Student groups in recent years have faced increasing scenarios of ‘no-platforming’, often from fellow students, over external speakers with views considered extreme or offensive. This has often affected Jewish speakers, Christian guests but also feminists like Germaine Greer.  

Sam Gyimah, the government’s Universities Minister met university and student groups on Thursday to announce that there would be a new set of guidelines which would protect free speech on campus.

He said it would be wrong to silence “unfashionable or unpopular” opinions and that he would propose that the Department of Education should write some new guidelines to “provide clarity”. 

Gyimah added: “There is a risk that overzealous interpretation of a dizzying variety of rules is acting as a brake on legal free speech on campus.”

Speaking about this announcement, Simone Ramacci, a chaplaincy intern at the University of Essex told Premier: “I would say that it’s not really possible to say whether these measures are good or not until they come out”

Ramacci said the University of Essex had not had any problems and that: “as long as people are able to find ways to witness to people that work in the current cultural setting this is a very minor issue that is limited to a very few topics.”

He said these can be: “topics such as LGBT issues or termination of pregnancy issues…

Baylor University scholars gave eleven men and one woman the honours out of 800 nominees.

W Hulitt Gloer, from Baylor’s Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas said: “In a world where talk is cheap and there seems to be no end to it, the preacher has to recover the priority and power of the word.

“Words are the tools of the preacher and that gives them incredible power.”

Preaching experts from the school focused on biblical texts in the nominees’ preaching, the relevance of their sermons, and their ability to articulate a message well.

Here is the list:

Alistair Begg-  senior pastor at Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio, a position he has held since 1983. 

Tony Evans- founding pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas.

Joel C Gregory– serves on the Baptist World Alliance Commission on Worship and Spirituality

Timothy Keller–  founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, New York. 

Thomas G Long-  Professor Emeritus of Preaching and Director of the Early Career Pastoral Leadership Program at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Otis Moss III– pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois. 

John Piper– chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Piper is a pastor, author, and leader the website…

The group spent decades fighting for Holy Trinity Old Church in St Day – called “an ecclesiastical toy fort” by the English poet – over fears the abandoned church would be sold to developers.

The church had no roof and was partly wrecked but St Day Old Church Community Interest Company has been given control of it by the Church of England.

The grade II-listed church was built in 1826 and was one of twelve in Cornwall funded by the Church Building Commissioners from money made available for church buildings following the Battle of Waterloo.

Chairman of the St Day Old Church Community Interest Company, Bernadette Fallon, told the Daily Telegraph: “When we started this project 30 years ago we hardly dared to dream that we would arrive at this day, but here we stand, on the threshold of a whole new and exciting future for the old church.

“We have had a great deal of support from the people of St Day over the years, and we’re going to need a lot more. There will be something for everyone to do to make the old church project a great success in the future.

“When we’re up and running we hope to put on fantastic events which will attract people from all over the region, as well as visitors to Cornwall.”

The group plans to turn the church into a community space for theatre, music, film, art, and other educational and social…

The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance in the United States held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. The focus of this year’s observance is unity.

Frank Pomeroy, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, told a news outlet his family, as well as survivors of the massacre, have been invited to the ceremony at the White House.

“We did not expect a personal invitation to the White House from the president,” the pastor’s wife, Sherri, told My SanAntonio.

“When I received that email, I confirmed the legitimacy of the invitation and accepted, of course.”

Police said gunman Devin Kelley walked into the church last November and killed 26 members of the church’s congregation during a Sunday morning service.

Sherri added: “While this invitation is bittersweet because of the events that brought us to this place, may we never turn down a forum to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ wherever it takes us.”

Frank will lead a prayer at the service and attend a private banquet celebrating the National Day of Prayer on Thursday evening.

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Kate and Gerry, who are Catholics, are being joined for the service by a war memorial in their home village of Rothley, Leicestershire by loved ones and supporters.

Madeleine’s great uncle Brian Kennedy, who is attending the service, was quoted by the Daily Star as saying: “We find it hard to believe eleven years have passed but we never lose hope.

“We’ve no idea how many might turn up after such a long time but all are welcome.”

Madeleine was three-years-old when she vanished in Praia de Luz, in the southwestern Algarve region of Portugal on 3rd May 2007.

A police investigation to try and find the youngster has cost more than £11 million.

In a message left on the official Find Madeleine Campaign page on Facebook, Kate and Gerry said: “It gets harder to know what to say or write as each anniversary of Madeleine’s abduction approaches then passes.

“Life is full and busy which helps but Madeleine is still missing and she is still dearly missed.

“Information continues to come in (incredible as it may seem after so long, although we are grateful for that) and work goes on.

“Perseverance and hope remain.”