Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Teenagers who kiss their dog or are occasionally licked by their pet are happier, according to a recent study. They have even been found to have better mental health than those who do not have a dog. Why should this be? It seems to all come down to the gut. Research has found that teenagers in...

The events of Easter took place over a week, traditionally called Passion Week. It began on Palm Sunday. After all His teaching and healing, Jesus had built a following. On the Sunday before He was to die, Jesus and His followers arrived at Jerusalem. The city was crowded. Jewish people were arriving from to celebrate...

When I was nearly three, I knocked a bucket of tadpoles all over the patio. Those unfortunate creatures must have been collected to educate my brother and I on where frogs came from, but a toddler can’t just stand by and watch. Can I see up close? Or maybe I was ‘helpfully’ moving it to...

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, when the Church remembers how Jesus arrived at the gates of Jerusalem just a few days before the Passover was due to be held. He was the Messiah come to His own people in their capital city, and yet He came in humility, riding on a young donkey, not...

This month we visit St Nicholas’ Church, Compton in Surrey. It is a very fine building with an unusual double sanctuary on two floors at the east end. Our eyes look up to see a gallery and an altar, and then at ground level is another altar surrounded by a glorious Norman arch with Jacobean...

The whole ‘Baptist family’ has responded magnificently to the Baptist Union of Great Britain’s (BUGB) Spurgeon’s appeal – £90,000 has been donated by churches and individuals to support Baptist students who had been studying at Spurgeon’s College when it sadly and unexpectedly closed its doors in July 2025 Many students were facing considerable financial disadvantage...

The Rectory St James the Least of All My dear Nephew Darren Clearly, the sight of your vicar running out of the room halfway through your last church council meeting, saying he should have stayed as a traffic warden, where he was universally liked, has unnerved you. It would have unnerved me too, since a...

Truth Encounter Prayer for March 2026 A prayer as Lent begins The mystery of suffering  The Song of the Spirit Contrails Man’s desire The Love that gives love Winter and Spring Before me In the Wood A Child’s Morning Prayer ** Truth Encounter (Luke 4:1-14, John 17:17, James 4:7) Led by the Spirit And tempted...

And his ladder to Paradise Is there something down at, say, B&Q, which reminds your friends of you?   John Climacus (d 649) had a thing about ladders.  He was a monk in Palestine who was only seen out at the weekends (at church, not B&Q); during the week he prayed and wrote in solitude. He...

How God works A grandmother was taking her young grandson for a walk in the park. The daffodils were in bloom, and it was a beautiful Spring day. Wanting to encourage her grandson’s spiritual understanding of the world, she said: “Doesn’t it look like an artist painted this scenery? Did you know God did all...

 Margam Abbey Church in Wales  has been celebrating the fact that a Roman villa, exceptional in both scale and preservation, has been identified in Margam, offering unprecedented insight into the region’s Romano‑British past. The find is the result of ArchaeoMargam, a partnership between Swansea University’s Centre for Heritage Research and Training (CHART), Neath Port Talbot...

Two donkeys were walking the streets of Jerusalem. One said: “Just a few days ago I came down that hill carrying Jesus, and the people were all singing and shouting and throwing down their cloaks and palms for me to walk on. But today they don’t even recognise me.” The other donkey replied: “That is...