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

Last week, a group of physician assistants across the state rallied at the Statehouse in Columbia calling for legislators to pass a bill that aims to address the growing need for primary care providers in South Carolina.

If passed, Senate Bill 553, proposed in February and with support from the South Carolina Academy of Physician Assistants, would allow eligible physician assistants to practice without the legal oversight of a licensed physician.

The bill stands to combat a lack of health care access for residents living in medically underserved areas of the state and those who are low income, who are currently experiencing the brunt of a worsening physician shortage.

The bill allows PAs who’ve completed 6,000 working hours under a supervising physician to practice without one.

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Last week, a group of physician assistants across the state rallied at the Statehouse in Columbia calling for legislators to pass a bill that aims to address the growing need for primary care providers in South Carolina. https://t.co/JUzkorpVul

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) March 14, 2023

Were there any particularly transformative moments for you while listening?

I think that, first of all, the depth of Scripture and theology was amazing. There were times that I would stop and say, “Boy, this church had decades of teaching at this level.” This immersion just comes up in his preaching all the time. He gets the big picture.

He sees how things go together at a level of depth that you would go, “That’s not profound.” But the profoundness is that he puts the pieces together. There was a sense that he wasn’t preaching at but … was standing alongside and that we are together learning under the authority of Scripture.

In one sermon, he said, “I think the great difficulty any Christian communicator or preacher has today is to have the courage to face the applications of Scripture in their own lives.” He applied Scripture to himself before he came to anyone else.

Then, in another sermon, he talks about the hallmark of authentic evangelicalism. And I’d be curious to know how John would deal with that today, given what’s happened to the term. But back then, it was the high view of Scripture and Scripture being applied to the realities of the current world.

He would say, “The hallmark of authentic evangelicalism is not that we maintain the traditions of the evangelical elders. It is rather that we are prepared to reexamine even the most long-standing evangelical traditions in the light of Scripture, in order to allow Scripture, if necessary, to judge and reform our traditions. Evangelical traditions are not infallible; they need to be reexamined. They need to be judged. They need to be reformed.” Well, that’s a statement that I think rings true today.

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John Stott: ‘Evangelical Traditions Are Not Infallible’

The late theologian’s sermons are going digital, thanks to one of his family friends.

The public will soon have access to a digital collection of hundreds of John Stott’s recorded sermons and transcripts spanning five… pic.twitter.com/O6j2id2afC

— Lagrimas DeMadonna (@lagrimasshop) March 14, 2023

The quality of Ukraine’s military force, once considered a substantial advantage over Russia, has been degraded by a year of casualties that have taken many of the most experienced fighters off the battlefield, leading some Ukrainian officials to question Kyiv’s readiness to mount a much-anticipated spring offensive.

U.S. and European officials have estimated that as many as 120,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the start of Russia’s invasion early last year, compared with about 200,000 on the Russian side, which has a much larger military and roughly triple the population from which to draw conscripts. Ukraine keeps its running casualty numbers secret, even from its staunchest Western supporters.

Statistics aside, an influx of inexperienced draftees, brought in to plug the losses, has changed the profile of the Ukrainian force, which is also suffering from basic shortages of ammunition, including artillery shells and mortar bombs, according to military personnel in the field.

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A pretty bleak assessment of the state of Ukraine’s military in the Washington Post:
Ukraine short of skilled troops and munitions as losses, pessimism grow https://t.co/ySom9PZkE0

— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) March 13, 2023

Another question is what will happen to the venture debt market. svb was a major player, with $6.7bn of such loans outstanding when it went under. Startups used this low-cost lending to top up balance-sheets between equity funding rounds. Most now expect such loans to become more expensive, especially for the youngest firms. Venture-capital outfits are unlikely to lower themselves en masse to the comparatively small returns offered by this sort of lending. Other wheels on the venture-capital machine will need oiling, too. For example, svb often provided bridge financing to venture-capital firms, allowing them to strike deals while awaiting cash from investors.

All this means that the loss of svb is likely to have a chilling effect on an industry already suffering from higher interest rates. Bankers may have to wait some time to see venture capital’s dry powder hit their deposit accounts—after all, in the last quarter, the amount of money flowing into startups globally fell by two-thirds. Limits on financing and difficulties banking baby firms will make the industry’s adjustment to higher rates more painful still. After such an adjustment, trips to the bank will remind dealmakers of their own mortality. That is not necessarily a bad thing.

Read it all (registration or subscription).

Startups used low-cost lending to top up balance-sheets between equity funding rounds. Most now expect such loans to become more expensive https://t.co/9Ty10mOPhT

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) March 14, 2023

Lord Christ, almighty Saviour, we cry to thee for aid against our strong enemy. O thou who art the Stronger than the strong, deliver us, we pray thee, from the evil one, and take sole possession of our hearts and minds; that filled with thy Spirit we may henceforth devote our lives to thy service, and therein find our perfect freedom; for the honour of thy great name.

Good morning from Cape Bonavista. Have a great day.#ShareYourWeather #NLwx pic.twitter.com/v3IuvkMMUk

— Mark Gray 🇨🇦 (@GrayMarker99) March 14, 2023

The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants–not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations” –in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, “So shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “reckoned to him as righteousness.” But the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

–Romans 4:13-25

An Early Bicycle Ride. 4°C and a chilly breeze. Kestrels hovering. pic.twitter.com/a6Kt104iNi

— Yorkshire Wolds Weather (@WeatherWolds) March 14, 2023