2000

Church of England prepares to celebrate Education Sunday, 11 February 2001
18 December 2000

Education Sunday, 11 February 2001, is a national day of prayer and celebration for everyone in the world of education. Celebrated for well over a hundred years, it is an ecumenical event shared by the Christian Churches.

Church Schools Review Group issues consultation report
13 December 2000

The Church Schools Review Group, chaired by Lord Dearing, today issues its Consultation Report on the way the Church of England should shape the future of its 4,700 schools. The Report provides comment on some 57 provisional recommendations and on other issues.

Review of the See of Canterbury
6 December 2000

Hurd Review enters new phase by issuing consultation paper The work of the review team examining the future development of the Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury is about to enter a new phase.

Bishop pays tribute to the Revd Ernie Rea
6 December 2000

The Bishop of Wakefield, the Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, today paid tribute to the Revd Ernest Rea, the BBC's Head of Religion and Ethics, whose retirement was announced yesterday.

Church to address telecoms issues
29 November 2000

The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England today (29 November) unveils a new initiative in support of 13,000 parochial church councils (PCCs) increasingly faced with deciding whether or not to allow telecommunications operators to install aerials in church spires and towers, often with considerable inducement.

Urban White Paper must lead to action, says Bishop of Barking
16 November 2000

The Church of England welcomes the Government's Urban White Paper, the first in 20 years, but only in the expectation that it will lead to action in the shape of new measures and new laws, says the Rt Revd Roger Sainsbury, Bishop of Barking in East London and chairman of the bishops' urban panel.

HM The Queen presented with Common Worship
14 November 2000

Her Majesty The Queen, today, Tuesday, November 14, received a presentation volume of Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England. The volume was presented by the Archbishop of York, Dr David Hope, after Her Majesty, welcomed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, officially opened the seventh General Synod of the Church of England.

Exhibition highlights design of Common Worship
10 November 2000

The combination of the traditional and the contemporary, in both content and design, of Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England, is to go on display in London.

The Church and the media - informal consultation
8 November 2000

At a Consultation held at St George's House, Windsor, on 6th - 7th November, the invited participants considered issues affecting both the Church and the Media at the beginning of the 21st Century

HM The Queen to inaugurate Seventh General Synod
31 October 2000

Her Majesty The Queen will inaugurate the Seventh General Synod of the Church of England in Church House, Westminster, on Tuesday, 14 November. The inauguration ceremony will follow a Eucharist in Westminster Abbey at which the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, will preside and the Revd Dr Alister McGrath, Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, will preach.

Party leaders assure church delegations on racism in politics
6 October 2000

Leaders of the three main political parties represented at Westminster have assured bishops that they would quickly disown any party candidate or member approving, condoning or encouraging resentment against residents, immigrants or asylum seekers on the basis of their colour or ethnic origin in party political activity.

Statement on the draft EU Equal Treatment Directive
4 October 2000

Response to DfEE consultation on behalf of the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales and the Free Churches in England and Wales

Parish returns will help shape the Church's mission
15 September 2000

Parishes throughout the country are being encouraged to take the first step in compiling statistics that will help the Church of England, at all levels, shape its mission for the future. Annual membership and finance returns have been adapted to reflect proposals endorsed by the General Synod in the summer.

Interim report recommends dioceses to consider new schools
20 July 2000

At the request of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Church Schools Review Group, chaired by Lord Dearing, is today issuing an interim report addressed to the Archbishops' Council.

Review sees extended life for Church Urban Fund
10 July 2000

An independent Review Body, chaired by the Bishop of Bradford, today exhorted the Church to "be adventurous in its efforts" to continue to bring significant additional resources into England's most deprived communities.

New Partnership Secretary for Board of Mission
10 July 2000

The Rev Stephen Lyon, Principal of the Southwark Ordained Local Ministry Scheme, has been appointed Partnership Secretary of the Church of England's Board of Mission.

Church of England refutes Sunday Times article
4 July 2000

The Church of England has lodged strong objections to inaccurate statements made in The Sunday Times (2 July 2000) which paint a misleading picture of Church finances.

Tax-efficient giving breaks the £6 barrier
1 July 2000

The latest parochial statistics, for the calendar year 1998, show the same general trends seen over recent years. Tax-efficient giving increased by 7% on average, breaking through the £6 barrier for the first time at £6.37.

Review of the Episcopal Ministry Act of Synod
24 June 2000

The General Synod is to discuss how arrangements designed to ensure that those with differing views on the ordination of women can remain in the highest possible degree of communion with one another are working at its July meeting in York.

Legalising voluntary euthanasia 'not an option' says church report
23 June 2000

The case for legalising Euthanasia is not supportable, according to a new edition of a groundbreaking Church of England report. On Dying well - a contribution to the Euthanasia debate was first published in 1975 and the new edition covers the advances made in medical and legal thinking in the past 25 years. The preface for the new edition concludes that, despite these advances, the ethical and theological case against it remains firm.

Response to the Report of the Royal Commission on House of Lords Reform
23 June 2000

A response on behalf of the Church of England to the Report of the Royal Commission on House of Lords Reform has been submitted to Government by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York today (Friday 23 June).

Statistics can be a tool for mission, says Church report
21 June 2000

Statistics used 'as a tool for mission, may help the Church engage more fully in its prophetic, pastoral and evangelistic role by enabling it to face with honesty the implications of changing patterns of attendance,' says a report to be debated by the General Synod next month.

Synod runs hard right up to the tape
20 June 2000

The agenda for the July meeting of the General Synod in York - the last of the Synod elected in 1995 - is as busy as any other during its lifetime. Debates on clergy discipline, a call for steps which might lead to the consecration of women bishops, the healing ministry, mission among young people and reform of the House of Lords are just some of the highlights of a packed Synod agenda.

Parishes encouraged to develop their ministry of healing
8 June 2000

The healing ministry is one of the greatest opportunities the Church has today for sharing the Gospel, says the report of a review chaired by the Rt Rev John Perry, Bishop of Chelmsford. To encourage a wise and appropriate exercise of this ministry in congregations, Church of England clergy will receive a handbook on the development of good practice.

Church Commissioners to Move Management of UK funds
19 May 2000

The Commissioners are to transfer the day to day fund management of their £2,600 million UK equities securities portfolio to CCLA (Churches, Charities and Local Authorities) Investment Management Limited. The transfer is planned to be effective from 1 July 2000.

Amendment to the Learning and Skills Bill - a joint statement
18 May 2000

Statement issued by the Right Reverend Alan Chesters, Bishop of Blackburn, chairman of the Church of England Board of Education, and the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Birmingham, chairman of the Catholic Bishops' Conference Department for Education and Formation

Church moves Measure back to Synod
10 May 2000

The Legislative Committee of the Church of England has today unanimously decided to withdraw the Churchwardens Measure from the Ecclesiastical Committee of Parliament in order to resubmit the measure to General Synod in its July sessions in York with the recommendation that it be amended so that the power to suspend a churchwarden would be withdrawn.

Investing in God's people
19 April 2000

Blackburn Diocesan office is the latest part of the Church of England to gain the national Investors in People Standard. Investors is taking off in the wake of unanimous support at the General Synod in York, last July.

Seeing Salvation breaks Church House Bookshop Records
18 April 2000

The coffee-table catalogue to the National Gallery exhibition Seeing Salvation is Church House Bookshop's biggest seller of 2000, Mark Clifford, head of Church House Publishing's retail arm, announced today.

Commissioners hold to a steady course
13 April 2000

Speaking about the Church Commissioners' Report and Accounts for 1999 today, the First Church Estates Commissioner, John Sclater CVO, said: "For six successive years the Commissioners have produced a total return on their assets ahead of their independent benchmark. This is a fine achievement, but the fact is that the Commissioners' funds remain fully committed. The Commissioners will stick to their strategy of investing to provide sustainable support towards the costs of the Church's ministry in the long term. They will focus on looking for ways of increasing, if possible, their support for ministry in areas of need and opportunity in the years ahead."

Preparations begin for the arrival of Common Worship
6 April 2000

The Church of England has announced a massive mailing campaign as part of its preparations for the arrival of its new liturgy, Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England, which replaces The Alternative Service Book in November this year.

Church of England Ethical Investment Advisory Group Recommends Ethical Framework for Genetically Modified Crop Development
5 April 2000

The Church of England Ethical Investment Advisory Group has concluded that the genetic modification of crops is not beyond the range of acceptable human activities but has called for a clear ethical framework for practical applications of the science, whether experimental or commercial. Its approach can be summed up as precautionary but not anti-science. The group considers the potential benefits of genetic modification for humankind to be too great to ignore but does not feel it is yet appropriate to grant tenancies for crop trials on Church land given the uncertainties caused by the lack of an ethical framework.

Church presses for VAT relief on historic buildings
24 March 2000

A cross-party delegation of MPs has called on the Arts Minister, Alan Howarth, to press for relief from VAT for repair and conservation work on church buildings.

Statement by Archbishop Nichols and Bishop Chesters on the proposed Government amendment to the Learning and Skills Bill
16 March 2000

Bishop Alan Chesters, as Chairman of the Church of England Board of Education, and Archbishop Vincent Nichols, as Chairman of the Catholic Education Service, have issued the following joint statement in response to today's announcement by the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, the Rt Hon David Blunkett MP.

Bishop's prayer for farming
29 February 2000

The Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Rev John Oliver, today prayed with farmers at their vigil for the future of pig farming in Parliament Square.

New Chief Secretary for Mission appointed
29 February 2000

John Clark, Secretary of Partnership for World Mission (PWM), has been appointed Chief Secretary for Mission to the Archbishops' Council, in succession to succeed Canon Philip King.

Motion calls on Government to help farmers
16 February 2000

A motion before the General Synod, meeting later this month, calls on the Government to develop a long-term strategy for agriculture and introduce a retirement scheme for farmers. If carried, the motion also urges a clear food labelling policy and a reduction in the burden on farmers of paperwork.

Bishops challenged to learn new tricks
15 February 2000

Bishops are being challenged to learn something new during Adult Learners' Week, 20-26 May 2000.

Farming, broadcasting and new Church services highlight Synod agenda
14 February 2000

Major debates on the crisis in farming and on religious broadcasting are among the highlights of a short but busy meeting of General Synod later this month. The session will take place in London, at Church House, Westminster, from 28 February to 1 March.

Almost 100 years - almost 10,000 Readers
14 February 2000

The oldest magazine published by the Church of England, The Reader, has undergone the most radical transformation in its 96-year history. It first appeared in January 1904, "to bring people together, to break down isolation and to open up subjects of practical and pressing interest". Readers are lay ministers who preach and teach.

Lay woman replaces new bishop
10 February 2000

Mrs Margaret Sentamu is the first lay woman to be appointed Senior Selection Secretary in the Ministry Division of the Archbishops' Council. She succeeds the Rev Roy Screech, who is to be the new Bishop of St Germans in the Diocese of Truro.

German Church visit focuses on education in church schools and parishes
8 February 2000

Church schools and parish education will be the focus of a visit by German Lutheran and Reformed Church leaders to Blackburn Diocese from February 9 to 14.

Poster highlights role of young people in the Church
7 February 2000

The latest Church of England poster for parishes and church schools highlights the importance of children and young people to a growing church.

Blackburn and Chelmsford are first cathedrals to take on new structures
2 February 2000

New structures for running Church of England cathedrals, under the Cathedrals Measure 1999, start to come into effect this week. The first cathedrals involved are those of Blackburn, in the Province of York, on February 2, and Chelmsford, in the Province of Canterbury, on February 6. On those dates, the Provosts of Blackburn and Chelmsford will become Deans and the new system will start to operate.

Churches state expectations on sex education guidance
2 February 2000

The Church of England Board of Education and the Catholic Education Service have informed the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, the Rt Hon David Blunkett MP, what they hope to see in the guidance he has promised to give schools on sex and relationships education (statement below). The two education bodies are responsible for some 7000 schools and about a quarter of all primary and secondary pupils.

Bishops seek consistent criteria for marriage in church after divorce
25 January 2000

The House of Bishops has set about defining the circumstances that the General Synod had in mind when it resolved, in 1981, that certain persons 'may be married in church during the lifetime of a former spouse'.

'Concrete jungle' puts Bristol's cathedral in peril
24 January 2000

The nation's experts on cathedrals today made a last-minute appeal to Bristol's city councillors to reject plans for what Bristol residents are calling a 'concrete jungle' in the heart of Bristol.

Statement from the Church of England on the report of the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords
20 January 2000

The report of the Royal Commission chaired by Lord Wakeham represents a serious attempt to address a fundamental issue: how the people are represented and how we are governed. The recommendations and options are extensive and require careful thought and examination on all sides.

Statement by the House of Bishops of the Church of England on the rural crisis
19 January 2000

Church of England bishops are encouraging the Government to develop a long-term strategy for British agriculture which responds to the threat to the way of life of rural communities. The House of Bishops issued the following statement after its recent meeting in York.

Church of England and Methodist Church meet at Ampleforth Abbey
17 January 2000

The Chairmen/Chairs of the Methodist Church Districts of England, Scotland and Wales invited the Church of England House of Bishops to meet them at Ampleforth Abbey on Tuesday, January 11, 2000.

Archbishops' Council church schools review group starts work
11 January 2000

The Church Schools Review Group, chaired by Lord Dearing, met today (11 January 2000) for the first time. The Group's membership and agreed Terms of Reference are attached.

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