Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Mary – the virgin mother of Jesus.  For centuries the eastern and western churches have considered her pre-eminent among all the saints. In the gospels, Mary makes her first appearance as a teenager.  Nothing is known of her childhood, and what we do know of her is found mostly in Matthew 1 – 2 and...

Not many university students are able to write Christian songs which become worldwide hits, but Don Emry Fishel managed it with his Alleluia No. 1. Nearly 50 years on, it is loved and sung by millions of Christians worldwide. Fishel wrote it in 1971, while he was a student at the University of Michigan and...

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has warned of a dramatic rise in the use of recreational drugs, especially among young people. Ketamine usage in England more than doubled last year. Almost 25 tonnes of ketamine were consumed, as opposed to 10.6 tonnes in 2023. Almost 100 tonnes of cocaine were consumed in England last year,...

Life Prayer for Ascension Day Prove it The bells rang out in England Artificial Opponents? ** Life (Jn 6:68) Life is not always fair, or kind. Life batters, People betray, let us down, Even those we trusted with our hearts and health. Landscapes change, Things we knew and understood Are tossed in the air To...

From The Rectory St James the Least of All My dear Nephew Darren I have to say that the couple who complained that you never noticed they had been missing from church for a month had a point. There is a simple way of noticing when someone is absent: everyone sits in the same pew....

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...

St David’s Church in Loughor has become the 75th Gold Eco Church in England and Wales. The award was given by the Christian conservation charity A Rocha UK, and reflects St David’s commitment to put creation care at the heart of its mission. While there are more than 8,000 registered churches with Eco Church, St David’s...

They are more than an indulgence – a holiday can be vital for your health and mental well-being.  Here are five reasons why: Better sleep:  after two or three days on holiday, most people average an hour more of good quality sleep. And deep sleep improves problem solving and cell repair. More vitamin D: Our...

Sundays of the Month Editor:  Continuing our list of what the Sundays of each month are called… 6th April           5th Sunday of Lent 13th April         Palm Sunday 20th April         Easter Sunday 27th April         2nd Sunday of Easter ** High Days and Holy Days for April Editor:  As the church year...

In years gone by, the rules surrounding April Fool were this:  between midnight and noon on 1st April, everyone is ‘fair game’ to be made a fool of.  It is the morning of the practical joke.  But the aim is not just to discomfort the victim: he must be tricked into taking action himself, sent...

Murky crimes committed by various church leaders, local shops in trouble, roads needing repair, and hospitals in a sorry state…. wanting to retire, but the law said no… it seems that Hugh of Grenoble was dealing with 21st century problems in the 11th century. Born at Chateauneuf in 1052 as the son of a knight,...

Ever wonder where the prayer … ‘May I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, day by day’ comes from?  Richard of Chichester, a bishop in the 13th century, wrote it. He began life as Richard de Wych of Droitwich, the son of a yeoman farmer.  But Richard was...