WHAT is the main message of Christianity? Love God. His First Commandment. No dispute about that. But why must we love God?

For personal salvation? After all, one reason, if not THE reason, given in the Scriptures for worshipping Christ is that it is only through him that we can come to God. Barring anyone who does good without believing in Christ, not to mention the millions who lived BC, that has always struck me as a selfish and harsh basis for Christianity.

So what other reason might there be for loving God?. Ah yes, Peace on earth. The angels themselves uttered the phrase. Prayers for peace are offered up in virtually every Christian service. The 17th Psalm assures us that: "He is the God that maketh men to be of one mind in an house.''

Not yet he hasn't - even with those endless prayers. Nevertheless the Christian doctrine signposts the infallible way towards peace: Love thy neighbour as thyself. God's word again. His Second Commandment. He said that on it and the First Commandment hung "all the law and the prophets''.

So why doesn't the Church concentrate on this noble ideal instead of tearing itself apart over the gender of its priests and their sexual orientation?

Does it matter whether a priest, or a bishop, or an archbishop, is male or female, gay or heterosexual, as long as he or she preaches tolerance, forgiveness, understanding, compassion - all the virtues that supposedly go with Christianity and are certainly the key to loving our neighbours?

Would a Mother Theresa figure be any less saintly if she turned out to be a lesbian? Suppose evidence emerged that Christ himself might have been homosexual. The circumstances could be interpreted that way. Though the Gospels emphasise that Christ lived among us "as a man'', he showed little interest in women. But he surrounded himself with 12 male acolytes.

Would Christ's life count as nothing if we learned he had slept with Peter? The Church needs to consider what it is really about.

Peace on earth will come when we discover how to get on with each other. If, as Christians believe, Christianity is the means, then the Church should be bending its efforts to that part of its message to which God himself gave primacy: Love Thy Neighbour As Thyself. I refuse to believe God doesn't welcome women as much as men to preach this crucial word - or requires all who would do so to pass a test based on the sex of their bedroom partner.

SPLENDID. Guisborough has followed the lead of Redcar and Cleveland by adding Yorkshire to its address. Now come on Middlesbrough. The current visit of the replica of Capt Cook's ship Endeavour is the perfect moment to confirm the birthplace of the most-eminent Yorkshireman as a Yorkshire town.

AMAZING. The willingness of the Chinese to allow their first astronaut to admit he didn't spot China's Great Wall. Perhaps he was distracted by another feature recently reported to be visible from space: a red smudge where Saltburn Gill, a small stream stained by discharge from abandoned ironstone mines, spills on to Saltburn beach.