Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

It’s amazing how little some things change down the centuries.  Take the life of Gerard Sagredo, for instance.  He left his ‘comfort zone’ of home and church because he felt God’s calling on his life.  He travelled abroad and taught in order to earn his living in a non-Christian country.  In his spare time he...

The Church of England’s General Synod has supported a motion signalling approval for a broad package of proposals designed to help hold the Church together amid deep disagreements over questions of sexuality. A selection of readings and prayers of thanksgiving, dedication and asking for God’s blessing for same-sex couples – known as Prayers of Love and...

It was: 400 years ago, on 10th Sept 1624 that Thomas Sydenham, English physician, was born.  He became known as the ‘father of English medicine’. His textbook on medicine became the standard medical textbook in England for the next 200 years. 250 years ago, on 4th Sept 1774 that British explorer Captain James Cook became...

After years of insisting that garden lawns should be left unkempt and blended with wild flowers, Monty Don the TV gardener has made a U-turn with his lawnmower. In a recent article in BBC Gardeners’ World magazine, he admits: “This spring and summer I have made a tightly mowed and evenly green lawn. This is...

St Ceolfrith is a good patron saint for anyone who has studied hard for their profession, is strong in the face of tragedy, and who can also offer some homely care to others in need. This well-loved abbot of Wearmouth and Jarrow came from a noble Northumbrian family, and was ordained at Ripon when he...

Originally, the theology behind church building was to build church buildings on higher land, so that people would have to lift their heads to look upon them; with the tower or spire giving it extra height. This was reflecting the faith of lifting our eyes to God and recognising our place in His Creation –...

The number of people offering themselves for ordination to the Church of England has fallen by 38 per cent since 2020. In the autumn of 2020, there were 591 men and women beginning ordination training. This autumn it will be about 370. The Ministry Council has said the goal is to secure a “stable” number...

This month we turn to the New Testament and look at Matthew, the first of the gospels. Although linked to Matthew the apostle, it is generally believed that the author used oral tradition, written fragments, eye-witness accounts, as well as common material in the other synoptic gospels (Mark and Luke). Matthew, in writing for Jews,...

Wilson Carlile was born in Brixton in 1847, and did not set out to become an evangelist. Instead, he was brilliant at both languages and music, and excelled as a businessman. That is, until an economic recession and serious illness brought him crashing down and finished his career, aged only 31. Not surprisingly, a serious...

Sixty years ago, on 4th September 1964, the Forth Road Bridge opened in Scotland. It links Edinburgh to Fife across the Firth of Forth. (A second bridge, the Queensferry Crossing, opened in 2017 and largely replaced it.) The crossing of the Firth of Forth has a long history. In the 11th century Margaret, queen consort...

Don’t believe everything you see on TV. Especially those programmes which show you how easy it is to do DIY jobs around your house. A recent survey has found that many people who watch these programmes and decide to ‘have a go’ at a home maintenance project, only end up causing damage. In fact, a...

Some 75 years ago, on 1st September 1949, the Christmas song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was released. It was sung by the American movie-star and singer Gene Autry, nicknamed the “Singing Cowboy”. The song was adapted from a poem/story written by Robert L May for a children’s colouring book:  it was an assignment given him...