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Release International is urging the country’s re-elected president, Abdel Fattah al–Sisi, to demonstrate a clear commitment to protect Egypt’s persecuted Christian minority and safeguarding freedom of religion in the country. Egypt has the largest remaining Christian community in the Middle East, despite continuing persecution, which Christians often call ‘the pressure’. The harshest persecution has come...

The father of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence has made the humbling decision to forgive his son’s killers, saying he has embraced Christian faith (reports the Press Association). Nearly 25 years after losing his first child, Neville Lawrence, 76, said the decision was the hardest he has ever made, and that he struggles to put into...

The Church of England has recently made contactless, virtual terminal, and SMS mobile payments available throughout England, in a bid to make transactions faster and easier for the Church’s congregations. In an increasingly cashless era, churches will now be able to offer cashless payment options for events including weddings, christenings, church fetes and concerts, as...

The Church of England has welcomed the recent ruling by Mr Justice Ouseley at the High Court on the Government’s two-child rule for payment of tax credits and universal credit. The Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, said: “We are pleased the High Court has recognised that the two-child limit is in part unlawful and that kinship...

Church of England survey highlights what it means to be a mother in Britain today Always being there to support their children when needed tops the list of important things that the British public say their mothers have done for them, new research has found. Teaching them to “do the right thing” and showing the...

A leading campaigner has warned of a gathering storm for persecuted Christians in China. Release International partner, Bob Fu, says the persecution of Christians has worsened dramatically under President Xi Jinping, and is set to get worse now Xi has been declared president for life. Bob Fu said: ‘Churches have been totally destroyed under President...

The Bishop of St Albans, a leading campaigner for measures to limit the harm done by Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs), has recently responded to recommendations from the Gambling Commission. The Rt Revd Alan Smith supports reducing the maximum stake on the machines to £2, from the current level of £100. The Commission has recommended limiting the stake to at...

Lords Rowan Williams and Richard Harries have helped launch a new campaign for a fairer tax system: Church Action for Tax Justice (CAT). CAT will seek to inspire all Churches about the urgency of creating fairer and more effective tax systems to fund healthier public services, both in the UK and internationally. Rowan Williams, who...

So says the Archbishop of Canterbury’s ‘Just Finance Foundation’. In a recent statement, it said: ‘Primary school pupils should receive compulsory lessons on how to manage money as part of the response to growing levels of financial insecurity and problem debt in the UK.’ Learning where money comes from, when to spend and how to...

Schools should teach children to look beyond the culture of cosmetic surgery, fast cars and designer labels, a bishop has told leading head teachers. In a recent address to school leaders in London, the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, said schools can be places where children learn to seek “fullness of life”...

There is a forest coming.  Well, 50 million trees that will ‘embrace’ Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Chester and Hull, among other urban centres.   Over the next 25 years, with the M62 as its ‘spine’, the Woodland Trust will be working with the Community Forest Trust to plant a 120-mile “Northern Forest” between Liverpool and Hull....

Vending machines that can provide essentials such as water, sandwiches, and warm socks to rough-sleepers 24 hours a day, are to be installed in several cities in the UK. The first machine was installed in Nottingham at the beginning of the year, and already Action Hunger, the charity behind it, has had requests from charities...