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That is the forecast of Release International, which has recently published its annual Persecution Trends survey. “Our partners tell us that attacks are on the rise under Communism in China, Islam in Iran and Malaysia, and under militant Hinduism in India,” says Release CEO Paul Robinson. “Yet despite persecution and pandemic, we see clear evidence...

A new report by Christian Aid, Counting the cost 2020: a year of climate breakdown, has identified 15 of the most destructive climate disasters of the year. Ten of those events cost $1.5 billion or more, with nine of them causing damage worth at least $5 billion. Most of these estimates are based only on...

The Church of England, the education charity Teach First, and the Chartered College of Teaching have recently launched the new Rural Teaching Partnership. The partnership will run in ten pilot regions across England, and will see trainee teachers, trained by Teach First, start two-year placements with Church of England primary schools by September 2021 By...

The Government is to give the communications regulator Ofcom new powers to protect children and adults when they are using the internet. An Online Harms Bill will be introduced later this year, with the intention of allowing Ofcom to block access to online services that fail to properly protect children and other users.  Giants like...

As we launch in to 2021, with rapidly rising numbers of infections, it is all too easy to lose our bearings. So says Nigel Genders, the Church of England’s Chief Education Officer. He urges that rather than argue along the “usual political fault lines”, or to follow newspaper articles putting the blame either on ‘incompetent...

– as PM’s Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief Fiona Bruce, MP for Congleton, has recently been appointed as the new Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). Bruce has long been a supporter of the work of Open Doors, including attending the World Watch List parliamentary launch, visiting an Open...

HOPE Together has a new executive director. Dr Rachel Jordan-Wolf has just taken over from Roy Crowne as executive director to lead HOPE Together in the UK. Rachel has worked closely with HOPE Together since 2010, when she was the Church of England’s National Mission and Evangelism Advisor. “We’re still really committed to evangelism being at the heart...

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), Co-Convenors of the Global Tailings Review, the Church of England Pensions Board and the Council on Ethics of the Swedish National Pension Funds, have recently announced a partnership to create an independent international institute to support the implementation of the Global Industry Standard...

This month you can join churches around the UK in prayer, giving and action, on behalf of those who are struggling with poverty.  Society should be “founded on compassion and justice, where all people are able to exercise dignity, agency and power,” says Church Action on Poverty. For free resources to encourage prayer and fund-raising,...

The founder of the largest independent faith-based safeguarding charity in the UK was recently awarded an MBE for services to safeguarding the vulnerable. David Pearson led Thirtyone:eight (known previously as CCPAS) until his retirement in 2010. From humble beginnings in a caravan parked on his driveway, the charity now employs 50 staff and engages with...

 Editor:  We apologise for the lack of many ‘news’ stories for January. This is due partly to Coronavirus, which has resulted in the cancellation of many usual events, and also to Christmas: all the current ‘news’ stories are focused on events happening at Christmas, and not in January! We must become a ‘simpler, humbler, bolder...

The momentous events of 2020 will have a “profound effect” on the future of the Church of England and our wider society, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have said. In a recent joint address to the General Synod, Archbishops Justin Welby and Stephen Cottrell said the Church of England must adapt and put its...