The 62-year-old Father Andrew Myers has had ‘In you I live and move and have my being’ based on a verse from Acts in the New Testament of the Bible tattooed on his left forearm.

The vicar of Middleton in Leeds revealed his new body art during a Sunday service to a mixed reaction from parishioners after he got the tattoo to raise cash for a church youth club.

Rev Myers told Premier why he decided on that particular verse: “I chose that one because I think it speaks to our community. We do not want any judgement in our community. We want to be affirming where Christ incarnates. But also, because my prayers become simpler and simpler as I’ve got older and I use that verse frequently in my meditations in the mornings.”

“The reaction was mostly supportive. Some people said it’s not the sort of thing they expect vicars to do because they think it’s not respectable, but most people were supportive.”

The priest said he is considering having the beatitudes tattooed on his right arm.

He told Premier the main reason he got his tattoo: “It helps to remind me when I’m in a dark place, to remind me of what life is all about, what the Jesus life is all about. So I’m going to have the Beatitudes tattooed on too.”

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Jackie Elton has been speaking out after Hollywood actress Emma Watson described herself as “self-partnered” rather than single.

The Harry Potter star told British Vogue about the pressure of turning 30 next year.

She admitted feeling “stressed and anxious” in the past year – about things like not being married or having a baby.

Elton believer Watson’s story isn’t an isolated one and church leaders need to be more understanding.

“When people walk into a church, there are so many messages that are talking being a ‘family church’,” she said.

“There’s so much about families, children, and there are so many events and festivals related around family issues. And we know from a major survey that we did a few years ago just how many single people feel that the church doesn’t know what to do with them. Most people who are single have had some kind of really painful and difficult experience at church.

“Sadly, so far, the Church is not really thinking about it and that’s particularly sad when the reality is that 40 per cent of adults in society are single. So the church is really focused on the much smaller number of people who are married, particularly married with children.”

Elton said she interpreted Watson’s “self-partnered” as a desire to describe herself as self-sufficient.

“It’s a positive fact that you can be fine being on your own that one can resist all the messaging…

The campaign for the Bakhsh family, which received support from across the country, was recognised at the annual Herald Society Awards in Glasgow on Wednesday.

Former moderator Very Rev Dr Susan Brown said she was “surprised and delighted” to be given the award.

The Church’s campaign led to teenagers Somer and Areeb Umeed Bakhsh, from Possilpark Parish Church, winning a seven-year battle to stay in their adopted home city of Glasgow.

The pair, who have been granted limited leave to remain along with their parents, Maqsood and Parveen until February 2022, feared their lives would be in danger if they were sent back to Pakistan where Christians are persecuted.

Their minister Rev Linda Pollock led the campaign for them to stay.

Praising her work Dr Brown said: “Ours was, and is, a campaign to right what seems so wrong on behalf of one family who are a part of our Christian family.

“We are only doing what family do – standing up for each other.

“The family, linked with the passion of Rev Linda Pollock, started the ball rolling.

“The compassionate and persistent skills of the Church’s communications team, alongside partnerships with the local MP and local MSP gave the campaign traction.

“But we still feel that the lovely Umeed Bakhsh family should be given leave to stay in the UK permanently without having to raise fees that are beyond them for future applications.”

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Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) repaired e Great Al-Tahira Church (Church of the Immaculate Conception) in Baghdeda, the largest Christian town in the Nineveh Plains.

Syriac Catholic Archbishop Petros Mouche of Mosul said the restoration of the once fire-damaged church symbolised something great for the local community.

“For us, [the Great Al-Tahira] Church is a symbol. This church was built in 1932, and it was the villagers of Baghdeda who constructed it,” he said.

“For this reason, we want this symbol to remain as a Christian symbol to encourage the people, especially the locals of Baghdeda, to stay here.

“This is our country, and this is a witness that we can give for Christ.”

The fixing up of the church is one of 14 church repair projects ACN has committed to across the region.

The charity will soon reconstruct the Najem Al-Mashrik Hall and Theatre in Bashiqa, a town occupied by both Christians and Yazidis.

The Great Al-Tahira Church, Baghdeda

ACN said the project which will enable the venue to once again play host to wedding ceremonies and other celebrations.

Local priest Father Daniel Behnam said: “This project will help ensure the survival of Christian families and provide them with important services.

“In particular, it will help young people, providing a space for pastoral,…

Her senior dresser Angela Kelly, revealed in a book that Her Majesty made the change this year in response to changing societal attitudes.

At least one coat in her wardrobe has been altered, while any new outfits designed for the Queen will use fake fur instead.

Animal rights groups have applauded the move by the monarch with Humane Society International suggesting it sends a “powerful message” that fur’s out of fashion.

The news comes after a number of designer fashion brands including Gucci and Prada made similar announcements to go fur-free.

Samantha Chandler from Christian animal rights charity, Anglican Society for Welfare of Animals told Premier she welcomed the decision.

“We think it’s fantastic,” she said. “It was always a bit of a shame that our Queen, as head of the Church of England, continued to wear fur.”

“I think it’s definitely out of fashion now, people who wear fur are seen as not on trend, I don’t think young people as a general rule would be seen dead in fur coats.

Chandler went on to say that the decision speaks of Her Majesty’s character and investment in her country: “She is a very thoughtful and well-read woman. She certainly does keep an eye on what is going on in the media in the news, particularly public opinion of her subjects and her citizens.

“Perhaps it has caused her to question her choices and whether what she is doing is humane,…