Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

For the first time since the pandemic began, churches and communities across the UK will be coming together to celebrate Easter as restrictions are relaxed. So, no wonder that the theme for the Real Easter Egg this year is ‘Let’s Celebrate’! The Real Easter Egg was created in 2010 as a way for churches, groups...

It was: 500 years ago, from 9th to 17th March 1522 that Martin Luther preached his Invocavit Sermons. He urged citizens to adhere to the core Christian values and trust in God, rather than using violence to bring about change. 175 years ago, on 3rd March 1847 that Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born American engineer, and...

The word ‘anxiety’ has been chosen by children as how they would describe their experience of 2021. Oxford University Press (OUP) asked more than 8,000 pupils, aged between seven and 14, to select a word from a shortlist of 10 words. The words were: anxiety, challenging, isolate, wellbeing, resilience, bubble, kindness, remote, cancelled, empathy. The...

Archbishop of San Salvador, martyr 1980 Oscar Romero was a bit of a modern Thomas Becket – loyal to the authorities until he was given great responsibility for the Church. Then, like Becket, there was trouble. In Romero’s case, it all began when he was born Cuidad Barrios in El Salvador back in 1917. Devout...

This month sees the start of Lent, the 40-day season of penitence, self-examination and fasting running up to Easter. Jesus began His earthly ministry by fasting in the wilderness for 40 days and taught His disciples to fast: ‘when you fast.’ (Matthew 6:17). The spiritual discipline of fasting involves missing one or two meals during...

In the past 30 years, the Church of England has seen a steep decline in the attendance at Sunday services. Numbers are down by an average of 40 per cent at Sunday services in churches across the UK’s 43 dioceses. The only exception is London, where there has been a rise in Sunday worshippers. A...

The Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, has thanked front line workers, parishes, and all who have made sacrifices to help protect one another from Covid-19, as England recently began to move away from ‘plan B’ restrictions. Bishop Sarah, who chairs the Church of England’s Covid Recovery Group, said: “When the first measures to curb the...

Many middle-aged people struggle with a bit of depression and the vague feeling that they should be closer to their children. But not many middle-aged people turn to skateboarding, as a solution. Yet a recent study by Exeter University has found that some older people who skateboard say that it has a ‘spiritual meaning’ in...

A full-time chaplain has been appointed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) for the first time in its 200-year history. The Revd Tom Ebbens, who will be based in Cornwall, has been appointed to the position after a pilot project. He has previously worked in MCA operations centres and as a coastal officer, and...

Lent encourages us to examine how we’re getting on.  It’s especially useful for people who have been practising Christians for some time. We’re used to saying prayers, going to church and trying to express our faith in action, but the routine may have become a bit jaded.  We would like to beef it up, but...

Yes, Britain is in serious political and moral turmoil. So is the USA. Many other countries are heading towards totalitarian rule or are savagely divided along tribal, religious, or racial lines. We shouldn’t concentrate on cataloguing our complaints, though, before counting our blessings, which is a healthier activity for the human soul. Here’s a start. The British National Health...

This beautiful event (Luke 1:26-38) took place in Nazareth, when Mary is already betrothed to Joseph. The Archangel Gabriel comes to Mary, greets her as highly favoured, tells her not to be afraid, that she will bear a son Jesus, and that her elderly cousin Elizabeth is already pregnant (with John the Baptist). The church...