Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Progress has been made, but much more needs to be done, in order to increase the representation of people from working class backgrounds in lay and ordained leadership roles in the Church of England, the General Synod was recently told. The Bishop of Barking, Lynne Cullens, who is heading a key advisory group to encourage...

The Church of England has welcomed the Government’s Schools White Paper and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) consultation, “recognising the opportunity they offer to secure long‑term improvements for children, young people and families.” As the largest single provider of schools in England, and with a long history of serving the most vulnerable, the Church...

 – martyrs of the Early Church In the month of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice of Himself for us, the martyrdoms of Carpus, Papylus and Agathonice are well worth remembering. What they said as they died could be said by the many thousands of Christians who are facing persecution all over the world today. Carpus, Papylus and...

The Cross of Jesus From the Vicar Never Far Away Breakfast – with Jesus Christ What’s the Big Idea? – an Introduction to the Books of the Old Testament: Lamentations The Seven Deadly Sins: Envy Reflected Faith Series: Same Old, Same Old Noah: builder for God Peaceful mind in Eastertide ** Editor:  Canon Paul Hardingham...

 and new working group to be established General Synod recently gave its backing to establishing working and consultative groups to continue work on same-sex relationships and marriage as the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process came to a conclusion. LLF was originally set up in 2017 to explore the Church’s approach to identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage. It led to the introduction, following a key Synod vote in 2023, of public prayers of dedication,...

Alphege is the saint for anyone who refuses to let others suffer on their behalf. His is a tale of courage and self-sacrifice, with some details that are still poignant, even down 1000 years of history. Alphege began like many other leading churchmen of his time; born of a noble family, with a good education,...

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 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...

All in the month of April Remembering Francis Bacon Remembering the musical genius of Richard D’Oyley Carte What’s orange, sticky and worth preserving?  < National Parks Fortnight – 4th to 18th April International Day for Street Children – 12th April It’s National Pet Month International Jazz Day – 30th April National Gardening Week – 28th...

The General Synod has backed a call for the C of E to recommit to ending poverty. General Synod members voted to mark the 40th anniversary of the publication of the landmark report Faith in the City, and its impact on Christian social action, including the work of the Church Urban Fund. Churches must listen to...

– the man who proved there is a God Anselm is a good saint to remember next time someone asks you to prove that there is a God. His brilliant and original Proslogion, written 1077-8, sets out the ‘ontological’ proof for God’s existence. Nearly ten centuries later, it is still studied by theological students as...

The English have a patron saint who isn’t English, about whom next to nothing is known for sure, and who, just possibly, may not have existed at all. But that didn’t stop St George being patriotically invoked in many battles, notably at Agincourt and in the Crusades, and of course it is his cross that...