National News

Church schools get chance to shine at launch of national awards - religious schools contribute ‘significantly and substantially’ to community cohesion Church schools across the country are being invited to showcase examples of how they help foster strong community relations with the launch of the Church School Awards for inspiring citizens and transforming communities.

The Church of England’s national investing bodies have written to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) Secretariat to confirm their signing up to the initiative’s principles in addition to their commitment to the Church’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group.

The Church of England is advertising Back to Church Sunday 2010 (September 26th) on the radio stations Classic FM and Heart FM, to deliver a message of welcome over the airwaves straight into the homes of 1.3 million people.

The new Bishop of Ely will be the Rt Revd Stephen Conway, currently the Suffragan Bishop of Ramsbury in the Diocese of Salisbury where he has been serving since his consecration in June 2006.

This morning’s GCSE results have confirmed that the number of students taking Religious Education has increased for the twelfth year running.

The Church of England today publishes the inspection report on one of its ministerial training institutes: the Canterbury Local Ministry Training Scheme.

The Church has praised the religious programming offered by some of the BBC's best-loved radio stations, while joining calls for a Religion Editor to work across the corporation’s news and current affairs output.

It might be a little patch of earth you work on; a quiet spot where you spend time in thought; a view that stops you in your tracks.

Today's A-level results see the seventh consecutive year-on-year increase in the number of students taking Religious Studies A-level.

In a joint bid to welcome more weddings in church, the Church of England’s Weddings Project and the Royal School of Church Music have teamed up to offer fresh advice for churches, including answers to brides’ biggest questions about wedding music and money.

Church bells across the country will ring in tune with the United Nations next month to mark crucial international talks on biodiversity.

The Church of England's lead spokesperson on education issues, the Rt Revd John Saxbee, has written to Education Secretary Michael Gove to express his serious concern at the cancellation of the Building Schools for the Future programme in secondary schools.

The Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England (CFCE) has welcomed a new fund of £500,000 for cathedral fabric repairs thanks to the Wolfson Foundation, a charity supporting excellence in the fields of science and medicine, health, education and the arts and humanities.

An innovative way of planning a church wedding by web has been a surprise hit with couples. What began life as a pilot less than two years ago with a change in the law initiated by the Church - the Marriage Measure - is now at the heart of one-third of Church of England weddings, statistics suggest.