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STV News
an hour ago
- Business
- STV News
Engine Works owners unveil plans to transform former church into wedding venue
A former Partick church which was facing demolition could be converted into an arts and events venue capable of hosting weddings. The owners of the Engine Works – an events space in Maryhill – have developed a £1.65m restoration plan for the old Methodist church on Dumbarton Road. They have asked Glasgow City Council for permission to 'rescue and reimagine' the building, and create the West Works. LDRS Engine Works submit plans to transform former Patrick church into wedding venue It has been described as a 'welcoming venue for weddings, events, arts, filming, and community gatherings – supporting local culture and economic growth'. A demolition warrant for the site was previously submitted, but the new application from current owners, Michael McDonagh and Adele Gahagan McDonagh, states their plan will 'save the building for future generations to embrace'. Plans state the Engine Works – a restored warehouse – was 'carefully brought brought back to life over four years and is now one of Scotland's most respected venues'. It has hosted firms like Rolex, Netflix, Amazon and Soho House. LDRS Engine Works submit plans to transform former Patrick church into wedding venue The application adds: 'We now bring that same care and commitment to Partick Methodist Church. Once marked for demolition, we saw enduring potential in its fabric and story. 'We believe this project aligns with the regeneration goals of both Glasgow and Partick and should set a new benchmark for the thoughtful reuse of our historic buildings.' Single-storey extensions are planned to the sides of the building and there would be a capacity of 300. Most guests would be expected to arrive by coach or public transport, but five parking spaces would be available on site and another 20 nearby via private lease. LDRS Engine Works submit plans to transform former Patrick church into wedding venue A Grand Hall is proposed for filming, arts performances, weddings, and events while the Vestry would be a 'two-level space designed for workshops, exhibitions, and meetings, with the option to partition for privacy'. The Ivy Tower would include a ground-floor catering kitchen, staff office, and wheelchair-accessible elevator as well as two VIP rooms and restrooms on the first-floor. A Hidden Garden is also planned. The plans continue: 'With care and respect, the West Works will rescue and reimagine Partick Methodist Church – a much-loved local landmark dating back to 1881 – as a vibrant arts and events space for a new generation. 'This change of use is essential to secure the long-term future of the building and deliver meaningful public value.' LDRS Engine Works submit plans to transform former Patrick church into wedding venue The applicants say the transformation will 'support jobs, create opportunities, and contribute to Partick's ongoing renewal — just as we've seen at The Engine Works in Maryhill'. 'Our aim is to bring together local talent and international partners, welcoming musical theatre, global brands, film productions, and a return to weddings in a space where love and community once thrived.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
The real Kemi: what everyone gets wrong about the Tory leader
My favourite story about Kemi Badenoch happened in a classroom thousands of miles away in the mid-90s. She was 15 and writing an exam when a classmate started cheating with a textbook. Everyone could see it – the boy wasn't exactly subtle about flipping through pages under his desk. But this was Nigeria, where you learned early which battles were worth fighting and which weren't. Making a fuss about cheating meant making enemies. Kemi stood up anyway. 'I studied for this exam,' she said, loud enough for everyone to hear, 'and this guy is here cheating.' The boy was expelled. Word spread around the entire school and Kemi spent the rest of the term as a curiosity in her school. Who was this girl? Many thought her reckless; someone who invited hostility, possibly even violence. I heard from others that what was most odd was that Kemi didn't seem to care. She was so convinced that she had told the truth and done the right thing; her strict Methodist upbringing provided her with a thick skin. In a country where getting by often meant looking the other way, she had refused to look away. It's tempting to see this as the origin story of a future Conservative leader, but the truth is more complicated. Had she lived to adulthood in Nigeria, that fierce sense of right and wrong might have been worn down by the daily grind of compromise that living there demands. Standing out in the crowd in an African country is dangerous, and especially bad for women. There are rules to be followed. When to speak, what to like, what to wear, who to marry. The choice is to follow the rules or to be an outcast. The year she stood up in her classroom against injustice – 1995 – Nigeria was kicked out of the Commonwealth for human rights abuses; the nation she and I grew up in was marked by economic upheaval, military dictatorship and deep-seated corruption. Where Nigeria might have demanded compromise, Britain simply let her be. In Lagos, standing up to a cheater had made her an outlier; in London, it would have made her a hero. The very qualities that marked her as difficult in one place made her formidable in another. Those of us who have known her over the years can trace a clear line from the girl who refused to look away in that sweltering classroom to the woman who still refuses to look away today as leader of the Conservative Party. That freedom is why she loves Britain with a passion that baffles the Left, who cannot conceive of her as anything but a puppet of Right-wing interests. She confounds their tidy expectations of what a black woman should think, say, or aspire to. They believe she doesn't know her place. According to their world view, Britain is a bastion of white supremacy and racial inequality, and a black woman must unequivocally denounce the country. Kemi is an oddball to them. Now, as Conservative leader, she faces the mirror image of this contempt from some on the fringes of the Right: the white supremacists, for instance, who denounce her online as a 'diversity hire', a plant by the WEF, the Jews, or whatever conspiracy is trending that week. They, too, believe she doesn't know her place. Both extremes share the same fundamental error – they cannot fathom that her place is exactly where she chooses to stand. Kemi and I are good friends. But we could not be more different. I prefer to mind my own business and I'd sooner jump off a bridge than run the gauntlet of British politics. Yet in all the years I've known her, I've come to recognise that we share something fundamental: we both found in Britain a place that would accommodate who we are without judgement, yet still possess a set of customs and values that define it as a particular place. This isn't about blind love for a country. It is about understanding the delicate balance between tolerating others and maintaining a coherent identity: there are different shades of British identity, but they are undeniably British. We may express it differently, but we both grasp the same truth: the space to be yourself only exists when certain boundaries hold. She is one of a handful of politicians I see able to make this subtle case with a thoughtfulness lacking in our politics today. Her British identity is not something which she takes for granted – she could easily have followed another route – and this gives her a refreshing insight into this country. Knowing all this about her, I was surprised when a journalist from The New Statesman called me a few weeks ago. He said he wanted to talk about Nigeria in the 1990s. In truth he was fishing for unflattering stories about Kemi. The published article bore no resemblance to the conversation we had: this is a small window into the misrepresentation she faces daily. The online caricatures, the lazy stereotypes masquerading as analysis, the attacks from Left and Right for refusing to be what others expect – she's navigated being misunderstood since that Lagos classroom. Her job ahead may look impossible to some; fixing the Conservative Party's reputation after a tumultuous 14 years in government is no easy task. But those who doubt Kemi, or sneer at her, should consider that her Methodist upbringing prepared her for politics – just as it prepared her 30 years ago to stand up to that school cheat. Standing alone is sometimes the price of standing for something.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Bristol home of hymn writer Charles Wesley opens to the public
The Bristol home of Methodist Charles Wesley is due to reopen to the public later for the first time in a who died in 1788, was a prolific hymn writer whose 6,000 plus compositions included well-known works such as Hark! The Herald Angels his elder brother John, Wesley started the Methodist movement in the Church of 18th Century house at 4 Charles Street has only been open to pre-booked groups for the past year but will now reopen to the public, with tickets starting at £8 per person. Wesley was most influential for his hymn writing, composing more than 6,000 hymns, many of which are still widely sung in Christian most enduring works include And Can It Be, Christ the Lord Is Risen Today and O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing. Wesley lived in the Charles Street house with his wife Sarah Gwynne and their children from 1766 to family then moved to London but Wesley continued to use it during visits to Bristol until at least 1782. Visitors to the house will be able to explore six restored rooms, including the parlour, music room, study, kitchen and two bedrooms, and learn about the lives of the Wesleys and their impact on faith, music and tour of Wesley's restored Georgian home offers an opportunity to gain personal insight into the Wesley's family life, legacy and house was built in 1742, possibly by George Tully, who was responsible for rebuilding Jon Wesley's New Room in Bristol, which is the oldest Methodist chapel in the can book a combined ticket for £13 which includes entry to Charles Wesley's House and John Wesley's New Room.
Time Magazine
6 days ago
- Business
- Time Magazine
The 200 Year History of American Virtue Capitalism
Since the re-election of President Donald Trump, many prominent American corporations, including Amazon, Meta, and Target, have abandoned their diversity efforts just a few years after launching them in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests. As The Washington Post reported, a study of 500 large companies revealed that last year saw the fewest DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) references in corporate financial statements since 2020. But other organizations, such as Apple, Costco, and Delta Air Lines, have committed to maintaining DEI programs—despite the possibility of government investigations and consumer boycotts. These values-based organizations are part of a long—albeit often controversial—history in the U.S. of businesses expressing social beliefs in the marketplace. Traditionally, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, these social beliefs primarily stemmed from religious beliefs. As the 20th century progressed, however, a greater array of social beliefs began to animate business practices for many companies. This history reveals that, for good or ill, businesses 'infused with religion' and social beliefs have shaped the American marketplace profoundly. This tradition can be traced back to entrepreneurs such as James, John, Wesley, and Fletcher Harper. Beginning in 1810, the brothers moved to New York City to work as apprentices in one of the many printing shops popping up in the city's downtown. They joined a growing downtown Methodist congregation, John Street Church, and within a few years, they had saved up enough to strike out on their own. Read More:The Major U.S. Companies Scaling Back DEI Efforts as Trump Targets Initiatives Initially, the brothers mostly published books for the Methodist community, but soon they were printing and publishing for the general public. Over the next five decades, they built a powerful publishing empire, despite several massive fires that nearly destroyed their operations. By the 1860s, Harper & Brothers had grown into a powerful publishing company. Nonetheless, the brothers remained what we might call Christian 'virtue capitalists.' Such businesspeople aimed to produce goods that made consumers—and by extension, society—more righteous, while also operating their companies in a moral fashion. For the Harpers, this meant producing virtuous books while using Methodist values of thrift, honesty, and respect for the Sabbath to guide their publishing company. The brothers' Methodist theology emphasized the agency of human beings to choose (or reject) salvation. After salvation, the Methodist emphasis on pursuing full sanctification, that is, the process of becoming more like Jesus Christ, informed the types of books the brothers produced and how they ran their company. For example, the company was known for its stated commitment to only publish works that fostered a moral and virtuous citizenry—as they defined it. That meant refraining from publishing fiction, because the Harpers subscribed to a Protestantism concerned with the influence of cheap novels flooding the U.S. marketplace. At the time, many Americans were still skeptical of fiction as a genre because it was viewed as frivolous and not morally useful, with few exceptions. Their religious qualms meant that the Harpers instead advertised biography, travel, science, classical philosophy, and theology, all strategically marketed to appeal to the emerging middle-class consumer. For example, they offered titles in these genres as a part of their 'Family Library' and 'School Library' series, priced relatively affordably in simple, portable, and readable formats. The darker, esoteric works of authors such as Edgar Allen Poe did not make the brothers' cut, and for those more 'edgy' authors who did, their manuscripts faced the scrutiny of Christian morality editors who moderated references to gambling, alcohol, and sabbath desecration. For some Americans, the Protestant values the Harpers expressed in the marketplace were an asset, and many celebrated them. Yet they also had their critics, like Henry David Thoreau, who complained, 'Why should we leave it to Harper & Brothers…to select our reading?' His disdain for the brothers' moralistic literary choices was clear. Harper & Brothers wasn't unusual in having a moral or religious orientation despite being an ostensibly secular business. This was especially true of the printing industry, where Protestant publishers were common, including Gould & Lincoln (Baptist), Crocker & Brewster (Congregationalist), J. B. Lippincott & Company (Episcopal), and Robert Carter & Brothers (Presbyterian). Nor was such virtue capitalism limited to 19th-century publishers. Other examples included Quaker Oats, the Mercantile Agency, and the soap enterprise Procter & Gamble. Read More: These U.S. Companies Are Not Ditching DEI Amid Trump's Crackdown Christian firms continued to proliferate throughout the 20th century. John Wanamaker built his 'temple' of a department store, complete with a magnificent pipe organ, in downtown Philadelphia. R. G. LeTourneau's company, which built giant earth-moving equipment, helped win World War II, even as his factories blurred the line between work and church. Walt Maloon's Correct Craft made high-quality water ski boats popular among the middle class in the 1970s and 1980s, all while gifting his boats to Christian summer camps. These businesses were proudly 'Christian,' reflecting the ethos and values of their founders. These enterprises reflected an era where Christians, both liberal and fundamentalist, dominated the nation's economic and cultural spheres. It's no secret that America is much more pluralistic today. Consequently, it's not surprising that in the latter decades of the 20th century, firms emerged expressing spiritual values in the marketplace that were not necessarily Christian. Today, many 'virtue capital' firms are driven by principles other than religion. In 21st-century America, these have included organizations like Beyond Meat and Patagonia. But historically, we can trace such examples of values-infused enterprise back to firms such as Harper & Brothers. The four Harper brothers never set out to create a new category of business. It was only natural to them that their publishing enterprise would reflect their Methodism, just as Ethan Brown has told the press he can't imagine not integrating his moral priorities into Beyond Meat. Closing their operations on Sundays, editing 'problematic' passages of text to be more 'Christian,' and committing to only publishing books that would foster 'virtue' in America's families and contribute to the common good—these were natural extensions of the brothers' religion. As their business grew, so did the brothers' influence as they decided whose work would be published, and what types of literature to privilege. The New Yorker explained this profound influence in 1838, stating, 'The Harpers have probably done more for the advancement of literary taste and the advantage of native authorship than all the other publishers.' It was a heady rise for four journeyman apprentices, proud that their virtuous vision had penetrated American culture so profoundly. The Harpers' story illustrates how those attacking forms of values-based capitalism in the 21st century—whether from the left or the right—are pushing against a longstanding reality of the American marketplace. As the Harper & Brothers example illustrates, companies whose morals guide their business practices have always had critics. Yet, for many consumers, virtue capitalism can offer compelling reasons to patronize a business. The long, successful history of these companies suggests that they're not going anywhere, regardless of how the political winds of the moment may blow. Joseph P. Slaughter is an assistant professor of history at Wesleyan University and the author of Faith in Markets: Christian Capitalism in the Early American Republic (Columbia University Press). Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Learn more about Made by History at TIME here. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.
The Herald
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald
Churches must face corruption demons — SACC president Sipuka
'As the church seeks to remove the splinter of corruption in government and society, we also need to reckon with the possible log in our own eye. 'We have witnessed pastors living in mansions while congregations struggle in poverty, church leaders demanding 'seed offerings' that promise miracles that never materialise, denominational officials who misappropriate funds meant for community development and churches that become family businesses rather than houses of worship. 'The prosperity gospel, which promises material wealth in exchange for financial contributions, has become a form of spiritual extortion that preys on the desperation of the poor.' If the church calls for action against corrupt individuals in government and business, it must also apply to clergy who engage in corruption, he said. The SACC is the biggest forum for churches in the country, with its members including the Catholic, Methodist, Grace Bible, Gereformeerde Kerk in Suid Afrika, Dutch Reformed, Presbyterian and Baptist churches. Sipuka said any suggestion for a different treatment for churches when dealing with corruption would be nothing less than clericalism, which unconsciously promotes the use of clerical status for selfish reasons. 'Worldwide, the church is regarded as a moral authority, and when it is also corrupt, its role as a beacon of goodness is discredited, and people's hope in the church to overcome the cancer of corruption is eroded.' He said the church's role in combating corruption is not optional; it is prophetic. Churches' financial records should be transparent, their governance structures accountable and lifestyles consistent with preachings. 'We must speak boldly against corruption, regardless of who is involved.' TimesLIVE
