Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

How far would you go to respond to God’s call on your life? When, as the daughter of a peasant family in Champagne in 1426, 14-year-old Joan heard heavenly voices calling her to ‘save France’ from the English, she decided to obey the call, no matter what the consequences. Teenage girls who want to rescue...

You probably already know this: when your partner can’t sleep, it is very likely that you won’t be able to, either. A recent study from the University of East Anglia has found that sleep problems are contagious. The study looked at the impact of workplace bullying on sleep, and it found that not only does...

It was 125 years ago, on 17th May 1900 during the Second Boer War, that the 217-day Siege of Mafeking was relieved by 2000 British forces and South African volunteers. Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, who led the forces defending Mafeking during the siege, later became a national hero, and founded the Scouting movement. Mafeking, now known...

** Already well connected The telephone rang in the church office of the church that the MP attended when visiting his constituency. An eager voice inquired: “Do you expect the MP to be in church on Sunday? If so, I was thinking of coming along.” “That,” said the clergyman, “I cannot promise. But we do...

Josephine Butler is the ‘saint’ for anyone who believes in social justice. This remarkable 19th century clergyman’s wife became a renowned campaigner for women’s rights and for putting a halt to human trafficking. Josephine was born in Northumberland in 1828, the daughter of a wealthy family of liberal politics and committed Christian faith. They had...

20th – 24th May brings us the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The most prestigious gardening show in the world, it attracts about 168,000 visitors a year. Its cutting-edge garden designs have been called the ‘haute couture’ or ‘World Cup’ of gardening. Here are 12 interesting facts about the Show: The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is...

There is a healthy tension at the heart of the Christian journey. It’s the push and pull of staying, or of getting up and going. And the Bible speaks of both as part of the normal Christian life. In 1 Corinthians 15:58 Paul seems to be spurring his readers on to do even more, “Therefore,...

Martyn Snow, the Bishop of Leicester and lead bishop for the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process, has released a new book, entitled ‘Can We Imagine a Future Together? Intercultural lessons for Living in Love and Faith’*. In the book, Bishop Martyn says: “Despite the great depths in our disagreements over Living in Love...

How to get children to behave better? Feed them better. It seems that providing children with healthy diets and regular nutritional supplements can help reduce anti-social behaviour. The charity Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) puts it this way: improving the nutritional diets of a child is ‘low cost’, but ‘likely to have a high impact on...

For the last couple of months we’ve been thinking about baptism, it’s place within church life and what it means to each of us on a personal level. This month, let’s look at the actual font where baptisms usually take place. Over the years Christians have used a wide variety of ‘fonts’: the sea accessed...

With Ascension Day (29th May) in mind: What? Do we place Christ midway among the spheres? Or do we build a cottage for Him among planets? Heaven we regard as the magnificent palace of God, far outstripping all this world’s fabric. – John Calvin  When Jesus came to earth, He did not cease to be...

‘O Lord of hosts … if you will give me a son …I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life.’  (1 Samuel 1:11) Three ‘C’s will help us to grasp this most personal and moving prayer. First, the prayer’s context.   Hannah was the childless wife of Elkanah, who had sons...