Heritage funding for the 14,000 listed places of worship in England, including cathedrals, is to come in upfront capital grants, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has announced. Those in areas of high deprivation and “facing overwhelming fund-raising challenges” would be prioritised, it said on Wednesday.

The new Places of Worship Renewal Fund (PWRF) succeeds the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (LPWGS), under which places of worship could reclaim all the VAT paid on repairs and maintenance. Last year, the LPWGS was capped at £25,000 for each place of worship, meaning that those undertaking major repairs — such as a new roof — had to raise extra funds to cover VAT costs for the first time in two decades (News, 25 January 2025).

The new PWRF grant scheme is to be delivered by Historic England and is intended to bring places of worship in line with other heritage buildings. It has been influenced by the success of the Heritage at Risk and the Heritage Revival Funds, and, in targeting areas of greatest need, puts the emphasis on the community, DCMS says.

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Heritage funding for the 14,000 listed places of worship in England, including cathedrals, is to come in upfront capital grants, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has announced. Those in areas of high deprivation would be prioritisedhttps://t.co/G2J758K7rI

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) May 20, 2026

Going back to 2015 isn’t enough.  

The cultural revolution is on pause. Gender ideology, in particular, is in retreat. The fight isn’t over, but the momentum has shifted, especially when it comes to children. But to finish the fight, we must understand how things came to this—how did our society accept the sexual mutilation of children on the superstitious grounds that a boy can be born in a girl’s body or vice versa? 

This question draws out the divisions between opponents of gender ideology. A movement that has lesbian feminists alongside conservative Christians was always going to be fractious, but the divisions escalate as we argue over how to win, and what winning means. Liberal elements of the coalition are especially upset by conservatives’ continued opposition to same-sex marriage, rather than just trying to roll things back to around 2015—yes to same-sex marriage, yes to the Sexual Revolution, but no to transitioning kids and no to letting men into women’s spaces, sports, and so on. In other words, LGB without the T. 

But the LGB led to the T. After winning on same-sex marriage, the gay-rights movement immediately pivoted to transgenderism. Same-sex marriage enabled gender ideology’s sudden onset, for if male and female don’t matter in marriage, then they don’t matter anywhere. Conversely, if men and women are real, then this matters for sexuality and family beyond mere personal sexual preferences. We cannot get male and female right while pretending that sex (in every sense) doesn’t matter in marriage. 

This is why warnings about the slippery slope have been more prophecy than fallacy—for another example, note that liberals are now fighting for polygamy, with the New York Times reporting that, “From big cities like Seattle and Portland, Ore., to small ones like Astoria, Ore., proponents of ‘nontraditional’ romantic relationships are making headway in getting legal recognition.” Remember when conservative Christians were called alarmist bigots for predicting this? 

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What Binds Marriage Forever? https://t.co/E9t7nygCQC

— Public Discourse (@PublicDiscourse) May 6, 2026

Ten percent of Americans report using installment plans frequently when making purchases online, and another 17% use them occasionally. A total of 51% have used installment plans for online purchases, while 48% say they never have.

Lower-income Americans (those with annual household incomes under $48,000) are more likely to frequently or occasionally use installment payments (37%) than middle-income (between $48,000 and $89,999) and higher-income (at least $90,000) Americans are (29% and 21%, respectively). There are no statistically meaningful differences in installment-plan use by age, education or gender.

The results are based on an April 1-15 survey of 1,024 U.S. adults who are members of the Gallup Panel. Gallup did not ask respondents which types of purchases they use these installments for or how much they spend on purchases with these plans.

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Around half of Americans have used "buy now, pay later" installment plans for online purchases, including 10% who use them frequently, according to a new Gallup survey. https://t.co/4ZEqYj4LnB

— Tulsa's News Pulse | KTUL (@KTULNews) May 20, 2026

The South Carolina standing committee also criticized Bishop Ashey for other comments he made during the lecture that “prognosticat[ed] about the outcome” of the pending case against Archbishop Steve Wood and “promoted falsehood” about its complainants. Ashey is advising Wood as he awaits trial on canonical charges of personal and sexual misconduct.

In a lengthy retraction sent to the church’s bishops a week later, Ashey apologized for his speculation that Wood would be exonerated and for his “inaccurate” portrayal of the complainants, some of whom now belong to the Diocese of South Carolina, as “aggrieved” terminated employees. Of the complainants formerly employed under Wood at St. Andrew’s Church, Mount Pleasant, none were terminated, and all resigned, though Wood asked most of them to stay, one complainant told TLC.

While the province contends that the Council is without authority to govern the court’s protocols with regard to the Ruch documents, the Council’s main item of business at its June meeting will be a vote on a comprehensive Title IV revision that fully restructures the church’s disciplinary bodies and their procedures.

If passed, the new canons will phase out the current seven-member Court for the Trial of a Bishop and replace it with a tribunal from which smaller panels are drawn, and will introduce norms of public trial procedure=—two features also found in Episcopal Church canons.

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New for @Livng_Church: The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina calls for the release of documents related to the trial of ACNA Bishop Stewart Ruch as the church's fraught process for revising Title IV comes to a vote.https://t.co/zzTJB5SM4h

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) May 20, 2026

Almighty God, who in a rude and barbarous age didst raise up thy deacon Alcuin to rekindle the light of learning: Illumine our minds, we pray thee, that amid the uncertainties and confusions of our own time we may show forth thine eternal truth, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

May 20: Feast of Alcuin (Ealhwine) (†804), scholar and theologian. He was born in Northumbria and educated at the cathedral school in York. In 781, he met Charlemagne, who he became a key advisor to. In 796 he became abbot of St Martin at Tours. Alcuin, centre, depicted c.831 pic.twitter.com/qHqG8eLZaT

— North Ages (@NorthAges) May 20, 2026

O God, Who by Thine Almighty Word dost enlighten every man that cometh into the world: enlighten, we beseech Thee, the hearts of us Thy servants by the glory of Thy grace, that we may ever think such things as are worthy and well-pleasing to Thy Majesty, and love Thee with a perfect heart; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

–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)

Langzaam richting beter en warmer weer. Fijne woensdag😀 #zonsondergang pic.twitter.com/dcmR9gP7le

— Tjark Dieterman (@DietermanTjark) May 20, 2026

In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, every one who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy and a pavilion. It will be for a shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

–Isaiah 4:2-6

For Waterfall Wednesday we're sharing this view of Wain Wath Falls in Upper Swaledale. Fresh air, flowing water and views like this – just what Wednesday calls for.

📸 Wendy McDonnell | #YorkshireDales #WaterfallWednesday pic.twitter.com/736NBzGovU

— Yorkshire Dales National Park (@yorkshire_dales) May 20, 2026