Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Joseph of Copertino (1603 – 63) should be the patron saint of all awkward people who mean well, but who drive those around them to distraction – especially their church leaders. Joseph began life in a garden shed, because his father had sold the house to pay debts.  Then he grew up wandering about open-mouthed...

Have you ever heard a certain song or tune that immediately takes you back to your youth? It can be a very poignant moment. When researchers at the University of Westminster examined the choices of 80 different guests on the BBC radio show Desert Island Discs, they found that most guests had chosen music which...

All in the month of September Celebrating 400th anniversary of the voyage of the Mayflower Louis Pasteur – ‘father’ of microbiology Bring back hedgerows Gorse – cheerful and perfumed, but prickly! Happy Birthday, Glastonbury Festival Now even more plastic ** Editor:  We continue our column that looks at memorable dates in the month (this time,...

Korea is known for its thriving Christian church.  But it was not always so – in fact no Korean was baptised until as late as 1784.  Christianity arrived in Korea through Christian books sent from China, and the Koreans responded warmly as soon as they heard the Good News.  A Chinese priest who visited in...

There are few psalms as personal and real as Psalm 23. It records David’s experience of God as his Shepherd going through dark times. In the midst of the effects of a global pandemic, this psalm speaks to the fears that can overwhelm us. He Knows Me: ‘The Lord is my shepherd…’ Just as a...

Churches warned to prepare for ‘tidal wave of poverty’ Abbey’s ‘black Jesus’ stirs up a storm Saudi Arabia’s call on UN to embrace Islamophobia as racism raises alarm Helping Christians of Central Asia during COVID-19 Pandemic amid millions of locusts As the pandemic progresses, here is the latest from MAF pilots… Tearfund in Yemen The...

Church leaders are being urged to be ready to respond to the lasting impact of the pandemic on the country’s poorest people. The effect on urban, suburban and rural communities is likely to be severe with many thousands of jobs being lost and livelihoods threatened. The poorest in society may find themselves hardest hit. Churches...

Next to you and lonely Oberammergau Why has my father brought me here? A cup of joy! Saint Michael Praise to the Holiest in the height ** Next to you and lonely (Matthew 25:40) Cups of tea and people, People who do and who know. People with purposeful expressions, Their eyes searching beyond her, through...

Editor:  As Party Conference season begins and the US Presidential election draws closer: Are politicians the oldest profession? A surgeon, an architect and a politician were arguing as to whose profession was the oldest.  Said the surgeon: “Eve was made from Adam’s rib, and that surely was a surgical operation.” “Maybe,” admitted the architect, “but...

A new system of targeted sanctions could be used against the perpetrators of “gross human rights abuses” on the Uighur people in China, a bishop has told the House of Lords. The Bishop of Rochester, James Langstaff, also urged the Government to consider the use of sanctions specifically to protect freedom of religion or belief...

I used to ask this question as a student. I wondered what it was like to have a career in science, and how being a Christian might make a difference. Eventually I met a good number of successful scientists who were sincere Christians, and I learned that science and faith are a great combination. Dr...

St Matthew was one of 12 apostles.  But he began as a publican i.e. a tax-collector of Jewish race who worked for the Romans, before he left all at the call of Christ.  From earliest times, he was regarded as the author of the first of the four Gospels.    The Gospel of Matthew is in...