Christian Concern claimed that the new charter, released on Friday, goes against the Church’s beliefs and Bible teaching.

Chief executive of the charity, Andrea Williams, said in a statement: “The Church of England has a God-given opportunity and responsibility to set the culture of its schools in line with the teaching of God found in the Bible. But instead, it consistently capitulates to the spirit of the age as, for example, expressed in statute by the Equality Act.

“This charter fails to protect teachers, governors and children who wish to state and uphold the Church’s own teaching on marriage and family.

“It also represents a missed opportunity to bring the good news of God’s purposes and pattern for human relationships to the confused and toxic environment in which the one million children they are responsible for are having to grow up.”

Williams also said that the Church contradicted itself in the charter when it quoted scriptures.

“Bizarrely, the document starts by selectively quoting two verses of scripture that would radically undermine the position it goes on to state,” she said.

“Genesis 1:27 is first quoted: ‘So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them’ but the document omits ‘male and female he created them’ – a truth at the heart of the transgender debate raging in our schools and society.

“Then John 10:10 is…

The video, released on America’s Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, features his wife, Kim Kardashian, their kids, and a dedication to family values.

In the video, West bows on his knees by himself at the top of a mountain before the Sunday Service Choir surrounds him and sings the last bars of the song. The music video ends with his six-year-old daughter, North, screaming “Chick-fil-A.” She has joined him at several of the faith-filled services.

It is the second music video from his ‘Jesus Is King’ album, the album has debuted at No.1 on the Billboard charts.

“Closed on Sunday, you my Chick-fil-A,” he sings, referencing the popular fast-food restaurant’s Christian beliefs of observing a Sunday Sabbath.

He takes a swipe at Instagram, the platform for which his wife has 152 million followers, and is one of the most followed celebrities in the world.

“Hold the selfies, put the ‘Gram away,” he sings. “Get your family, y’all hold hands and pray… Stand up for my home. Even if I take this walk alone.”

The father of four, 42, sings about protecting his daughters from indoctrination and raising sons in the faith.

“Follow Jesus, listen and obey,” he sings with passion. “No more livin’ for the culture, we nobody’s slave.”

He also gives an ode to his personal values: “I bow down to the King upon the throne. My life is His, I’m no longer my own.”

The newly-born again believer…

King’s College London carried out the study, which says almost a quarter of young people are so dependent on their smartphones that it becomes like an addiction.

Behaviour displayed by young people who did not have constant access to their mobile phones included becoming “panicky” or “upset.

The study also showed many youngsters could not control the amount of time they spend on the phone.

The study warns that such addictions have “serious consequences” for mental health.

The research, published in BMC Psychiatry, analysed 41 studies involving 42,000 young people in an investigation into “problematic smartphone usage”.

Dr Bex Lewis is a Christian, a senior lecturer in digital marketing at Manchester Metropolitan University and author of ‘Raising Children in a Digital Age’.

Speaking to Premier she suggested this raises wider questions.

“This just highlights that we want to look a bit deeper into whether there’s a problem with mobile phones causing potentially addiction or whether actually it’s something to do with society that is causing people to want spend longer on their phone,” she said.

Lewis suggests it is better to look at the quality of what people are doing on their phones, rather than necessarily the quantity of time being spent on them and says parents should monitor children’s screen time.

“People need to look individually at their…

The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales said in a statement that honest political debate depends upon integrity.

But Archbishop of Southwark John Wilson said the church was also concerned by the Chief Rabbi raising the issue of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.

He said that, while the church did not comment on particular party-political comments, it was concerned that Ephraim Mirvis had spoken about members of his community being frightened in this country.

In a column in the Times on Tuesday, Rabbi Mirvis staged an unprecedented intervention, saying that anti-Semitism in the Labour Party is a “poison – sanctioned from the top”.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Archbishop Wilson said the Catholic Church had a long tradition of speaking out against oppression, xenophobia and racism.

He added: “We would not look at particular party-political comments but we are concerned the Chief Rabbi expressed his concerns that members of his community are frightened in this country.

“Of that we are concerned.”

The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales said the forthcoming General Election is “profoundly important” to the nation and Catholics cannot simply “watch from the balcony”.

They added: “We ask everyone to engage with the election and vote.

“Honest political discourse depends upon integrity.

“We urge all in public life to recognise that telling the truth, not making…

It has been returned nearly 1,400 years after it was sent to Rome as a gift to the pope.

The thumb-sized relic was unveiled to worshippers at the Notre Dame church in Jerusalem for a day of celebration and prayer.

On Saturday, it will be sent to its permanent home at the Franciscan Church of St Catherine, next to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the West Bank holy site where tradition says Jesus was born.

Its arrival will coincide with Advent, a four-week period leading up to Christmas.

Christian tradition holds that Joseph and Mary travelled to Bethlehem to register for the Roman census and found no room at the inn, forcing her to give birth to Jesus in a manger where animals were held.

A wooden structure that Christians believe was part of the manger was sent by St Sophronius, the patriarch of Jerusalem, to Pope Theodore I in the 640s, around the time of the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land.

Yisca Harani, an Israeli expert on Christianity, said many relics were relocated from the Holy Land in the Middle Ages as Rome and other cities were establishing themselves as centres of Christian life and pilgrimage.

A relic from the manger would have been particularly useful for dispelling heresies holding that Jesus was more of a spiritual than a physical being.

She said the return of such an important item “is definitely a statement saying the Vatican and the Holy…

Various social media users have reported hearing gunshots from London Bridge.

A police statement said: “Police were called at 1:58pm to a stabbing at premises near to London Bridge.

“Emergency services attended, including officers from the Met and the City of London Police.

“A man has been detained by police. We believe a number of people have been injured. Further info to follow.”

Venerable Luke Miller told Premier his “heart goes out to all those involved”.

“We hold up all those who have been affected, for the people that were part of the incident whatever form it took,” he said.

“Also the members of the emergency services. We hold up all those people before God, He knows their needs better than we do.”

The Archdeacon is encouraging local churches to open their doors if it’s safe to do so to provide a place of sanctuary for people.

“To have a cup of tea and charge their mobile phone but also where they might say a prayer and be undercover, especially if their transport is disrupted in any way.”

He went on to say that churches should be safe places to reflect and talk and help promote peace to “prevent these things happening again in the future”.

A man has been detained by police.

Additional reporting by Press Association.

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Churches Together in England (CTE) is a membership of 49 churches, created to promote unity across the Catholic, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Anglican and Reformed churches.

Hannah Brock Womack, who is in a same sex marriage was nominated for the fourth presidency position by a group of Reformed churches and the Quakers.

Upon her appointment, the CTE requested Womack “not exercise” her role “for the sake of our ecumenical unity”.

The URC’s secretary for ecumenical and interfaith relations, Rev Philip Brooks told Premier the action taken was unjust.

“We would never turn anybody away in an office who was in a same sex marriage. We think it’s unfair that Hannah hasn’t been able to take up her position.

“We pray for the Church to genuinely come together, to find the grace and understanding to find a more just solution to what has been a very difficult situation.”

URC acknowledges that its own denomination does not have a “single view” on same sex marriage and the Church as a whole is divided on the issue but said CTE has a responsibility to model unity and inclusivity.

Brooks said: “Even in the time where we were deliberating as to whether to allow our local churches to register for same sex marriage, we have always made sure that those people who are in same sex marriages are able to serve in offices in the church.

“Though we may discern the Bible very differently, CTE has been a very good way for churches to associate…