Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

“Thank you” – “I’m sorry” – “I forgive you” – “I love you”. These are the most common words spoken by people in their last moments of consciousness before dying. That’s what Dr Kathryn Mannix tells us, and she should know, having spent her whole career working alongside dying people, and learning from them. Her YouTube...

Timothy and Titus are the saints for you if you’ve been a Christian for some time, and now suspect that God wants you to move into some form of leadership.  A daunting prospect! The books of First and Second Timothy and Titus are what are known as the three pastoral letters, where Paul writes to...

It was 80 years ago this month, on 23rd January 1944, that Edvard Munch, the Norwegian artist, died. He is best known for his disturbing painting ‘The Scream.’ Munch’s body of work has been called “profoundly original” and “one of the most significant contributions to the development of Modernism in the 20th century.” Munch was...

      Brighter Days – 12 Steps to Strengthening Your Wellbeing Sunday – A History of Religious Affairs through 50 Years How to be (Un)Successful – an unlikely guide to human flourishing A Truth Universally Acknowledged – 40 Days with Jane Austen Transfiguration – 50 Pilgrim Steps The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness – The Path...

Potatoes have been a target of the anti-carb brigade for probably long enough. An affordable staple food for centuries, they have fallen out of favour in recent times, amid the trend for low-carb diets. “The humble potato has been given a bad rap,” says Dr Duane Mellor, a senior teaching fellow at Aston Medical School...

It has now been four years since the pandemic began to seep into Western consciousness. Dr Francis Collins, a leader in medical research in the US, spoke early in the pandemic about his faith and his hope in God to help us through that time. He expressed the grief that so many were experiencing, and...

Unless you grew up on Mars, Columbia Pictures has played some part in your life. Who doesn’t recognise that opening ‘logo’ to a film you want to watch – the female personification of the United States? This huge American film studio and production company celebrates its 100th birthday on 10th January 2024. Columbia was founded...

With international concern about the welfare of children, Angela is a good saint to remember. Not only did she herself survive a harsh childhood, but she went on to dedicate her own life to helping children in need. Angela was born near Lake Garda, in Desenzano, where she was orphaned as a young child. The...

People who have a religious faith are generally happier and more resilient than atheists and other non-religious people. That is the finding of a new study, Keep the Faith: Mental health in the UK, which has been recently published by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL). The think tank was set...

** Editor:  One of our Parish Pump editors, Catherine, near Chester, has just sent in the following true story from her own parish.  Keeping warm?   A member of our PCC floated the idea of opening the church during the Warm Spaces hours, for anyone wishing to sit in church and light a candle. **...

January always brings us a financial reckoning, but this year things look especially grim for many people in the UK. Recent research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found that one in five people in the UK are living in poverty. In real terms, that’s a staggering 13.4 million people. Some recent sobering statistics from...

Work of art The New Year This was the moment Turn your love Let nothing disturb thee A New Year’s Resolution As time goes by! Great lives Why churchwardens love January ** Work of art (Mt 6:25-34, Eph2:10, Gen1:27) Clothing grass, Fashioning feathers and flowers, The Master Designer Shows off His work to His people...