Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme

Dame Caroline Dinenage, the Chair of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, has written to Baroness Twycross, Minister for Gambling and Heritage at DCMS, calling for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme to be made permanent and for the annual cap of £25,000 on individual claims to be removed. Her letter notes that the Church of England estimates that over 200 of the 260 cathedrals and churches beginning or undertaking projects have been impacted by the cap and that 40 of those are projects of £2 million or more. She notes that this may encourage more funding to be claimed from the Scheme and as a result asks that the Department review the Scheme’s overall budget.

Charity Commission: advice for charities operating in the Middle East 

The Charity Commission has issued Charities operating in the Middle East: guidance and support for trustees – which obviously includes Churches and faith groups. The Guidance notes that “Given the changeable nature of the area, it is vital that trustees remain alive to the risks that affect their charity”. The Guidance covers:

• Trustee duties
• Managing risk
• Being alert to financial sanctions
• Terrorism and proscribed organisations
• Know your donors and partners
• Banking and moving money
• Safeguarding
• Organising or participating in aid convoys and
• Fundraising and appeals.

Parliamentary gleanings

Andrew Rosindell (Romford, Con) seems to specialise in asking weird questions about religion in general and about Christianity in the UK in particular. His latest effort was to ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, “if his Department will take steps to re-establish the Church of Ireland as the established church of Northern Ireland”. To which the Paymaster-General, Nick Thomas-Symonds, replied, to no-one’s surprise:

“The United Kingdom has two established churches, the Church of England and the Church of Scotland. The church was disestablished in Ireland in 1871 and in Wales in 1920. There are no plans to change the current arrangements.

(Though whether or not the Church of Scotland is “established” at all is a matter of debate: that’s not how the Church of Scotland Act 1921 describes it.)

Currently awaiting answer is this gem: “To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government has taken to support (a) Anglo-Catholics and (b) traditionalist Anglo-Catholics of the Church of England in the workplace.” Quite apart from the obvious legal and theological difficulties of defining and distinguishing between “Anglo-Catholics” and “traditionalist Anglo-Catholics” in a suitably meaningful way (Affirming Catholicism vs The Society anyone?), why should those two groups in particular need protection in the workplace?

Perhaps a suitable follow-up could begin, “How many theologians her Department employs…”

“Caught Moss-Handed”

Last month, the Friends of Friendless Churches celebrated the opening of St James’s, Llangua in Monmouthshire after “three years of fundraising, one year getting consent, permission, licences and Faculty, and 14 months of repairs”. Those with concerns about the theft of lead from church will appreciate how the rare mosses on the roof of St James’s enabled the conviction of two criminals in the 1950s. The X/Twitter account explains:

“In the summer of 1951, a farmer spotted two men climbing on the roof of Llangua church at dusk. Unfortunately, by the time the police arrived, the men had fled the scene. After committing further criminals acts in the local area — namely the theft of tools and car batteries — the authorities caught the men, who turned out to be two brothers that had come to Monmouthshire from Cardiff.

Although the brothers had been arrested, the authorities were still yet to prove that it was these two men who had stolen the lead from the roof of St James’s, Llangua. However, a successful conviction would eventually be made thanks to ingenious investigative skills of Mr Emlyn Davies of the Forensic Science Department in Cardiff.

During his forensic examinations, Davies extracted some particles from the men’s clothes that turned out to be little bits of moss. However, this wasn’t any normal moss. Instead, it was a nationally scarce moss that grows on the roof of St James’s. With this incredible piece of concrete evidence, the men were convicted, pleading guilty to stealing lead from the roof of Llangua church — 74 years ago…on July 23rd 1951.

In 2025, there are still rare mosses covering the roof of St James’s, Llangua, the most significant being Hedwigia Ciliata Var Leucophaea. To protect these mosses, the roof tiles were mounted on purpose-made angled and suspended pallets during the recent repair works”.

Publication in the summer break

We noted this week that the Church of England’s media digest announced that will be issued on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays over the summer from Monday 28 July; it will resume five days a week on Monday 1 September. At L&RUK we will continue to post in response to events rather than to a strict timetable, and during this “quiet news” period, there may be some weeks in which do not warrant a “roundup” summary.

Quick links

• Kelvin Holdsworth, What’s in Kelvin’s Head?: “Issues” is no more.
• Richard Scorer, Surviving Church: The Matt Drapper Settlement. Damages awarded to plaintiff in ‘exorcism’ case, 21 July 2025.
• Francis Young: Election of the 12th Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich: “I explain this rather arcane legal process, which is closed to anyone who isn’t a canon” (or a canon lawyer).