QUOTES FROM THE MEDIA
CHURCH OF ENGLAND CREATES FIRST VIRTUAL REALITY SERVICE
GOSPEL ‘HAS BROUGHT HOPE’ DURING THE PANDEMIC, SAYS QUEEN
CHURCH APOLOGY ON CARDS FOR WITCHCRAFT EXECUTIONS
Believed to be the first virtual reality (VR) service created by the Church of England, an online liturgy has been designed to recreate in 3D the evening service of the Blessing of the Light. The experimental service was filmed in St Stephen Walbrook in the City of London last month. For viewers, it simulates standing alongside the choir or moving around the church during the seven-minute rite. The service … which [is] available on the Church of England YouTube channel, can be watched on a computer, and can be watched without a virtual reality headset… This 3D service was a trial run, and more services might be considered if it [has] a wide appeal, the head of digital for the C of E, Amaris Cole, said. It was a natural extension to the work done during the pandemic to make prayer and worship accessible online… ‘We worked on this project to bring an ancient tradition to a new audience. We are constantly thinking about how we can bring our prayer and worship content to new audiences using different technologies and platforms…’ Virtual reality – which usually offers viewers a simulated experience – is growing in popularity in the UK: a recent survey showed that more than a million people now own a VR headset.
The Queen has told the Church of England’s General Synod that ‘the gospel has brought hope’ during the Covid-19 pandemic in a message read out by her youngest son, the Earl of Wessex… ‘For people of faith, the [past] few years have been particularly hard, with unprecedented restrictions in accessing the comfort and reassurance of public worship,’ she said. ‘For many, it has been a time of anxiety, of grief and of weariness. ‘Yet the gospel has brought hope, as it has done throughout the ages, and the Church has adapted and continued its ministry, often in new ways, such as digital forms of worship.’
The Church of Scotland is preparing to apologise for its role … in the ‘mistreatment and execution’ of thousands of people accused of witchcraft. Witch-hunts were carried out from the mid-16th to the early 18th century and resulted in about 2,500 people, mostly women, being executed. Almost 300 years after Scotland’s Witchcraft Act was repealed, a campaign is seeking a pardon for those convicted, an apology to those accused and the creation of a national memorial… The Very Rev Dr Susan Brown, convener of the Church of Scotland’s faith impact forum, said… ‘The direct involvement of the Church in many instances is something that we look back on with ... sincere horror and sorrow.’
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EDITOR Lieut-Colonel Jonathan Roberts – 020 7367 4901 MANAGING EDITOR Ivan Radford – 020 7367 4891 EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Simon Hope – 020 7367 4892 Melita Day-Lewis – 020 7367 4887 Major Margaret Bovey ART DIRECTOR Hannah Holden – 020 7367 4883 GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Mark Knight – 020 7367 4895 Louise Phillips – 020 7367 4896 PROOFREADER Chris Horne
[MORE THAN] 4,000 REPORTS OF CRIMINAL ACTS AGAINST UK CHURCHES OVER PAST YEAR ‘Shocking’ new figures show that around 12 crimes affect churches or other religious buildings every day. Stats released by the Countryside Alliance reveal that more than 4,000 incidents of theft, vandalism, assault or burglary were committed in the [past] year… The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, show that the worst-hit areas are largely in the southeast of England with Sussex police recording 367 crimes, Kent 209 cases and the Metropolitan Police 575. The alliance has been collecting this data for four years and, while there has been a national decrease in this kind of crime during that period, areas such as South Wales, Cleveland, Cumbria, Essex, Hertfordshire and Greater Manchester have seen increases. The Countryside Alliance is urging the government to ensure funding schemes for churches, which have been available in previous years, remain accessible now. Premier
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Salvationist 27 November 2021
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