About‎ > ‎

Glass Door

Glass door is a section for articles which highlight a particular major human ethical issue, whether at home or abroad. If there is something you would like to share please contact the editor with your idea for an article.





Becoming blessed

Did you know that Bishops can bless snow-ploughs (clothing, cats and many other miscellaneous items) but NOT married couples (unless they are heterosexual of course)?

In a heartfelt article Sam Travis shares the experience of not feeling blessed: 

"Silence is never neutral: in the silence we hear the voice we've always heard." This has been said in various ways by various people throughout history but this direct quotation comes from an asylum seeker called Prossy Kakooza who was imprisoned in Uganda for being a lesbian, after her family and church handed her in to the police. She spoke of attending churches in England for years and presuming that they had the same beliefs because the Church was not talking about it.                               Read on


Syria and Christian 
Unity




This was the entry in the Notice sheet for last Sunday 15 January, but it didn't do justice to the passionate whirlwind that was Father Nadim. Anglican he may be, but no timid platitudes about church unity emerged from his mouth.

He started by reminding the CTiC (Churches Together in Clapham) congregation in St James's Church, Clapham, about the place of Syria read on

Racial Justice Sunday 11 September

At a well attended CTiC service on 9/11 at 6:30 Samantha Walker gave the address.

Sam Walker lives in Clapham and is a lawyer who offers free legal support for unaccompanied refugee children from the Calais Jungle to be reunited with their relatives in the UK.This is done through Citizens UK's Safe Passage scheme. She and her family worship at Holy Trinity, Clapham. She shared her experience with a congregation from Clapham churches gathered at Church of the Holy Spirit, joining together as Churches Together in Clapham.  Read on


Referendum

Emboldened by Rowan Williams' signature to a recent letter in The Guardian, here is one person's view of what we should consider when we vote on 23 June in our referendum on membership of the European Union.


Explorers tell of how, when walking alone in the wild, they were alert, looking around, hearing a branch crack to the left, a curious animal noise to the right, a sudden movement in the branches ahead, weighing up where the danger was going to come from and then - WHAM! - from above, below, whatever direction they weren't looking, they were in mortal danger.

And so it is today, with the debate on the EU.  So fiercely has the debate raged on questions like the percentage rise (or fall) in gross domestic product, the number of school places, demands on the NHS, net immigration, the Scottish view, the availability of housing - all important questions - that a deep underlying question has remained unasked and unanswered.                   Click here to read more


Refugees

Sometimes, words are unnecessary. We will let this video, made by the charity Samaritan's Purse, tell the story.




Writing recently in the Independent, Pink Floyd's DavidGilmour was introduced to Liberty Choir - a prison choir which transforms inmates' prospects of rehabilitation - by his son Charlie, who served a prison sentence for violent disorder following the university fees protests. And they recorded at CHS.

Read David Gilmour on: 'How I got involved with the inspiring Liberty Choir'




In this article in a series on social issues, Iqbal Wahhab, writes about how we do little to prepare offenders for life after serving their sentence, and calls on Michael Gove, in his new role as Justice Secretary, to make changes.

I had breakfast with a murderer the other day. Read on








A recent telephone call from an Iranian made Nick Jenni feel unequal to the task. Here he shares what he heard about some Iranian exiles trapped in a hostile Iraq.

On Thursday I got a phone call Read on