Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Have you ever noticed the sweet, fresh smell after a downpour of rain? That ‘smell of rain’ is called petrichor, and it fascinates scientists. It was back in 1965 that scientists first named it. Petrichor comes from the Greek for stone, ‘petra’, and the golden fluid flowing through the veins of the immortals, ‘ichor’. Petrichor...

The Church Commissioners for England, which manages the Church of England’s endowment fund, delivered a 5% return in 2022, a “robust performance” in the face of “challenging” market conditions. “Our aim is to support the mission and ministry of the Church of England through providing as much funding as we can on a sustainable basis,...

Ignatius came from a noble Basque family in north-east Spain. Born in 1491 in his family’s castle near Loyala, he was sent to serve as a page at the court of King Ferdinand V of Castile. Ignatius entered military service, but was wounded in 1521, at the French siege of Pamplona. While convalescing, he read...

The 2021 Population Census asked people their age as well as whether they had a religion. 94% of the population answered both questions. The average age of the population is 41, and the average age of Christian adherents was 48, the oldest of any religion.  The youngest are the Muslims with larger families and therefore more children;...

The Rectory St James the Least My dear Nephew Darren Since I happened to be in your area last week, I tried to call in at your church, and was sorry to find it was locked and bolted, with surveillance cameras watching me. We tend to be a little more relaxed about matters of security....

For dealing with motion sickness, ginger capsules are your new friend. Available from any health store, they do a wonderful job in calming upset tummies. And for fever or frayed tempers, take some camomile tea bags with you. Camomile tea doesn’t just calm your nerves; cooled down, the tea also soothes sunburn. For discouraging mosquitoes...

Plant three rows of peas: Peas of mind Peas of heart Peas of soul Plant three rows of squash: Squash gossip Squash grumbling Squash selfishness Plant three rows of lettuce: Lettuce be faithful Lettuce be obedient Lettuce love one another Plant three rows of turnips: Turnip for services Turnip for meetings Turnip to help one...

Sundays of the Month Editor: For your convenience, here are the names of the Sundays in June, at a glance. 4th June           Trinity Sunday 11th June         First Sunday after Trinity 18th June         Second Sunday after Trinity 25th June         Third Sunday after Trinity 2nd July            Fourth Sunday after Trinity ** High Days & Holy Days...

For your convenience, here are the names of the Sundays in June, at a glance. 4th June           Trinity Sunday 11th June         First Sunday after Trinity 18th June         Second Sunday after Trinity 25th June         Third Sunday after Trinity 2nd July            Fourth Sunday after Trinity

…. the first ever Christian philosopher Justin Martyr (c. 100 – 165), is regarded as the first ever Christian philosopher. He was born at Nablus, Samaria, to parents of Greek origin, and was well educated in rhetoric, poetry and history before he turned to philosophy. He studied at Ephesus and Alexandria and tried the schools...

… a good saint when you’re all at sea Do you like messing about in boats? If so, then you’ll have heard of St Elmo’s Fire. It is the light that is sometimes seen on mastheads of boats after storms at sea. St Elmo is another name for St Erasmus, a fourth century Syrian bishop...

… defying the Kabaka The Ugandan Church had dozens of martyrs within just ten years of Christianity arriving there. At first, it had gone so well:  the first Anglican missionaries arriving in Uganda in 1877 were welcomed by the Kabaka (king) of Buganda, Mutesa. Mutesa also welcomed the Roman Catholics and Muslim Arabs, and, being...