Anglican Church

Is it possible for an English couple to get married in Doha I have bee given the telephone number of the Anglican Church

Emma Watson, famous for portraying a witch in the Harry Potter films, may have magic in her genes as she is related to a 16th century woman convicted of witchcraft.

Emma Watson at the world premiere of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in London last month.

The 19-year old who has made more than £18 million from playing Hermione Granger in the wizard franchise, is a cousin 14 generations removed from Joan Playle.

Her distant relation, from Great Waltham in Essex, was one of only 270 known people tried of witchcraft during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

But rather than be burned at the stake, it appears Playle was merely excommunicated from the Church of England.

Finally, the Church is moving with the times .....

SHOULD IT ? WHAT SAY YOU ?

The Church of England unveils a two-in-one wedding and baptism liturgy today as it seeks to make peace with families “living in sin”.

The “hatch-and-match” service allows couples to baptise their children after the wedding ceremony. Parents can even get baptised themselves.

The aim is to encourage cohabiting parents to marry as the Church tries to become more relevant to the way people live their lives, but critics said that it appeared to sanction having children out of wedlock. One bishop described the idea as “nutty”.

"Unhand my patio heater, archbishop.

By Jeremy Clarkson

The Archbishop of Canterbury told the faithful on Christmas Day that unless human beings abandon our greed, we will be responsible for the death of the planet.

Hmm. I’m not sure that I can take a lecture on greed from a man who heads one of the western world’s richest institutions. As we huddle under a patio heater to stay warm while having a cigarette in the rain, his bishops are living in palatial splendour with banqueting halls, wondering where to invest the next billion.

The schools where no one speaks English as a first language

By James Slack
Last updated at 1:56 AM on 28th January 2009

There are now ten schools in England without a single pupil who speaks English as his or her first language.

Research reveals that there are almost 600 primary schools where 70 per cent or more of youngsters normally speak a foreign language.

Across the country, one in seven pupils aged 4-11 does not have English as the first language, which is the equivalent of 466,620 children.

But, following years of unprecedented levels of migration, ten schools have now reached a point where every youngster falls into this category.
Black teacher with mixed class