Interesting Facts

3rd August 2001 - A car bomb exploded in a busy west London street, injuring seven people. 2003 - The Anglican Church in America voted to approve the appointment of an openly gay bishop. 2008 - Nobel literature prize winner, Alexander Solzhenitsyn who revealed the horror of Stalin's camps to the world, died aged 89.

26th November 1865 - Lewis Carrroll (Charles Dodgson) published the book Alice in Wonderland (aka Alice's Adventures in Wonderland). 1984 - US troops withdrew from the Lebanese capital, Beirut. 1987 - The Church of England's General Synod voted by a huge majority in favour of the ordination of women priests.

According to research carried out on the 2014 census study 48.8% of the population of England and Wales say they don't identify with any religion. (The number of 'nones' is now above 50 per cent, almost double the figure of 25% recorded in the census just three years earlier. People defining themselves as Christian, including Anglicans, Catholics and other denominations, made up 43.8% of the population. The Church of England expects congregations to continue to fall for another 30 years as the population ages and younger generations shun faith. I just think they should put a reply on the census that says, "Mind your own business". )

Libby Lane is the first female bishop to be consecrated by The Church of England. (She has been vicar of St Peter's Hale and St Elizabeth's Ashley, in Greater Manchester, since April 2007. Women have been able to become priests in the Church of England for 20 years. Next stop archbishop?)

Due to health and safety issues at a church putting on a nativity play in Neath, south Wales, has  meant that the child playing Mary will have to wear a hard hat when she saddles up for the donkey ride to Bethlehem. (Luckily she will be able to hide the head gear under her shawl. My favourite headline for this story, comes from the Metro - Yule never believe it!)

According to a vicar, Father Phil Ritchie, from All Saints Church in Hove, East Sussex, this Easter we should all "Have a lie-in, have sex, and eat chocolate". (Father Ritchie said:  "The problem with the church is that we stay inside our building and occasionally come out and say, 'Why don’t you come to our church, it’s cool and funky' - To be honest, it’s not.  I would love more people to come at 10am on Sunday and I would welcome them to All Saints.  For Christians this is the most important day of the year.  All life and all hope flows from it.  But there are plenty of ways to celebrate without coming to a draughty Victorian building.  So why not stay at home, have a lie in, have sex and eat some chocolate." His suggestion actually raised his congregation for Easter Sunday to about 300, 100 more than usual, I guess the alternative didn't appeal to them much.) Source

Two churches in London have been ordered to keep their singing voices down after neighbours complained about their Sunday services. (The churches face a fine of £20,000 if they break the order. It all seems very strange until you read what one pastor said; "Because we have had to cut down the drums and sing very low and even without a keyboard, most of our members are not enjoying their worship service, especially our youth, and so they go elsewhere," she said." Drums? Keyboard? I think church has changed since I was a lass.)

In Guy Fawkes's day, anyone who persistently refused to attend Protestant church services was fined £20 a month. (Back then £20 was the annual salary of a school teacher! I think my bill would have been pretty large.)