Church

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  Liverpool Cathedral expands Christmas offerings to cater for increasing numbers of visitors

  Liverpool Cathedral is laying on more services and activities this Christmas to meet an increase in demand.

• Two years after missionary Jeff Woodke's abduction, locals plead for his release

  Woodke, 57, was kidnapped by unknown assailants believed to be from an Islamist group who killed two security guards.

• Diocese of London gears up for church-planting drive

  The churches that have been selected will receive a 'planting curate', a three-year posting that will see them trained in the resource church before planting another.

• Ecclesiastical entrepreneur's latest venture: Cathedral branded gin

  A North of England cathedral is harking back to medieval times today with the launch of its own brand of gin.

• What do the CofE's Statistics for Mission say to the Church?

  It would take a quite extraordinary amount of optimism for anyone to feel actually cheerful about what's revealed in the Statistics.

• Mixed picture for CofE in latest attendance figures

  The report says most key measures of attendance fell by between 10 and 20 per cent from 2007 to 2017.

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  Archbishop of York challenges young people to reflect on Christmas story

  The Archbishop of York is encouraging young people to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas with the help of new resources.

• Opium addict and derelict: The extraordinary life of Francis Thompson, Christian poet

  Francis Thompson is remembered for some of the greatest spiritual verse in the English language.

• Jailed Vietnamese pastor is denied vital medical treatment

  Nguyen Trung Ton was arrested in July last year with other members of his pro-democracy group, Brotherhood for Democracy.

• Dare to Care: We should be kinder to each other, says Girls' Brigade film

  A Girls' Brigade mission initiative has launched a new film exploring the issue of kindness.

• 4 priests kidnapped in Nigeria are free

  The Catholic priests were abducted by gunmen as they returned from a meeting in Warri.

• Bulgarian evangelicals warn of parliament's move to take control of religion

  Bulgarian evangelicals have asked for prayer in the face of a new religion bill that threatens a draconian clampdown on minority faiths.

• Rare gold cross found in medieval Bulgarian fortress

  Bulgarian archaeologists have discovered a rare gold reliquary cross during excavations at a medieval stronghold dating back to the Second Bulgarian Empire.

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  Churches commemorate First World War 100 years after Armistice

  Churches across the country are holding Remembrance services on Sunday to mark the moment the guns fell silent at the end of World War One.

• Is an armistice needed for divided nations and churches?

  We have witnessed the rise in populism and nationalism, not least across Europe but wider afield too.