CHRISTIANITY NOT JUST FOR CHRISTMAS

This article by Cranmer's Curate is from The Bridge, the Oughtibridge parish magazine.

It is lovely to see many visitors at our Christmas services at the parish church, and we warmly welcome them. A full church particularly for our carol service and our children’s nativity service is very encouraging to see.

But once New Year comes, it’s back to reality for us as a church family with a more normal pattern of attendance. The regular church congregation is there because for them Christianity is not just for Christmas. By God’s grace we are disciples of Christ all year round.

And that makes sense when you think about it. One of the great Christmas biblical texts is from the prophet Isaiah, written about 750 years before the birth of Christ and looking forward to the coming of God’s King -

'Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful Councillor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace' (Isaiah 9v6).

‘The government shall be upon his shoulder.’ It would be a pretty odd government, not to mention an incompetent one, that only governed at Christmas. Thankfully, Christ exercises his loving rule over his people all year round.

He forgives us our sins all year round; he speaks to us through his Word all year round; he is present with us by His Holy Spirit all year round.

For us he is our ‘Prince of Peace’ all year round – he gives us peace with God, the gift of sins forgiven and the assurance of his eternal love, all year round.

The people of this parish are warmly invited to join us for our Christmas services. God willing, those joining us will discover that Christianity is not just for Christmas and we will see some of you again in the New Year.

With all Christian good wishes to your and your loved ones,
Julian Mann
Vicar

CHRISTMAS SERVICES AT THE PARISH CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION, OUGHTIBRIDGE

Sunday December 20th 6.30pm Carols by Candlelight

Christmas Eve (Thursday) 4pm Nativity Service

11.30pm Holy Communion

Christmas Day (Friday) 10.30am Family Service followed by Holy Communion

'Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful...' (Isaiah 9v6).

LOCAL PAPER TITLES LETTER 'THE BIBLE IS CLEAR'

The following letter from your curate appeared in Thursday's Sheffield Telegraph with this title:

The Bible is clear

FOLLOWING your report on interfaith week: whilst it is good to establish good relations with people of other faiths, it would be most unfortunate if Anglican clergy taking part in interfaith celebrations were to give the false impression that all religions lead to God.

They don't. The Bible is clear that Jesus Christ is 'the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him' (John 14v6).

Of course it is the sub-editor who gets the credit for the title. But by God's grace this does show that writing a letter to a secular local newspaper does allow an Evangelical Christian a chance to set the agenda to a degree. If you have taken the trouble to write, and the letter is polite and to the point and therefore publishable, the paper can't be rude about it!

THE MORALITY TALE OF HARRY BROWN

A film about a vigilante pensioner may not seem promising material for a morality tale. But Harry Brown, with Michael Caine in the lead role, is an extremely powerful portrayal of Old Britain coming to the rescue of the self-destructing New.

Set on a drug-ridden and violent council estate, the film describes the transformation of an elderly ex-Marine, who has just lost his wife, into an old-school Cockney version of Dirty Harry. He punishes the thugs who brutally killed his elderly chess-playing friend Len in contrast to the police who are powerless to bring them to book and simply have to sit there in the interview room and take their foul abuse.

It is important to stress that no Christian should support vigilante action of this kind. The film conveniently supplies Harry with mobile phone footage of Len's murderers, but in real life the gathering of evidence and due process of law are needed to establish guilt and protect the innocent.

But the film does ask uncomfortable questions of the permissive society and two poignant moments particularly stand out: one when Harry places money taken from drug dealers in the collection box of a church with his eyes on the Crucifix on the wall; and the other when the female police inspector tells him rather sanctimoniously that the council estate is 'not Northern Ireland' where he had served as a soldier.

No, retorted Harry, over there the bad guys who committed vile acts did them for a cause. This lot are doing it for their own entertainment.

Michael Caine is magnificent in the role – there is an emotional depth to a typically adept acting performance which suggests that his characterisation of Harry Brown may have been fired by some element of righteous indignation. If that is so, then it is not difficult to see why he was able to bring that understated sense of moral outrage to his subtle portrayal of an honourable and decent man who reaches the point where the permissive society becomes too much.

Sir Maurice Micklewhite (aka Michael Caine) grew up in a traditional working class community in London in the 1940s and ‘50s when crime was relatively low and has consciously held on to many of the Judeo-Christian social values that nurtured him.

However, his generation of more conservatively-inclined opinion formers who came to prominence in the 1960s can rightly be accused of naivety. If they had looked at the world through clearly Christian eyes, then they would have seen the spiritual and moral destruction that was being sown in Western civilisation whilst they were enjoying success in the permissive society.

Harry Brown is a character from the the Old Britain of Sir Maurice's youth intervening in the moral wasteland that is the New and doing a certain amount of good. The film portrays his actions as helping to clean up the estate to a degree.

But that is wishful thinking. A vigilante pensioner cannot save Britain from spiritual and moral self-destruction; only the transforming power of gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ can do that.

PS Cranmer's Curate is conscious that the youth group will have differing views on capital punishment but this piece on the US-based orthodox Anglican news service VirtueOnline may be of interest.

CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER WHO WARNED AGAINST RELATIVISM

Cranmer's Curate commends this guest post by Richard Symonds to the youth group:

70 years ago, Moral Philosopher Dr CEM Joad (1891-1953) pleaded with his colleagues to mend their newly-found philosophical ways, predicting that failure to do so would render philosophy increasingly irrelevant - and increasingly vulnerable to totalitarian thought.

CEMJ's warning 'fell on deaf ears' in his time - and continues to do so....except for a few readers of Cambridge University's Alumni Magazine ("Essay : In Defence Of Moral Philosophy" by Professor Simon Blackburn - Michaelmas 2009 Edition).

The totalitarianism, which George Orwell - a contemporary of Joad - was warning against in 1949, was already prevalent within many social and economic policies of the time - borne primarily from the 'false teachers' of philosophical Relativism (eg The Vienna Circle). Times have not changed.

CEMJ, as a Moral Philosopher, was warning against Moral Relativism 9 years earlier:

In 1940, Joad warned his profession of the dangers in rejecting its 'Classical' tradition (eg Plato's 'Forms' of Truth, Beauty & Goodness), and pleaded for a return to that tradition ("Appeal To Philosophers", University of London Aristotelian Society - XL 1940).

Dr. CEM Joad continued to warn - but nobody was listening....except a few debaters at Oxford University:

In June 1950, 5 months after Orwell's death (and 3 years before his own), Cyril Joad won an Oxford Union Debate : "That This House Regrets The Influence Exercised By The U.S. As The Dominant Power Among The Democratic Nations" - resulting in Randolph Churchill accusing him of being a "Third Class Socrates".

'Professor' Joad, also a celebrity wartime BBC Brains Trust panellist, was treated with ridicule, contempt and disdain by most professional philosophers at the time - especially Bertrand Russell - and his warnings were ignored and dismissed within his profession, and beyond - and remain so.

CEMJ was a Moral Realist - in direct opposition to Moral Relativists - and later developed his "Transcendence-Immanence" ideas in his last book: "Recovery of Belief - A Restatement of Christian Philosophy" (Faber & Faber 1952)

Today, we can't say we were not warned of this 'totalitarian' danger - now more prevalent than ever - and we can't say moral philosophy (& philosophers) have had nothing to say in dealing with the problems which continue to haunt us.

Joad is still 'shouting from the rooftops' - through his many books - but we need to understand (and deal with) the unpalatable reasons why such clear warnings are still 'falling on deaf ears'.

A greater understanding of Moral Philosophy - especially in the work of CEM Joad - will be a critical pre-condition for Humanity's survival in the early 21st century.


____________________________________


Richard W. Symonds is a member of the International Society For Philosophers ( www.isfp.co.uk) and author of "Mega Theory & The Moral Instinct". He can be contacted by email : richardsy5@aol.com or at his website: Gatwick City of Ideas

WHY CHRISTMAS MUST CAUSE COMPLAINTS

Of course Christmas is controversial. Consider the following statements:

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain; heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign; in the bleak mid-winter a stable-place sufficed the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

God of God, Light of light, lo! He abhors not the Virgin’s womb; Very God, begotten, not created: O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

God rest you merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay, For Jesus Christ our Saviour was born upon this day, to save us from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.

Counter-cultural declarations such as these, when made in the public square, offend against political correctness at virtually every level.

Think about the middle-aged council official caught in the cross-fire. The last time he was in church was for Uncle Bob’s funeral; he has vague memories of a nativity play at primary school, and he can’t remember much from RE lessons at secondary school. He has a distant memory of a corpulent vicar coming in to do an assembly about the preamble of the Good Caucasian.

It only takes a couple of complaints and the diversity enforcers can push him over with a feather. After all, if he puts up too much of a fight, it could be him they’re complaining about next.

So, Winter Light Switch-on it is.

Christmas, with its exclusive truth-claims about Jesus Christ as God Incarnate and its bleak assessment of humanity's prospects without Christ, is particularly offensive to secular humanists and Muslims. Polytheistic Hindus and traditional British pagans can probably live with it as long as we don’t sing this with the definite articles:

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see! Hail the Incarnate Deity! Pleased as Man with man to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel!

NOT ASHAMED TO CALL THEM BROTHERS

Cranmer's Curate has begun the sermon series on Hebrews and what a privilege it is to teach that wonderful part of God's Word. It is a daunting undertaking for such as cc, for it is a profound letter and quite complex in parts.

Your curate has been enormously helped by the Revd Alasdair Paine, minister of Christ Church Westbourne on the south coast. The youth group can access his sermons on Hebrews through the Sermons for the Soul section on the blog. Go to the downloads section of the Christ Church Westbourne web-site and then click on Morning Bible Teaching in the audio material. Scroll down through the past series to the one entitled 'Running the Race'. Even your curate managed the technology.

Alasdair is masterly on Hebrews 2 on which he preached two magnificent sermons - thoroughly rigorous in his handling of the text, and warm-hearted and accessible at the same time. What a happy combination for a local church setting.

It is so encouraging to be reminded that God Incarnate is not ashamed to call 'his brothers' those whom he has set apart for eternal salvation through his suffering and sacrifice for our sins (see Hebrews 2v10-12).

Even small-church preachers struggling to get away from journalese without falling into stodge.

TEN COMMANDMENTS VITAL FOR CLEAN MORAL CLIMATE

An essay on moral philosophy is not normally your curate's idea of fun. But Professor Simon Blackburn's 'In Defence of Moral Philosophy' in the latest Cambridge Alumni Magazine was a delight to read for its accessibility and relevance.

Without wishing to cause offence, cc has to be honest that he has found the Alumni magazine a bit too politically correct in recent years, and a tad self-important. The latest issue described the appointment of the first woman head porter as 'historic'.

Here are some selected highlights from Professor Blackburn's essay:

Who needs moral philosophy? Not 21st century man. Human behaviour is all in our genes (or, for the economists, in our inevitable selfishness)...But just as we need clean air, we need a clean moral climate - and one of the tasks of moral philosophy is to worry about whether we have it.

Margaret Thatcher's notorious remark...that there is no such thing as society, was believable because the ideology of the self-interested agent in eternal competition with others seemed in line with the theory of evolution by natural selection. Thatcher seems not to have taken the time to notice that language, money and law (the last two were especially dear to her government) were socially constructed and sustained. But then, the lady was not for pausing.

The danger lies in supposing that since nature has done it for us we can lie back and neglect children's moral educations. They will grow up with the right views just as they grow up with hair. My only comment about that is that I am glad to be old enough to hope not to be around when the experiment comes to fruition.

Clearly, the cleanest moral climate possible in a fallen world is one in which the Ten Commandments - with their vital function of revealing God's character of holiness and goodness and our need as sinful human beings of redemption by Christ - are known and honoured and taught to children.

Reading this essay prompted Cranmer's Curate to wonder, in the current moral climate, how many Anglican clergy are able to recite the Ten Commandments from memory in the correct order.

NO NEED FOR LAWYERS CRAWLING OVER CHURCH PROPERTY

The Church of England faces a choice over churches wanting to leave it whether to join the Roman Catholics or to form an orthodox Province in the UK: it can behave with pompous officiousness like TEC going to court over church property or it can deploy some generous lateral thinking for the sake of Christ’s mission.

The Bishop of Southwark’s recent comments in his presidential address to his diocesan synod, helpfully reported by Anglican Mainstream, about the practicalities of Anglo-Catholic parish churches going over to Rome are highly revealing. They show that the thoughts of the more managerially-inclined liberals in the hierarchy are already turning to the legalities.

He said that because there have been ‘some wild ideas’ going around leading to questions being asked of his office, he thought it ‘wise to seek a little legal advice on the implications there might be for the Diocese and its Parishes if any Priest or group of lay people wished to become Roman Catholics’.

The legal eagles came back with some comforting news: ‘No Priest or group of laity has the right to take church property with them when they change denominations, for a Diocese holds such property in trust for the mission and ministry of the Church of England to all the people of its parishes and this duty of care would continue.’

In the case of a parish church wanting to transfer to another denomination, a scheme under the Pastoral Measure, or specific legislation enacted for the purpose, would be needed and this could ‘only be done with the goodwill of the diocese’.

In the case of assets such as the church hall or other parish property, ‘appropriation to another denomination would almost certainly be a breach of trust and would not be possible without the co-operation of the Diocesan Board of Finance as Custodian Trustees and probably also the involvement of the Charity Commission’.

In the case of parsonage houses, these are governed by the Parsonages Measure and an incumbent ‘cannot alienate the parsonage without obtaining the authority required by law, again the Diocesan Board of Finance or the Church Commissioners’.

He concluded: ‘Of course in the months and years ahead much of this might well be crawled over by lawyers on all sides, but the general principles seem to be clear and we can all relax a little whilst the plot thickens.’

Bishop Butler is clearly very comforted by the legal difficulties confronting churches wanting to leave the institution. He also sounds very relaxed about the prospect of lawyers crawling all over our church property in the years to come. One would have thought that an organisation such as the Church of England experiencing serious numerical and financial decline would not want the grief, not to mention the expenditure, of such a prospect. Furthermore, reoccupying a parish church that wants to leave presents enormous practical difficulties for a diocese.

Whereas some generous lateral thinking by dioceses and the Church Commissioners could keep the lawyers at bay and avoid considerable trauma.

Here in Sheffield Diocese we already have an example of a new Anglican Evangelical church plant sharing premises with an existing Anglo-Catholic parish church. The existing church in Endcliffe, St Augustine's, has its service on Sunday morning; the new church - Christ Church Endcliffe, a plant from Christ Church Fulwood - meets in the afternoon.

If a parish church wants to go over to the Roman Catholics, then why not let them but come to an agreement about sharing premises in that kind of manner so that the Church of England can retain a presence in the community?

That would seem a much better way of serving, as Bishop Butler put it, ‘the mission and ministry of the Church of England to all the people of its parishes’.

After all, we are supposed to be a Church called to proclaim the living Christ to the nation, not an ailing property developer wanting to cling onto its emptying buildings.

CHRIST'S RULE NOT SUBJECT TO ELECTIVE DICTATORSHIP

Christian thanksgiving for Lord Waddington's free speech victory yes, but euphoria no, for today's House of Commons is tomorrow's House of Lords.

As Tony Blair said about the Pope, it's a generational thing.

As ideological products of the secular permissiveness of the 1960s, MPs voted by a significant majority to place freedom of sexual expression above freedom of religious expression. Tom Robinson's anthem 'Sing if you're glad to be gay' is a weightier expression of their spiritual and moral outlook than 'God save the Queen' (as the National Anthem encourages us to pray for the Monarch).

Eventually the secular permissives are bound to win the argument.

That is unlikely to leave Christians in the UK facing the kind of persecution our brothers and sisters in Islamic and Hindu countries face daily. Future persecution in the UK is likely to be patchy for the following reasons:

· Some police forces will be more assiduous in following up complaints of 'homophobic abuse', or in the case of criticisms of Islam, 'Islamophobia' than others. This will depend on factors such as the prominence of the homosexual or Muslim community in particular regions and the effectiveness of diversity indoctrination from one force to another.

· Some local councils will be more assiduous than others in following up complaints against Christians. Again that will depend on a variety of subjective factors in the minds of councillors and officials. Some will be more committed to the liberal British tradition of free speech than others; some more sympathetic to Judeo-Christian values. But a significant proportion will be committed political-correct ideologues who will be vigorous in rooting out the various manifestations of sin against PC.

· Unless there is a major political and social upheaval, a free press is likely to remain a feature of British society for some years to come. That means heavy-handed behaviour, such as the police investigation of the 67-year-old grandmother in Norwich, can therefore be put into the public domain. Media exposure can thus act as a deterrent.

So, whilst euphoria is not warranted following the Lords' victory, neither is paranoia about the future. Christ's sovereignty is not subject to elective dictatorship.

As the Apostle Peter exhorted his Christian readers facing persecution:

The end of all things is at hand; therefore keep sane and sober for your prayers (1 Peter 4v7 - RSV).

HYMNS FOR PERMISSIVE WORSHIP

The permissive society is very relaxed about drug abuse, encourages disregard for parental authority, and has a principled commitment to sexual promiscuity. But it is not very relaxed about Christians who criticise the permissive society.

How else does one explain the fact that a generation of politicians who grew up in the permissive society have just voted to remove a free speech safeguard which protects Christians' freedom to comment on sexual ethics?

As Christian Concern for our Nation reports:

At the beginning of this week, the House of Commons voted by a majority of 197 to remove Lord Waddington’s free speech safeguard. Lord Waddington’s clause is a just and reasonable one, which protects Christians’ freedom to comment on sexual ethics.

Without this protection, Christians are more likely to be investigated by the police for “inciting hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation” if they state the Biblical position on homosexual practice. Police investigation is very frightening and intimidating, particularly as the maximum penalty for this offence, when in force, would be imprisonment of up to 7 years.

The Bill is back for debate and vote today (11th November) in the House of Lords and may return tomorrow.

The recent case of a 67 year-old Christian grandmother subjected to a police investigation after she wrote to her Council objecting to a parade promoting homosexuality, demonstrates the need for clarity on the face of the law in this area.

The moral priorities of the permissive society are hardly surprising when you consider its hymnody. The following lyrics for permissive singing in public worhip were penned in the 1960s:

Smoke pot, smoke pot, everybody smoke pot' (The Beatles - I am the Walrus).

Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land And don't criticize what you don't understand Your sons and daughters are beyond your command (Bob Dylan - The Times They are A-Changin').

I met a gin soaked, bar-room queen in Memphis, She tried to take me upstairs for a ride. She had to heave me right across her shoulder 'Cause I just can't seem to drink you off my mind (The Rolling Stones - Honky Tonk Woman).

Before these hymns were written and used in public worship, Britain was a low-crime society. In the mid-1950s, around 11,000 violent crimes against the person were recorded annually. Currently in the Naughties, violent crimes against the person are annually over 1 million.

Christians over Advent will be singing this in their public worship:

Every eye shall now behold him Robed in Dreadful Majesty; Those who set at naught and sold him, Pierced and nailed him to the Tree, deeply wailing, shall the True Messiah see (Charles Wesley - Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending).

But for how much longer will the permissives-in-charge allow us to sing it?

THE VALUE OF A 9 TILL 6 FOR POTENTIAL MINISTERS

Cranmer's Curate has written an open letter to his old friend Vaughan Roberts, Rector of St Ebbe's in Oxford, and chairman of the 9:38 network, which runs conferences for those considering full-time Christian ministry. It may be of interest to the youth group:

Dear Vaughan, Letters that begin with a commendation can create a sense of foreboding for what is coming next. But I am an unashamed fan of the 9:38 network and its conferences for those considering full-time ministry. The two young men who have served here in Oughtibridge as youth volunteers have hugely benefited from your conferences and input. And besides this is not a critical letter but one wanting to explore a particular issue facing those whom we are wanting to encourage into full-time Christian ministry.

It relates to the value of secular work prior to going forward for full-time ministry. One perspective on this that appears to be strongly stressed in Sydney Diocese and in its ministry training strategy, and appears to have gained some currency here, is that the determinative factor is the Bible’s teaching on work, not our experience of it. Therefore, an individual does not need to have had experience of the secular workplace in order to be able to teach on it.

It is helpful to be reminded that as disciples of Christ we need to uphold biblical truths that will be outside and beyond our individual experience and indeed hold on to biblical promises even and especially when our experience seems to deny them. But this perspective as a 'one-liner' to a young potential minister carries the danger of foreclosing an issue that ought to be properly explored.

The value of secular work experience before going forward for full-time ministry in Christ’s service would seem to include the following:

· It does provide experience of working in a non-Christian environment where you have to relate to non-Christian bosses and colleagues. That is the situation most working Christians find themselves in. Whilst there are particular pressures for us in ministry, we are to a large degree cocooned from the pressures of the contemporary workplace. Surely some experience of that is hugely helpful for ministry.

· Experience of combining secular work with church volunteerism is surely also very helpful. Having to commute, work and do Christian service on top of that is something many whom we serve in our congregations experience week in, week out. Whilst large churches can rely on staff teams that are funded by working members of the congregation, smaller churches serving local communities do rely overwhelmingly on volunteers. If a minister understands the experience of being a church volunteer, then surely it helps them to be more sensitive and understanding of the pressures on Christian people in our congregations.

· A more realistic approach in poorer countries where the Sydney strategy of encouraging the best university graduates into full-time ministry in order to plant churches may be being applied. Many university graduates in South Africa for example have families reliant on their financial support, which would not generally be the case in more affluent countries where stipendiary ministry can more easily be sustained.

Certainly, the idea that one size fits all and that all ministers have to have done a substantial stint of secular work should be repudiated. There are very effective ministers, who are good leaders and sensitive to people’s situations, who went forward for Christian ministry upon graduating. But the question here is what is generally best for the workers being sent out into Christ's harvest field.

Warmly in Christ,

Julian

COUNCIL LEADER: SCHOOL CHILDREN CAN SAY 'IT AIN'T ADAM & STEVE'

Cranmer's Curate got an assurance from the Liberal Democrat leader of Sheffield City Council, Mr Paul Scriven, on BBC Radio Sheffield this morning that the council will uphold the right of Christian children to express their views on sexual morality in Sheffield state schools.

The link to the Toby Foster breakfast show is here (the interview is in the second half of the broadcast).

Mr Scriven is the first openly-gay leader of the City Council. Your curate made the point that 11-year-old children in citizenship classes who state their view that 'being gay is wrong' are not at that age able to distinguish between orientation and practice but what they mean is that it is wrong for people of the same sex to sleep together. The concern is that children could be sanctioned for homophobic abuse for saying such a thing and/or accused of having views on a par with racism.

Toby Foster, who is a comedian by background and not a specialist religious affairs journalist, was an outstanding interviewer. He asked Mr Scriven about a 12-year-old in a citizenship class who was a committed Christian and said that in their version of the Bible

it ain't Adam and Steve, it's Adam and Eve. What is going to happen to him?

Mr Scriven said:

Nothing is going to happen to him. There will be a discussion...That child can have that view. It's their view. As a Liberal I might disagree but allow them to have their view.

Your curate said he was enormously reassured by that and would bring to Mr Scriven's attention any cases of Christian children being wrongly sanctioned for homophobic abuse simply for stating their view.

Your curate also tried to make the point that freedom of speech is not to blame for homophobic bullying and attacks. The attackers are responsible and should be prosecuted.

Cranmer's Curate generally likes politicians and so enjoyed debating with Mr Scriven. He asks the youth group to pray for opportunities for witness to Christ amongst local politicians, and also for the witness of Christian children and young people in Sheffield state schools.

SURVEY PROMOTES LGBT AGENDA IN SCHOOLS

A Stonewall-supporting action group is at work in Sheffield seeking to use a survey of parents and carers to promote the LGBT agenda in schools.

Cranmer's Curate has been informed that a Sheffield-based children's and young people's empowerment project is working closely with an LGBT action group called GLOBAL to promote the survey. Sheffield is apparently now part of the Stonewall Education Champions Programme, which according to the empowerment project means schools in Sheffield 'have to meet' the aspirations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans young people.

The empowerment project says GLOBAL are putting together a set of standards that schools 'have to meet' in order to show that they are LGBT friendly and so be able to use the Stonewall logo.

The empowerment group is calling on as many of its supporters as possible in their network and beyond to complete the survey of parents and carers: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=eCM508nuXQ88_2bmwuqa2m2Q_3d_3d

So there you have it - a survey promoted by an LGBT action group to show that parents and carers want the Stonewall agenda foisted on our school children. This reveals clearly and definitively that the supporters of Section 28 were absolutely right. In the absence of clear legal safeguards, homosexuality is being vigorously promoted in our state schools against the wishes of the silent majority of heterosexual parents.

And the Stonewall logo is the modern PC equivalent of a medieval papal indulgence. It is earned by merit.

What about the needs of Christian children who have a principled objection to sex outside of heterosexual marriage?

Christ's 'little ones' in our schools face being sanctioned for homophobic abuse if they so much as dare to question Stonewall dogma.

COPING WITH PC IN THE OFFICE

Christian ministry has its pressures but clergy are sheltered from the pressures of political correctness upon our Christian brothers and sisters in the secular workplace, particularly in the public sector.

We should therefore hesitate to pontificate too glibly. Cranmer's Curate worked in an office, albeit that of a newspaper, before getting ordained, so he has to a degree been there.

Here is a possible response to a gay work colleague who asks a Christian for their view on her civil partnership just as they're logging onto their PC for a day's work:

‘This is an important subject that needs a bit of time to discuss properly. I’ve got to get on with my work now. But how about a chat in the lunch break?’

If the offer was taken up, I might try to explain the Bible’s teaching about man-woman marriage and that it is the only right God-given context for the expression of sexual love. And I would end by saying something like – ‘because of my Christian beliefs about man-woman marriage, I believe in conscience that a civil partnership is not something a Christian person should enter into’.

‘But what about my civil partnership?’

‘You make no claim to be a Christian, so that's a choice you're allowed to make in society today. But it wouldn’t be right for a Christian person because of the Bible’s teaching about man-woman marriage.’

If a Christian were to get in trouble with the department's equality and diversity policy for that, then that has got to be a gross injustice.

The Apostle Peter's teaching in his first letter, originally written to 1st Century Christians suffering persecution by pagan Rome, surely does not require much hermeneutical adjustment in its application to Christians in society today:

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what it is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear, do not be frightened.” But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander (1 Peter 3v13-16 - NIV).

THE PARABLE OF THE BURGER VANS

A national chain of burger vans undergoes a management buy-out from an Italian owner. The vans get a refit and become better targeted at the local market - the managers even speak English.

The vans branded 'Beefey's' unashamedly retail beef burgers dripping with grease and onions. That's built into the firm's Articles. Beefey's becomes part of the fabric of local communities across the land, popular with all ages. Parents want to celebrate the birth of a child with a slap-up Beefey's; couples want a van in the picture at their weddings; and the chain does good business at funeral wakes.

The MD becomes an important establishment figure. A photograph of him standing in front of a Beefey van outside Buckingham Palace becomes something of a popular icon.

Eventually Beefey's launches international franchises and goes significantly global.

But over time a new generation of younger managers comes into the business and they begin to develop ideological reservations about beef burgers. Surreptitious pamphlets are circulated denouncing beef. On the quiet the new managers start selling veggie burgers and even low-fat cherry pies out of their vans.

Another group of managers feels strongly that Beefey's is not posh enough. They take their vans upmarket, introducing air fresheners, joss-sticks and flamboyant overalls. It now looks as if this group may well go off and rejoin the prestigious Italian outfit who have said they are prepared to (sort of) let them keep their Beefey-branded vans.

That leaves the veggie Beefey's and the beefy Beefey's in a straight fight for the soul of the chain.

Veggie Beefey vans continue to lose money and customers. The beefy Beefey's make money, grow their customer base and are even launching new vans.

In fact, they're carrying the chain, even though their managers rarely become directors. It's the veggies who get most of the promotion. One of their own even became MD quite recently but he is reluctant to speak out too strongly against beef. Off the record briefings have started appearing in the burger van trade press calling him a 'ditherer'.

Some of the overseas franchises who are thoroughly beefy have started making noises about coming to the rescue.

What does the youth group think the beefy Beefey's should do?

WILL SHEFFIELD CITY COUNCIL UPHOLD CHRISTIAN FREEDOM OF DEBATE?

Here is the text of the question Cranmer’s Curate put to Sheffield City Council at its meeting today (November 4th). Your curate thanks the Independent Councillor for Sheffield Gleadless, Mr Frank Taylor, for his generous assistance. The gentleman is a credit to local democracy.

Lord Mayor, ladies and gentlemen, it is an enormous privilege to live in a democracy and to be able to exercise freedom of speech before the elected representatives of the city in which I serve as a Church of England vicar.

Many of my fellow Christians around the world do not enjoy these privileges, so apathy in a democracy is frankly something I cannot comprehend and so thank you for your dedicated public service on our behalf.

I am concerned that the growing culture of political correctness in our country is fundamentally anti-Christian and indeed anti-democratic. With three schools in the parish it is my honour to serve, I am particularly concerned about the growing culture of political correctness in our state schools and the fact that it is creating a climate of fear in which Christian children and indeed those of other faiths are afraid to express their religious views on, for example, sexual morality for fear of being sanctioned for homophobic abuse and accused of expressing views that are on a par with racism.

Or if they are a Christian and they state their view that, for example, Islam is wrong about Jesus Christ, that he is God Incarnate, there is the fear that they could be sanctioned for Islamophobia.

Will you our elected city councillors give us, electors of faith, an assurance that in a Christian-influenced democracy, freedom of Christian expression is a value to be cherished and allowed to flourish in our schools? Will you give us an assurance that a growing climate of fear will not be allowed to turn our state schools into academies of political correctness, promoting irrational dogma feeding on fear? Will you our elected representatives uphold religious freedom of debate just as you rightly uphold political freedom of debate in your dedicated public service of this our city of Sheffield?

In response, the Liberal Democrat leader of the Council, Mr Paul Scriven, gave an impassioned and eloquent speech about the need for community cohesion.

IS THE BIG CHURCH GOOD FOR THE FIRST CURATE?

Do the large evangelical flagships provide a good training for curates? Are large church incumbents in affluent suburbs, city centres and university towns well-qualified to be trainers?

Such churches, usually conservative or charismatic evangelical, often have two curates, a deacon and a second curate. So, the current allocation in most dioceses would strongly suggest the answer to the question is yes.

But could the answer to the question be no?

How closely does a large church curacy correspond to the experience of a first incumbency? How well are evangelical ministers in particular being prepared for the sudden downsizing into a smaller church with fewer resources and few if any students or young urban profesionals, with whom they might have spent rather a lot of their time when they were curates?

Furthermore, are big church incumbents the best available trainers? Too many have only ministered in evangelicalism. How well qualified are they to train ministers to lead a small non-evangelical parish church into gospel growth?

But if the current system does undergo a radical overhaul in dioceses, what about the practicalities of curacies in net-receiving parishes? Some dioceses do it as a deliberate policy. Brave of them but it does involve a fair bit of financial outlay and practical effort - purchasing houses and providing expenses etc.

What about the immediate response from the larger churches that they need more hands on deck and are already over-stretched as it is? You've got to provide ministry where the growth is - people before the parochial system etc.

The issue here is not particularly second curates, to more of whom the large churches are arguably entitled. The question here is, should the large churches automatically be entitled to a first curate?

What does the youth group think works best in training for the sake of Christ's mission and ministry in the Church of England?