Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Everybody seems to be in debt these days, from households across the UK, right up to the public sector. Our household debt is a burden to us. As of April 2024, the total debt per household (including mortgages) averaged £65,143. Many households struggle with ‘problem debt’, ominously relying more and more on credit cards and...

The value of support from churches in a single community in the West Midlands has been calculated at £8.7 million a year, Bishop Rob Wickham, chief executive of Church Urban Fund said recently. Bishop Rob was speaking just before the February meeting of the General Synod, which debated a motion on poverty and the Church....

As of January 2026, diocesan apportionment has ended, meaning dioceses will no longer make financial contributions to cover costs of centralised services managed by the National Church Institutions. Most of these costs will now be covered by distributions from the Church of England’s national endowment fund (managed by the Church Commissioners), in an effort to...

A record number of young adults have joined a year-long placement scheme to experience ministry in the Church of England. The Ministry Experience Scheme (MES) intake this year is 121, the largest the scheme has had since it was founded more than a decade ago. This year’s total means that more than 1,000 young adults,...

The metaphysical poet (this is his normal place in the church calendar) John Donne (1572 – 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier, secretary and finally Dean of St Pauls Cathedral in London. But he is most remembered for his poetry, for he is seen as the greatest of the 17th-century ‘metaphysical’ poets. Donne was...

Lent is a time of prayer and inward reflection, when we take stock of where we are with God…with this in mind, the following may be helpful. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble...

It was 150 years ago this month, on 10th March 1876, that the world’s first telephone call was made.  Alexander Graham Bell called his assistant and said: “Mr Watson, come here. I want you.” That phone call was the beginning of a worldwide addiction to phones. Phones spread quickly, constantly improved, and after more than...

Do you take afternoon tea? Ever wondered where it started? The custom seems to date back to the mid-19th century, and the seventh Duchess of Bedford, Anna Russell. The Duchess got hungry at about 4pm each day, calling it “that sinking feeling”. As it was still four hours until dinner (at 8pm), she began to...

 Sundays of the Month Editor:  You might find it helpful to know what the Sundays of each month are called… 1st March         2nd Sunday of Lent 8th March        3rd Sunday of Lent 15th March       4th Sunday of Lent – Mothering Sunday 22nd March      5th Sunday of Lent – Passiontide  begins 29th March     ...

Sundays of the Month 1st February                 4th Sunday of Epiphany 8th February                2nd Sunday before Lent 15th February              Quinquagesima – Sunday next before Lent 22nd February              1st Sunday of Lent ** Editor:  As saints’ days do not change, this material has appeared before on this site.  The day with the asterisk, for Seiriol, is...

You can find traces of old saints in most corners of the British Isles, but Seiriol is one of the only two saints connected to Anglesey, and certainly the ONLY saint connected to Puffin Island. It was back in the 6th century that this gentle abbot first settled in Penmon, and built a little church....

– compassion and love Brigid, you could say, was the female Patrick of Ireland. Historical facts about this first abbess of Kildare (d.c. 525) may be scarce, but her ‘Lives’, written from the 7th century, tell many anecdotes and miracles which over the centuries have become deeply rooted in Irish folklore. Brigid came from a...