At that hearing, Mr [Edward] Dobson said that the “starting point” was that evidence was to be taken in private, on the grounds that this would better protect children and young adults, and that the question whether the default should be for public hearings had been considered by the Synod (Synod, 12 July 2024).

The Measure, given final approval in February (News, 14 February), will now have to be considered further. The intention is that it will replace the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003.

Redress Scheme reviewed. The Ecclesiastical Committee took evidence this week on the Measure to introduce the Redress Scheme for abuse survivors, which was finally approved by the Synod in York in July (News, 18 July). Despite the raising of concerns at a hearing on Tuesday about a data breach by the law firm administering the scheme, the Committee is expected to give the Measure the green light to become law.

In August, it was announced that the email addresses of people who had signed up for updates on the scheme had been disclosed in a data breach by Kennedys, the firm administering the scheme (News, 29 August).

Read it all.

The Ecclesiastical Committee (MPs and Peers who advise on whether draft Measures approved by General Synod should be approved by Parliament) is expected to send the draft Clergy Conduct Measure (CCM) back to the General Synod. V unusual.https://t.co/nr8Et6xThU

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) October 31, 2025

Across India’s sprawling landscapes, Christian organizations are stepping up with urgency and creativity to confront the mounting challenges posed by climate change. 

Their work spans everything from solar-powered schools and rural farming projects to national climate declarations and interfaith advocacy, positioning faith-based groups at the forefront of India’s green revolution.

India’s Catholic institutions have become unlikely climate champions. In the western provinces, Jesuit Father Frazer Mascarenhas coordinates the Ecology Platform for the Jesuit West Zone: “About 60 institutions have achieved zero electricity bills for quite some time and demonstrated that it is a viable project to save the only home we have — the fragile Earth,” Mascarenhas explained in a recent interview. 

Vinayalaya, a Jesuit-run center in Mumbai, is now fully powered by solar energy. The project aims to solarize all 110 Jesuit schools, seminaries and residences in four provinces by 2027.

Read it all.

Across India’s sprawling landscapes, Christian organizations are stepping up with urgency and creativity to confront the mounting challenges posed by climate change https://t.co/mbDQGY1BiE

— Religion Unplugged (@ReligionMag) October 31, 2025

I’ve been around churches my entire life—specifically evangelical ones. There’s a certain kind of conversation that happens among pastors and denominational leaders, usually in almost hushed tones: “Did you hear about how [insert church name] added a thousand new attendees last year?” Someone will inevitably chime in with another example of a church experiencing rapid growth. Before long, the discussion circles back to the same question: “How in the world do they do that?”

For most pastors, leading a church through that kind of explosive growth will never happen. A good year might mean adding ten or fifteen new members. More often, the reality is stagnation—or even a slight decline. And there’s a good reason for that: most churches just aren’t that big. The FACT study (PDF) found that about 70% of congregations have fewer than 100 people in regular attendance. The National Congregations Study concluded that the average church has just 70 active members.

So when we hear about a church adding a thousand new members, it’s so rare it almost sounds impossible.

For the last decade, Outreach Magazine has published a list of the “fastest-growing churches in America.” They gather this data by contacting thousands of churches via email, asking them to report two numbers: their average attendance in February/March of the previous year and their current average attendance. Outreach then runs calculations and spot checks to confirm the numbers are accurate before publishing the Outreach 100 list.

Read it all.

Great article (see link), and I'm glad to be a teaching pastor at @MarinersChurch.

Our growth last year was a great blessing, but this year's growth is even larger.

Lots of people coming to Jesus! The Spirit is moving!

Pray we might steward it well. https://t.co/p311oxhxIz pic.twitter.com/lGeTe179dM

— Ed Stetzer (@edstetzer) October 30, 2025

It’s time for worship at Church of the Lamb. Dress for the weather because the service is outdoors most of the year.

That also means Basil the rooster crowing during the sermon. Or Joan of Arc, the pastor’s family cat, threading through your legs.

The worship space is an open barn in Penn Laird, a rusty but sturdy 75-year-old sheet-metal structure, where cattle once fed and left a surplus of manure.

It’s an Anglican community, 31 acres, that hums with social activities as well as labor on behalf of Rockingham Abbey, which sustains the property ecologically and markets farm goods and international coffees.

The congregation got its start in Elkton, then moved to Redeemer Classical School in Keezletown, then moved outdoors at Redeemer because of COVID, and finally to the barn in May 2023.

Read it all.

Fun writeup on an Anglican church meeting mostly outdoors in the Shenandoah Valley. https://t.co/88Inkmpu5F

— Jeff Walton (@jeffreyhwalton) October 31, 2025

“Most of [us] have never really faced the facts about ourselves until we uttered them aloud in plain words, calling a spade a spade.” ⏤ C.S. Lewis, The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Vol. 3, from a letter to Mary Van Deusen on April 6, 1953

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
–CS Lewis pic.twitter.com/I0vQTTqPsC

— M.A.D. Life (@MADadLife) October 14, 2025

Hear us, O Lord, as we come to thee burdened with our guilt, and bow in faith at thy feet.  Speak to us thy word of absolution; say to our souls, Thy sins be forgiven thee; that with good courage we may rise up and go forth to serve thee, now and all our days, to the glory of thy holy name.

Grand Rising…
Feeding the coos before going to work.
It has been a stormy night, gusty winds over 75mph with torrential rain. #FridayFeeling #sunrise #Autumn #weather #StormHour #GoodVibesOnly #jefinuist #Scotland #OuterHebrides pic.twitter.com/TFOrRYlPla

— DaliMach (@frenchscotjeff) October 31, 2025

In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Ar-ta-xerx′es, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing else but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live for ever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lies waste, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “For what do you make request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may rebuild it.” And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah; and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house which I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.

–Nehemiah 2:1-8

Morning everyone I hope you are well. Pre dawn on Derwentwater as the early mist obscures Catbells but highlights Derwent Island. Have a great day.#LakeDistrict pic.twitter.com/GMJCBANQQt

— Rod Hutchinson (@lakesrhino) October 31, 2025