Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

In bygone years, the supply chain of food across Britain was fairly short: if it didn’t grow in your local fields, you were apt to go hungry. Hence the widespread traditional custom of Plough Sunday – bringing a plough (and sometimes a lamb as well) into church and praying for God’s blessing on the land...

It was 100 years ago, on 13th January 1926, that Michael Bond, the children’s writer, was born. He has an assured place in any literary Hall of Fame, for he created the characters Paddington Bear and Monsieur Pamplemousse. Paddington Bear padded into Michael Bond’s life quite by accident. It was back in 1956 that Michael...

Epiphany for Today From the Vicar The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride What’s the Big Idea? – An Introduction to the Books of the Old Testament: Song of Songs Epiphany! Going from Strength to Strength – even in January! Peaceful mind ** Editor:  By Canon Paul Hardingham Epiphany for Today This month we celebrate Epiphany, the...

This month we celebrate Epiphany, the occasion on which we remember the Magi from the East following a star to find the baby Jesus: ‘Where is the One who has been born king of the Jews?’ (Matthew 2:1). At the start of a New Year, in an uncertain world, we can be asking the same...

There is still time to apply for a grant, as it remains open until Candlemas, 2 February. These grants are made possible through the generosity of many patrons, including HM The King. They support parish churches in celebrating their patronal festival (the feast day of the church’s patron saint, or the nearest Sunday) through a...

Never under-estimate a deacon. After all, the first-ever Christian martyr was a deacon in the church of Jerusalem – St Stephen.  And the first-ever Christian martyr in Spain was a deacon of the Church of Saragossa – St Vincent. By now it was 304AD, and the Roman Emperor Diocletian was persecuting Christians.  When his edict...

It was 70 years ago, on 8th January 1956, that five young American evangelical Christian missionaries were killed by members of the savage and isolated Auca tribe in the rainforest of Ecuador. The missionaries had been attempting to bring Christianity to the small tribe of about 500 Auca people, and so had spent several months...

“Every person is of immeasurable value and cannot be diminished by illness, disability, or care costs,” the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, recently told the House of Lords, The Bishop, who is now also Archbishop-designate of Canterbury, added that: “however many amendments there are to this Bill, the Bill will never be...

 50 years ago, on 12th Jan 1976 that Dame Agatha Christie, crime novelist, short story writer and playwright died. Best known for creating the character Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, and for the world’s longest running play, The Mousetrap.  Agatha Christie was born in Torquay in 1890, the daughter of wealthy parents. In 1914 she...

The Royal Kennel Club, which runs Crufts, is going to admit mongrels for the first time in its 150-year history. Crufts will become a ‘year-round community’, available to all dog owners, whatever kind of dog they have. Its new online platform will launch in February 2026. Jannine Edgar, chief executive of the RKC explains: “While...

This month we celebrate Epiphany, the occasion on which we remember the Magi from the East following a star to find the baby Jesus: ‘Where is the One who has been born king of the Jews?’ (Matthew 2:1). At the start of a New Year, in an uncertain world, we can be asking the same...

Following the recent announcement in the Budget, the Bishop of Leicester, Martyn Snow, the Church of England’s lead bishop for child poverty issues, has said: “I warmly welcome the Government’s decision to remove the two-child limit from next April. This will make a profoundly positive difference to hundreds of thousands of children and their families....