Then we came across a more conventional hotel, which advertised wedding chapels, one of which was dedicated to St Acqua, a figure who baffled even the missionary. So she Googled the saint in Japanese, and learned that he is an entirely made-up figure from a Manga series. How much less accurate is St Acqua than the picture of the Church of England which is implied in much reporting? I am the first in five patrilineal generations not to have become a Free Church elder. “In the 1970s, for instance, when I was a child, most Free Church ministers would have considered it immodest for a woman to attend worship without wearing a hat.

Source: The Times March 17, 2023 06:53 UTC