The former vice president and Catholic attended Saint Anthony Catholic Church in Florence on Sunday, but was denied Holy Communion by the church’s pastor Rev. Robert E. Morey, according to the South Carolina Morning News.

“Sadly, this past Sunday, I had to refuse Holy Communion to Former Vice President Joe Biden. Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other and the Church. Our actions should reflect that,” Morey told the newspaper in a statement.

“Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching.

“As a priest, it is my responsibility to minister to those souls entrusted to my care and I must do so even in the most difficult situations,” the statement continued. “I will keep Mr. Biden in my prayers.”

Christian evangelist Franklin Graham tweeted his support for Morey’s decision, saying:

“I applaud the fact that this priest did what he thought was right at the risk of possible public or political ire.”

Democratic presidential hopeful @JoeBiden was denied communion by a priest in SC over the weekend because of his pro-abortion stance. I applaud the fact that this priest did what he thought was right at the risk of possible public or political ire. 1/2 https://t.co/3UQgJSWpUw

— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) October 29, 2019

Biden’s stance on abortion has for decades been aligned with the more…

The mentorship scheme, launched in 2013 by Christian charity Action for Children, is the first of its kind in the UK to provide ‘peer mentors’ to help youngsters break free from a life of organised crime.

It sees advisors, many of whom are reformed criminals modelling alternative lifestyles to “high risk” 11 – 18 year olds who have resisted more conventional forms of support, in a bid to deter them from further criminal activity.

Teenagers involved in drug dealing, money laundering and robbery were offered support in the form of education, training and employment advice at the Glaswegian based project over the past six years.

An analysis by the Glasgow City Council found that the scheme prevented 45 out of 49 recent participants in the scheme from re-offending and has saved the council more than £500,000 by diverting four high risk children away from needing care.

Following the success of Action for Children’s Serious Organised Crime Early Intervention service, The National Lottery is providing the charity with £4.6 million to expand the project to Edinburgh, Newcastle and Cardiff.

Action for Children director for Scotland Paul Carberry, said: “Serious organised crime is an issue for the whole of the UK, it disproportionately impacts the more vulnerable in our communities and has a greater presence in socially and economically disadvantaged areas.

“Since 2013,…

It’ll now be led by Mike Andrea who will serve as CEO.

24-7 Prayer is an international, interdenominational movement of prayer.

It equips people to pray in churches, schools, nightclubs and various other places.

Announcing the move on Facebook, Greig said: “Sammy (wife) and I are entering a new season having celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary while our sons turned 21 and 18, I turned 50, and 24-7 turned 20 all in the last year. We sense that this is meant to be a time of jubilee!

“Of course, we will continue to bring leadership to the 24-7 movement – speaking, writing and offering hospitality, mentoring and convening key leaders, supporting the worldwide family of 24-7 communities, shaping culture and vision at a high level. We will also continue to lead and be deeply rooted in our Christian family at Emmaus Rd Church, serve on the Wildfires Festival team and Sammy will continue to train as a Counsellor. There’s plenty to do!

“Meanwhile, the church and the movement continue to grow which means that the pressures on my schedule have been increasing unsustainably for quite some time. Candidly, I need to slow down without slowing the movement down. This means relinquishing position, power and control – something that leaders aren’t always very good at – but by God’s grace we find ourselves simply overwhelmed with joy.”

Greig will continue to serve the organisation…

Fewer people might have died in the Grenfell Tower fire had residents been evacuated while it was still possible an official report into the tragedy said.

The public inquiry’s first report into the blaze, due to be published on Wednesday but seen by the PA news agency, identified “systemic” failures by the London Fire Brigade (LFB).

Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick criticised the London Fire Brigade for its “stay-put” strategy when residents were told to remain in their flats by firefighters and 999 operators for nearly two hours after the blaze broke out just before 1am. The strategy was rescinded at 2.47am.

Rt Rev Graham Nichols, Bishop of Kensington, who was part of response and relief efforts, told Premier he was filled with ‘admiration for the fire service and the way they responded, but on the other hand, he said there’s been a feeling that if policy had been changed earlier, more people would have escaped from the fire.

“I think it illustrates something about the way we run our institutions,” he said.

“Do you follow the rule of regulations write the way down to the last minute? Or do you respond to the needs of the time? 

“It seems to be obvious in some ways emergency services were overwhelmed by what happened with Grenfell Tower. Nothing had happened of that scale in London for years and they were rather woefully unprepared for it.”

“And that’s a great regret for them looking back on it.”

Sir Martin also said “the LFB’s…

New contactless donations points have been set up in shops, cafés and public buildings in the city centre to benefit Leicester’s Homelessness Charter.

The diocese of Leicester set up the charter last year, uniting agencies, council, business and faith groups all with a goal to tackle homelessness.

Leicester Homelessness Charter Chair, Canon Pastor at Leicester Cathedral, Rev Canon Alison Adams, commented: “I am delighted that two core Charter members, BID Leicester and Leicester City Council, have together given the public a really practical way of supporting initiatives to reduce homelessness.

“Many people are concerned but unsure about how to respond. In raising awareness, Give Leicester and the online directory we are also launching will begin to address this.”

The ‘Give Leicester’ donation points are small, contactless terminals, which will enable people to make a £3 donation simply by tapping their card.

Donations collected over the first six months of the scheme will go towards the One Roof Night Shelter operated by local charity One Roof Leicester. The shelter provides additional emergency accommodation and food for those in need.

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.

The listed places of worship grants scheme (LPWGS) is to be extended by the Treasury for a further year until March 2021.

Although churches and cathedrals are responsible for fundraising for their own repairs, the scheme will pay grants to cover the VAT incurred on urgent structural work and new roofs in a bid to reduce the burden on congregations to raise funds.

According to the Church of England’s 2016 Statistics for Mission, churches and cathedrals collectively run some 33,000 social action projects and contribute £22m a year to the UK economy.

A government commissioned report published in 2017 called for measures to ensure the upkeep and use of church buildings after finding them to play a ‘vital role’ for community identity and public service.

The decision to extend the grant comes in direct support of the Taylor Review: Sustainability of English Churches and Cathedrals and its recommendations to support the care and maintenance of such buildings to ensure their sustainability for the future.

The LPWGS funding will be guaranteed until 31st March 2021 under the new extended plans, to the benefit of hundreds of additional churches.

Dr David Knight, Senior Church Buildings Officer, said: “We want to thank the Government for their continuing support for churches through the Taylor Pilots and the extension of this scheme.

“It will be a welcome reassurance to many churches with plans for the next year or two…

It wasn’t long before clergy and parishioners who know their history picked up on the error, with Lloyd Llewellen-Jones professor of ancient history at Cardiff University and an Anglian tweeted: “I think that we can trace the roots of the established Church in England to at least 664CE, if not earlier. 485 years? Pah!”

The 664 date refers to the Synod of Whitby, when the kingdom of Northumbria chose to follow Roman rather than Celtic church practices.

Some members of clergy commented an earlier start date to the CofE was accurate. One of Anglican chaplain responded to the tweet: “That’s funny, I thought my diocesan cathedral dated to the mid-4th century as a site of Christian worship? Are we simply one of many protestant sects, or Ecclesia Anglican, the Church of England? Please delete this and read the history page of the CofE website.”

As the historians came out of the Twitter woodwork, not to be outdone, a canon in the south of England said that “coming originally from the diocese of St Albans” he regarded the Church’s starting point to be around 209AD, the date traditionally given for the martyrdom of the British saint.

The CofE’s tweet was welcomed by at least one Roman Catholic, however, who described its claim of a 16th-century origin for Anglicanism as a “very revealing slip-up”.

A spokesperson for the CofE told The Times newspaper, that the CofE “derives many of its distinctive features from the events of the 16th and 17th centuries. Of course,…