Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Have you ever stopped to think that your mobile phone and emails have not given you more time? Just more things to do in the same amount of time. We leave our messages in one place while we take our bodies elsewhere. Instead of doing one thing after another, we shoot out a variety of...

– founder of SPCK Thomas Bray was once called a ‘Great Small Man’, with good reason. This diminutive 18th century English clergyman (1658 – 1730) not only helped to establish the Church of England in Maryland, but he was also founder of the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (SPCK) in 1698 and the...

Sometimes we can be inclined to give and give and give to others – without asking anything in return. We may think that this is a sign of generosity – of great strength. But it can also be one of pride – we want to be seen as the one who does not need help....

That is the forecast of Release International, which has recently published its annual Persecution Trends survey. “Our partners tell us that attacks are on the rise under Communism in China, Islam in Iran and Malaysia, and under militant Hinduism in India,” says Release CEO Paul Robinson. “Yet despite persecution and pandemic, we see clear evidence...

If you are already struggling to keep it, here is something that might help you. Psychologists advise that it is useless to say you are going to quit anything. Instead, make your resolution to change into something positive. For example, instead of “I will give up sweets,” say “I will eat fruit twice a day.”...

– who’s for pancakes?     by David Winter Why do we have pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day, as we call it today? And what is Shrove Tuesday? And why do thousands of people feel it rewarding to race along a street somewhere tossing pancakes from their frying pans as they go? Well, the answer...

G  –  God R  –  Ran A  –  Alongside C  –  Carrying E  –  Everything

– Pancake Day Ever wonder why we eat pancakes just before Lent? The tradition dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, when Christians spent Lent in repentance and severe fasting. So on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the church bell would summon them to confession, where they would be ‘shriven’, or absolved from their sins, which gives...

What have men and women been thinking about during the pandemic? According to recent data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), men have been preoccupied with takeaway food and pints, while women have been keeping in touch with their friends. In a study on the social impact of coronavirus, the ONS found that women...

Do you ever worry that your past failings mean that God will not accept you now?   Some of us have done many things which we regret, things that have caused us, or others, great pain. We’ve given our children short shrift, we’ve betrayed our marriage partners, we’ve been dishonest at work, we’ve been ruthlessly greedy...

A new report by Christian Aid, Counting the cost 2020: a year of climate breakdown, has identified 15 of the most destructive climate disasters of the year. Ten of those events cost $1.5 billion or more, with nine of them causing damage worth at least $5 billion. Most of these estimates are based only on...

It has been a terrible year for farmers and workers in the global south. In 2020, on top of the pandemic, they had to deal with the growing impact of climate change: more droughts and crop disease, locusts, floods, fires, and heatwaves.  No wonder their harvests were shrinking. Yet with the help of Fairtrade, many...