Churches are much more than buildings, and the Listed Places of Worship Grant (LPWG) Scheme is “beyond vital” to ensure that they can continue to be at the heart of communities, the Christian Funders’ Forum (CFF) has warned the Government.

These buildings are also often of significant architectural value, the CFF, a group of 50 grant-making charities say. They award grants totalling £70 million a year.

Churches such as St Michael-le-Belfrey, York, and St Mary Magdalene’s, Newark (News, 14 March, 4 April), where significant repair and restoration projects were already well advanced when the £25,000 cap on VAT exemption for repairs was announced in January, have been dismayed by the shortfalls in funding with which they are now confronted (News, 28 March).

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Treasury warned of ‘devastating’ consequences for churches if LPWG scheme ends https://t.co/qGfxfgsYkJ

— John Inge (@BishopJohnInge) April 14, 2025

You may listen directly here:

Or you may download it there.

Palm Sunday stained glass window in Chester Cathedral. pic.twitter.com/4p4MkZ2jiU

— A Beautiful Culture (@ABeautifulCult1) March 24, 2024

Serious questions now exist around the wisdom of owning American assets that until recently were the envy of a risk-obsessed world.

Amid the manic moves, key trading patterns even bear soft echoes with emerging markets. All told, fear is spreading that Trump’s bid to rewrite the terms of global trade risks imperiling America’s privileged status in the financial system.

“You honestly feel like you’re seeing stuff wrong sometimes. You have to check the scaling on your graphs because prices are moving so quickly,” said Charlie McElligott, managing director of cross-asset strategy at Nomura Securities International Inc. “It’s just a constant stream of bells and popups on the desks right now. Automated messages like risk limits and risk alerts. It’s maximum overstimulation, maximum dopamine saturation.”

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Fear is spreading that Trump’s bid to rewrite the terms of global trade risks imperiling America’s privileged status in the financial system https://t.co/JsjnRyp27E

— Bloomberg (@business) April 11, 2025

Fortifying the American home has become big business, selling escape tunnels, secret arsenals and even flammable moats. 

Ron Hubbard, the chief executive of Atlas Survival Shelters, runs one of many companies that designs and builds bunkers for wealthy clients. His business is booming.

A 2023 survey found that about one-third of American adults were prepping for a doomsday scenario, spending a collective $11 billion over 12 months.

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From underground bunkers to luxury panic rooms, doomsday prepping is no longer fringe — it’s a booming billion-dollar industry reshaping how Americans face the future.#US https://t.co/mKWKQFO9iK

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) April 14, 2025

Almighty and everlasting God,
who in your tender love towards the human race
sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
to take upon him our flesh
and to suffer death upon the cross:
grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility,
and also be made partakers of his resurrection;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Jesus' entry into Jerusalem #PalmSunday
München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, BSB Clm 4453; 'Evangeliary of Otto III'; c.1000 CE; Reichenau; p.94@bsb_muenchen pic.twitter.com/CSSIZi7DuL

— Ennius (@red_loeb) April 12, 2025

Righteous art thou, O Lord,
when I complain to thee;
    yet I would plead my case before thee.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
    Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
Thou plantest them, and they take root;
    they grow and bring forth fruit;
thou art near in their mouth
    and far from their heart.
But thou, O Lord, knowest me;
    thou seest me, and triest my mind toward thee.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
    and set them apart for the day of slaughter.
How long will the land mourn,
    and the grass of every field wither?
For the wickedness of those who dwell in it
    the beasts and the birds are swept away,
    because men said, “He will not see our latter end.”

“If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
    how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you fall down,
    how will you do in the jungle of the Jordan?
For even your brothers and the house of your father,
    even they have dealt treacherously with you;
    they are in full cry after you;
believe them not,
    though they speak fair words to you.”

-Jeremiah 12:1-6

Guten Morgen ihr Lieben, kommt gut in die neue Woche. pic.twitter.com/hy7VDnZWt0

— Constanze Riegel (@ConstanzeRiegel) April 14, 2025