Monthly Archives: June 2010

Long-Living Methodists

The current issue (24 June 2010, p. 2) of the Methodist Recorder, the weekly newspaper for Methodists in Great Britain, reports the death of Stanley Lucas of Cornwall. Aged 110 (he was born on 15 January 1900), he was thought … Continue reading

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Authority and Governance in the Roman Catholic Church

Roehampton University announced on 16 June that its Archives and Special Collections are now home to the ‘Roman Catholic Church in Great Britain, 1998–2002: The Queen’s Foundation Authority and Governance Archive’. The following post incorporates some edited extracts from the … Continue reading

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Science and Religion in the European Union

The interactions of science with religion have featured in a number of opinion polls during the past year or so, largely in connection with the debate on the origins of the universe, and how it should be taught in schools, … Continue reading

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Gender Audit Report, Scottish Episcopal Church

The annual meeting of the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church, which is part of the Anglican Communion, took place in Edinburgh between 10 and 12 June. One of the papers under consideration was a Gender Audit Report, presented … Continue reading

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American Religiosity – Viewed from Britain

Much has been written about the perceived contrasts between a secularizing Western Europe and a continuingly religious United States. One example is the book by Peter Berger, Grace Davie and Effie Fokas on Religious America, Secular Europe? (Ashgate, 2008), synthesizing a … Continue reading

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Organ Donation

As the NHS information leaflet Organ Donation and Religious Perspectives makes clear, organ donation is not a hugely controversial issue for faith communities in the UK. All the major ones support the basic principle of organ donation and transplantation. This … Continue reading

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When was Secularization?

Secularization continues to be a hotly-debated topic with academics, especially among sociologists and historians. There is certainly no consensus about its nature, timing and causation, while a few would even dispute its very existence. The latest contribution to the literature … Continue reading

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Missing Generation Research in the Methodist Church

The Methodist Church has announced a twelve-month ‘Missing Generation Research’ project, to be led by Trevor Durston and Liz Clutterbuck. It will focus on Generations X and Y, adults in their twenties and thirties who are largely absent from the … Continue reading

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Peter Kaim-Caudle (1916-2010)

Peter Robert Kaim-Caudle, the German Jewish refugee from Nazi persecution who became one of Britain’s leading sociologists (holding a chair at the University of Durham for many years), died on 18 May, aged 93. Kaim-Caudle was best-known for his writings on … Continue reading

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‘Onward Pagan Soldiers’ (Daily Mail)

On 5 April 2010, we reported on ‘Religion in the Armed Forces’, based on an annual census of religious profession carried out by the Defence Analytical Services and Advice section of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The religious groupings used … Continue reading

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