Jewish communities to receive £10 million for security
THE Government has announced a £10-million “emergency money injection” to bolster security around synagogues and Jewish schools, after a recent rise in anti-Semitism. The funding was announced last Friday, two weeks after the phobia attack on Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, by which two people were killed and 4 were hospitalised (News, 3 October). It can pay for more security staff and equipment, resembling CCTV, alarms, and floodlights, around Jewish sites. The Prime Minister said: “The devastating truth is that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Britain, and we must defeat it. . . Tackling this hatred won’t be solved with quick fixes. It will take work across communities and in every a part of our country and each a part of our society. It is a national effort that I’m determined this government will lead.”
Bishops renew calls to scrap two-child limit
THE Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, who’s the lead bishop for child poverty issues, has signed a joint letter to the Prime Minister renewing a call for the “immediate complete removal of the two-child limit” on advantages. The letter, organised by the charity Alliance 4 Children, urges Sir Keir Starmer to make this transformation a “cornerstone of your recent strategy”. It cites “overwhelming evidence” that “the one and simplest and cost-efficient measure to scale back child poverty – each its breadth and depth – is the whole abolition of this limit (along with the profit cap). The Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, and the Bishop of Manchester, Dr David Walker, were also among the many signatories of the letter, which was handed into Downing Street on Monday.
RSCM invites organists to ‘play along’ Handel
THE Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is organising a mass organ “play-along” event, “Hands on with Handel”, on St Cecilia’s Day, 22 November. In an element of this 12 months’s Director’s Challenge, organists of any standard the world over are invited to play the Largo “Ombra mai fu” from Handel’s oratorio Xerxes and share their performances on social media using the hashtag #handsonwithhandel and #playtheorganyear. Instagram posts will appear on the RSCM’s social-media wall. The RSCM hopes that churches will host “open-console” sessions to introduce more people to the organ. “Easy, intermediate, and full arrangements” of the music can be found on the RSCM website, along with free resources including session plans and practice suggestions. rscm.org.uk/whats-on/directors-challenge
Songwriters seek to attach St Andrew’s churches
TWO Christian songwriters, Nick Axford and Mack Robinson, who attend St Andrew’s, Ashburton, in Devon, are calling on churches with the identical dedication the world over to love and share online their recent song, “Lost and Found”. It is being released on 30 November, St Andrew’s Day, in aid of the Fishermen’s Mission, St Andrew being the patron saint of fishermen. The aim is to attach as many churches of St Andrew by either playing the music video in church or sharing the link on their social media. Mr Robinson, who wrote the lyrics, said: “Just fill in our contact form and we’ll add you to the list of churches collaborating and send you the song video, lyrics and sheet music ahead of its official release date. We’re hoping this challenge might appeal to St Andrew’s churches the world over!” The song was recorded at Between Sounds Studio, in Buckfastleigh, and the video features footage from on board a Brixham fishing boat Julie of Ladram, including an air-sea rescue of the skipper. axfordrobinsonmusic.org
Embrace offers ‘space for conversation’ on Middle East
EMBRACE THE MIDDLE EAST has released a four-week course for churches and small groups, “Gracious Dialogue: A guide to listening and speaking well about Israel and Palestine”, which “invites Christians to interact with one of the crucial complex and emotionally charged problems with our time, not with fear or division but with grace, empathy and an open heart”. The sessions include differing interpretations of Paul’s letter to the Romans, and pivotal moments in history, from the Balfour Declaration to the events of seven October 2023 and beyond. The creator, the Revd Su McClellan, an associate minister of Coventry Cathedral, said: “This resource is about creating space for conversations we regularly avoid. It’s not about agreement, but about understanding. It’s about seeing through one other’s eyes and listening deeply to 1 one other as members of the Body of Christ.” The charity’s patron, the Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, writes within the foreword: “May church communities across many alternative contexts engage with this wealthy material, and thru the gift of creative dialogue discover yet more of what it means to be the Body of Christ.” shop.embraceme.org/gracious-dialogue
Hereford church to be sold
ST NICHOLAS’s, Hereford, which closed for worship on 1 May, owing to declining numbers within the congregation, is in the marketplace for £450,000. Encore Enterprises, previously often known as Hereford Music Service, had hoped to make use of the Grade II listed constructing in the town centre as a community venue, however the diocese has since confirmed to local media that the corporate has withdrawn, citing planning challenges. The sale includes the church constructing, believed thus far to 1842, and St Nicholas House, which has been used as a church hall, and has two large meeting spaces. The agents, Bruton Knowles, say that suitable uses may include a Christian place of worship, community centre, or museum, or, subject to meeting planning requirements, an office or housing.
