Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

How far would you go to respond to God’s call on your life? When, as the daughter of a peasant family in Champagne in 1426, 14-year-old Joan heard heavenly voices calling her to ‘save France’ from the English, she decided to obey the call, no matter what the consequences. Teenage girls who want to rescue...

Doesn’t the simple pleasure of going to church and exchanging the peace at Sunday worship seem long ago now? These days, we are not even allowed into our churches! But we can take comfort when we think back to the Apostles who were commissioned to build God’s Church. After the first Pentecost, what did they...

CAP has temporarily stopped all face-to-face Debt Help visits, community groups and events.   It says: “This is an unprecedented time and we are acutely aware that those living in poverty, suffering with mental ill-health or other vulnerabilities will be most affected by the coronavirus outbreak.” Because of this, CAP says it is working hard to...

To risk sounding like a smart aleck seven-year-old, technically speaking you can only prove things mathematically. If you need to know that one plus one equals two, don’t go to a chemistry lab. The natural sciences only deal with things that can be observed and measured. Science has been so successful that it’s tempting to...

By Rachel Boulding, BRF, £3.99 This book of 18 undated reflections draws comfort and encouragement from the Bible and from the author’s own experience for those going through life-limiting illness and for their family and carers. With moving vulnerability and without denying the difficult reality of the situation, Rachel Boulding suggests a way to confront...

People used to say ‘bless you’ if you sneezed. Nowadays they might say something ruder! We live in troubled times. Some say that the expression started in Rome, when plague broke out. Sneezing was one of the plague’s main symptoms, and Pope Gregory I suggested that a tiny prayer in the form of saying, “God bless you”...

My wife and I were at one time missionaries with the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. We joined them in 1975 after a period of training at their headquarters in London. While we were there, we met the hostess of the Mission Home, a matronly lady who had herself served overseas. She was a formidable person, but...

This year’s Tokyo Olympic Games have been postponed for a year because of coronavirus. But 80 years ago, the Tokyo Games scheduled for May 1940 were cancelled completely, because of World War II. Originally rescheduled for Helsinki, they were eventually abandoned, and the Olympic cycle did not restart until 1948 in London. The cancellation proved...

The Children’s Society has thanked “our fantastic supporters for your kindness and generosity” in recent months, but for the moment it has postponed all volunteering activity. “Coordinators who are due to open their networks’ boxes in May, June and July will receive a letter to let them know what to do. If you recently completed...

Not being able to go to church is causing an awful lot of people to ‘go’ to church. It started in late March, when the Archbishop kicked off with the first ever national virtual service, recorded in the crypt chapel of Lambeth Palace. It was seen or heard by an estimated five million people. That figure...

Mothers’ Union knows that these are very difficult times for families. “We know that our work and experience in re-building communities and supporting family life is going to be more important than ever once the threat of COVID-19 subsides. Our members will be ready and be some of the first in line to support those around...

Here is a curious thing: people who plan for their death actually seem to end up living longer. A recent study of terminally ill patients found that those who discussed with their doctors their preferences for end-of-life care, went on to live significantly longer than those patients who did not. The study was carried out...