Three colleges – King’s, Trinity and St John’s – are now offering the ceremonies, which were hailed by one campus chaplain as offering “safe, sacred space”.

Rev Carol Barrett Ford from St John’s was said she was holding an Open Table service catering for LGBT people after noticing “a desire to actively promote inclusion in the Chapel”.

The Open Table movement describes itself as an “ecumenical Christian worship community which offers a warm welcome to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer / questioning, intersex, asexual”.

Meanwhile, three “inclusive” chapel services are being held at King’s College this term by Chaplain Rev Andrew Hammond who wants to welcome everyone, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity.

He told the Varsity student newspaper: “I wanted to do something that was very, very different, but still cohered with the general values of the place.”

Explaining his view that church teaching on gender identity and sexuality needs to change, Rev Hammond said the “quality of the love, not the gender of the lovers” matters.

Dr David Donovan said Ian Squire from Shepperton in Surrey was trying to cheer up his fellow captives before a gang member opened fire.

The former Gp from Cambridgeshire told the Daily Telegraph: “We didn’t see who did it, but it was obvious that someone in the gang had shot him.

“It was terrifying to see.”

Mr Squire, Dr Donovan and his wife Shirley, and Alanna Carson were kidnapped in Nigeria’s southern Delta area in the middle of the night on 13th October.

The group were dragged from their beds, taken away on a speedboat and kept in a shack built on stilts above a remote swamp.

Dr Donovan said he and the two other remaining missionaries were left with Mr Squire’s body for the rest of the day after he was killed.

He speculated that a member of the gang may have murdered Mr Squire after panicking that sounds from his music may alert people to their presence.

Amazing Grace, which was written by the 18th century slave trader-turned preacher John Newton, was the only song Mr Squire knew by heart.

It had previously been reported that Mr Squire, a 57-year-old optician from Shepperton who ran his own Christian eyesight charity, had passed away after suffering from an asthma attack.

Dr Donovan said he was told that their captors, members of the Egbesu gang, released them after three weeks following a ransom paid by the Nigerian government.

Paying tribute to Mr Squire, Dr Donovan said: “Ian was hungry to know more of…

Craig Campbell was told his views on same-sex relationships were incompatible with the ethos of South Coast Baptist College near Perth in Western Australia.

It is understood Mr Campbell, who attended the college as student, told senior colleagues about his relationship after posting what was described as a “suggestive” picture on social media.

Principal Des Mitchell was quoted by the Western Australian newspaper as saying: “The image he posted created interest in his personal life, including his sexuality.

“I shared with him that, at present, there is an inconsistency with his beliefs on sexuality and the college’s beliefs.”

Mr Campbell said his struggle to keep his boyfriend a secret from the college was made more difficult when three pupils arrived at the wedding of his aunt.

He told the gay and lesbian website, Out in Perth: “I told them [colleagues] I was in a relationship, and obviously this is something that I believe is fine from both a moral and a theological standpoint”.

Mr Campbell also said hiding his same-sex relationship contradicted with his desire to instill values like honesty in his pupils and to see them live their own lives free of discrimination.

Disagreement exists in Australia over whether exemptions afforded religious organisations under Western Australia’s anti-discrimination laws should be removed.

Colin Diamond at Birmingham City Council claimed church lessons and other places of informal places of learning should be regulated in a similar way to formal schools, to manage children’s exposure to “non-mainstream societal values”.

Speaking with the Times Education Supplement, he said of Sunday schools and sessions run for children at mosques: “These are classrooms by any other name.

“They are large groups of children.

“I do wish the government would grasp this stingy old nettle.”

Mr Diamond was appointment head of education at Birmingham Council in the wake of claims a small number of the city’s schools were being influenced by extreme Islamist ideology.

The so-called Trojan horse affair in 2013 prompted Ofsted to implement new rules, which places greater emphasis on leadership, management and the promotion of British values in UK schools.

Mr Diamond said there should be a change in the law to ensure Sunday schools and madrassas are regulated, adding that he understands the Department for Education is considering the idea.

Mr Diamond added: “Thousands of kids in this city will go to education spaces this evening and will be there for a few hours and will be taught about Koranic values or Christian values.

“We feel they should be regulated.”

In April 2016, Christian groups including the Evangelical Alliance said plans for Sunday schools to be forced to register with Ofsted and undergo inspections amounted to…

A bull was nailed to a cross and covered with silicone paint to create the mould which was named ‘Holy Cow’ by its creator, artist Tom Herck.

The display inside St John the Baptist of Kuttekovenin the Belgian town of Borgloon was branded a “satanic image and a disgusting insult to God” by the Katholiek Forum campaign group.

Members burned images of the display and staged a protest outside church where banners reading “stop blasphemy and degenerate art” were waved.

A statement issued by the local Catholic diocese and seen by Lifesitenews.com said: “The diocese of Hasselt is astonished at the ‘Holy Cow’ exhibition in the church of Kuttekoven.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/pNfCPT-Zl8c]

“We are always ready to collaborate in dialogue with art projects in a church, and we can certainly appreciate humour.

“But a cow on the cross, on the spot where Christ hung on the cross, that is to our mind really a bridge too far.”

Mr Herck said his creation sought to highlight the number of Belgian churches standing empty and the wastefulness of modern consumerism.

The model of the cow carcass is surmounted above a shallow pool containing 5,000 litres of milk.

The diocese was accused by Katholiek Forum of being “inconsistent” by criticising the exhibition but failing to intervene directly.