Women bishops
Stage set for key July debates on legislation
The Church of England has published the report of the Revision Committee that has been considering in detail the draft legislation to enable women to become bishops in the Church of England. Read the full story here. Pic: General Synod
Feel free to cut and paste all the stories for diocesan and parish magazines
Read the full version of the Comms Update
Church Commissioners
2009 results confirm long-term growth – level of support to the Church to be maintained
The Church Commissioners achieved a 15.6 per cent return on their investments during 2009. Results announced show that the fund has now outperformed its comparator group over the last year as well as over the past five, 10 and 20 years.
Watch the videocast of Commissioners’ CEO Andrew Brown talking about the results
Archbishop of Canterbury
Enriching the arguments: The refugee contribution to British life
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams delivered a lecture on this topic to a large invited audience at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London. He also answered questions put by members of the audience. The event was jointly sponsored by the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA) and University College London.
Environment
Shrinking the Footprint supports UN biodiversity day
Hundreds of visitors to the Open Garden event at Lambeth Palace (May 22) will enjoy a specially created Archbishop’s Garden trail and quiz being run by the CofE’s national environmental campaign Shrinking the Footprint and sponsored by Traidcraft. May 22 has been earmarked as a special day for Biodiversity celebrations in 2010 which is the UN’s International Year of Biodiversity.
Pic: fox in the grounds of Lambeth Palace earlier this year
Lambeth Palace Library
400th anniversary exhibition opens this week
Doors to the Library’s 400th anniversary exhibition in the Great Hall at Lambeth Palace will open this Monday May 17. Lambeth Palace Library is one of the earliest public libraries in England, founded in 1610 under the will of Archbishop Richard Bancroft. The exhibition will run until July 23.
Listen to the Library podcast
New chair of Children’s Society
Archbishop of Canterbury welcomes new chair
The Archbishop of Canterbury has welcomed the appointment of the Right Reverend Tim Thornton, Bishop of Truro, as Chair of The Children’s Society. Dr Williams said “I am very pleased indeed to welcome the appointment of Bishop Tim Thornton as Chair of The Children’s Society. He will bring to this post many qualities – energy, empathy and intelligence – that The Children’s Society will need in its vital work of advocacy and care.”
Pic: Bishop Tim Thornton
Broadcasting
Church calls for BBC to go back to the future in its public service mission
The BBC’s proposed return to its core public service mission is a welcome ‘homecoming’ that should herald output appealing to the broadest possible range of audiences, according to the Church of England’s response to the Director-General’s proposals for the future strategy of the corporation.
Pic: Rev Rob Gillion who presented the first Pause for Thought on the new Chris Evans BBC Radio 2 Breakfast show earlier this year
New safeguarding adviser appointed
Elizabeth Hall has been appointed to the post of Safeguarding Adviser for the Church of England and the Methodist Church in Britain. She brings to the role 25 years’ professional experience in the social work field as both a practitioner and as a manager within the Probation, Family Court Welfare and Guardian ad litem Services and has also worked as a youth worker and foster carer.
Browse fingertip facts from the CofE
Comments are welcome, to Peter Crumpler, Director of Communications
Filed under: Church of England, news
David Shreeve the Church of England’s Environment Adviser has been selected as one of the 16 members of the new Third Sector Task Force on climate change, the environment and sustainable development. The appointment was made by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn and the group meets for the first time this month. Full story 
A new website launched by the Church of England marks a groundbreaking initiative to identify the distinctive values that make Christian schools popular with parents and students, and promote ways of living out those values in the day-to-day activities of a busy school environment. One in four primary schools in England and one in 16 secondary schools are CofE schools. More 
