Safeguarding Sunday, will be introduced to churches nationally, a new initiative aiming to raise the profile of safeguarding.

The Bishop of Huddersfield, Jonathan Gibbs, gave a Safeguarding update to Synod.

Dr Gibbs, the Church of England’s lead safeguarding bishop, told Synod the church is “entering a season of action” in which “there is far more to be done.”

“Our aim is to help people see safeguarding as an integral part of the mission of the church,” he said.

“Safeguarding is partly about stopping bad things happening and about how we respond when they do, but it is also about enabling our churches to become places where people are enabled to flourish and grow into the fullness of life that God intends for us all.”

Read it all.

Our free #publiclecture on Thursday is Bishop Jonathan Gibbs Inaugural Lecture, 'What on earth are we here for?': https://t.co/Dq93ecHYFT pic.twitter.com/htL77OGvoN

— University of Huddersfield (@HuddersfieldUni) May 16, 2017

The Myriad initiative, which envisages the planting of 10,000 lay-led churches by 2030, is shining a light on what is already happening in the Church of England, the Bishop of Islington, Dr Ric Thorpe, said on Friday.

In a personal statement issued in response to concerns about the initiative (News, 2 July, 9 July), Dr Thorpe — who leads the Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication, home to the Myriad church-planting initiative — apologised for the “hurt and frustration” caused by communication of the work.

He referred to the phrase “key limiting factors”, used by Canon John McGinley, who leads Myriad, in a conversation about lay leadership (“When you don’t need a building and a stipend and long, costly college-based training for every leader of church . . . then actually we can release new people to lead and new churches to form”). The context to this had been lost, Dr Thorpe, said.

“I am so sad that this has happened. It is the opposite message to what we were trying to communicate and it didn’t come across as it was intended to. I am deeply sorry for the hurt and frustration that people have experienced.”

Read it all.

“What we are for is parish. It is at the very heart of our mission and our call. . . But we are also noticing the growing number of new congregations and lay-led worshipping communities around the country that are extending the reach of our parishes" https://t.co/ykkCO1GfwD

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) July 23, 2021

Sussex will see hundreds of children turning to church-run holiday clubs which operate from parishes across the Diocese of Chichester throughout the holidays.

St Peter’s Church in Selsey’s holiday club is aimed at children who would normally receive free school meals and is in collaboration with Selsey Lions Club and Youth Dream, a charity which provides youth services in the community.

Andrew Wilkes, the Rector of St Peter’s Church Selsey said: “It is so important for the parish church to be involved in this.

“We hope by providing meals and fun activities, in a safe and secure environment, will mean one less thing for parents and carers to worry about.

“After all, lending a helping hand to our neighbours is at the very heart of what it means to be a Christian.”

Read it all.

Actually, there’s a good bit to worry about, and it’s everybody’s business. This is particularly true in South Carolina, where the high number of willing hosts — just 50% of the eligible population had received one shot and only 44% were fully vaccinated as of Monday — combined with the emergence of the much more transmissible delta variant is driving infection rates back up to numbers we haven’t seen since the vaccine was still being rationed.

After remaining under the CDC’s “safe” 5% threshold for months, the rate of positive tests in South Carolina is on the rise: up to 10.8% Tuesday. Daily deaths and infections remain low, but as we learned last year, when the number of hospitalized and dead people hovered at low numbers until suddenly they didn’t, there’s a lag time between infection, serious illness and death.

Why should the vaccinated care? Beyond human compassion, there are at least three reasons it’s in everybody’s interest to get our vaccination numbers up….

Read it all.

The COVID-19 vaccine brought tourists back to Charleston and Charlestonians back out in public. A resurgence can drive people back into shelter.https://t.co/fWn0lrS2W7

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) July 23, 2021

I recently attended the inaugural Religious Liberty Summit hosted by the Religious Liberty Initiative at Notre Dame Law School, where attendees’ religious differences were obvious even to a casual observer. At this leading Catholic university, I watched a Jewish Rabbi praise a Mormon author. And as Rabbi Dr. Soloveichik spoke, I glanced up and saw an Elder from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a Catholic cardinal, and a notable Protestant leader sitting side by side. I saw secular agnostics and devout believers — reporters, advocates, and pundits. For all the differences in that room, there was a comfortable warmness, academic and earnest. It was apparent that the leaders who had gathered there shared an understanding that religious freedom is about our individual dignity as human beings and the demands of conscience.

Sitting inside that Catholic university, I remembered “Dignitatis Humanae,” Catholicism’s definitive 1965 document about religious liberty: “The truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entrance into the mind at once quietly and with power.” The document also argues that free will — free search — is foundational: “The inquiry is to be free, carried on with the aid of teaching or instruction, communication and dialogue, in the course of which men explain to one another the truth they have discovered, or think they have discovered, in order thus to assist one another in the quest for truth.” Religious liberty as a whole is at risk when a society embraces the idea that some searches for truth are invalid because of where they lead.

Read it all.

Don't miss the opportunity to hear Asma Uddin discuss her newest book "The Politics of Vulnerability" (releasing March 23).

REGISTER HERE: https://t.co/OurfPi1SD3…

BOOK INFO: https://t.co/DrhGIkBb9d…@kevinsinger0 @asmauddinesq @andrewtwalk pic.twitter.com/fm4GbA9s3F

— Neighborly Faith (@NeighborlyFaith) March 11, 2021

Holy and Mighty One, whose beloved Son Jesus Christ blessed the pure in heart: We offer thanks for the life and teachings of John Cassian that draw us to a discipline of holy living for the sake of thy reign. Call us to turn the gaze of the eyes of our soul always toward thee, that we may abide in thy love, shown to us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who with thee and the Holy Spirit is one God, living and true, to the ages of ages. Amen.

Happy feast of Saint John Cassian (+435) pic.twitter.com/TMqTN96i1y

— Martin Davies (@MartinAsKopua) July 22, 2021

O God, grant that looking upon the face of the Lord, as into a glass, we may be changed into His likeness, from glory to glory. Take out of us all pride and vanity, boasting and forwardness; and give us the true courage which shows itself by gentleness; the true wisdom which shows itself by simplicity; and the true power which shows itself by modesty.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

perfect reflections during sunrise pic.twitter.com/Dv989TwPtF

— Kaleb (@KalebJohnstonNZ) July 23, 2021

And all the assembly kept silence; and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brethren, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, as it is written,

”After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will set it up,
that the rest of men may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord, who has made these things known from of old.’

Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from unchastity and from what is strangled and from blood. For from early generations Moses has had in every city those who preach him, for he is read every sabbath in the synagogues.”

–Acts 15:12-21

Hazy sunrise over Downtown Charleston! Happy Friday! #chswx @stormhour pic.twitter.com/WmfbKgPwr6

— JoeyLive5 (@JoeySovine) July 23, 2021