Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial
- Take a good look next time you go to the supermarket. What is the thing you see most? Plastic. It is everywhere. Tight around the cucumbers, holding the groups of apples together, protecting the chickens, keeping the sausages in a neat line. The yoghurt pots are all plastic. And on it goes…. Milk, juice, water,...Our addiction to plastic
- As the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations approach, The National Churches Trust has issued a ‘Royal Proclamation’ to thank her for her patronage of the Trust for nearly 70 years. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth has been the Patron of the National Churches Trust since 1953, when the Historic Churches Preservation Trust, its predecessor charity was founded. In...With grateful thanks for royal support for the UK’s church buildings
- A few years ago I visited the Smithsonian Museum’s Hall of Human Origins. Our guide, the curator of anthropology, was keen to help Christians understand his research. Whatever you make of the evidence for human evolution, the fact remains that other species a bit like us were around before we came on the scene – or...Humility
- The Rectory St James the Least My dear Nephew Darren A Spring parish picnic is always a good idea – although you must bear some details in mind. First, whatever date you choose will turn out be the wettest of the year. English picnics are invariably eaten under umbrellas while wearing Wellingtons and the sort...On the perils of the church picnic
- Josephine Butler is the ‘saint’ for anyone who believes in social justice. This remarkable 19th century clergyman’s wife became a renowned campaigner for women’s rights and for putting a halt to human trafficking. Josephine was born in Northumberland in 1828, the daughter of a wealthy family of liberal politics and committed Christian faith. They had...30th May: Josephine Butler, social reformer for women
- The Changing Prayer for May The travellers The Refugee Bovinophobia Ascension Day ** The Changing Reflections of Mary (Mark 16: v1-8) Our eyes seeing the same mountains, The gentle touching of our hands, Simply breathing the same air, Pleasures unrecognised till now, Gone…. In the changing. In the certainty of our grieving, You surprise us,...Poems and Prayers (all) for May 2022
- Remember the Millennium, and thousands of churches getting involved in planting ‘Yews for the Millennium’? Then you will have encountered the Conservation Foundation. It is turning 40 this year, and the ‘Millennium Yews’ project was only one of many for which the Church of England has worked with the Foundation, in an effort to preserve...The Conservation Foundation celebrates 40 years
- In March, April and May this year the coloured frontal of the altar will have been changed many times – as will the colour of the priest’s vestments. Each colour – and there can be as many as six in a church’s store – has a different meaning. They reflect the significance of that day...Reflected Faith Series: The Meaning of Colours – part 1
- How neat do we like our gardens to be? Full of manicured lawns, with immaculate flower beds? Well, yes and no. A recent survey by BBC’s Gardener’s World magazine has found that more than half (54 per cent) of gardeners now include ‘uncultivated areas’ in their garden. And some 44 per cent of gardeners have...Take a walk on the wild side!
- Miscellaneous observations on our Christian pilgrimage Miscellaneous observations on life ** Miscellaneous observations on our Christian pilgrimage It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness. – C H Spurgeon Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years. – C H Spurgeon Comfortable truth isn’t....Quotes for May 2022 (all)
- How far would you go to respond to God’s call on your life? When, as the daughter of a peasant family in Champagne in 1426, 14-year-old Joan heard heavenly voices calling her to ‘save France’ from the English, she decided to obey the call, no matter what the consequences. Teenage girls who want to rescue...30th May: Joan of Arc, saving France from the English
- In the biggest ever study of its kind, researchers from Lancaster University looked at 100 million words to analyse trends. One expert says: “The most striking thing we found is how informal language has become. There has been a systematic shift towards more informal vocabulary and grammar.” Some examples include a steep decline in the...English is becoming, like, less formal stuff, maybe, ok?