Helpers from Noah’s Ark playgroup have met at Burgess Hill Library for the past 8 years, to sing songs based on bible stories. 

The group have now been asked to take their session’s elsewhere.

Library officials made the decision to exclude the volunteers from ‘baby rhyme time’ at the venue, after families communicated they were unhappy with the Christian references in their songs.

A spokesman from The King’s Church Mid-Sussex, which runs the Noah’s Ark group told the Daily Mail: ‘We are sad that our involvement in Baby Rhyme Time is coming to an end after eight years. It has been a well-loved, free group for people in the local area.

‘However, we respect the decision of West Sussex Library services and we will continue to do all that we can to serve them and our local community.’

A spokesman for West Sussex County Council has stated that Rhyme Time sessions are open to everyone including families of any faith or no faith.

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All the major LGBTI organisations in the Church of England have welcomed the Methodist Church’s move towards same-sex marriage, following a motion at The Methodist Conference earlier this month, which saw a 247 to 48 vote in favour of allowing same-sex weddings to take place in Methodist Churches and to be conducted by Methodist ministers.

The Campaign for Equal Marriage in the Church of England, Inclusive Church, OneBodyOneFaith, the LGBTI Mission, Ekklesia, Accepting Evangelicals and others have written a letter calling on the Church of England to make a similar move of acceptance.

The letter said: “The Campaign for Equal Marriage in the Church of England has made very similar proposals to those being discussed in the Methodist Church, proposals that respect the conscience of everyone and understand that it is possible to be faithful and committed members of our Church whilst holding differing views on marriage.

“It is time that the Church of England made a similar move and began to be honest about the reality that a great many of our Church communities would rejoice in the opportunity to welcome gay and lesbian couples to make their marriage vows in our parish Churches.

“It is time for change in the Church of England, for an honest acceptance of the differences within us on this issue, just as we do on divorce and the ordination of women.”

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The graves were opened at a tiny Holy See cemetery on Thursday but turned out to be completely empty.

Emanuela Orlandi’s disappearance in 1983 is one of Italy’s most enduring mysteries, and the opening of the tombs at her family’s request was the latest search for possible leads.

Instead, the grave site inspections raised only new questions: what happened to the remains of the two princesses who were buried in the side-by-side tombs in 1836 and 1840, respectively, in Teutonic Holy Field near St Peter’s Basilica?

“The tombs are empty. We are all amazed,” Orlandi family lawyer Laura Sgro told reporters. It was Ms Sgro who had received an anonymous letter suggesting the family check out the tombs in the cemetery where a stone angel holds a scroll reading in Latin “Rest in peace”.

Witnessing the tomb’s opening along with Ms Sgro, and a technical expert for the Orlandi family was Pietro Orlandi, whose 15-year-old sister disappeared after she went to her music lesson in Rome on June 22 1983.

The siblings’ father worked as a messenger for the Vatican and the family lived in Vatican City State.

The Vatican said in a statement that the opening of the tombs “yielded a negative outcome. No human remains nor funereal urns were found”.

It said the inspection of Princess Sophie von Hohenlohe’s tomb turned up an underground chamber measuring roughly 13 by 12ft that was “completely…

According to a report published by Christian Aid, ill-conceived law enforcement practices and the criminalisation of illegal businesses are destroying livelihoods and negatively impacting the lives of the world’s poorest people.

Karol Balfe, who leads Christian Aid’s peace-building work, told Premier the current methods to prevent the production and distribution of narcotics are simply not working and “the cure has been worse than the disease.”

She added: “We see crop eradication, which has caused displacement and deforestation for people from where they work and live, and actually does little to reduce the cultivation of coca or opium.

“Aerial fumigation – the spreading of carcinogenic chemicals on illicit crops, damages people’s health and their environment. And the use of military and law enforcement operations has led to egregious human rights violations. The most extreme of those in countries like Philippines where we’ve seen 27,000 people extra judicially killed since the state launched its war on drugs.”

Christian Aid argues that for some marginalised groups in countries like Afghanistan, Colombia, and Myanmar, illegal drug trades are a means of survival and although criminalised industries expose poor communities to violence and exploitation, they also provide income, employment, and protection.

The report, developed as part of a Global Challenges Research…