Bishop of Norwich is appointed Lord High Almoner
THE King has appointed the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, as the following Lord High Almoner. The position, which dates back greater than 900 years, makes Bishop Usher accountable for the annual Royal Maundy Service, when the monarch gives specially minted silver coins to chose older people in recognition of their service to churches and communities.
Carlisle churches collect candles for Ukraine
MORE than 30 churches within the diocese of Carlisle have, over two months, collected nearly 1 / 4 of a tonne of candles to send to Ukraine. The candles have been transported to Swindon Humanitarian Aid Partnership (SHAP), which oversees the shipments to Ukraine to assist those people who find themselves struggling without power and warmth. A churchwarden at St Michael’s, Burgh by Sands, Carolyne Baines, first read in regards to the SHAP project within the Church Times (News, 23 February). She said: “The response to the appeal has been beyond everyone’s expectations, and a tremendous 230kg of candles have been collected.”
Jords releases Christmas single for Christian Aid
A LONDON-based choir, iNSIGNIA, based in Archway, has worked with the Croydon-born rap artist Jords to create a Christmas single, “Hold On To Hope”, to boost funds for Christian Aid. The choir is an element of the worship team on the multi-denominational church Worship Tabernacle. Deborah Okeowo, a minister and one in all the team leads for iNSIGNIA, said: “We had a terrific time recording with Jords, and we hope that, on listening to this song and really taking within the lyrics, people shall be comforted.” christianaid.org.uk/our-work/hold-on-to-hope
Church charity receives King’s Award
THE charity Transforming Plymouth Together, through which churches in Plymouth address social challenges related to poverty and inequality, has received the King’s Award 2024 for Voluntary Services, it was announced on the King’s birthday last week. Its initiatives include the newly opened Hygiene Hub, dementia-friendly carol services, warm-welcome spaces, financial education, and food-security projects, including school-meal provision throughout the holidays.
Ecclesiastical tops home insurance table
THE insurer Ecclesiastical has retained its top spot within the Fairer Finance Home Insurance league table for the twentieth 12 months, taking the title of the UK’s most trusted home-insurance provider. Ecclesiastical was ranked first within the list of 47 insurers, including the Bank of Scotland, the TSB, the NFU Mutual, the Nationwide, and Lloyds Bank, retaining Gold Ribbon status for an additional 12 months. Fairer Finance, an independent consumer group, surveys about 20,000 UK banking and insurance customers all year long.
Correction: The Anna Chaplaincy, founded by Debbie Thrower, has marked ten years as a national movement, not as stated in our news story last week (News, 15 November); neither is the chaplaincy sponsored by OSJCT. We apologise for these and other inaccuracies within the story, an accurate version of which might be found online.
Crockford: Church House Publishing has requested that we confirm that the motive for the changes happening in Crockford online (Diary, 15 November) is just not financial gain. Certain users already receive an enhanced service at a cheaper price than standard users. Prices can be found on the web site: www.crockford.org.uk/subscribe. A spokesman said: “We are currently reviewing how we publish data referring to clergy who’ve died — a side of Crockford online not reviewed in greater than 20 years — with the aim of ensuring responsible stewardship and sharing of all data referring to clergy, each living and departed, in print and online.”
