root of all kinds of evil.”

Most forms of gambling, it’s fair to say, manifest a desire for money so inordinate that one is willing to take stupid risks to get more of it. Heavily investing in a stock you haven’t researched, putting your savings in a Ponzi scheme, betting on the Chiefs or the Eagles with money you can’t afford to lose—these are follies of the human heart. Or, to use a plainer word, sins.

Of course, the Bible doesn’t forbid risky investments. Jesus himself encourages a certain kind of them. “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”

Read it all.

Sports betting is no longer taboo. Even the Manning boys say it’s OK. But is it wrong? asks Barton Swaim https://t.co/QHnmzXzURL

— Wall Street Journal Opinion (@WSJopinion) February 10, 2023