Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Release International is warning of a new threat to religious freedom in Sudan, following a recent military coup in the country. Sudan’s transitional government took significant steps towards increasing freedom of religion. They determined that Islam would no longer be the state religion, and abolished the death penalty for apostasy – converting from Islam to...

All in the month of December The coming of St Columba Remembering Dorothy Wordsworth Steve Biko – speaking out on behalf of blacks The day Mikhail Gorbachev resigned Dwindling wildlife in Britain Beware raw sewage Plastic spending ** Editor:  We continue our column that looks at memorable dates in the month (this time, DECEMBER) down...

The 11th General Synod of the Church of England was formally inaugurated on Tuesday 16th November, at the start of a two-day meeting in London – the first full group of sessions held in person since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The recent elections attracted a record number of candidates (with 956 standing for...

Ever wonder where many of our Christmas traditions come from?   A surprising amount of our modern Christmas celebrations can be traced back to the well-loved story of ‘A Christmas Carol’, by Charles Dickens. When you read ‘A Christmas Carol’, you discover almost a template of the ‘ideal Christmas’ which we still hold dear today.  Dickens...

The charity Embrace the Middle East works to support Christians in the Middle East, for whom life is often very tough. A spokesman for the charity says: “We support our Christian partners, as they work to transform lives. Where there is a need – for refuge, a home, for health care, for education, for justice...

How tired are you? As this Christmas approaches, many of us feel more than tired – we feel utterly drained. We have found that despite being less active than we used to be, we have far less energy. Months of anxiety, rising bills, Covid confusion, and erratic sleep patterns have not helped. Here are some...

Donkeys have two walk-on parts in the story of Jesus’ life – from the donkey that took His pregnant mother to Bethlehem, to the donkey which He rode into Jerusalem. And so Christmas may be a good time to remember the charity Safe Haven for Donkeys, which was set up in 2000 to help the...

Waiting is not popular in our culture, when so much can be obtained simply at the press of a button! Advent, when we wait for the coming of Christmas, is also an opportunity to learn what it means to be waiting for the promised return of Jesus. He says: ‘It’s like a man going away:...

It was: 1500 years ago, on 7th December 521 that St Columba, Irish missionary who spread Christianity in Scotland, was born. He was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. 250 years ago, on 25th December 1771 that Dorothy Wordsworth, writer, poet, and diarist, was born. She was sister to the poet William Wordsworth. 175...

It is to St Luke’s wonderful gospel that many Christians turn as the year draws to a close and Christmas approaches, for it is to St Luke that we owe the fullest account of the nativity. Luke alone tells us the story of Mary and the angel’s visit to her, and has thus given the...

The Government has announced awards totalling just over six million pounds from the Heritage Stimulus Fund, part of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund, to Church of England churches and cathedrals. A total of 21 grants have been made directly to the Church of England, with a further 12 Church of England churches being funded through...

It was 1500 years ago, on 7th December 521, that St Columba, an Irish missionary who spread Christianity in Scotland and the North of England, was born in what is now County Donegal. Columba – also known as Columcille – was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland, who studied under St Finnian in his...