Hattie Williams

1 week ago | churchtimes.co.uk | Hattie Williams

THE Archbishop of York is to issue a formal apology to three sisters who, when they were children, were subject to “horrendous abuse” in a northern diocese, a spokesperson for Church House confirmed this week. On Tuesday, the BBC reported on the case of Jenny, Wendy, and Christina Read, who said that they were “frequently” abused by their father, a male curate, and a female churchwarden in “sadistic rituals” at night within a church in the north-east of England.

1 week ago | churchtimes.co.uk | Hattie Williams

THE predatory behaviour behind grooming gangs is “not a pattern of offending confined to any particular ethnic, cultural, or religious group”, the Bishop of Manchester, Dr David Walker, said this week — contrary to the views of the independent auditor of these crimes in England and Wales. He was speaking on Monday, the day that the Government announced a new national inquiry on grooming gangs in response to Baroness Casey’s audit of group-based child sexual exploitation.

2 weeks ago | churchtimes.co.uk | Hattie Williams

A SUPPER CLUB in St German’s Cathedral, on the Isle of Man, and a seamstress at Sheffield Cathedral, have been recognised in the Newgate Cathedral Volunteer of the Year Awards, announced on Sunday. Volunteers at the Big Table Café in St German’s prepare and serve a freshly cooked three-course meal every Monday, for which customers pay what they can afford in a sealed envelope.

3 weeks ago | churchtimes.co.uk | Hattie Williams

THE public are more likely to recognise “Give us this day our daily bread” as being from the Lord’s Prayer than “To be, or not to be” as being from Hamlet, a new poll suggests. The online survey of 2035 UK adults, conducted by Savanta between 23 and 26 May, was commissioned by the Church of England to mark the Pentecost prayer initiative Thy Kingdom Come, which has been running for ten years (News, 30 May).

3 weeks ago | churchtimes.co.uk | Hattie Williams

THE Government’s decision to extend free school meals to all children whose parents receive Universal Credit has been warmly welcomed by the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, and the Children’s Society. An announcement from the Department for Education on Wednesday evening confirmed that, from September 2026 — the start of the school year — every pupil whose household is on Universal Credit, regardless of income, will be eligible for free school meals.