National BBC radio appeal will benefit countryside people

National BBC radio appeal will benefit countryside people

On 7 March BBC Radio 4 will broadcast an appeal to help the Arthur Rank Centre (ARC), a Christian countryside charity and resource unit supported by national Churches (including the Methodist Church), the Royal Agricultural Society of England and the Rank Foundation.

For all its beauty, life in the countryside can be tough. Over 900,000 rural households live in poverty, and problems such as depression, stress, relationship difficulties, health, finance and business difficulties can go undiagnosed and unheard.

The Revd Gordon Gatward, director of the ARC, said, “The ARC was chosen for an appeal because we have been supporting rural communities and their churches for over 38 years. Initiatives that have come out of the ARC have given thousands of people hope over the years: Rural Stress Helpline, agricultural chaplains and rural officers, Arthur Rank Training and community development projects like Hidden Britain, Care Farming, Farm Crisis Network and the ARC-Addington Fund.”

You can discover more about its activities at its website.

You can hear the BBC Radio 4 Appeal on Sunday 7 March at 7.55am or 9.26pm, or on Thursday 11 March at 3.27pm. It is also online all that week.

Source: Methodist E-News February 2010

Thought for the Day controversy to be aired in public debate

The Church and Media Network will host a public debate on BBC Radio 4’s controversial Thought for the Day next month. The motion for debate is that "This House Believes that Humanist speakers should be included in BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day."

The two minute slot will come into sharp focus this Autumn when the BBC Trust will deliver a ruling on a formal complaint that humanist views are under-represented by the BBC, with Thought for the Day cited in evidence.

Announcing the debate the Director of the Church and Media Network Andrew Graystone said, “Thought for the Day is a totemic issue for the humanist movement. But some fear that it is religious, not secular voices that are in danger of being under-represented. Because their ruling was generated by a complaint, the BBC Trust has not opened this issue for public consultation. We hope that by hosting this debate on a cornerstone of the BBC’s religious output we can give a proper airing to the arguments on all sides.”

The motion will be proposed by Dr Andrew Copson, the Director of Education and Public Affairs at the British Humanist Association. He will be joined by comedienne Ariane Sherine, who masterminded the "atheist bus campaign" and delivered an experimental secular Thought for the Day on Radio 4’s PM programme. Opposing the motion will be Canon Giles Fraser, who is a regular Thought for the Day contributor and was recently appointed Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral. He will be joined by Rt Rev Nick Baines, the Bishop of Croydon. The debate will be chaired by the distinguished broadcaster Edward Stourton, who as presenter of Today on Radio 4 has introduced many Thoughts for the Day.

The debate will take place on Thursday 8th October at the LICC at St Peter’s, Vere Street (off Oxford Street) London. Refreshments will be served from 6.30pm and the debate will begin at 7pm. Members of the public are welcome, with tickets priced £7.50, available on the door.

The Church and Media Network (formerly known as the Churches’ Media Council) exists to promote mutual understanding between the media and the Christian community.

Daily Service

I want to put on record my thanks for the Daily Service on BBC Radio 4 each day and to let those responsible for it, especially the BBC Singers,know how much I appreciate this daily act of devotion. Did anyone hear the wonderful setting of 'Come let us sing of a wonderful Love' this morning? I wish I had it on tape. If you missed it, it is well worth going to the BBC iplayer just to hear that beautiful, uplifting setting.

LUKE AND LISTEN ON RADIO 4

BBC Radio 4 is to broadcast a series of plays on Luke’s Gospel that could have the same effect as Dorothy L Sayer’s radio classic The Man Born to Be King, according to one scholar. Mike Thompson, Vice-Principal and Lecturer in New Testament at Ridley Hall, Cambridge made the claim after seeing the scripts for Witness, five plays inspired by Luke’s Gospel. The ‘eye-witness’ accounts by Peter, Judas Iscariot, Andrew, Mary Magdalene, Jesus’ mother Mary, Caiaphas and Pilate will be followed by an in-depth exploration by contemporary Bible scholars. The plays have been written by award-winning writer Nick Warburton.

Sources: Baptist Times (14/12); Church of England Newspaper (14/12)