Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

We could ask our local council to plant a tree on our street.  So advises the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) who has recently announced that the majority of the Britain in Bloom finalists are in urban areas. This is the competition’s 56th year, and rather than simply judging on the beauty of the flowers planted,...

Edited by Andrew Roberts, BRF, £3.99 Holy Habits is an initiative to nurture Christian discipleship. Inspired by Luke’s model of church found in Acts 2:42–47, it identifies ten habits and encourages the development of a way of life formed by them. Each booklet contains 40 readings and reflections by four different writers. Providing eight weeks...

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, when the Church remembers how Jesus arrived at the gates of Jerusalem just a few days before the Passover was due to be held.  He was the Messiah come to his own people in their capital city, and yet he came in humility, riding on a young donkey, not...

The events of Easter took place over a week, traditionally called Passion Week. It began on Palm Sunday. After all his teaching and healing, Jesus had built a following. On the Sunday before he was to die, Jesus and his followers arrived at Jerusalem. The city was crowded. Jewish people were arriving from to celebrate...

You have often suspected this: those meetings at work are largely pointless, except they do provide you with a chance to talk. That is the conclusion of a team of academics from the University of Malmo in Sweden. They have found that the growth of managerial and strategy jobs in business has in turn fuelled...

The Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs division has published advice to parishes on practical steps to reduce the risk of infection from Coronavirus (COVID-19). The guidance, written by Dr Brendan McCarthy, the Church of England’s Adviser on health issues, draws on the latest Government advice. It is available on a dedicated web page which...

The number of middle-aged ‘bachelors’ (aged 45–64) who live on their own is soaring.  They now make up 1.4million of the 8.2 million single households in the county. Overall, there are 27.8 million homes in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics’ 2019 figures on families and households.

Maundy Thursday is famous for two things.  The first is one of the final acts that Jesus did before his death: the washing of his own disciples’ feet.  (see John 13)  Jesus washed his disciples’ feet for a purpose:  “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you...

The Church of England’s General Synod has now set new targets for all parts of the church to work to become carbon ‘net zero’ by 2030. The original target was 2045. At its February 2020 meeting, members voted in favour of a revised date encouraging all parts of the Church of England to take action and...

Good Friday is the day on which Jesus died on the cross. He was crucified at 9am in the morning, and died six hours later, at 3pm.  It is the most solemn day in the Christian year, and is widely marked by the removal of all decorations from churches.  In Lutheran churches, the day was...

Luke’s account of the crucifixion (Luke 23:32-43) emphasises the mocking of the crowd, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself’ (35,37,39). In their view a Messiah does not hang on a cross and suffer. In considering the two men who was crucified with Jesus, we are also confronted with the issue of...

As the traditional Easter story is rehearsed again this month, you may notice that there is one name that frequently occurs. It is that of the ‘other’ Mary – not the mother of Jesus, but Mary of Magdalene, who stood by her at the cross and became the first human being actually to meet the...