Daily Archives: March 12, 2026

(Church Times) Former Free Church minister James Treasure to become Bishop of St Germans

The next Suffragan Bishop of St Germans, in the diocese of Truro, is to be the Revd James Treasure, Downing Street announced on Monday.

He succeeds the Rt Revd Hugh Nelson, who was translated to Worcester last year (News, 29 July 2025).

Mr Treasure became the Vicar of St Thomas and St Luke (known locally as “Top Church”), Dudley, in 2018, and has been Team Rector since 2023.

He trained at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, and was ordained priest in 2017. He served his title at St John the Baptist and Holy Innocents, Kidderminster, in Worcester diocese. He was previously “a leader in a free church” before his move back to the Church of England, the Truro statement said.

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Posted in Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops

(Crux) Scotland bishops say assisted suicide bill violates religious freedom

The Bishops’ Conference said it strongly disagrees with the Government’s position, noting that every organization has guiding values that shape its mission and practice.

“For many faith‑based organizations, including Catholic hospices and care homes, these values are fundamentally incompatible with the introduction of assisted suicide,” said Bishop John Keenan of Paisley, the President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.

“The Bishops’ Conference maintains that no organization should be compelled by the State to participate in the deliberate ending of life when doing so would violate its ethical or religious principles,” the bishop said.

Anthony Horan, the Director of the Scottish Catholic Parliamentary Office, said the Scottish Government and Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) must accept that Catholic hospices and care homes cannot, in good conscience, provide any services under the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, nor can they be expected to refer anyone to such services.

“Assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the Gospel,” he told Crux Now.

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Posted in --Scotland, Anthropology, Ethics / Moral Theology, Health & Medicine, Law & Legal Issues, Life Ethics, Politics in General, Religion & Culture, Roman Catholic

(Local paper) 10 years on top: Charleston named No. 1 city in the South again

A decade-long winning streak continues for the Holy City after it was crowned the South’s best destination by Southern Living readers.

The annual awards highlight readers’ favorite destinations and experiences — from cities and beach towns to restaurants, resorts and hotels.

Charleston beat out hotspots like Savannah, Asheville, N.C., and Nashville, Tenn., among others.

Southern Living writers said Charleston’s streak “proves that what’s old can always be new again.”

“Our readers will never tire of this Lowcountry gem’s sparkling harbor, charming historic architecture, and first-rate dining scene,” the publication stated.

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Posted in * South Carolina, Travel

(CH) For his feast day–Gregory I and England

Gregory I (540-604) was the first monk to become pope. He was born into the ruling class, but had given away everything he owned to become a monk. During his impressive papacy, he devoted himself to reforming the church and monasteries and to helping Italians who were suffering from famine, plague, and invasions.

Another of his lasting achievements was the conversion of Southern England. This area of Britain had been conquered by pagan Angles and Saxons, ‘the English’. But when King Ethelbert of Kent married a Christian princess, it seems Gregory saw an opening, and sent his prior Augustine (not to be confused with Augustine of Hippo, whom we have already met) to evangelize them. One story, that is not included in our excerpt from Bede, says that Gregory was inspired by the sight of some young English slaves whom he saw in Rome. Amazed by their fair hair, he asked who they were, and being told they were Angles, replied “Not Angles, but angels.”

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Posted in Church History, England / UK, Roman Catholic

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Gregory the Great

Almighty and merciful God, who didst raise up Gregory of Rome to be a servant of the servants of God, and didst inspire him to send missionaries to preach the Gospel to the English people: Preserve in thy Church the catholic and apostolic faith they taught, that thy people, being fruitful in every good work, may receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the day from Frank Colquhoun

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.

Posted in Lent, Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Bible Readings

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.3This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to our food and drink? 5 Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a wife, as the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?

Do I say this on human authority? Does not the law say the same? For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of a share in the crop. If we have sown spiritual good among you, is it too much if we reap your material benefits? If others share this rightful claim upon you, do not we still more?

Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have any one deprive me of my ground for boasting.

–1 Corinthians 9:1-15

Posted in Theology: Scripture