Overview

• The Church’s General Synod will meet next month to debate reforms allowing Armed Forces chaplains to operate under archbishops’ licences without diocesan permission.
• Right Reverend Hugh Nelson said the church is drawing on Second World War precedents to prepare for serious conflict and avoid the lack of preparedness seen in the pandemic.
• Brigadier Jaish Mahan, a veteran of Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan, will address Synod members on current global security challenges and his military experiences.
• The UK government’s new national security strategy warns of a potential wartime scenario on British soil for the first time in years, prompting the church to accelerate its preparations.
• The church is examining ethical implications of artificial intelligence, robotics and drone warfare and plans to publish resources for schools and congregations on peace, conflict and pastoral care.