RUMOUR HAS IT ?...

I was intrigued to see that the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Extremely Reverend Justin Welby, had taken to the streets of Cambridge yesterday to become a `Big Issue` seller in order to publicise the Church of England`s efforts to cut homelessness.  In an interview with the magazine a while back, he criticised attitudes towards the homeless by successive Tory governments.

During his `Big Issue` flogging stint he said that, "Tackling poverty together is the essential work of a society where every person is truly valued."   As far as homelessness is concerned, he declared that "homelessness is an issue that matters profoundly to God."  So, rather than it being a rumour put around by people with nowhere to live, the issue of homelessness seems to be in good hands.  

Be that as it may, the Church of England is one of the country`s biggest landowners with an enormous estate which includes properties in villages, towns and cities across the country as well as over 100,000 acres of land in England and Wales.   Its property portfolio is worth at least £2billion and accounts for over a third of the £7billion assets it holds.  A few years ago, a report by the Centre for Theology & Community and the Christian campaigning group Housing Justice proposed that the Church of England `needs to put its house in order and sell off some of its land in response to Britain`s housing crisis.`

Perhaps it`s high time they acted on that advice - or are they waiting for Head Office to sort it out for them?   Asking for a friend.