The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, who preached a sermon about the power of love at Prince Harry and Meghan’s royal wedding on Saturday, shared a similar message to an audience in Washington DC on Thursday. 

“Love the neighbour you like and love the neighbour you don’t like. Love the neighbour you agree with and the neighbour you don’t agree with,” he said at National City Christian Church.

“Love your Democrat neighbour, your Republican neighbour. Your black neighbour and your white neighbour, your Anglo neighbour, your Latino, your LGBTQ neighbour.”

Following the service, Bishop Michael as well as other church leaders and protesters marched peacefully with candles to Lafayette Square – a park facing the White House.

They formed a prayer circle and read a declaration which called for Christians to reject the “growing attacks on immigrants and refugees who are being made into cultural and political targets”.

“We believe two things are at stake: the soul of the nation, and the integrity of faith,” they said.

“We reject ‘America First’ as a theological heresy for followers of Christ. While we share a patriotic love for our country, we reject xenophobic or ethnic nationalism that places one nation over others as a political goal.

“We reject the resurgence of white nationalism and racism in our nation on many fronts, including the highest levels of political…

In a statement, the team said: “This decision was reached unanimously between founder Mike Pilavachi, his co-hosts Ali Martin and Andy Croft, the Soul Survivor leadership team and the board of trustees.”

Mike said: “We know this may come as a surprise to some but we believe that God has spoken and that this is the right time for us to step aside and make space for others to rise up. This is not a decision we have taken lightly but one we make after much prayer and consideration. We continue to care passionately about young people and will look to support them in any way we can in the future, as well as longing to encourage and equip the whole church to move in the power of the Holy Spirit. There is a sense of sadness in making this announcement as we have seen God do some wonderful things at our events since we began in 1993 but we know that God is calling us into a new season and we look forward to seeing all that he will do as we make room for others to grow.”

Bishop Graham Cray, Chair of the Soul Survivor trustees added, “Soul Survivor will leave a legacy of thousands of young people who have met with Jesus for the first time at one of the events, as well as many thousands more who have deepened their faith, or heard God’s call to leadership. It is often much harder to hear God’s call to end a ministry than his call to begin one but we all believe…

While one quarter of the population believe the Church is “good for the community” many remain indifferent or uninformed about the Church plays at a local and global level.

The report, commissioned by World Vision UK in partnership with research firm Barna Global also found that 81 per cent of non-Christians don’t believe the Church is making any difference whatsoever to society.

David Kinnaman, co-founder of Barna spoke to Premier at the launch of ‘The UK Church in Action’ report at Lambeth Palace on Thursday.

Reacting to the report’s finding that 81 per cent of non-Christians don’t believe the Church is making any difference to society, Kinnaman said: “I think as a researcher who’s looked at the… challenging circumstances – the good, the bad and the ugly of some of the public perception of faith – a lot in the US as well as in the UK now, I think it can be discouraging. We have to be careful to not become cynical and depressed by that.

David Kinnaman, co-founder of Barna

“I find that it’s not the first time the Church has had a poor reputation. Jesus himself promises that we’ll be misunderstood in our society and we actually don’t need to overly concern ourselves with the image – good or bad of the culture. We really need to worry about being faithful as Christians.”

The study surveyed 2,054…

In a statement, the team said: “This decision was reached unanimously between founder Mike Pilavachi, his co-hosts Ali Martin and Andy Croft, the Soul Survivor leadership team and the board of trustees.”

Mike said: “We know this may come as a surprise to some but we believe that God has spoken and that this is the right time for us to step aside and make space for others to rise up. This is not a decision we have taken lightly but one we make after much prayer and consideration. We continue to care passionately about young people and will look to support them in any way we can in the future, as well as longing to encourage and equip the whole church to move in the power of the Holy Spirit. There is a sense of sadness in making this announcement as we have seen God do some wonderful things at our events since we began in 1993 but we know that God is calling us into a new season and we look forward to seeing all that he will do as we make room for others to grow.”

Bishop Graham Cray, Chair of the Soul Survivor trustees added, “Soul Survivor will leave a legacy of thousands of young people who have met with Jesus for the first time at one of the events, as well as many thousands more who have deepened their faith, or heard God’s call to leadership. It is often much harder to hear God’s call to end a ministry than his call to begin one but we all believe the Holy Spirit is saying that 2019 is the year when we should finish.

“Soul Survivor was…

There’s a warning hundreds of British teenagers are refusing to go to school because of how they look. It’s thought around 5 per cent could have body dysmorphic disorder, where sufferers believe they have flaws which often go unnoticed by others.

Jessie Smart, founder of Christian youth charity Belle Ministry, told Premier that excessive use of social media worsens body image because social media posts “aren’t representative of real life”.

She said: “Girls are thinking social media is having a positive influence on the way they see themselves when the scary thing is they are basing their validation and finding their affirmation in likes and comments.”

Smart said everyone can be part of the solution.

“It’s not conforming to these crazes and fads that come up and all the different standards and expectations that seem to flutter through society.

“Another side of it is being real on social media. Often we post the highlights and actually sometimes we need to take a step back and check that we are being authentic in what we’re putting out there.”

Smart also advised people to support those who feel negative towards their body by affirming their character, talents and gifts rather than outward appearance.

Listen to Jessie Smart speaking with Premier’s Cara Bentley here:

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Jeremy Dowling, a lay preacher, school teacher and church employee, abused young boys in the 1970s and was jailed in 2015.

A review by the Diocese of Truro said several bishops were told about the abuse and did not act.

It found there was a “probable misunderstanding” by church leaders over a decision by the authorities not to prosecute Dowling in the 1970s.

Dowling became a member of general synod in 1977 and was communications officer for the Diocese of Truro from 2003 to 2009.

The school in Cornwall where Dowling carried out the abuse is not identified in the report.

But in September 1972 an unnamed canon, who was chairman of the board of governors, wrote to Bishop of Truro Maurice Key to inform him Dowling had admitted some sexual offences against boys and offered to resign.

In reply, the bishop said: “It is terribly said that his should have happened, not only because it is a tragedy for Jeremy Dowling, but it can be a real blow for the school and the Church.

“The devil is certainly a master at attacking where he can do most harm.”

The following December the director of public prosecutions decided not to prosecute Dowling.

The diocese review noted “the level of corroborative evidence to bring a successful prosecution of sexual abuse against a child was extremely high” but said the Church had “its own responsibilities to judge such behaviour”.

The review said…

The schemes which are known as Local Welfare Assistance, aim to provide food, fuel and furniture to people in crisis.

However, the report, Not Making Ends Meet, from The Children’s Society and the Church of England found that increasing numbers of destitute people are turning instead to food banks and other voluntary agencies for help.

The Children’s Society chief executive Matthew Reed said in a statement: “Families in need of financial crisis support are often experiencing one of the hardest times of their life, such as fleeing domestic violence or experiencing a serious mental or physical health problem.

“It’s vital that when they need help to buy food or nappies, put money on the electricity meter or replace a broken fridge that they can access this help quickly and easily. Instead, families who are in desperate need may find there is nowhere to turn.

“Local charities are having to step in to provide the safety net that the government and councils used to, relying on donations and volunteers to do so.

“Sadly with more and more people facing crisis, particularly as Universal Credit rollout continues apace, it’s becoming increasingly urgent for local crisis support to be coordinated and more consistent so that vulnerable people don’t fall through the gaps.”

The report concluded that a lack of publicity, bureaucratic hurdles, and restrictive eligibility criteria…