Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

When you last heard a sermon given from a pulpit, what was your reaction?  Whilst pulpits can of themselves be beautiful and stately, intricately carved and decorated, they can also be places of separateness. Rather than ending up helping the congregation to hear and see the preacher better, they can sometimes become a block to...

Seventy-five years ago, on 23rd August 1948, the World Council of Churches was founded in Amsterdam. It flowed out of the modern ecumenical movement, which had begun in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There had been agreement by 1937 to establish a World Council of Churches, but the official inauguration was deferred by...

The Church of England’s lead bishop for housing Dr Guli Francis-Deqhani, has welcomed the launch of the five-year Homewards project by the Prince of Wales to end long term homelessness. “The leadership of the Prince of Wales will undoubtedly have a tangible impact; his determination to address this crisis will be welcomed by churches up and down...

Apprentice youth workers, youth ministers, children and family workers, as well as chaplaincy aimed at students in further education, are to be funded as part of major awards to dioceses recently announced by the Church of England. A total of £16.3 million has been awarded by the Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board to five...

Some people are pushy and a bit grasping.  They get on your nerves.  Pray that they go on to find God’s will for their lives, for then all that pushiness is put to good use. Take Jeanne Delanoue.  She was born at Saumur in 1666, and grew up small, authoritarian, and quite frankly, a bit...

It was 65 years ago, on 26th August 1958, that the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams died. Among his most famous compositions are The Lark Ascending, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and A Sea Symphony. Despite increasing deafness, brought on by exposure to gunfire when he served in the Second World War, Vaughan...

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have recently met with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people advocating for a new initiative aimed at reaching out to people within these communities. The Gypsy, Roma Traveller (GRT) Friendly Churches will encourage and signpost churches to do more to welcome people into worshipping communities. Archbishop Justin said: “The Gospel...

How will you become a better person than you are now?   Have you ever denied yourself in order to try and please God?  No matter what your dedication, it is unlikely that your efforts will ever have outshone those of Rose of Lima (1586 – 1617), who in 1671 became the first saint of America,...

The Church Commissioners and the Church of England Pensions Board have announced that they will independently disinvest from fossil fuels. The Church Commissioners and Church of England Pensions Board have recently each announced they will independently disinvest from fossil fuels this year. The announcement came as the Church of England’s National Investing Bodies (NIBs) reported...

On consecutive days this month (27th and 28th) the Christian Church celebrates, a mother and her son. The mother is Monica, and her son is Augustine. The story of their relationship and how, after a long process, they both came to share the same Christian faith is a moving one, and perhaps has a message...

Is the C of E paying its clergy enough? The amount of the stipend is determined by dioceses, but they use national stipend benchmarks which are set by the Archbishops’ Council each year. A guiding principle in setting these benchmarks is that “clergy should be paid at a level that gives them a standard of...

Four hundred years ago this month, on 6th August 1623, Anne Hathaway died. She was the wife of William Shakespeare. Born in 1556, she was eight years older than her husband, who was only 18 when they married. The eldest of eight children of a well-off yeoman farmer living at Shottery, only a mile from...