TW'sV on being less hateful, more hopeful; and broadcasting

Bath Rugby are doing really well this season and had an outstanding away game against a formidable rich French club.  Bath players scored all the English points against Wales in the Six Nations' opening match.

My father grew up regularly supporting the club which is 150 years old this year.  As a long term supporter I'm delighted to be on the winning side but at the end of the day rugby is just a game.

Islamic State (IS) is quite another matter.  Can we win?  I don't believe it helps to talk about a war on terror because it's no conventional war.  It is now worryingly clear that most terrorists carrying out atrocities in these islands are home grown.  We need to look carefully at our attitudes; are we inadvertently encouraging radicalisation?

Can Muslims learn from the terrible errors within the Christian Church?  Five hundred years ago Protestant and Catholic were at each others' throats but now different Christian traditions delight in variation and tease each other.  It is painfully slow as a Guardian picture taken three years ago in Northern Ireland reminds us.

At the height of Christian sectarianism there were those in the Muslim faith who appealed to different factions to make peace.  Now Sunni and Shia are locked into horrific feuds, can we as Christians invite them to make peace through conversation and forgiveness?  We have some authority because in our time we have done just that.

Whatever the answer it will need the gift of forgiveness, and the nouse to be less hateful and more hopeful.

Broadcasting
Love him or loathe him Sir Andrew Lloyd-Webber has argued that all church building should provide wifi for visitors.  Our Archbishop of Canterbury has also spoken of using social media to communicate.  After all when printing transformed communications many in the Church embraced the opportunity.

Later this year a significant upgrade of St Andrew's church building will begin with a capacity to broadcast worship being one of the aims.  A pilot exercise will take place during Café Church.