Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Practise by reading to your dog, who won’t be critical of your mistakes, or interrupt you. Dogs who listen to people reading are being used in schools and prisons across the country.  It is all a part of The Kennel Club’s Bark and Read Foundation, which was first set up to give children the confidence...

 All 42 dioceses in the Church of England have signed up to become an ‘eco diocese’ as part of their commitment to reach net zero carbon by 2030. The Eco Dioceses scheme, developed by the charity A Rocha UK, sees churches and dioceses awarded bronze, silver, or gold status depending on actions taken to improve...

If you want to start a family row, you could always suggest a game of Scrabble. It seems that it is the board game which scores highest in sparking arguments. But don’t underestimate the potential of Cluedo and Monopoly. Apparently, the Royal Family long ago decided not to play Monopoly, because it got too “vicious”,...

 & Mother Church The Fourth Sunday in Lent was called ‘Mid-Lent’ or ‘Refreshment Sunday’, when the rigors of Lent were relaxed more than was normal for a feast day. It is called Mothering Sunday as a reference to the Epistle reading for the Day (Galatians 4:21-31).  The Lenten Epistles follow from each other with teaching...

Members of a new ‘cathedral’ of online worshippers, formed since the first lockdown, have played a key role in the Church of England’s recent 100th national online service. The first national online service was broadcast from the crypt chapel at Lambeth Palace on Mothering Sunday 2020 as the nation went into lockdown. Since then, a...

Eighty years ago, on 25th March 1942, Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, was born. The American soul/R&B/pop/gospel singer was known for her many hit songs including ‘Respect’ and ‘I Say a Little Prayer’. She died in 2018. Aretha began her career as a young child, singing gospel songs at New Bethel Baptist Church in...

Such a strange name for a church service!  Why would anyone be attracted to attend such a thing? This year Ash Wednesday is close to the start of March; on the Second of the month.  As the first day of Lent the service is used to physically place a sign of the cross on each...

The Rectory St James the Least My dear Nephew Darren It seemed such an innocent suggestion. A local farmer announced he wanted to arrange a Spring music festival. I could already hear Mozart string quartets being played in our Lady Chapel, and arias from Donizetti operas being sung al frescoin the Glebe field, while we...

Partners of Release International have warned of a ‘slow-motion war’ unfolding in Nigeria, where more Christians are being killed than anywhere else on earth. Release International is calling for Nigeria to be reinstated as a Country of Particular Concern, after its delisting by the US State Department. They warn: “17 Christians (are) murdered every day...

Get them to turn off their phones by 7pm. When children use their phones later in the evening, the exposure to the radio frequency electromagnetic fields can disturb their ability to go to sleep. The study was carried out by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health. It was based on the phone and sleeping habits...

The cross is a picture of violence, yet the key to peace; a picture of suffering, yet the key to healing; a picture of death, yet the key to life; a picture of utter weakness, yet the key to power; a picture of capital punishment, yet the key to mercy and forgiveness; a picture of...

The Archbishop of Canterbury has shared his doubts about mandatory vaccines, while urging people to get vaccinated “to look after their neighbours”. “I’m not personally in favour of compulsory vaccination by law,” the Most Revd Justin Welby recently told BBC’s Today programme. “But I am very much in favour of encouraging people, of incentivising people...