Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

People involved in church or village life are often asked to join committees or to help run things. These include trusts and charities, being a PCC member, school governors and hospital managers, village hall groups and I suppose judging bonny baby competitions. These community positions are vital for the good of everyone, but unfortunately not...

All in the month of OCTOBER Remembering St Francis of Assisi 100 years of Winnie-the-Pooh Looking back on The Jarrow March The beginning of the M25 Black History Month marks 100 years – and brings Barak Obama to the UK World Animal Day – helping animals in dire need Light Parties – a happier alternative...

If you love languages, then Henry Martyn is the saint for you. Born in 1781, and schooled in Truro, he went on to St John’s College in Cambridge, where he proved a brilliant student. He planned on becoming a lawyer, but at Cambridge he met Charles Simeon, the Vicar of Holy Trinity Cambridge, and a...

Last time we reflected on the time of ‘Receiving and sharing the Peace’ within our service. This month, we consider what comes next. I say ‘next’ but actually, during that time of sharing the Peace most of us multi-task!  We move around saying hello and catching up on the latest news from folk we only...

Many of us can look back and recognise people who have helped us in our faith: a parent, a friend, a church leader, or perhaps someone who was simply willing to listen, pray and encourage us at the right moment. The Christian life has never been a path we are expected to travel alone. Throughout...

He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. (Luke 13) I was waiting for Evensong to start and had got most things ready. I usually sit outside while I wait if it is nice. It was a...

It was: 800 years ago, on 3rd October 1226 that St Francis of Assisi, Italian friar, deacon and mystic, died. One of the most venerated religious figures in Christianity, and founder of the Franciscan Order. 300 years ago, on 28th October 1726 that Jonathan Swift’s novel Gulliver’s Travels was published. 175 years ago, on 18th...

British churches have been using prayers written for times of extreme weather. As five successive heatwaves hit the UK this summer, bringing drought, extreme heat and wildfires, local churches have been helping the people affected, both through practical support – and prayers. The prayers they used are found in A Time for Creation, a newly...

This month (5th to 11th October) is Back Care Awareness Week – a good time for parents to think about the challenges of simply picking up their children. For no matter how much you love them, there is no doubt that babies and young children can be a real pain in the back – literally....

When you are out and about on the road far from home, ever feel tempted to pop in and explore an unfamiliar church?  If so, think of Donatus as your patron saint – and beware.  You don’t know what you may be letting yourself in for…. In 829 Donatus, an Irish monk, had completed a...

The Bishop of Worcester, Hugh Nelson, who is the C of E’s Bishop to the Armed Forces, recently went to Kyiv to join Ukrainian church leaders, other religious leaders and government officials at the National Prayer Breakfast in Kyiv. Bishop Hugh also met with the leader of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, His Beatitude Metropolitan...

Eight hundred years ago, on 3rd October 1226, St Francis of Assisi, the Italian friar, deacon and mystic, died. One of the most venerated religious figures in Christianity, he founded the Franciscan Order. He died at the age of about 44 of severe illness, including eye disease, malaria and exhaustion, possibly following a 40-day fast....