Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Some 150 years ago, on 23rd November 1874, Thomas Hardy’s novel Far from the Madding Crowd was published. It was his first major success. Set in Wessex, an imagined area encompassing the counties around Hardy’s place of birth in Dorset, it was his fourth published novel and had appeared originally – and anonymously – as...

How do you feel about science after all the grief of the recent pandemic? Are you tired or interested, impressed or cynical – or a bit of everything? The response to COVID-19 over the past few years has demonstrated how ideology or worldview are hugely influential in our interpretation and use of scientific data –...

** Died in the services Little Alex was staring up at the large brass plaque that hung on the side wall of the church.  The plaque was covered with names, and seemed to fascinate the seven-year-old. “All those names,” he said to the minister. “Who are they?” “Well, they were people who used to go to...

Have you ever wondered how people of peace, like Christians, can contemplate the use of force? Certainly, the violence of the first quarter of the 21st century is staggering. Terrorist activity and military conflict worldwide – the resulting loss of life is never be something of which the human race can be proud. No wonder...

 The Rectory St James the Least My dear Nephew Darren I suppose it had to come, but combining parishes is now firmly on the agenda for our villages. I had always wondered what the first Earl of Stowe was trying to prove, building a church here in 1347 to accommodate 800 people when the total...

Catherine is thought to have been a noble girl who lived in the 4th century.  She was persecuted for her Christianity, and despised marriage with the Emperor because she was a ‘bride of Christ’.  According to the legend, Catherine was no push-over intellectually, either:  she disputed successfully with 50 philosophers who were called in to...

Nazir Afzal, the former chief crown prosecutor, known for his work in the Rochdale grooming gang cases and tackling gender violence, has been appointed as the next independent chair of the Church of England’s National Safeguarding Panel (NSP) Mr Afzal, a practising Muslim, and founder chair of the Catholic Church’s safeguarding body in England and...

The apostle Andrew (d. c.60) is patron saint of Scotland.  According to the gospel of Matthew,   Andrew and his brother Simon Peter were the very first two disciples whom Jesus called.   ‘Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’  (Matt 4:18,19) Without more ado, they obeyed.  ‘At once they left their nets...

In Flanders Fields Words to Remember Watch, Wait Prayer for November 2024 Making melody unto the Lord God so loves them all A Fun Puzzle Talk to Jesus Peace ** Editor:  This year, Sunday 10th is Remembrance Sunday and Monday 11th is Remembrance Day. The poppy has become a symbol of Remembrance and hope, including...

 250 years ago, on 22nd November 1774, Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive (Clive of India), died. He was the British general who helped found the British Empire in India. Born in Shropshire to a prominent family of limited means, Clive had a wild childhood, with episodes of violence including extortion from local shopkeepers. He was...

 Fanny Crosby (1820 – 1915), the American singer and musician, was blind from the age of six weeks. She married her music teacher, Alexander Van Alstyne, who was also blind. She was a prolific song-writer, and once signed a contract with a publisher to write three songs every week throughout the year. But in fact,...

“What a composer has to do is to find out the real message he has to convey to the community and say it directly and without equivocation…if the roots of your art are firmly planted in your own soil, and that soil has anything individual to give you, you may still gain the whole world...