Cinema pastors to lead prayers after Ragamuffin film
A Christian film distributor wants to recruit more than 100 pastors to hold prayers at multi-screen cinemas in the UK. Kingdom Cinema is run by the Rev George Hargreaves, a former music producer and leader of the Christian Party. He began distributing Christian films last year, with one, God's Not Dead, reaching the top 20 in April. Now he wants pastors to speak and pray after screenings in December of Ragamuffin, a film about a Christian musician. He has negotiated with chains like Cineworld and Odeon for the pastors to address audiences after the movie which tells the story of Rich Mullins, who struggled with addiction and depression. Rev Hargreaves said: ‘It is not bashing people over the head with a Bible or making people embarrassed. It will be a few minutes at the end of the screening just to wrap up the themes and let the audience know more about our faith.’
Children too often treated as 'small adults' by Police
Children and young people have a ‘profound lack of trust’ in the Police, bordering on fear in some cases, a report by MPs and peers has suggested. Children are often treated as ‘small adults’, with their specific needs disregarded, according to the all-party parliamentary group for children. Negative experiences, such as arrest and stop and search procedures, breeds ‘frustration and anger’, it warned. It urged changes to training, custody facilities and safeguarding approaches. Publishing the findings of an 18-month inquiry, the committee said children and young people's first contact with the police was vital in shaping their attitudes towards them. ‘For a significant number of children and young people, this experience is a negative one as a victim or suspected offender,’ the report said.
Archbishop of Canterbury: ‘Don’t demonise immigrants’
The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned politicians not to demonise immigrants, a day after a Cabinet minister suggested that some parts of the country felt ‘swamped’ by foreign arrivals. Justin Welby said on Monday that he was worried about the language used in the debate. ‘We have 9,000 clergy working and livingin 16,000 parishes, We have better reports from the grassroots than almost anyone. What we are seeing is an upsurge of minor racist, anti-semitic, anti-Islamic, anti-foreigner xenophobia – not major things – just comments being made, things being said which are for the people who grew up in those backgrounds seriously uncomfortable, really quite frightening.'
Downgrade marriage, family judge suggests
A family judge says marriage and cohabitation should be put on the same legal footing when relationships break down – but a newspaper columnist says he is ‘utterly and sadly mistaken’. Sir Nicholas Mostyn’s comments were reportedly aimed at Sir Paul Coleridge – a former High Court judge who has spoken out in favour of traditional marriage. He also claimed that there was no evidence to prove marriage is more stable than a co-habiting relationship. However, columnist Sarah Vine said there was a ‘mountain of academic research proving beyond doubt that married couples are healthier, wealthier, happier and less likely to break-up than co-habiting ones. All these benefits also apply to the children of married parents’. Last year research from the Marriage Foundation said only one in eight children born to cohabiting couples will reach the age of 16 with their parents still together and unmarried
