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The Red Cross has two camps in Rwanda, both of which are looked after by the field hospital at Kibumba, run by Dr John Parker together with half a dozen local doctors and a surgeon, caring for over 650,000 refugees. Over 45,000 died from dysentery and cholera whilst escaping from Rwanda in July and August 1994. People live misery, with no food, no water and nowhere to use as a toilet, but have a strong will to live.

The Times, UK daily newspaper, and the College of Preachers launched the Preacher of the Year Award on October 29 1994. A short list of 100 preachers will be produced, from which six finalists will be chosen, and the final will be held in autumn-1995. A sermon should not be a lecture, but should come from the preacher's heart, expounding warmth and faith. Preachers frequently forget the basics. A sermon should have a beginning, a middle and an end, and be prepared well in advance.

Some 48 members of the Order of the Solar Temple, a minor religious cult, were found dead in Switzerland, on October 5 1994, having apparently committed suicide. Some 23 bodies were found in Cheiry and a further 25 in Granges- sur-Salvan. There had been suffocation and shootings. These deaths follow those of two others in a duplex in Quebec, Canada, which was burnt out, next to a house belonging to Luc Jouret, the founder of the sect.

The UK constitution is dependent on the close ties between the sovereign and the Church, and a parliamentary act would be required to change it. Responding to Prince Charles' remarks in a TV interview that he would prefer to recognise all faiths, John Habgood, Archbishop of York, maintains that this would effectively disestablish the Church of England. Habgood believes that the monarch's role as head of the Anglican protestant faith, enshrined in the Coronation and Accession Acts, should remain unaltered. He stresses that adultery will not change Charles' position when King as Supreme Gov. of the Church of England.

The Church of England debated the question of the remarriage of divorcees in church at the General Synod on December 3 1994 and the UK House of Bishops will now reflect on the church's policy which does not currently permit remarriage in church. The Rev. Paul Needle, a lecturer in journalism at City University brought a private member's motion, because of inconsistency and confusion within the church. Some clergy do remarry divorcees in church using their right under UK civil law.

The Poorvoo statement is a document formulated in Poorvoo, Finland, which would mean the Anglican Church reconsidering its links with the Lutheran Churches in the Baltic and Nordic regions. The document has been compared with the Maastricht Treaty, and The UK Council for Christian Unity has suggested that the document is aimed at setting up a single church.

Archbishop Derek Worlock, the 74-year-old Roman Catholic Bishop of Liverpool, and Bishop David Sheppard, 65-year-old Anglican Bishop of Liverpool, who have both almost died, have written a book, entitled 'With Hope in our Hearts', which they describe as a testament. The two men work so closely together that they do not like to be interviewed apart. In the book Worlock describes the problems he had with prayer after being operated on for lung cancer. Sheppard has had a hip transplant and been treated for a pulmonary embolism. The two men have been cooperating on an ecumenical basis for almost 20 years up to 1974.

Samantha Fox, former topless model, has turned to Christianity. The singer has performed at the Christian Greenbelt arts festival in Corby, England. Despite her conversion, her songs and performance were still raunchy. Fox turned to Christianity in Christmas 1993. Christianity has provided her with something which had been lacking in her life. She has now found peace with God.

The two cathedrals in Liverpool, England, have very different financial situations. The Anglican Cathedral Church of Christ is managing to break even, despite running costs of 750,000 pounds sterling a year. The Catholic cathedral is trying to raise around 2 million pounds sterling to finish off essential repair work. The Anglican cathedral is involved in several commercial projects, providing funds to meet its own running costs and to help the secular community.

Westminster Abbey provides a lot of hospitality for its visitors. It is a collegiate church, and also provides worship and study, recalling its past as a Benedictine monastery. Hospitality involves conversations with priests, coffee and tours for sale, and multi-lingual tour guides. The abbey makes all tourists, pilgrims and seekers welcome. The abbey has over 2.5 million visitors a year.

UK Cathedrals are following a sophisticated fund-raising strategy to raise around 100 million pounds sterling as the public is tired of traditional appeals. Norwich has made not made an appeal since the 1960s, but runs a shop, requests donations from visitors and has a Friends group, which pays repair bills. Clergymen believe that appeals should be directed at the wealthy few, and most cathedrals are seeking out sources of wealth, such as businessmen, and clergy are lobbying for contributions. There is a general feeling against entrance charges.

The 43 UK Anglican cathedrals are short of cash and confidence. Churchgoers and tourists appear unwilling to give financial support to the medieval buildings which are suffering from wear and tear as a result of pollution, age and visitors. Some cathedrals are using modern marketing methods to raise cash, though others disapprove. In autumn-1994, a commission set up at the request of the cathedral clergy will publish a report on improving customer service and accountability.

The review of Jewish women in the UK community, commissioned by Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, is complete. Sacks chose Rosalind Preston to chair the group which prepared the report, and made it his first major project after he took up his position. The report seeks to make it easier for Jewish women, whose husbands die or divorce them, insisting on a pre-nuptial agreement in synagogue weddings. This ensures that, if required, the wife obtains a religious divorce (get), entitling her to remarry in a synagogue. Sacks is concerned that the Jewish community has shrunk to 300, 000.

Ray Illingworth, Chmn. of England's cricket selectors, has dismissed the team's chaplain, Andrew Wingfield-Digby, claiming that he was not needed. Wingfield-Digby, an evangelical, who founded the charity Christians in Sport in 1980, and has been with the England cricket team since 1991, 75%-financed by the charity, blamed the Devil for his unexpected dismissal. He plans to attend the next test at Lord's in mid-Jun. 1994 in an informal capacity, and to accompany the team to Australia in 1995, if Christians in Sport can finance him.

The new 1.8i S Mazda MX-5 convertible sports car, which was introduced in the UK in Jun. 1994, to replace the MX-5, is faster than its predecessor and feels more spacious. The new MX-5 offers a top speed of 121 mph vs 116 mph, taking just 8.75 secs. to accellerate to 62 mph from a standstill. It has better suspension, and good average fuel consumption at 37. 3 mpg. There are two models, retailing at 14,495 pounds sterling and 17,395 pounds, with added features, including anti-lock brakes. Power steering makes the MX-5 easy to drive, and rear-wheel drive ensures that it holds the road well.

Former Anglican Bishop of London, Graham Leonard, was conditionally ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in a private ceremony conducted by Cardinal Basil Hume, Archbishop of Westminster, on Apr. 23, 1994. He had been received as a Roman Catholic on Apr. 6, 1994, and four cardinals and 10 consultors decided that he could be ordained. Some 150 of the 240+ Anglican priests who intend to or have already resigned over the issue of women's ordination have become Catholics, and Leonard's decision may influence others. Leonard, aged 73, does not wish to become a bishop. His wife also plans to convert.

The Church of Wales could well vote not to ordain female deacons to the priesthood when it meets in Lampeter in the week starting Apr. 3, 1994. Deacons Vera Lewis and Anne Stratford work in similar sparsely populated rural parishes on the Wales-England border, but Stratford belongs to the Church of England, enabling her to be priested later in Apr. 1994. Lewis may have to continue to celebrate communion with bread and wine consecrated by a male priest. The Church of Scotland is expected to approve the ordination of women shortly, while the Church of Ireland already accepts female priests.

Few UK residents can afford to maintain and heat palaces. Bill Westwood, Bishop of Peterborough, has decided to move from the 11th century bishop's palace to a smaller house to save money in a time of financial crisis for the Anglican church. Estate agents, such as Knight, Frank & Rutley and Savilles, are keen to have mansions and palaces on their books, although purchasers are often foreign. The Earl of Mansfield, who owns Scone Palace and grounds, spends 70,000 pounds sterling on upkeep of the 27,000-acre estate alone, opening the palace to the public for part of the year.

The service to ordain the first 32 women to enter the Church of England priesthood has been reworded to avoid references to 'he'. The Bishop of Bristol, Right Reverend Barry Rogerson, is expected to call for an end to discrimination on gender, age, status, colour, and ability, in his sermon. Traditionalists are thought to be planning a demonstration the city centre, and an objection may be raised during the service.

The General Synod of the Church of England altered ecclesiastical law to allow the ordination of women on Feb 22, 1994. The votes taken to promulge three cannons were passed by large majorities, although there were shouts of protest from the gallery of Church House. The first female ordinands, who will be priested in Bristol on Mar 12, 1994, will be able to act as celebrants in services on Mar 13. The move is expected to lead to numerous conversions to Roman Catholicism.

The General Synod of the Church of England is expected to amend ecclesiastical legislation to permit women to be ordained priests. Provided the leader of the priests who oppose women's ordination, Paul Williamson, is not successful in gaining High Court permission to prevent the move, the Synod will promulgate the law in Church House, Westminster on 22 Feb, 1994. Angela Berners-Wilson will be the first of 33 women in the first set of ordinations, to take place in Bristol Cathedral on Mar 12, 1994. Women will be celebrants in services on Mar 13, 1994.

Holocaust survivor Moshe Frei was moved by a preview of Steven Spielberg's film 'Schindler's List', based on experiences of Jews rescued by Oskar Schindler to work in his munitions plant. Frei was imprisoned in Plaszow concentration camp in Poland and recounted his experiences at the recently inaugurated Holocaust Survivors Centre in London, UK. Most of his family died in the camps, and he was not aware that Schlindler bribed the Nazis to ensure the safety of the Jews.

Alternative uses are likely to be put forward for 10 of the City of London's 36 Anglican churches, following an investigation by the Templeton Commission. The Bishop of London ordered the commission because the City only has 5,000 residents, and the diocese has to pay 7.5 million pounds sterling annually. St Mary Aldermary, which is already used twice weekly by the Roman Catholics, could become a Roman Catholic church. Other churches may be deconsecrated and used for offices. All will be left standing, as they are Grade-I listed.