Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Raymond Nonnatus (1204 – 40) is a good patron saint for anyone who does not take life for granted. The account of his own life begins with the story of how his mother died just before his birth, and of how Raymond was somehow extracted from her dead body just in time to save him.(‘Nonnatus’...

The Church Commissioners for England have been able to extend financial support to dioceses, cathedrals and churches during the Covid-19 pandemic, underpinned by positive financial returns and despite volatile markets. The Commissioners, in partnership with the Archbishops’ Council, provided £75m of immediate liquidity support and established a £35m Diocesan Sustainability Fund programme, plus a £20m...

Dog lovers will find this good news: canine DNA is to be collected by a police force to help stolen animals be reunited with their owners. The scheme by Gloucestershire Police is thought to be a world first. It will involve owners using a kit to take a swab from their dog’s mouth. The sample...

Renters are struggling. 1.7 million renting households are worried about paying their rent over the next three months, and nearly one million are worried about being evicted during the same period. Such are the findings of recent research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). The JRF says that black, Asian and minority-ethnic renters, renters with...

Many children enjoy boiled sweets – especially trying to see how long they can make them last.   The pleasure of holding the flavoured sweet in your mouth is far better than crunching it up in a few seconds! There is a way of doing much the same with a Bible passage, and it is called...

The Rectory St James the Least of All My dear Nephew Darren Now you have got your new telephone system in the parish, I shall not be calling you again. I refuse to wait for ten minutes every time I ring to have to listen to the cycle of ‘press 1 for the vicar, 2...

As saints’ days do not change from year to year, most of these have appeared on this site before.  The one with an asterisk is new this year. For the first half of each year (Advent to Whitsuntide) our focus is on what God has done for man, particularly through sending us Jesus Christ.  But...

Most Christians in the UK have heard of the Church Mission Society or CMS.  Far fewer have heard of the Revd Henry Venn (1796-1873), whose father, the rector of Clapham, founded CMS in 1799, and who himself became the greatest missionary strategist of the 19th century. Not that Henry Venn ever became a missionary himself;...

If you are thinking of turning your back on wealth and privilege, in order to do something you feel God is calling you to do, St Theobald (1017 – 1066) may be the saint for you.   He was born into an aristocratic family at Provins in France.  But he became a hermit with a fellow...

Do you ever admire relief workers?  Those hardy folk who regularly appear on our TV screens, actively seeking out the disease-ridden, starving, destitute people of the world, instead of avoiding them, as most of us try and do. John Francis Regis (1597 – 1640) could be a patron saint of relief workers.  It all began...

Thomas, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles, was an impulsive, confused, honest sceptic.  Jesus could understand and work with such a man.  Thomas’ impulsiveness was evident when Jesus prepared to visit Lazarus in Bethany.  It was a dangerous trip to make, because of the Jews, but Thomas urged his fellow disciples: “Let us also go, that...

St. Elizabeth of Portugal (1271 – 1336) could be the patron saint of all well-to-do women who have compassionate hearts.   As wife of Denis, the King of Portugal, Elizabeth became a byword for her acts of piety and charity to the poor.  She founded convents, hospitals, and shelters for prostitutes.  After Denis died she became...