National News

Lambeth Palace Library, the historic library and record office of the Archbishops of Canterbury and the principal repository of the history of the Church of England, has appointed Giles Mandelbrote as its new Librarian and Archivist.

Churches around England are inviting couples to celebrate marriage on Valentine’s Day – which this year falls on a Sunday. They are using new liturgical resources that have already been downloaded more than 2,130 times from the Church of England website.

The Church Commissioners and the Church of England Pensions Board have sold their shares in Vedanta Resources plc on the advice of the Church’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group. As a result, none of the three national investing bodies of the Church of England hold shares in the company.

The Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, representing the Urban Bishop's Panel of the Church of England, has issued a statement in support of the End Child Detention Now campaign.

The Archbishops’ Council Mission and Public Affairs Division has updated its guidance note on countering far right political parties, extremist groups and racist politics. The guidance note, first produced in 2007, was prepared in response to a number of requests for advice on relating to political parties and other extremist groups that promote divisive, intolerant or racist politics.

A panel of senior Church of England bishops has told the EU that its plans for the next decade fail to reflect the needs of both the most disadvantaged and those 'ordinary citizens' who indirectly contribute to its financial and political viability.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has issued a statement to mark National Holocaust Memorial Day, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Couples attending this year’s biggest wedding shows will be able to ask for prayer to calm their wedding day nerves – by visiting the Church of England’s stand and filling out a specially designed prayer postcard. A priest on the stand will promise to pray for the couple the week prior to their big day.

When life takes us through difficult times, we should escape the loneliness of self-help and draw on the assurance of God’s love and strength – that’s the theme of A Way Through the Wilderness, the latest study course from renowned theologian Dr Paula Gooder.

A statement on the Equality Bill by the Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt, Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Revd Michael Langrish, Bishop of Exeter and Chair of the Churches Legislation Advisory Service and Rt Revd Peter Forster, Bishop of Chester.

The latest local church attendance figures from the Church of England show that around 1.7 million people continue to attend Church of England services each month.

The last Sunday in January (31st) marks Education Sunday, when churches across the country will consider what it means to be 'called to serve'.