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Have you ever stopped to consider that the very first martyr of the Christian Church (Stephen died c 35 AD) was a deacon?  (But no, he wasn’t worked to death by his church.)  It was Stephen, one of the first seven deacons of the Christian Church.  He’d been appointed by the apostles to look after...

This month’s drawing is ‘The Virgin and Child’ by Raphael (1483-1520). Raphael was a talented artist from a very early age, but this drawing belongs to a time when he was in Rome from 1510-12. The finished painting is known as the Mackintosh Madonna, after its last owner. This drawing, or cartoon, was the first...

This year we shall have our first Royal Christmas Message from King Charles III.  He follows in a tradition that spans three generations. It was 90 years ago, on 25th December 1932, that the first Royal Christmas Message was broadcast on radio. King George V addressed the nation live from Sandringham. A quarter of a...

Do you expect to like all the presents you will receive this year?  Not if last year was anything to go by! In fact, it seems that more than two-thirds of us expect that we will unwrap at least one item that we do not like this Christmas. What do you do with those weird...

The Church of England is to work with a youth charity to equip parishes to reach more young people with the Christian message. A £1.29 million grant from the Archbishops’ Council will fund work led by Youthscape to help parishes connect with young people and recruit and train church volunteers for youth work. The Launchpad...

Everyone knows that it was on the feast of Stephen that ‘good king Wenceslas looked on’.  After all, it’s in a Christmas carol – but why? There’s nothing about Christmas in it: a splendid young page who rustled up some flesh, wine and logs, an old man out in the snow (’deep and crisp and...

The Lion First Bible, 2nd edition Talking to Children about Mental Health Everything a Child Should Know About God The Message of the Second Coming Christian Essentials – 9 characteristics of every follower of Jesus Hope in the Face of Suffering – 20 devotions for Tough Times New Celtic Monasticism for Everyday People ** The...

‘For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people… while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ’ (Titus 2:11,13-14). Advent is the time when we focus on the first and second coming of Jesus. He first came as a...

The Church of England’s Social Impact Investment Programme has committed £2m towards the second Social and Sustainable Housing Fund (SASH II) managed by Social and Sustainable Capital. SASH II seeks to enable charities and social sector organisations to acquire portfolios of property that provide a combination of high quality housing and targeted support  to vulnerable...

Mistletoe has long been used as part of our Christmas decorations. It is not your usual kind of plant. Instead, it is hemiparasitic, meaning that although its leaves enable it to feed itself through photosynthesis, its roots invade the host tree or shrub to extract water and other nutrients. Mistletoe loves living in apple, lime,...

The amount of sleep you get each night can have a huge impact on your health. A recent study has found that middle-aged people need at least seven hours a night. This reduces their risk of developing various serious health conditions including cancer, diabetes, and arthritis. This contrasts with the effect of having only five...

A Baptist minister, the Revd Sue Whalley, has recently delivered the first ever known sermon in British Sign Language (BSL) at St Paul’s Cathedral. The invitation grew out of a meeting in London between Deaf Church Leaders and Church of England Clergy. Building on the momentum of the BSL Act last April (when British Sign Language...