Paul Hill, The Daily Telegraph`s former Foreign Desk Manager and Head of Lutheran Radio UK`s newsroom, tells us what happens in and around the Lutheran Church. An acute reading of what makes the news through the eyes of a Lutheran journalist.
Fridays: 03:00, 11:00, 15:00, 21:00
• School removes Christmas references from panto to make children feel `safe and valued` • Britain`s religious leaders unite against assisted dying in major intervention • Vicar feared for family`s safety after being sent hateful letters threatening to `kill bishops`
• Archbishop of Canterbury resigns over child abuse scandal • `I`m praying to God we all go through`: Mexico migrants massing to cross before Trump takes power • Terminally ill can take their own life in three weeks, assisted dying Bill will say • End of `Stir-up Sunday` as Christmas pudding no longer important
• ELCE celebrates 70th annual Synod • Princess of Wales `more interested` in faith since her cancer diagnosis • King believed only one sect of Christianity `not corrupted by political correctness`, letter reveals • Protesters secretly fit slave trader plaque in church
• ILC has accepted LMA into membership • An order to remove the symbol of the cross from a church in China shocks the congregation • A Muslim police officer faces being sacked over links with a jihadist in Syria • A gilded icon of the Virgin and Child has been stolen from a Cambridge college chapel
• Lutheran Synod of Mexico president safe following kidnapping • Church of England criticised for racial justice job paying twice a vicar`s salary • Christian preacher paid £10k damages by Met for second time accuses force of two-tier policing • Just Stop Oil priest who `targeted` Magna Carta barred from preaching
• Songs of Praise has been filmed at Balmoral Church for the first time to mark the second anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II`s death. • Cathedral is slammed over £39-a-ticket Ibiza-themed concert on All Souls` Day • Venezuela`s president Nicolas Maduro declares Christmas to begin in October • Nigerian officials warn people off church`s `miracle` water
• Priest apologises for poster offering youngsters free spritz to attend Mass • Give worshippers blankets instead of heating churches, vicars told • Mystery deepens in case of Missouri nun buried five years ago but whose body has not decomposed at all • Kremlin calls Ukrainian ban on branch of Orthodox Church an attack on freedom of religion
• Archaeologists uncover `monumental` 3,000-year-old structure in Israel that corroborates Bible stories • Men `underrepresented` in congregations, Church of England admits • Police investigate fears `undue` spiritual influence was used in general election • Christian right see God`s hand in Trump rally shooting: `The world saw a miracle`
• House of Commons is most secular as 40% of MPs affirm rather than swear oath to God • Three-quarters of Jewish people in Europe hide their identity • Evidence of 1,300-year-old Christian community found on Arabian Gulf • Gallup Poll: How religious are Americans?
• Starmer`s address to nation comes after hiring Archbishop of Canterbury`s speechwriter • Jesus painting with `Looney Tunes` face removed from gallery • Anglican Church takes first steps to allowing gay priests to marry • Vatican excommunicates former US ambassador Vigano • Singapore`s hell theme park dead serious about afterlife
• Archaeologists unearth `significant` religious relic that depicts Moses receiving the 10 Commandments • Thieves caught with one ton of crucifixes stolen from graves • Ultra-orthodox Jews sprayed with `skunk water` at military service protest • Record year for civil ceremonies as 85% of couples turn away from the church
• Spanish nuns excommunicated for rebelling against Vatican • Louisiana to make all state classrooms display the Ten Commandments • Tiny town breaks out in civil war as leaders ban Christian church from using amphitheatre for Sunday prayers for the first time in 40 years • What is a Gutenberg Bible? And why is it relevant 500 years after its printing?
• International Lutheran Council`s World Seminaries Conference held in Argentina • Hundreds of Scottish churches up for sale as UK turns away from Christianity • Lutheran Pastor`s son who completed national service says it could teach valuable skills • How Rishi Sunak relies on his Hindu faith to help him through the election • Chinese solicitor who is suing MI5 for calling her a spy claims it is `unlikely` Beijing would choose her because she is a devout Christian
• First parish church Doom painting in 500 years unveiled • Russian church suspends priest who officiated at Alexei Navalny`s funeral • Catholic Church to open more schools amid plans to scrap 50pc limit • Why the Vatican Swiss Guards are ready to sacrifice their lives for the pope
• Church where Bread of Heaven writer is buried spared from auction • Prisoners sue over solar eclipse lockdown claiming a religious right to watch it • Vicar introduces 15-minute `micro-services` to attract busy worshippers back to church • Vicars trapped in retirement crisis with `unaffordable` church loans • Schoolgirl left in coma after attack for `un-Islamic behaviour`
• Liverpool rector quits Church of England over `race, gender and sexuality discrimination` • Not everything that happens to Muslims at work is down to religion, tribunal rules • Hong Kong clergy fear Beijing could bug confessionals • New York to legalise adultery • Easter egg sales fall by 600,000 amid consumer backlash over rising prices and shrinkflation
• Up to a quarter of Church of England parishes have no wardens • Village clock silenced after 150 years following single complaint • Police investigation into funeral parlour where 35 bodies were found is just `the tip of the iceberg`, undertaker claims
• The Queen to hand out Maundy money as the King recovers • Vicars in uproar after the Church of England moves to set aside £1 billion to pay for slavery reparations • Catholic priests forced to apologise for wishing death on the Pope • Fury erupts after `jobsworth` traffic warden tried to slap a parking ticket on a funeral cortège waiting outside a church
• Make church checks on asylum seekers as rigorous as school applications, say MPs • Church of England may ban parishioners who bully vicars • I am being bullied for exposing `gay mafia` in Scottish Catholic Church, claims priest • `Dead` Indian woman, 52, comes `back to life` moments before her own cremation
• Prayers for King Charles as Archbishop of Canterbury wishes him a `swift and full recovery` and hopes `his faith will sustain him` as he begins cancer treatment • Metropolitan Police review footage of constable who stuck tongue out at gospel singer • Students use AI program to read more than 2,000 words on charred papyrus buried by Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79AD
• Ancient Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed a blind man, uncovered by archaeologists in Jerusalem • Spanish man sent to prison for altering church records in attempt to rise up religious ranks • Prayer ban pupil suing Katharine Birbalsingh accused of stab threat to child • Mother, 39, collapsed and died while giving eulogy at funeral
• Justin Welby `should quit` over claims he backed Paula Vennells to be Bishop of London • Basic funerals now cost £4,140 due to cremation and be buried by Gandalf • Want to be buried next to Karl Marx? Highgate Cemetery will make room for you for £25,000
• NHS asks patients to choose from 12 genders, 10 sexual preferences and 159 religions • Zelensky warned over banning `historic institution` • Belarus leader tightens control over country´s religious groups • Archaeologists unearth `most shocking example of Roman slavery` at Pompeii
• Experts reveal `only a fraction` of traditional Christmas carols are performed properly • Bethlehem cancels Christmas with celebrations kept to a minimum in birthplace of Jesus amid continuing Israel-Hamas bloodshed • Church clergy among jobs most at risk from AI chatbots • Schoolchildren taught St Hadrian was ‘black’ scholar – even though he was not
• Lutheran Advent traditions and what they mean • Methodist churches across the country are being urged to leave their second Advent candle unlit in memory of those in the Gaza War • Church leaders and aid agencies call on Rishi Sunak to help end fighting between Israel and Gaza • Nearly 25% of young Brits would support banning the Bible if they believed it contained `hate speech`, reveals a recent poll
• International Lutheran Council anniversary celebrations • Juror denied entry to court because he was carrying religious sword • Tory councillor suspended for saying `Pride is a sin` is reinstated • Re-using graves means UK cemetery will never run out of space • A North London cemetery is getting a ‘post box to heaven’
• Three reasons why Israel has delayed Gaza ground invasion • Church leaders meet to choose replacement for Wales` first woman bishop after tweeting people should `never, never, never trust a Tory` • Japanese airline is forced to put on extra flight after group of sumo wrestlers were booked on the same plane - making it too heavy to take off • Priest accused of desecration after installing beer pumps in 600-year-old church
• Church of England parishes close at record rate • Quarter of Cornish CofE churches fail to offer a Sunday service • Pupils receive a tokenistic religious education, warn cross-party MPs and peers • Spain under pressure to remove `greedy` from its definition of Jews
• GP suspended for asking Muslim woman to remove veil may go back to work • Denmark bans ‘unsympathetic’ Koran burnings to protect national security • Knights Templar graves discovered at village church • Russian Orthodox priests take inflatable churches to front lines
• Don’t stop praying to God as ‘our Father’ – but be sensitive, says Archbishop • Lord Sentamu banned from preaching in his local diocese over refusal to apologise for abuse failures • Swedish embassy worker shot in Turkey amid Koran-burning row • Indian police retain carrier pigeons as backstop against disasters
• Christian women paraded naked through Indian village • Protests outside schools and cinemas by hardline Muslims `pose national security threat` • C of E vicar ‘spiritually abused’ parishioners for 20 years, report finds • Amazonian God statue outside Wakefield Cathedral sparks anger
• Church considers defrocking bishops and priests guilty of abuse • Cathedral starts silent disco nights to lure in younger worshippers • Churches could be rented out or left ‘fallow’ as congregations dwindle • Church replaces Edward Colston-stained glass window ... with Jesus in a migrant boat
• Bishop ‘doesn’t entirely trust’ Church of England as it sacks own panel investigating abuse • Archbishop of Canterbury says decline in church attendance is ‘personal failure’ • Ukrainian military chaplains ready to provide ‘spiritual umbrella’ to front-line troops • Kenyan starvation cult members charged with attempted suicide after 300 bodies found
• Roaring success for Lutheran Ghana project • Ban schools from using religion to select pupils, says UN • US state bans Bible in primary schools over `vulgarity and violence` • Kremlin gives Russian Orthodox Church 15th century masterpiece for war support
- The International Lutheran Council is getting a higher profile - Jesus suffered setbacks and so will Christians, says Archbishop of York - Satanism and devil worship is on the rise, but Nigel is on the way out - Church sees red over bright pink chairs
• Zambian prophet who believed he could recreate the resurrection of Jesus dies after getting his followers to bury him alive for three days • Hundreds of former Salvation Army officers who left before retirement age have been denied pensions because...
• Pope orders Cardinal Pell to avoid contact with children until after his appeal against child abuse conviction • Police snatch Bible from hands of elderly Christian preacher before they handcuff and arrest him for breaching the peace after claim he...