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This is turning into quite a series about vicars. We've had the vicar attacked by dive-bombing seagulls, a vicar disguised as a tramp ignored by his congregation, the priest banning pop songs at funerals, and an ex-Bond-girl-turned-vicar. This time it's a hapless vicar who asked for a toddler...

The BBC reported on 17 July that Saint Mary's (Catholic) Church in Castleblayney, Northern Ireland, is banning pop music and poetry at funerals - putting an end to scratchy recordings of Candle in the Wind and Flying Without Wings . "Practices such as personal poems about the deceased, favourite...

The division created by the ongoing shenanigans about whether gay Christians can be in relationships, be priests or be bishops is unfortunate, as we know, and passions run high on both sides. I don't have any answers, or indeed anything new to add to the debate, other than to say that only God knows...

Tea and cake with a vicar - or death. Not much of a choice, is it? I mean, given the choice, who wouldn't pick death? (Sorry - of course I mean 'Who wouldn't pick tea and cake with a Church of England vicar?') One of the really fab things on YouTube is the proliferation of mini-movies...

I have hobnobbed. Yesterday evening I consumed 2 glasses of wine and 2 glasses of orange juice (and several crisps and quite a few peanuts) in the company of some exceptional people in York. Oh, the archbishops of C and Y were there, too, as was Howard Dobson (the only reason most of us went), several...

The Vatican has just unveiled a new website - in LATIN. (By the way, did you know that Rome’s webmaster is actually a webnun, who leads quite a large team?) According to the BBC , Pope Benedict wants the Catholic Church to keep its ancient traditions, and is encouraging the use of Latin for sermons and...

If you get tired of your church, you might like to try going to church elsewhere. Trouble is, there are several objections to this sort of practice. Firstly, we're discouraged from 'church-hopping'. If our church isn't right, we should try fixing it from within - not just abandon it....

Yes, of course I meant 'bloopers'. But where would we be without all the typos and misunderstandings we read in church newsletters and on church noticeboards? Like the infamous kitchen sign, 'Please rinse teapots and then stand upside-down in the sink'. So here's a small selection...

The pastor of the Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York, was horrified to discover that an advertisement hoarding attached to the side of his church would be used to carry ads for Washlet, 'a bidet toilet that cleans a person’s rear-end via water and warm air'. Not only that, but the manufacturer...

It's official, according to the Guinness Book of World Records: this is the world's largest inflatable church. According to the website , the complete structure comprises two sections; the house, 5m in width (external) with frontal facade, 7m high and 6.5m wide. The tower has a 5x5m base, 12m...