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What are you buying your friends for Christmas this year? If you are tempted by ‘socially responsible’ gifts that involve you NOT giving your friends anything at all, but instead giving your money to a charity ‘in their name’, you may wish to think again. Such gifts as goats in Ghana or chickens in Chad...

Everyone knows that it was on the feast of Stephen that ‘good king Wenceslas looked on’.  After all, it’s in a Christmas carol – but why? There’s nothing about Christmas in it: a splendid young page who rustled up some flesh, wine and logs, an old man out in the snow (’deep and crisp and...

The Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell plans to teach the Lord’s Prayer across the North of England throughout 2025, a priority of his vision for Faith in the North. Archbishop Stephen is to visit dioceses in the Northern Province of the C of E where he will be sharing the relevance of the Lord’s Prayer...

Christmas is a great time of year, but it’s not without its challenges! After one family had put up 250,000 Christmas lights outside, they didn’t dare boil a kettle for fear of blowing the system! The challenge of over-indulging We all remember the episode of the Vicar of Dibley, where she had to consume four...

Most of us probably know that on December 26th (the Feast of Stephen) ‘Good king Wenceslas’ looked out, writes David Winter. We probably also know that the snow lay round about, ‘deep and crisp and even’. Beyond that, he’s just someone in a carol that’s not often sung nowadays. However, Wenceslas was a real person,...

If you ring your local Town Council or Library, they should be able to point in the direction of where to find the details…. You might look for events such as: Cathedral (or local large church) Christmas concerts Craft fayres Present wrapping Carol singing in your community Local charity initiatives that could use help Singing...

The crisis facing Wales’s rivers was the focus of a recent national summit hosted by the Church in Wales. More than 70 people from across the UK, including scientists, farmers, environmentalists and water industry representatives discussed the challenges facing watercourses in Wales and to look at ways of improving water quality. The Restoring Welsh Rivers...

The time to send and receive Christmas cards has come round again – time for our annual shock at the cost of a coloured card, and disbelief at what the Post Office intends to charge us to deliver them. It seems there are three kinds of people when it comes to Christmas cards: the total...

All over the world, doors are being slammed shut this Christmas. As the wars in the Middle East, in Ukraine and in Sudan rage on, millions are losing their homes and places of safety. Elsewhere, hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and would-be immigrants are on the road, seeking refuge anywhere they can find it....

The Moment of Truth – Reflections on Incarnation and Resurrection Do Not Be Afraid – the Joy of Waiting in a Time of Fear The Love That Moves the Sun – Advent hope in a time of crisis Whose Promised Land? – The Continuing Conflict over Israel and Palestine Busy Family Devotional – 52 Short...

In the Middle Ages, at the end of the Christmas Midnight Mass, the clergy would often tell the animals’ version of the Nativity story and imitate the sound of each animal. The cock would crow ‘Christus natus est.’ (Christ is born). The cows would moo ‘Ubi?’ (Where?). The sheep would bleat ‘In Bethlehem.’ And the...

What would you like for Christmas? What do you get Dad? Church rules Mother in a storm Christmas gifts Christmas shopping Christmas carols Father Christmas The Everlasting Turkey ** What would you like for Christmas? A little girl visited Father Christmas in the local garden centre grotto. He welcomed her with a smile and asked...