Episode 22

The Church of England has been boiling over in recent months, with divisions on same-sex blessings and frustration at the debacle over safeguarding, with talk of parishes withholding money and calls for an alternative set of bishops. But the February 2024 General Synod struck a different tone. There were some issues on which the whole synod agreed, such as more churches on housing estates. And the clergy felt appreciated, with open discussion on their pay and pensions and moves to deal with rebellious church councils.

But on same-sex blessings, the synod is stuck, unable to find two thirds in favour of any current proposal, so the lead bishop appealed for peace and reconciliation and agreed to provide clear proposals on how the church can stay together. The church’s bureaucratic failures on safeguarding were displayed in two highly critical reports, and the synod decided to move forward with a plan, despite a disagreement over the way this would be done.

In this Religion Media Centre briefing, Rosie Dawson spoke to some of the leading voices from the synod to find out if a page had been turned and a split averted. Her guests included: Prof Helen King; Ven Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes; Rev Dr Andrew Goddard; Rev John Bavington, Great Horton, Bradford; Susie Leafe, Anglican Futures; Debbie Buggs, Church Pastoral Aid Society; and Paul Waddell, representing Southwark diocese.

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The charity Inform (Information Network Focus on Religious Movements) has just celebrated its 35th anniversary and in this briefing, we look back at its work with founder, Professor Eileen Barker; honorary director, Dr Suzanne Newcombe; and senior research officer, Dr Sarah Harvey.

Inform's role has always been to research and communicate information about minority religions, sects and new religious movements. Over 35 years, the landscape has changed from clearly visible groups like the Moonies and the Children of God, to invisible networks on social media, where ideas bounce and re-emerge across them all, and increasingly new groups within mainstream traditions. The continuing growth of new religious movements across the board looks certain to secure Inform's future, with Dr Newcombe observing that "people's beliefs and practices are not going away, they're just changing contexts. And even if it appears that people aren't identifying with institutional religion, they're still doing similar things". 

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Contact Information

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(+44) 0203 970 0709

A report by Prof Alexis Jay into safeguarding in the Church of England recommends two new charities should be set up to deliver and scrutinise safeguarding operations, and they should be entirely separate from the church. It says the current safeguarding system is “flawed and cannot be sufficiently improved whilst it remains within church oversight” and needs to fundamentally change to restore the confidence of victims, survivors and clergy.

In this Religion Media Centre briefing, our panel discuss the report’s tough criticism of the current safeguarding system on seven key issues including inconsistent systems across all 42 dioceses, failure to collect data and lack of independent scrutiny. They consider how this major change can be implemented when confidence and trust are at an all-time low. And they voice complaints that this is another structural change which will be forced through like those which failed before, and that the same people involved in the collapse of the last system have been assembled to oversee the setting up of the new charities, with an absence of survivors at the heart.

Ruth Peacock hosts, with guests: Julie Conalty, the Bishop of Birkenhead; Rev Dr Ian Paul, member of the Archbishops’ Council; Andrew Graystone, advocate for survivors of church abuse; Jane Chevous, co-founder of Survivors Voices; and Justin Humphries, CEO of Thirtyone Eight, a Christian organisation dealing with safeguarding.

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/

X: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

info@religionmediacentre.org.uk
(+44) 0203 970 0709

The impending closure of the Inter Faith Network after 37 years has shocked and dismayed faith leaders across the UK. The government says it is withdrawing funding because a new IFN trustee is associated with the Muslim Council of Britain, an organisation which the government will not speak to due to a dispute in 2009.

The Inter Faith Network was set up to raise awareness and understanding of different faith communities and promote good interfaith relations. It has supported local initiatives and brought together national faith organisations to provide opportunities for safe dialogue, especially needed during the flashpoints of the Rushdie book burning, 9/11 and terrorist attacks in the UK.

In this Religion Media Centre briefing, speakers said its role was more important than ever at the moment against the background of war in the Middle East. So the decision to withdraw funding was outrageous and devastating, leading to predictions that dialogue will wither. Rosie Dawson hosted this discussion with many speakers including Dr Harriet Crabtree, executive director Inter Faith Network; Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra; Dr Ed Kessler, founder director of the Woolf Institute; the Bishop of Bradford Toby Howarth; and Bishop Patrick McKinney, lead Catholic bishop for inter-religious dialogue; plus many local interfaith activists.

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

info@religionmediacentre.org.uk
(+44) 0203 970 0709

Church leaders have hit back at allegations that they are naively backing fraudulent asylum claims by accepting the validity of fake conversions. In a Religion Media Centre briefing, The Bishop of Chelmsford, Guli Francis-Dehqani said wisdom and discernment needed to be applied to the conversion process and it should not be seen as a ticket to get someone magically through the asylum process. There was no “cast-iron set of criteria to be 100 per cent sure of what’s going on in people’s hearts and minds”.

The Tory MP Tim Loughton, who asked in the Commons whether the Archbishop of Canterbury was effectively “scamming the taxpayer” over fake asylum claims, told the briefing that the Church of England's guidance should encourage clergy to test the validity of conversions. And he believed the smaller Christian groups and churches needed to create their own guidelines for work with asylum seekers, in association with the Home Office.

Ruth Peacock hosted this discussion, which also included: Emily Shepherd, CEO of the Welcome Churches Network; Pastor Graham Nicholls, director of the Affinity network of evangelical churches; Krish Kandiah, founder and CEO of The Sanctuary Foundation, Gulwali Passarlay, former asylum seeker; and the Rev Jonathan Keyworth, formerly Heywood Baptist church, Manchester, which has a large Iranian congregation.

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

info@religionmediacentre.org.uk
(+44) 0203 970 0709

The National Churches Trust has published a manifesto calling for urgent action to save the UK’s church buildings. ‘Every Church Counts’ sets out a six-point plan to support volunteers, make more use of church buildings for the community, achieve annual government funding of £50 million for maintenance and repairs, work with tourism organisations to make more of their heritage, keep them open for the community outside worship times, and collect the information and data on church buildings and their role.

In this Religion Media Centre briefing, the panel discusses the current situation where churches are forced to close. They explore the options for keeping them maintained, functioning and open as assets in their communities. Chaired by Rosie Dawson, our panel is:

• Sir Philip Rutnam, chair of the National Churches Trust
• Claire Walker, Chief Executive of the National Churches Trust
• Bishop Vivienne Faull, one of two lead bishops for church and cathedral buildings
• Emily Gee, Director for Cathedral and Church Buildings for the Church of England
• Rev Scott Rennie, the Vice-Chair of the General Trustees Church of Scotland 
• Alex Glanville, Head of Property Services Church in Wales
• Sophie Andreae, Vice-chair of the Patrimony Committee of the Catholic Bishops Conference

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

info@religionmediacentre.org.uk
(+44) 0203 970 0709

The Media Bill going through parliament will change the landscape for public service broadcasters — the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, STV and S4C. They are being given powers for more flexible programming and the requirement to include specific genres of programmes on religion, science and arts will be removed. Questions have been raised as to whether this endangers the provision of religious broadcasting, where there has already been a dramatic decline over the past ten years.

In this briefing, our panel discuss the bill and the campaign to ensure hours of religious programming continue to be catalogued and reviewed. Ruth Peacock hosted, with panellists: Bishop Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds, and lead bishop on the media in the House of Lords; Roger Bolton, journalist and broadcaster; Professor Kim Knott, author of 'Media Portrayals of Religion and the Secular Sacred'; Gareth Barr, Director of Policy and Regulation, ITV; Mark Friend, author of BBC Religion and Ethics Review 2017; David Strachan, trustee of Sandford St Martin Trust.

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

info@religionmediacentre.org.uk
(+44) 0203 970 0709

Reporters on religion joined our panel to look ahead at the stories likely to make the headlines in 2024, within the UK and around the world. They unpacked headlines such as the way religion will be interwoven in the US and UK election campaigns, the response to war in Israel / Gaza and its impact among religious groups here, a split in the Church of England over same-sex blessings, Pope Francis and the Rome synod, alongside long-running stories on climate change, poverty and freedom of religion.

Our panel included our own reporters Tim Wyatt, Catherine Pepinster, Amardeep Bassey and Julia Bicknell, with guests Madeleine Davies, senior writer, Church Times; Bob Smietana, national reporter for the US Religion News Service; Peter Robertson, senior journalist at Christian Aid; and Paul Bickley, Director of Political Engagement at Theos.

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

info@religionmediacentre.org.uk
(+44) 0203 970 0709

The Church of England has agreed to introduce standalone services for blessing same-sex couples, for a trial period, following a marathon 10-hour debate at the general synod. But the church is deeply divided, with just four votes in it as the final proposal passed. 

In this Religion Media Centre briefing, the panel spoke of their concern at the tight votes, the lack of consensus, the possibility of schism and the prospect of “years and years more” of discussion over alternative structures for people who disagree. LGBT people welcomed the outcome as a gentle, positive move forward, but they found the debate with familiar arguments against same-sex relationships were “ intensely painful”. There was a reluctance to talk of schism, but bewilderment as to how the opposing sides could still be in the same church. And there was an acknowledgment that this was a watershed moment, a shift following decades of argument.

Rosie Dawson hosted with panelists: Bishop Jill Duff, Bishop of Lancaster; Canon Andrew Goddard; Professor Helen King; Rev Dr Charlie Bell; Susie Leafe; Rev Dr Patrick Richmond; Ven Mark Ireland; Canon Dr Mandy Ford.

The Sunday programme on BBC Radio 4 has been going for more than 50 years, reporting and explaining stories about religion across the globe. To mark the 50-year milestone, SPCK has brought out a book simply called "Sunday", written by presenter Ed Stourton, and producer and editor Amanda Hancox. They identify 19 topics which the programme has reported and returned to over the decades, from internal Church of England rows to global political shifts.

In this Religion Media Centre briefing, past reporters, presenters and producers remember the stand-out moments and the camaraderie that kept the programme lively and sharp. Ruth Peacock hosted, with guests Amanda Hancox, Mike Wooldridge, Emily Buchanan, Trevor Barnes, Alison Hilliard, Christopher Landau and Tim Maby.

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

info@religionmediacentre.org.uk
(+44) 0203 970 0709