From the Telegraph

The first “director of hospitality and welcome” at an English cathedral has unveiled far-reaching plans to make its operations more business-like.
Mark Hope-Urwin, a former executive with the John Lewis deparment stores chain, has been recruited by Birmingham Cathedral to oversee a radical change to its image and branding.
His plans, revealed today, include a chain of city-centre wine bars and “loyalty cards” for regular worshippers to obtain discounts at the cathedral’s shops.
The new approach to attracting and retaining worshippers could become a blueprint for dioceses across the country
The wine bars would feature stained-glass windows, pictures on a religious theme and be decorated in “episcopal purple”.
They would be intended to raise the cathedral’s profile around the city, and would represent a significant departure from current practice, which is limited to bookshops and cafes in some cathedrals and churches.
The plan comes after the Association of English Cathedrals accused the Government of having a secular agenda – as it fails to provide “proper” financial support to cathedrals, despite providing large grants to museums.

In vino veritas.

It’s good to see the Church of England getting down to its core business at last. Forget all the nonsense about heaven, hell, sin, atonement, resurrection and redemption. It’s really all about the wine – after all Jesus turned water into wine – and the good old CofE, after 500 benighted years, has seen the light.