Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Most of us probably know that on December 26th (the Feast of Stephen) ‘Good king Wenceslas’ looked out, writes David Winter. We probably also know that the snow lay round about, ‘deep and crisp and even’. Beyond that, he’s just someone in a carol that’s not often sung nowadays. However, Wenceslas was a real person,...

In partnership with Youth for Christ and several other family-focussed organisations, the Bible Society has created an edition of the Bible specifically designed for families. The Good News Bible – Family Edition has plenty of features to help each member of the family engage with the Bible at their own pace. The Bible Society says:...

The Rectory St James the Least of All My dear Nephew Darren After all these years, I now understand why the non-conformist denominations sit down, rather than kneel, to say their prayers. That way, no decisions have to be taken over the number, size, shape, colour, material and design of kneelers in church. Our present...

Have you noticed that, in the Christmas story, singing is featured on three occasions? Firstly, after Mary was given a message from the angel Gabriel, and was visiting her elderly and pregnant relative, Elizabeth. Mary was so overwhelmed with happiness at the forthcoming miraculous births, she started to sing. Over the years, her words, known...

Christmas Activities God Gave Us Christmas Held in Your Bottle Spiritual Detox Be Still – a simple guide to Quiet Times WOW!  Christmas A Pirate Christmas Activity Book It Begins in Bethlehem Nativity Activities Adorning the Dark ** Christmas Activities By Bethan James, Authentic, £2.50 All the events of the first Christmas are retold and...

After the bright beam of annunciation fused heaven with dark earth His searing sharply-focused light went out for a while eclipsed in amniotic gloom: His cool immensity of splendour His universal grace small-folded in a warm dim female space This extract from Luci Shaw’s poem Made Flesh captures something of the wonder of the moment when...

Walking 7,000 steps a day, or the equivalent of a three-mile stroll, is enough to reduce the likelihood of death in middle age by 72 per cent. The study was done by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Their findings also suggest that there is negligible, if any, benefit to walking 10,000 steps a...

The death of a very young child is perhaps the hardest grief of all to bear.  So the 28th December is a very poignant day in the church calendar.  It is when the worldwide Church joins with bereaved parents to grieve the loss of babies and young children.  For Holy Innocents day recalls the massacre...

Following on from last month, the other lessons that I learned following my wife’s death were: That it helps to talk about your loss and the person you have lost. Sharing helps you to put things together in your mind, and is healing in itself. Don’t be afraid of pain, and don’t anaesthetise it or...

With the true meaning of Christmas in mind… God did not send Christ to us; God came to us in Christ. – Don Skinner The incarnation was a historical and unrepeatable event with permanent consequences. Reigning at God’s right hand today is the man Christ Jesus, still human as well as divine, though now His...

We spent more than £4 in every £5 by using plastic last year, according to the British Retail Consortium. Debit and credit card transactions accounted for 81 per cent of all our spending, up from 78 per cent in 2019. For the first time, we used our debit cards for more than half (54 per...

The Archbishops’ Commission on Reimagining Care has launched a consultation on a set of values, informed by Christian theology and ethics, that it thinks should underpin a vision for care and support in England. As well as consulting on the proposed values, the Commission is also asking for people’s views of what is good and...