More vicars, but at what cost?

Hello! The Church of England is very pleased to announce that finally the numbers of people training to be vicars is ticking up again after years of decline. But what is the exact reason fewer and fewer folk have been coming forward for ordination? And will their splashy and expensive new grant system help tease out more future vicars? Or have they already all abandoned the formal C of E processes to get quasi-ordained in a renegade new pathway set up by conservatives angry about the gay blessings?

Then there’s our latest podcast (Should Christians worry about plummeting birth rates?) and a list of interesting church news stories I’ve found across the internet in recent weeks, including this time could Banksy save St Davids Cathedral, are Mormons Christians, and does God care about the World Cup?