How do you solve a problem like Michaela?

A contentious court ruling on pupils praying at school, plus is the C of E making any progress at reconnecting with young people?

Hello! The Critical Friend is back this week with a normal edition, jam-packed with all the church news, commentary, analysis, snark and mild gossip you’ve come to expect. This week we’re exploring the High Court judgement on the Michaela School, which was sued by a Muslim schoolgirl over its controversial policy of barring pupils from performing religious prayers at school. Should Christians welcome or fear this resolution to the dispute? Then, we look at how the C of E is trying to spend some of its millions on mission, especially to young people, and consider whether a particular experiment in Hereford diocese is encouraging or dispiriting. Plus, we have links to my latest podcasts (on asylum seekers being baptised, and the assisted dying bill in Scotland), and a nice long list of links to interesting tidbits I’ve found across the internet, and boy is it all kicking off there. An AI priest gets defrocked! Russell Brand got baptised in the Thames! Someone is trying to constitutional…