Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

In this series we have looked at the psalms of the Old Testament and the songs of the New Testament, and now we enter the Middle Ages. But it is the Middle Ages through the eyes of a record producer in the last century. In 1980 Ted Perry decided to found a new independent record...

We may all have rather mixed feelings on reaching March this year. On the one hand, it is lovely to see the onset of Spring, but the wars in Ukraine and Israel-Gaza grind on, as does the cost-of-living crisis. We may need to find new ways to keep going, so here are some suggestions that...

Ripple Effect, the humanitarian Christian agency working in Africa (formerly Send a Cow), has reported a bumper year of ministry for 2023. “Last year we reached more people than ever before – 1.38 million people in rural Africa.” The people have taken part in projects that help them adapt to the climate crisis, regenerate tired land,...

Crufts has well been called the greatest dog show in the world. Everything about Crufts is big: last year more than 155,000 visitors flocked to the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) at Birmingham for a show that lasted four days, to see more than 24,000 dogs compete. In addition, there were numerous displays of agility, obedience,...

The Rectory St James the Least My dear Nephew Darren  Visits from your parishioners to our church are always welcome. But I did not expect them to return to you complaining because our pews are uncomfortable. Pews are meant to be uncomfortable. The unshakeable belief of our congregation is that the more uncomfortable the pew,...

Palm Sunday visit It was Palm Sunday, but because of a sore throat, five-year-old Bobby was kept home from church with his grannie. When the family returned home, they were carrying several palm fronds and Bobby asked them what they were for. “People held them over Jesus’ head as He walked by,” his father explained....

 It is perhaps a well-polished truth, but one well worth remembering again: when it comes to salvation, “We were justified by faith alone, through grace alone, but we are not sanctified by faith alone”. In other words, we are made acceptable to God only through the death and resurrection of Jesus, who dealt with our...

World Water Day became a UN observance day in 1993. It wants to focus attention on the global water crisis, and raise awareness of the 2.2 billion people still living without access to safe water. It hopes to inspire action to tackle the water and sanitation crisis. This year, World Water Day 2024 will focus...

The Church Commissioners for England has explained how it is holding company management accountable to its investor expectations on human rights in a new Human Rights report. “Social inequality presents a systemic risk to economies and diversified portfolios. Companies can best understand and address their links to inequalities by meeting their responsibility to respect human...

The metaphysical poet (this is his normal place in the church calendar) John Donne (1572 – 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier, secretary and finally Dean of St Pauls Cathedral in London. But he is most remembered for his poetry, for he is seen as the greatest of the 17th-century ‘metaphysical’ poets. Donne was...

77 per cent of us have accepted an invitation to an activity that we did not want to attend. But according to recent research at West Virginia University, we may be over-estimating the anger and disappointment we will cause if we say no. As one researcher confessed: “I was once invited to an event that...

A reflection on The Lord’s Prayer Easter Prayer 2024 Only Jesus John 12 The Unseen World The Crossroad A Drying Day The Gardener Your will Prayer ** Editor: This month is Lent, when we take a good hard look at where we stand with God… A reflection on The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:1-18) Our Father...