Ministers and lay staff in a Church of England diocese (region) can now have union representation. The English midlands diocese of Leicester has signed an agreement with the “Unite” Trade Union. “Leicester diocese of the Church of England has signed… Continue Reading
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel returned to his Christ the Good Shepherd church on the weekend – Psalm Sunday in the Eastern calendar – and revealed in his Arabic sermon that he had lost sight in one eye, according to a… Continue Reading
In the wake of the live-streamed alleged stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel (pictured) at the Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley near Liverpool, Sydney, Murray Norman, CEO of Faith NSW, called for faith communities to work together. “This… Continue Reading
A warning that changes to discrimination law in NSW and Queensland will restrict religious freedom was delivered by Associate Professor Neil Foster from Newcastle University at the Notre Dame University religious liberty conference last week. “One of the themes of… Continue Reading
Faith leaders describe the Conversion Practices Ban Bill 2024 introduced into the NSW parliament last week as “a genuine effort by the Government to fulfill its election promises to protect religious freedom.” In a joint letter • Imam Shadi Alsuleiman, President… Continue Reading
The Conversion Practices Ban Bill 2024, introduced into the NSW Parliament yesterday, seeks to ban “conversion practices” aimed at changing or suppressing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity captures some forms of prayer and counselling, but not sermons or… Continue Reading
Queensland’s proposed Anti-Discrimination Bill 2024 could make it impossible for doctrinally conservative churches to discipline clergy. This problem in the proposed law is revealed in an analysis on the Law and Religion Australia site by Dr Alex Deagon, an Associate Professor in the… Continue Reading
The acronym “DGR” is important to some Christian organisations but will be new to some readers. DGR stands for “deductible gift recipient” and means that someone giving to an organisation with DGR status can claim a tax deduction. DGR status is… Continue Reading
By Peter Bentley A Review of Keeping Faith: How Christian Organisations Can Stay True to the Way of Jesus (2023) by Stephen Judd, John Swinton, Kara Martin. One could think this is a perennial topic, but it has only had… Continue Reading
An Obadiah Slope column Taylor Swift and the totalitarianism of the right: The Other Cheek can’t bear to be the only part of the internet, not to mention Taylor Swift. So Obadiah will oblige, pointing to the deluge of conspiracy… Continue Reading