In Brief

CHURCH MUST CHANGE OR DIE SAYS BISHOP  

The new Bishop of Blackburn has called on the Church of England to make sweeping changes in order to avoid disappearing like his diocese’s textile industry. Rt Rev Julian Henderson said, ‘I am convinced that we need to embark on radical change. We need to reinvent ourselves for the 21st Century.’ The bishop said this while unveiling a 12-year plan to attract young people back to church which includes flexible service times and heavy investment into youth work. Henderson’s comments follow former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey’s similar comments last year. Carey said that the Church may just be a ‘generation away from extinction’ in Britain.

XLP TACKLES MENTAL HEALTH  

Following reports that children from households with lower incomes are three times more likely to suffer mental health problems, XLP has teamed up with the Centre of Social Justice to host an evening on the subject of mental health, with specialists focusing on the impact mental health issues have on inner-city young people. For more information go to the XLP website.

GIRLS LESS HAPPY WITH THEIR APPEARANCE THAN BOYS  

A study has shown that teenage girls are twice as likely to be unhappy about their appearance as their male counterparts. Research by the Office for National Statistics found that 17 per cent of girls aged 10 to 15 were unhappy with how they looked, compared to 8 per cent of boys. Experts linked this unhappiness to the rise in social media use and called for better education to build up self-esteem.

 ARCHBISHOP LAUNCHES RE:QUEST

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, launched YFC’s new RE:quest resource. RE:quest is an online resource which supports the teaching of religious education and was originally launched in 2000 before this year’s redesign. It includes over 250 short films to help students explore what it means to be a Christian. Speaking at the launch, Dr Sentamu said: ‘In looking outwards and asking questions of God and the universe, we find that we actually discover more about ourselves and our own place in the world around us.’     

THE TABLE

A new series of events aimed at pioneer youth and community workers has been launched by CYM (The Institute for Children, Youth and Mission), FYT (Frontier Youth Trust) and CMS (Church Mission Society). ‘The Table’ is a space for all those in pioneering roles to gather together for conversation, sustenance and learning. The first event was held in October at Bristol CYM, and explored ‘Tensions around the table’ – how we cope with paradoxes in pioneering practice with young people. Future events have been planned for 2015 in Birmingham and Oxford, looking at creating church with young people and sustaining a pioneer spirituality. For further details follow @CYMnews and @FYTtweets on Twitter, where more details will be announced in the near future.