This weekend marks Bible Sunday and our joint parish Holy Communion service is at St Mary and All Saints' Church, Dunsfold at 10am. Reverend Rutton Viccajee is our celebrant.f you can't be with us in person you can join us remotely by clicking on the following Zoom link.https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5253921788?pwd=MC9kNmpldmFrRSsrV1pkc1k5aU1vZz09
A total of 21 grants have been made directly to the Church of England, with a further 12 Church of England churches being funded through a grant to the National Churches Trust. The Churches Conservation Trust, Friends of Friendless Churches, and Catholic Church were also successful in bids for funding. All of the funds awarded to places of worship will be channelled into work by specialist builders and craftspeople allowing these places to deal with urgent repair needs and continue to serve their communities.Places of worship make up the largest category of listed public buildings in England, totalling 14,600 across every community in England. These are cared for by faith groups and charities, and supported by philanthropic trusts. Much of the work to keep these places open and welcoming is done by committed volunteers who care for some of England’s most important heritage. Welcoming the announcement, The Church of England's lead Bishop for Buildings, Viv Faull, who is Bishop of Bristol, said:"The Culture Recovery Fund has been a lifeline for communities and today’s Heritage Stimulus Fund announcement is a further boost for projects across the country. "The appetite and enthusiasm for this scheme shows the scale of need across our churches and cathedrals and, while these grants will address just a small number of the churches requiring repair and improvement in the coming years, it will help them to continue to serve their wider communities as centres of heritage, community and faith.” The churches receiving grants are among 142 heritage sites to receive awards totalling £35 million today.Administered on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) by Historic England, the grants are aimed to support and bolster local economies and jobs across the country. Money from the government’s £2 billion Culture Recovery Fund is intended to open up heritage and the benefits it brings to everyone.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has spoken during the Second Reading of the Assisted Dying Bill. Here is the full transcript: "My Lords, I am grateful to Baroness Meacher and listened with great attention to her extremely powerful speech. This is an issue on which many of us have personal experiences, often painful and difficult."There is unanimity on these benches that our current law does not need to be changed, but I know that people of faith hold differing views and no doubt we will hear those today and I look forward to them. "Everyone here shares the best of intentions. We should recognise that in how we listen and respond to each other. I hope that no one will seek to divide the House today, but I do welcome Lord Winston’s amendment, because it draws our focus towards our use of language. We need clarity and precision in our terms."Christ calls his followers to compassion. But compassion must not be drawn too narrowly, a point made indirectly and powerfully by Baroness Meacher."It must extend beyond those who want the law to provide help to end their lives, to the whole of society; especially those who might be put at risk. "Our choices affect other people. The common good demands that our choices, rights and freedoms must be balanced with those of others, especially those who may not be so easily heard. "Sadly, I believe this Bill to be unsafe. As a curate and parish priest I spent time with the dying, the sick and the bereaved. I still do. All of us have personal experience. I have as well."We know that the sad truth is that not all people are perfect, not all families are happy, not everyone is kind and compassionate."No amount of safeguards can perfect the human heart, no amount of regulation can make a relative kinder or a doctor infallible. "No amount of reassurance can make a vulnerable or disabled person feel equally safe, equally valued, if the law is changed in this way."All of us here are united in wanting compassion and dignity for those coming to the end of their lives.But it does not serve compassion if by granting the wishes of one closest to me, I expose others to danger."And it does not serve dignity if in granting the wishes of one closest to me I devalue the status and safety of others."I hope your Lordships will reflect, and while recognising the good intentions we all share, resist the change this Bill seeks to make."
