The Bishop of Southwell & Nottingham, the Rt Revd Paul Williams and Bishop of Sherwood, the Rt Revd Tony Porter, signed the petition by End Hunger UK which will be delivered to the Prime Minister on 7th November. 

The charity want improvements to the design of the new benefits system to ensure people aren’t at risk of going hungry or getting into debt. They also want the government to promise to make it easier to apply for and assurance that it will progress into an adequate supply of income that allows families to buy good food regularly. 

Bishop Paul said: “I have signed the End Hunger UK petition, calling on the Government to continue a rigorous review assessing the impact ‘on the ground’ under Universal Credit.

“We need to ensure that we do not see an increase in those pushed into serious food poverty, especially in our cities at a time when local authority budgets are already stretched to the limits. I am thankful that many parishes and churchgoers across the diocese are engaged in practical action locally.”

Their support comes just a week after the Trussell Trust expressed concern at the roll out of the next phase. A report by the Trussell Trust on 5th October highlighted the major increase in the proportion of food bank referrals made for people moving onto Universal Credit over the last two years.

In the Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham there are…

A special service will be held at Southwark Cathedral to celebrate the contribution of firefighters to the safety of communities and to honour firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

The service will follow more than 50 wreaths being laid at St Paul’s by the Firefighters’ Memorial, the biggest wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial.

The Fire Brigade Union will then conduct a procession with banners across Millennium Bridge towards Southwark. 

Leading figures from the fire and rescue service community will be in attendance.

The service at Southwark Cathedral aims to be ‘Commemorative and Celebratory’ and will streamed online as well. 

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU, said: “This is a once in a generation event, the largest of its kind, which will celebrate the fire and rescue service, our union and commemorate the friends we have lost along the way.

“When our union was first formed firefighters lived on stations, had the most basic protective equipment and were paid less than unskilled labourers. Today’s fire service is far from perfect but the improvements we have seen are the result of campaigns run by our members over 100 years.

“In our centenary year, we have been celebrating the work of firefighters who have shaped the modern fire and rescue service and improved the safety of our communities. Reflecting on the experiences of…

All churches are from the same district but it is believed similar closures are occurring in other districts in the city, which is in Guizhou Province. 

The churches were accused of being ‘illegal religious venues’. China has a two-church system; ones associated with the state-sanctioned body and ones that are not. Sometimes a church doesn’t register with the state to maintain independence and teach what they want.

However, these unregistered churches are then more vulnerable to potential closure or fines. 

Kiri Kankhwende from Christian Solidarity Worldwide told Premier what practically happens when a church is closed down:

“Very often they’ll get a written notice, it can happen at very short notice – it can happen the night before or even on the day. And the churches shut down, in some cases we’ve heard of it being demolished, and that’s it.

“You cannot go back, you cannot worship there and you cannot meet in an alternative location either.”

300 people in total were affected in this case, having to find somewhere else to go to church. 

“It’s not just the unregistered churches, they’re taking issue with all churches at the moment” Kiri said, “but the unregistered churches in particular they see as a problem because, as a communist government, they want as much control over the population as possible and so they see that the church that’s out of their remit as a…

On Palm Sunday in April 2017, bomb attacks on Egypt’s Coptic Churches in Alexandria and Tanta killed over 45 people and injured a further 126 people. 

An Egyptian military court decided this week that 17 people could be sentenced to death over this and a previous attack on a chapel adjacent to the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral of St. Mark in Cairo on 11 December 2016, which killed 25 people. 

The Islamic State group Daesh claimed responsibility for both attacks – just as it had for the 2011 church attack in Egypt’s capital, when a bomb was left under a pew and killed 29 people as they worshiped God.

According to news site Ahram, 19 people were also sentenced to life imprisonment. 

The Grand Mufti, the highest official in interpreting Islamic law, is required to give his signature to permit a death sentence, although it doesn’t make it legally binding and the sentences are subject to appeal. 

Amnesty International responded to the ruling, saying: “There can be no justification for the utterly reprehensible attacks which targeted worshippers in Coptic Christian churches across Egypt in 2017.

“There is no doubt that the perpetrators of these horrific attacks should be held accountable for their crimes. But handing out a mass death sentence after an unfair military trial is not justice and will not deter further sectarian attacks.

“Egypt has a shocking track record of…

Hours after his trial, Andrew Brunson, 50, was transported to Izmir’s airport and flown out of Turkey, where he had lived for more than two decades and worked at Izmir Resurrection Church. 

“I love Jesus. I love Turkey,” Brunson told the court during Friday’s hearing.

He tearfully hugged his wife Norine Lyn as he awaited the court decision.

He is expected in America on Saturday, with Trump saying he will meet him in the Oval office. Fox News showed a photo of him kissing the American flag at a flight stop in Germany. 

U.S. Ambassador to Germany @RichardGrenell tweeted a photo of newly-freed Pastor Andrew Brunson kissing an American flag during a stopover in Germany before returning to the United States. https://t.co/pRnzGflSaF pic.twitter.com/u8fqyRPY3b

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 13, 2018

Brunson, from North Carolina, worked at the small church in Turkey for over 20 years until he was arrested in 2016. 

As part of a government crackdown, he was among thousands of journalists, civil servants and academics who were suspected of wanting to overthrow the government in a coup. 

Pastor Brunson, his wife and Christian freedom charities have been campaigning for his release ever since. 

On Friday, his trial in Izmir did convict him for terror charges and sentenced him to over three years in prison but the court decided to release him as he had already served two…