The Reverend Dr Nigel Dilkes

[johnofgwent]

Well, yoga is a set of exercises that derive from the Hindu religion. There's the problem right there.



I suppose the group could use the courts to explain to the church that if they are in the business of making money from renting out the hall then they are going to have to rent it to the local LGBT Tantric Sex Practicioners Society ..



Or start with established grounds and hold a great bake off and put a Bert and Ernie tribute cake in the mix.



Or perhaps call Shami ChuckTheTowelin or whatever shes called and get her to champion the cause.

[Barry]

There are two arguments here. I don't do Yoga but I understand that most exercise classes using this are not anti Christian, they are often Spiritual in the sense that people connect to their Spiritual being but are not a form of worship.



I think we can be too judgemental and too 'cloistered'. Would this same Church forbid a Muslim community the chance to worship if their Mosque burned down and they needed a temporary home? Surely true Christianity lives cheek by jowl with all the others, not agreeing perhaps but loving their neighbour. It is only the Church hall after all.

No and no I think.

Well this renting out the church hall seems to me to be a business activity in that a service is provided (the use of a church hall) in much the same way that celebratory cake making is,birthday, marriage of two gay people perhaps.



I always thought the cake thing was handled badly but in this instance it really does not reflect well on this person.

That's a no again. If he wants to stick by Biblical principles, which most church leaders don't seem to care these days.

[cromwell]

Well this renting out the church hall seems to me to be a business activity in that a service is provided (the use of a church hall) in much the same way that celebratory cake making is,birthday, marriage of two gay people perhaps.



I always thought the cake thing was handled badly but in this instance it really does not reflect well on this person.

[T00ts]

There are two arguments here. I don't do Yoga but I understand that most exercise classes using this are not anti Christian, they are often Spiritual in the sense that people connect to their Spiritual being but are not a form of worship.



I think we can be too judgemental and too 'cloistered'. Would this same Church forbid a Muslim community the chance to worship if their Mosque burned down and they needed a temporary home? Surely true Christianity lives cheek by jowl with all the others, not agreeing perhaps but loving their neighbour. It is only the Church hall after all.

[Baron von Lotsov]

I totally agree with the Reverend. Top man, don't compromise those principles.  :tick:

It's bravery as well. I don't see many standing by their principles when the popular view goes against them, and especially when it comes to this sort of thing.I mean to think the prime minister needs to step in is like 'who do they think they are?'



The BBC has wade in on him as well.

[Barry]

I totally agree with the Reverend. Top man, don't compromise those principles.  :tick:

[Baron von Lotsov]

So the story goes:



This is a bit of a she said, he said tale.





She said: "They asked me what I wanted to hire it for and I said to teach a yoga class.



"They said they can not tolerate it if it was for yoga and claimed yoga was not suitable for a church.



"They said they weren't allowed to host yoga classes because they were a church and it was not compatible with Christian beliefs. No other explanation, that was it.



"In one of my classes I have a female vicar and they don't seem to have concerns, so I struggle to understand what the problem is.



"I was very surprised by this attitude, yoga is so mainstream now."



Reverend Dilkes said the church hall was solely to be used for activities deemed compatible with the Christian faith, and encouraged pilates to be practiced as an alternative.



He said: "The test of this is whether a belief or world view underpinning the activity acknowledges that there is only one God and that the New Testament person of Jesus Christ is God himself.



"Yoga is one of several activities that claims to confer physical benefits for flexibility and balance but also claims a spiritual connection which doesn't stand this test.



"So we say why not enjoy, for example, pilates instead. We would welcome pilates classes to our church hall."





Then it gets escalated.

The yoga ban row began when Rev Nigel Dilkes of Pilton Church told yoga teacher Atsuko Kato that yoga was "not compatible with Christian beliefs" which she asked book the church's hall last week for a new class.



The President of the Universal Society of Hinduism, Rajan Zed, has urged Rev Dilkes, to "show some maturity" and re-think the issue.



He said the ban was depriving locals of the "valuable opportunities the multi-beneficial yoga" provides and invited Prime Minster Boris Johnson and the Archbishop of Canterbury to intervene in the issue.

https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Church-of-England-responds-to-yoga-class-ban">https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Chur ... -class-ban">https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Church-of-England-responds-to-yoga-class-ban



And it has happened before as well.



"Psychic banned from church hall " Telegraph 2010 - same reverend.



Excellent chap eh. He's got the Daily Mail's knickers in a twist and all sorts. Mystic Pistake Mistake Meg won't be showcasing there either.