Staff at homeless charity on strike
St Mungo's homeless charity launched a month-long strike from May 30th in a pay dispute. Trade Union members are picketing outside London, Brighton, Bristol, and Oxford offices. St Mungo's said they cannot afford to meet the union's demands for a backdated rise of 10%, calling the strike ‘unprecedented and disproportionate’. Unite union are ‘taking a stand following a pitiful 2.25% pay rise for the last financial year, 2021/22.’ The charity had already applied a rise of 1.75% to salaries in that year. Meeting Unite’s request for the last and current financial years would cost £9.7m and leave the charity not ‘financially viable.’ Plus, all eligible staff have already received an average 5.5% rise for the financial year 2022/23 and some also received £700 to help with their cost of living. Altogether, offers already made equal a 10% rise for the lowest paid. See also Shrewsbury homeless charity needs help.
Archbishop of York meets Pope at the Vatican
On May 29th Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York, accompanied by Mrs Cottrell and his chaplain, Rev Dr Jenny Wright, shared an audience with His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican in a bid to promote Christian unity. Before the trip, Archbishop Stephen expressed his hope for Christians of all denominations to work together more closely and unite in their desire to share God's love. He also met with representatives from the Dicastery for Evangelisation, the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. He said, ‘meeting with sisters and brothers within the Roman Catholic Church is so encouraging. I pray that Christians of all denominations can work in unity, following the prompting of the Holy Spirit as we share the love of God with the many who long for hope and meaning in their lives.
Assisted suicide
Across the British Isles, campaigners are seeking to allow the terminally ill to get lethal drugs to end their lives. Jersey’s consultation on ‘assisted dying’ centred on how, not whether, the law should be changed. However, 1,400 responses argued firmly against assisted suicide. More respondents to the Isle of Man’s ‘assisted dying’ consultation were opposed to the principle of assisted suicide than for it. Member of the House of Keys, Dr Alex Allinson, who is driving the move to change the law, said the findings would ‘inform’ the drafting of legislation. The House of Commons Health Committee was ‘overwhelmed’ by the number of Christian responses to its call for evidence. MPs are currently hearing evidence on access to palliative care and the role of medics. Scotland’s proposal to legalise assisted suicide is delayed over concerns about legislative competence and will be brought forward later this year.
‘Tishrei’ Christian school grounded in Hebraic roots
As many Christians water down teaching to accommodate modern Western culture, Tishrei (new beginnings) will encourage Christians to dig deeper into the unchanging truths of God’s Word. The non-residential Tishrei Bible School will bring the Bible back to the centre of family life, which has suffered a succession of laws undermining the Christian building blocks of the UK (same sex marriage, facilitating divorce, promoting abortion and forcing up childcare costs through excessive regulation). Tishrei will re-establish Hebraic teaching, focusing on the whole of life by learning to ‘walk with God’ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Built on the same foundation as the Bible school and at the same premises is the Cedars School of Biblical Family Life, helping parents to strengthen their families on biblical foundations and enrich their children’s education
