Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at your Church

The recent death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu was mourned around the world. Here are five of his more famous quotes, which show why he was so especially honoured for his justice and reconciliation work in South Africa. “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that...

From building roads in Sierra Leone to running disability programmes in the remote mountains of Uttarakhand, India, thousands of people worldwide are working hard to serve and develop their communities. But sometimes these ‘servers’ need support themselves, and that is where Arukah Network comes in. It is a global support network for people who serve...

The number of Christians in England and Wales has fallen to 51 per cent of the population, from the 59 per cent recorded in the 2011 Census. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics have revealed just over half the population in England and Wales described their religion as Christian in 2019. This...

Crimes which affected UK churches or other religious buildings were committed, on average, 12 times a day during 2020. Recent statistics from the Countryside Alliance list the crimes as 4,000 incidents that ranged from theft and vandalism (stolen headstones) to actual assault (alleged rape) and burglary in that year. Mo Metcalf-Fisher, Countryside Alliance spokesman, calls...

An estimated billion people worldwide are facing malnutrition as the global food crisis worsens, with 45 million already on the brink of famine. Of these billion people, 239 million are African. Countries such as Madagascar, Mozambique and Zimbabwe are among the worst affected. Recent studies also show that, globally, 22% of children under the age...

In India, attacks against Christians have been rising, and more states are imposing anti-conversion laws. This comes as growing numbers of the Indian underclass, the Dalits, are turning to Christianity, and as right-wing Hindu nationalism is on the rise. As yet another state, Karnataka, is poised to impose anti-conversion legislation, there have been challenges in...

Call for action to free Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe The soaring cost of heating our church ‘Truth is under attack’ BBC chief tells church service Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – 18th to 25th January The young pray and worship more than you think Place2Worship, please! “I wish we could wave a wand and all the...

The Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, is calling upon the British Government to repay its £400-million debt to Iran, and take immediate action to secure the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was first jailed in Iran five years ago, accused of crimes that involved plotting against the Iranian government. Last year she lost...

Here is some chilling news about the church’s heating and electricity bills: they could be doubling this year. The energy crisis is hitting the UK hard, and churches are not protected by the domestic energy cap. That could leave many churches in the same plight as St George’s in Rugby, which fears it will have...

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is traditionally observed from the 18th to 25th January – the octave of St Peter and St Paul. This year, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has been prepared by the churches of the Middle East. The Christians of the Middle East say that they offer these...

Did you ever wonder how our churches first acquired pews? Dr Nicholas Orme, Emeritus Professor of History at Exeter University, has written a book, Going to Church in Medieval England (Yale University Press), in which he points out that “no medieval church pronouncement ordered the provision of seating in churches other than for the clergy....

More than half of adults (51 per cent) who are aged under 35 pray at least once a month, while almost as many (49 per cent) make a monthly visit to some place of worship. In contrast, of adults aged over 55, only a quarter (24 per cent) pray, and only one fifth (16 per...