In early June Church Army evangelist
Maureen Greaves was honoured with the
British Empire Medal (BEM) as part of the
Queen’s Birthday honours.
Maureen’s husband Alan was murdered on
Christmas Eve 2012 as he walked to church
to play the organ at the late night Christmas
service. At the time of the murderers’ trial
she said: ‘It's through God's mercy that I
have been able to extend real and true forgiveness,’ adding that she prayed that they
would find ‘true repentance’ in jail.
CofE decline
Bible Society (The Guardian)
As figures published in early June showed
that the Church lost 1.7 million worshippers
in 2012-14, vicars in rural parishes are being
encouraged to find new ways to stay open.
‘If you were running the Church nakedly as
a business, it would be quite simple – you’d
close down the uneconomic branches,’ said
Nick Spencer, Research Director of Theos,
‘but the Church takes rightful pride in being
a presence in every community in the country. That is the big challenge it faces.’
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