history of email

from june 2011 

a 40th anniversary timeline 

of email’s progress thru the years

from email delivery company reachmail 

found via mashable.

what tweeting volume causes people to unfollow - 4 out of 10? (g+)

why i don't attend church anymore

in a post on amanda's shadesthatmatter blog

(found via the friendlyatheist blog via lesley's blog)

she explains a few of the reasons she doesn't attend church

- church is a place where intolerance is condoned & tolerance is considered sinful

- christian culture refuses to grapple with the hate in its past (and current hate).

porcelain unicorn (g+) (c)

wonderful video - well worth the 3 minute look

we shouldn't be here by today

.......according to this article from the london times of 27th july 1971 


the organised church should have disappeared by now (2011) (allegedly reporting from an article by the secretary of the methodist conference)




tricky stuff this prophecy malarky eh?

(found at bishop alan's blog)

a close relation of the 1971 article is this article by adrian hamilton on the 18/4/11 independent web site. 

amongst an argument for dis-establishment of the church the author says "i can't help feeling - more than ever - that the church of england will not survive my children's lifetime and quite possibly not even my own"


phew - a reprieve then - say till 18/4/31 (I'm guessing from the journalist's photo)


(for adrian this is certainly a favourite subject 

- as his familiar "over the last few weeks, i have reluctantly come to the conclusion that the church of england is not going to survive my grandchildren's lifetime and very probably not my children's"  17/2/05 article demonstrates)

and then I stumble across this telegraph article reporting on a rev dr patrick richmond pointing to some projections saying the church would no longer be "functionally extant" within 20 years (so going by the article date that will be 2/7/31)

and lo and behold here we go again - this time its Lord Carey 'We ought to be ashamed of ourselves. We are one generation away from extinction – if we do not invest in young people there is going to be no one in the future.'

so one generation away from extinction puts the date at somewhere in the 1st century of the 2nd millenium



this "the church will be no more in 20/30/40 years" story appears to be a regular space filler rolled out at regular intervals


anybody got any other examples of "the church end is nigh" for me to add to this post?






Various links 
 - this FT article - found via churchmouse - is a thoughtful look at this issue 
- a post by Peter Kirk linking to a 2008 Times article in the same vein 

365 days of makeup

found via io9

religion matters

at least according to this  ipsos mori poll it does 

in summary the poll says:

 - 7 in 10 people say they have a religion & most see it as important in their lives; 

- 94% of those with a religion in primarily muslim counties say it's important in their lives (66% in christian majority countries;

- 3 in 10 people with a religion/faith say that religion motivates them to give their time or money to people in need. 

so it looks as though understanding something about religion might be an important step for politicians or other leaders who want to represent their communities

(here are the slides)

liturgy for studies & other rooms of labour

this post by the vernacular curate is wonderful 


read the whole thing




but by way of a taster


 Let us pray.

A period of silence follows.

O Lord our God, accept the fervent prayers of your people;
in the multitude of your mercies look with compassion
     upon the untidy and all who turn to you for alphabetised shelves;
for you are gracious, O lover of dust free spaces,
and to you we give Mr Sheen, a duster, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
now and for ever.

All                Amen.

cofe facts n stats

are here on their website


the stuff that interested me was

• 1.7 million people take part in a Church of England service each month, a level that has been maintained since the turn of the millennium. Approximately one million participate each Sunday.
• More than 4 in 10 in England regard themselves as belonging to the Church of England, while 6 in 10 consider themselves Christian.
• Latest available statistics indicate one in four primary schools and one in 16secondary schools in England are Church of England schools. Approaching one million pupils are educated in more than 4,700 Church of England schools.

• More people do unpaid work for church organisations than any other organisation.  Eight per cent of adults undertake voluntary work for church organisations while sixteen per cent of adults belong to religious or church organisations.
• Church of England congregations give more than £51.7 million each year to other charities - that's even more than the BBC's annual Children in Need appeal.

charlie brooker - how to report the news

an insightful view on the way on which visual news reporting has fallen into a mundane predictable pattern


found via pm phillips