“Like many amateur photographers, we do occasionally experiment with editing”…

Asylum decision-making and conversion to Christianity

On Tuesday, the Commons Home Affairs Committee held a one-off evidence session on Asylum decision-making and conversion to Christianity. It heard from Revd Matthew Firth, former priest-in-charge of St Cuthbert’s and Holy Trinity, Darlington, who is now a priest in the Free Church of England, Revd Canon Christopher Thomas, General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford, and the Revd Steve Tinning, Public Issues Enabler at the Baptist Union of Great Britain. The Committee also heard from Home Office minister Tom Pursglove. BBC News reported the session here.

In a written submission to the Committee, the Church of England stated that it does not set a central policy for supporting asylum claims, that clergy “use their wisdom and training to discern the motives of all converts to Christianity as far as this is possible” and that asylum decisions are for the Home Office and tribunals – evidence from church members was “not determinative”. Further, “there is no apparent relationship between the numbers of asylum applications and the number of Church of England adult baptisms”.

Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill

The Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill, promoted by Gillian Mackay MSP (Green, Central Scotland), would create 200m “safe access zones” outside clinics to stop users and staff from being harangued and intimidated by protestors. It is currently at Stage 1: the bill page is here.

The first Stage 1 committee session heard from supporters, including the British Pregnancy Advisory Service. On Tuesday it heard from groups opposed to the proposal, including the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children in Scotland and the Free Church.

In a submission to the Bill’s consultation, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland said that the proposals were “extreme” and “patronising to women” and raised questions about human rights. The right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association would be “seriously impacted by the proposals, as the Bill will criminalise people for expressing certain views and occupying certain spaces” and it would also take “the extraordinary step of criminalising prayer contrary to the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

“Like for like” oil-fired boiler approved…

… contrary to the recommendation of the DAC and preliminary direction of the consistory court:  Re St Mary Stalbridge [2024] EC Sal 1. Willink Dep, Ch. provides a useful analysis of the term “due regard” and the delineation of the separate roles of the DAC and the court. Post to follow.

Preventing lawful and decent burial

Further to the interest shown in our post Preventing lawful and decent burial, we have added a new heading to the Index; this provides links to our coverage of Hans Kristian Rausing (a.k.a. “the Tetra Pak Heir”), and the Moors murderers (mainly Ian Brady) and the more recent note on cremation ashes.

Church Times month – March 2024

For the whole of March 2024, the Church Times is offering completely free online access so that readers can share stories without the paywall. Further details are here. On checking out the site there is the message “You have now read xx of your 10000 free Church Times articles this month. Enjoying this article? Keep reading!” so non-subscribers have plenty of opportunity to explore CT articles. A current feature is the detailed article by Senior Writer, Madelaine Davies, No churchwardens and vacant PCC posts: an investigation into the church volunteering crisis.

On 11 March, there was a free online seminar, ‘Keeping faith in journalism: Why it matters and what it’s worth’, a recording of which is here. Four experts* discussed some of the challenges of reporting on religion including “what do journalists offer readers that bloggers and social media commentators don’t?” Given the CT initiative behind the seminar, it is unsurprising that discussion was restricted to print/broadcast media and the relevance of social media was not explored. However, each of the four experts has an active presence on X/Twitter, and perhaps this aspect might be explored on a future occasion.

* the Podcast was chaired by the broadcaster Roger Bolton and featuring Madeleine Davies, Senior Writer, Church Times, Kaya Burgess, Religious Affairs correspondent, The Times, and John Bingham, Head of News, Church of England and former religious correspondent of The Daily Telegraph.

Ecclesiastical Law Society London Series 2024

• Thursday 23 May: Stuart Jones, Birketts LLP., Registrar, the Dioceses of London and Norwich: “The developing work of the Legal Advisory Commission: reflections from a current member”.
• Thursday 18 July: Revd Canon Dr Robin Ward, Principal, St Stephen’s House, Oxford: “‘The heathen in his blindness bows down to Wood and Stone’- the canonical erudition of Canon Edmund Gough de Salis Wood SSC (1841-1932), an essay in Anglo-Catholic jurisprudence”.
• Thursday 12 September: Rt Revd Martin Seeley, Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich, “Rebuilding Trust”.
• Tuesday 12 November: Revd Canon Dr Flora Winfield, Third Church Estates Commissioner, “Furthering the mission of the Church of England and making better provision for the cure of souls: reviewing the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011”

All London Lectures will take place at the Grosvenor Chapel, South Audley Street, London W1K 2PA at 6 pm. You can book here.

Quick Links

• Norman Doe and Stephen Coleman, Bloomsbury: The Legal History of the Church of England: From the Reformation to the Present.
• Philip Jones, Ecclesiastical Law: A Bishop’s Disciplinary Tribunal.
• Safeguarding in Faith Settings APPG: Meeting 18th March, 15:00 to 17:00. With Alexis Jay and John O’Brien.

And finally…

This from “Hairstyles”, one of our regular spammers:

“When I originally commented I clicked the ‘Notify me when new comments are added’ checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get three e-mails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Many thanks!”

Tough: serves you bloody well right.