NEW STRATEGY TO RETURN UK TO CHRISTIANITY

COMMUNITY Secretary Eric Pickles has become the latest minister to demand a return of Christianity in Britain's public life, as he outlined a new community cohesion strategy today.
The local government secretary's comments are particularly revealing coming so soon after Sayeeda Warsi used a trip to the Vatican to launch a campaign against “militant secularism”.
"A few people, a handful of activists, have insisted that it isn't enough simply to celebrate the beliefs of minority communities; they want to disown the traditions and heritage of the majority, including the Christian faith and the English language," he tells today’s (Feb 21) Daily Mail.
“In recent years we’ve seen public bodies bending over backwards to translate documents up to and including their annual report into a variety of foreign languages.
"We've seen men and women disciplined for wearing modest symbols of Christian faith at work, and we've seen legal challenges to councils opening their proceedings with prayers, a tradition that goes back generations, brings comfort to many and hurts no one," Mr Pickles (left) added. "This is the politics of division."
The comments suggest the government believes multiculturalism itself creates a breeding ground for extremism.
"Harriet Harman [deputy Labour leader and author of the Equalities Act] was leading the country down the wrong path," he continued.
"If we are to remain a country where people of different backgrounds feel at ease and get along, we need more confidence in our national traditions. We need to draw a line."
The comments signal a newly confident approach to the role of Christianity from ministers, with Mr Pickles suggesting the religion would play a key role in Britain's public life once again.
"Some see religion as a problem that needs to be solved. We see it as part of the solution," the local government secretary said.
Over the weekend, Mr Pickles suggested he would use existing laws to undo a court judgement banning prayers at Bideford town council meetings.
That move, combined with today's strategy documents and Baroness Warsi's Vatican trip, signals a concerted effort in government to return to a more traditional religious and cultural agenda.
PEOPLE PUZZLED ABOUT WHAT TO GIVE UP FOR LENT
MORE than 20 per cent of adults planning to observe Lent don’t know what to give up, a new survey has found.
Church House Publishing commissioned the report to find out what people would be giving up or taking up as it launches a new iPhone app, Reflections for Lent.
But one in three said they were unsure about what to do for Lent.
Women are more likely to observe Lent than men, the survey discovered, and the age group most enthusiastic about marking the season are 18–24-year-olds.
Among the plans for Lent were:
• Will do something but don't know what yet (32 per cent of those observing Lent)
• Try to do more positive/kindly acts (21 per cent)
• Give up chocolate or other treats (17 per cent)
• Stop shopping for non-essential items (17 per cent)
• Give money to charity (ten per cent)
• Take up doing something spiritual like praying, reading the Bible (nine per cent)
• Stop swearing (nine per cent)
• Give up alcohol (eight per cent)
• Cut back on social media/gaming (seven per cent)
• Volunteer for a charity (seven per cent)
• Stop smoking (six per cent)
• Something else (four per cent)
According to the results, women are nearly twice as likely to engage in positive/kindly acts as a Lent discipline.
Men are twice as likely to give up alcohol for Lent, whereas women are nearly three times more likely to give up chocolate.
Men are nearly twice as likely to spend less time on social media and gaming for Lent, and women are nearly one-and-a-half times as likely to stop shopping for non-essential items as a form of penance.
Jane Williams, co-author of the Reflections for Lent app, said: "You can take your Lent discipline with you wherever you go by using the new Reflections for Lent app. The readable reflections on the season's Bible passages are a good alternative or accompaniment to giving up chocolate or coffee."
Reflections for Lent, produced by Aimer Media for Church House Publishing, is available from iTunes for £1.49.
GROUP SET UP TO STOP MARRIAGE CHANGE
A CAMPAIGN group against the redefinition of marriage in the United Kingdom has been launched today (Feb 21).
The Coalition for Marriage (C4M) is a group of organisations and individuals who support the current definition of marriage and opposes any plans to redefine it.
Leading public figures including politicians from the Conservative and Labour parties, lawyers, academics and religious leaders, have already signed affirming that marriage is between one man and one woman for life.
A consultation on redefining marriage is to be launched by the Government next month.
C4M campaigners believe the Government has seriously underestimated the strength of opposition to its plans.
Writing in the Daily Mail, Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, said: “The honourable estate of matrimony precedes both the state and the church, and neither of these institutions have the right to redefine it in such a fundamental way.
“For thousands of years, the union of one man and one woman has been the bedrock of societies across cultures, all around the world.”
He continued: “Marriage is a cornerstone of our society. Because of this, I believe the general public will oppose the present attempt to fundamentally alter – and undermine – the institution.”
BISHOP INVITES FACEBOOK PRAYER REQUESTS
A Devon Bishop is again inviting anyone in need of prayer to send their requests through Facebook.
The Rt Rev Bob Evans, Bishop of Crediton, has received hundreds of requests during Lent in the past two years. Now, prayer pleas can be posted from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday.
Bishop Bob said: “Prayer is hugely important for many people, whether they are churchgoers or not. I want to encourage people to pray, and many people feel very supported in knowing that someone else is praying for them, or alongside them.
“Prayer isn’t about persuading a reluctant God to listen, but about realising the compassion and strength of God.”
By using sites like Facebook Bishop Bob hopes to make prayer more accessible to millions who use social networking in their everyday lives.
“I’ll be making time each day to pray for those who ask, when at home, in church or just pulling over at the side of the road on my travels around the county,” he added.
The Facebook page is Bishop Bob’s Prayers.
RHODES LAUNCHES NEW HYMN COLLECTION

TELEVISION presenter Pam Rhodes has selected her favourite hymns for a new collection.
The double compilation, Pam Rhodes: Hearts and Hymns, includes songs that have inspired generations, such as Amazing Grace, All Things Bright and Beautiful and Thine be the Glory.
There are some modern favourites too, such as Stuart Townend's In Christ Alone and Tim Hughes's Here I am to Worship.
The album celebrates Pam's 25th anniversary as BBC’s Songs of Praise presenter.
In addition to clocking up a staggering 600 episodes of the popular Sunday show, she also finds the time to present Premier Radio's Hearts and Hymns programme.
Her genuine love of hymns makes her well placed to put together a collection of hymns that has something for everyone.
Pam Rhodes: Hearts and Hymns is out on March 12 from Kingsway.

CHRISTIAN LAUNCHES SUNDAY WORKING CLAIM
A DEVOUT Christian is to launch legal action claiming she was forced from her job caring for disabled children because she refused to work on Sundays.
Celestina Mba claims that the council she worked for pressured her to work on Sundays and threatened her with disciplinary measures - even though other workers were willing to take the shifts.
The case, to begin at an industrial tribunal tomorrow, comes amid growing concern among Christians at the “marginalisation” of religion in public life, and days after the Queen spoke up for the value of faith and its vital place in British society, while Baroness Warsi, the Conservative party chairman, said a “liberal elite” was attempting to downgrade the importance of religion in public life.
It involves a public sector employer at a time when Christian groups have expressed fears that state bodies - including the judiciary - are failing to treat them fairly.
It will also highlight long-running concern over the status of Sunday as a day of rest, which the Church has warned is being downgraded.
Miss Mba, worships every Sunday at her Baptist church, where she is also part of the ministry team offering pastoral care and support to the congregation.
The 57 year-old provided respite care for children with severe learning difficulties at the Brightwell children’s home in Morden, south-west London, which is run by the local council, the London borough of Merton.
She will say that when she took the position in 2007 managers initially agreed to accommodate the requirements of her faith.
But within a few months of starting the job, Miss Mba says managers began pressuring her to work on Sundays.
She found herself repeatedly allocated Sunday shifts and threatened with disciplinary measures unless she agreed to compromise her church commitments, meaning she had no alternative but to resign from the job she loved.
Miss Mba, whose case is scheduled to begin tomorrow , said: “The only day I ever refused to work was Sunday. They knew this when I took the job. I did not hide my faith.
“But then they began to demand that I work on Sunday.”
She added: “In one confrontation with a line manager he insisted that I should work on Sunday, and I felt so intimidated.
“Other members of staff offered to do Sundays for me, but were refused, and I said I was happy to work night shifts and Saturdays.
“I was issued with a 'management instruction’ that I had to work on Sundays, but I told them that management instruction or not, I have to honour God.
“I felt they were all ganging up on me. Eventually I was left with no choice, and had to resign.
“My employers treated me unjustly because of my faith. I cannot say whether they were prejudiced or not because it is only God that can see in their hearts.”
Miss Mba has not worked since her resignation in July 2010, although she said she had applied for numerous childcare positions and for other jobs in the hotel industry.
“I just love worshipping God and I want to do so without restriction,” said Miss Mba, who has three grown-up children and previously worked as a volunteer counsellor for the ChildLine charity.
PRAYER BAN OVERTURNED
THE High Court ban on prayers at council meetings has effectively been overturned by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.
He is pushing through a section of the Localism Act that will give local councils the authority to decide whether or not to include prayers in formal business.
The High Court ruled last week that prayers at council meetings were unlawful following a legal action brought against Bideford Town Council by the National Secular Society.
The society was acting on behalf of Clive Bone, an atheist member of the council, who had complained that it was uncomfortable for him to sit through Christian prayers.
In passing his judgement, Mr Justice Ouseley said that the Local Government Act 1972 did not give local authorities the power to include prayers in the agenda of their meetings.
The ruling was condemned by MPs and Christians, who feel it is an indication of the increasing marginalisation of Christianity in the face of an aggressive secularism.
The legal action was brought against Bideford Town Council after it twice voted in favour of keeping the prayers. It is to appeal the High Court ruling.
Mr Pickles claimed that the ruling did not reflect the intention of Parliament when the Localism Act was passed 40 years ago.
He said that last week’s case should be seen as a “wake-up call”.
“For too long, the public sector has been used to marginalise and attack faith in public life, undermining the very foundations of the British nation. But this week, the tables have turned.
“We are striking a blow for localism over central interference, for freedom to worship over intolerant secularism, for Parliamentary sovereignty over judicial activism, and for long-standing British liberties over modern-day political correctness.”
CALL FOR PEOPLE TO JOIN PRESTON PASSION
PEOPLE in the Lancashire city of Preston are being urged to take part in a live performance of The Passion that will be shown on prime time TV.
The Preston Passion – a telling of the story of Jesus’s crucifixion – will be staged around the bus station and will include music and drama.

The Passion is expected to include around 3,000 participants and will be shown live on BBC One on Good Friday.
Preston Sikh leader, Gulab Singh, said it was a great opportunity for all sections of faith to work together.
He said: "When I look at the scale of this and see the Passion needs around 3,000 people, I think this is a fantastic challenge for the city.
"Preston has a diverse set of people from all walks of life. I am sure the Passion is going to attract the same"
The production will feature television's Fern Britton and M People singer Heather Small who will appear alongside choirs, dancers, performers and local people of all ages to interpret the historic events of Holy Week.
Christian leaders are also anxious to show off the city in a good light.
The Vicar of Preston, Canon Timothy Lipscomb, said: "I think the BBC has been very ambitious and very honest their explanation in what they are trying to achieve.
"I hope the people of Preston will respond by singing, acting and doing all the things they are being asked to do."
The Archdeacon of Lancaster, the Venerable Michael Everitt, said he could see parallels in a large outside production in Preston and the events, over 2,000 years ago, in Jerusalem.
He said: "I think it is very exciting. When Jesus was crucified it was outside of the city walls and it was very much a public event that everyone was involved in.
"This is something we should not lock away in churches and remember that for Christians, God is involved in the entire world."

CAMPAIGN URGES PEOPLE TO ‘DO 1 NICE THING’
A CHRISTIAN initiative is urging people to Do 1 Nice Thing as part of a Love Your Streets campaign this year.
Street Angels, a Christian Nightlife Initiatives Network, in partnership with HOPE launched Love Your Streets as part of their Weekend of Love in Beeston, Nottingham last year.
The event resulted in hundreds of people offering to make a difference within the local community through clear-up days, litter collecting and acts of kindness.
This year's campaign  is calling on people to do one nice thing for someone else every day in 2012. Ideas are limitless and include smiling and saying hello to people, thanking those who serve you in some way, calling in on an elderly neighbour, volunteering or organising a community idea such as Big Lunch or a neighbourhood clean-up.
The Campaign links with a Government initiative launched earlier this year by the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles called A Year of Service that is encouraging faith groups to take a lead in offering service their locality. 
For more information and ideas visit www.loveyourstreets.org.uk
CHURCH LEADERS CALL TO SAY ‘THANKS’ TO QUEEN
Church leaders are inviting the public to sign an open letter of thanks to the Queen for her years of service.
As the monarch celebrates her Diamond Jubilee in early June this year, the Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev Tim Thornton, is offering the people of Cornwall the chance to send their best wishes.
Bishop Tim has set the ball rolling by putting his own signature to the "big thank you" letter now on display at the Truro Cathedral.
At the end of May, the letter – along with others in cathedrals across the UK – will be collected and delivered to Buckingham Palace.
Canon Perran Gay, acting dean of Truro Cathedral, said: "We are hugely indebted to Queen Elizabeth for the way she has served this country so faithfully and so steadfastly throughout her 60 years as our monarch.
“The big Jubilee thank-you is a way for ordinary people to acknowledge her extraordinary service to us all."
The cathedral will kick off its Jubilee celebrations with a free organ recital with Luke Bond on Friday, March 9 at 1.10pm featuring Walton's Coronation March Orb And Sceptre composed for the 1953 Coronation.
Other pieces will include Vaughan Williams' Rhosymedre (rumoured to be one of the Queen's favourite organ pieces) and Walton's Touch Her Sweet Lips, from his film music to the film Henry V.
DAWKINS CALLS OUT TO GOD AFTER CHALLENGE
DEVOUT atheist Richard Dawkins was left speechless and called out to God when challenged by a former canon of St Paul’s Cathedral.
Dawkins (left) was taking part in a Radio 4 interview on the Today programme yesterday to argue that people who call themselves Christian are often lying, and that more than half polled couldn’t identify Matthew as the first book of the New Testament.
But he was left to call out for divine intervention when the Rev Giles Fraser asked him for the full title of Charles Darwin’s book on evolution.
The discussion centred on a poll by Ipsos Mori for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, which appears to have been set up to discredit the use of census data to justify Christian practices such as government funding for faith schools and bishops having seats in the House of Lords.
Debating the survey's findings with Mr Fraser, the former canon of St Paul's Cathedral who quit last year, Dawkins made much of the fact that 64 per cent of people who said they were Christians in the census were not able to identify Matthew as the first book of the New Testament.
The second time Dawkins mentioned the finding, Fraser asked him if he could tell him the full title of On the Origin of Species, the book by Charles Darwin considered to be the ‘bible’ of evolutionary biology.
Dawkins stated emphatically: "Yes I could."
"Go on then," said Mr Fraser.
Dawkins's halting reply, complete with an improbable appeal to a higher authority, went thus: "On the Origin of Species, er, with... oh God... On the Origin of Species, um... There is a subtitle... er, um, with respect to the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life."
The correct answer is On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.
A triumphant Mr Fraser said: "You are the High Pope of Darwinism. If you asked people who believe in evolution that question and only two per cent got it right it would be terribly easy for me to say they don't really believe it after all.”
BELIEVERS URGED TO GO ON A 'CONSUMER DETOX’
CHRISTIANS are being challenged to go beyond the discipline of “giving something up” for Lent and instead go through a full “consumer detox”.
The aim is to spend 40 days on a journey with God into greater freedom from the temptations and trappings of our consumer culture.
The Lent Consumer Detox is an invitation to less stuff and more life. It is a new seven-week programme for small groups or individuals to follow, looking at themes such as materialism, generosity, and work-life balance. The resources also include online talks and a daily blog, and are all available for free.
Mark Powley, author of the book Consumer Detox and co-founder of the Breathe Network, said: “This is an invitation to detox through Lent with some resources for support. It’s not about going on a guilt-trip or being mean to ourselves, rather it’s about finding ways to support each other in living more simply and generously.”
“You could do the detox with friends, a small group, a church or whoever. My great hope is that God will use Lent 2012 to lift many of us out of consumer habits, and breathe greater freedom and generosity into our lives.”
Ruth Valerio, author of L is for Lifestyle: Christian Living That Doesn’t Cost The Earth, added: “Our consumer society has brought us many privileges, but that those privileges have come at a heavy price, as we are faced with the pressure of busyness, the constant messages to 'buy more stuff', the worries of our economic climate, and the impact that all has on our relationships.
“The period of Lent gives us a great opportunity to stop and take stock of our lives, and Mark's notes challenge us to take this time to look at our consumer society and think through how we can live well in that context as followers of a dying and rising Jesus.”
Lent Consumer Detox is available now online at www.consumerdetox.wordpress.com.
BISHOP BACKS COUNCIL PRAYERS
THE Bishop of Peterborough has spoken out in favour of keeping prayers being held at city council meetings.
Last week saw a landmark ruling from the High Court which said Bideford Town Council had acted “unlawfully” by holding prayers during meetings, following a complaint made by an atheist councillor.
There is potential for this ruling to have an impact on all councils that hold prayers, including Peterborough City Council which holds prayers before every full council meeting.
Council solicitors are currently looking at the impact this ruling may have, but Bishop of Peterborough, The Rt Rev Donald Allister, has backed the retention of prayers at meetings.
He said: “Britain is constitutionally a Christian Country. Parliament begins its sessions with prayers, and many city, county and borough councils do the same.
“Many of our clergy serve as chaplains to mayors or councils and their ministry is greatly appreciated.
“I hope that these good practices will continue across Northamptonshire, Peterborough and Rutland.
“Prayers need not be part of the official business, and those wishing to enter a meeting after prayers but before the official start should of course be free to do so.
“It is surely right to seek God’s guidance in our decision making, and his blessing on our communities.”