The government said that it remained sympathetic to creating an offence of incitement to religious hatred. (An amendment to the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Bill 2001 creating such an offence was dropped following opposition in the House of Lords.)
Source: Religious Offences: The government reply to the report from the Religious Offences Committee Session 2002-03 HL 95, Cm 6091, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
A report discussed the way Christians had colluded with the racial stereotyping of groups of people, and the steps that had been taken in an effort to eradicate racism.
Source: Redeeming the Time, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (020 7523 2121)
Links: CTBI press release
Date: 2003-Nov
The Home Secretary said faith communities had a vital role to play in civil renewal and promoting active citizenship. He praised faith communities engagement with wider society through community projects, opening their facilities to local people, and providing community leadership. Faith groups social networks and influence could also encourage citizens to make their views heard in the political process.
Source: David Blunkett MP, One Nation, Many Faiths: Unity and diversity in multi-faith Britain, Heslington Lecture 30 October 2003, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Text of lecture | Home Office press release
Date: 2003-Oct
A report said that the government s ambition to enlist faith groups in the fight against social exclusion could be unrealistic. There was a thriving tradition of mutual aid within such groups, but little indication that they had either the capacity or the inclination to provide services to the wider community.
Source: Priya Lukka and Michael Locke with Andri Sorteri-Proctor, Faith and Voluntary Action: Community, values and resources, Institute for Volunteering Research (020 7520 8900)
Links: Summary | IVR press release
Date: 2003-Sep
The government established a Faith Community Liaison Group (chaired by a junior Home Office minister), designed to give Christian organisations and other faith groups a greater say in policy-making and ensure that faith played a key role in government decisions. The working group will include Christians, Jewish, Sikh, Muslim and Hindu representatives. The initiative was welcomed by the Christian Socialist movement: but the Conservative Christian Fellowship said that the two-year delay in launching the group (originally announced in 2001) did not suggest there was an urgency in government to seriously engage with the churches.
Source: Press release, August 2003, Christian Socialist Movement (020 7233 3736) | Press release 8.8.03, Conservative Christian Fellowship (020 7984 8160)
Links: CSM press release | Evangelical Alliance press release | CCF press release | Hansard
Date: 2003-Aug
A canon in the Church of England, Jeffrey John, refused his appointment as Bishop of Reading (the first such appointment for an openly gay man) - allegedly following pressure from the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Source: The Guardian, 7.7.03
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jul
The Anglican and Methodist Churches agreed an Anglican-Methodist Covenant, designed to promote greater unity between them.
Source: Press release 1.7. 03, Methodist Church (020 7467 5191)
Links: Text of Covenant | Methodist Church press release | Church of England press release
Date: 2003-Jul
Draft regulations were published which would (from December 2003) outlaw discrimination in employment on the grounds of sexual orientation, religion or belief. A committee of MPs said that the regulations should not be approved until further scrutiny, because of doubts over the legality of provisions allowing discrimination against gay people by religious employers. However, the regulations were subsequently approved by MPs.
Source: The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, Statutory Instrument 2003/1661, TSO (0870 600 5522) | The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, Statutory Instrument 2003/1660,TSO | Twenty-First Report (Session 2002-03), HC 96-xxi and HL 116, Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments (House of Commons and House of Lords), TSO | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 25.6.03, columns 1177-1180, TSO
Links: Sex orientation regulations | Religion/belief regulations | Joint Committee report | Hansard | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jun
A study explored the present and potential contribution of faith communities and their members to regeneration, and their relationship to official neighbourhood renewal programmes.
Source: Richard Farnell, Robert Furbey, Stephen Shams al Haqq Hills, Marie Macey and Greg Smith, 'Faith in Urban Regeneration? Engaging faith communities in urban regeneration, Policy Press for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: JRF Findings 413 | Catholic Church press release
Date: 2003-Apr
A think-tank report attacked the Church of England leadership for failing to take responsibility for falling church attendances, and for abandoning 'traditional' Christian teaching on marriage and relationships.
Source: Called to Account: The case for an audit of the failing Church of England, Social Affairs Unit (020 7637 4356)
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-Feb
A new book used 'empirical theology' to interpret the health and potential of the Christian priesthood. (Empirical theology employs the techniques of the social sciences to address key issues raised by practical theology.) The book was criticised by the Catholic Church, which said that the survey results could not be be seen as a true reflection of the current beliefs of priests.
Source: Stephen Louden and Leslie Francis, The Naked Parish Priest: Survey among Roman Catholic parish clergy in England and Wales, Continuum International Publishing (020 7922 0880) | Press release 7.4.03, Catholic Church in England & Wales (020 7901 4875)
Links: Catholic Church press release
Date: 2003-Feb
Following expressions of concern by Churches, the government said that it would amend the Licensing Bill so that places of public worship will not need a licence to put on entertainment performances of any kind.
Source: Press release 3.2.03, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200)
Links: Press release | Text of Bill | CofE press release
Date: 2003-Feb
The Catholic Church launched 'Caritas - social action', formed by the merger of the Catholic Agency for Social Concern, the Catholic Child Welfare Council, and the Social Welfare Committee of the Bishops' Conference. The new agency is designed to allow the Church 'to make a stronger impact in meeting need and eradicating poverty'.
Source: Press release 26.2.03, Catholic Church in England & Wales (020 7901 4875)
Date: 2003-Feb
A report examined the condition of care home services for the elderly provided by the Catholic Church.
Source: Terry Philpot, On the Homes Front, Caritas-Social Action (020 7901 4875)
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jan
The Catholic Church in England and Wales defended their decision (against criticism from Catholic school headteachers) to support the phasing out of interviews as a permitted part of the admissions procedures to Church schools (as proposed by the government from 2005). It said that interviews, however carefully managed, run the risk of being divisive or selective, and that schools would continue to be able to assess the faith practice of children by means of an objective reference from the parish priest. But the Secretary of State for Education was reported as suggesting that parish priests should have no say in admissions either.
Source: Press release 28.1.03, Catholic Church in England & Wales (020 7901 4800) | Sunday Times, 26.1.03
Links: CC press release | C of E press release
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/2, Digest 122, paragraph 3.3
Date: 2003-Jan