Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Something like 7.2 million Britons injured themselves while trying to stay fit during lockdown. There has been a dramatic rise in exercise-related injuries, ranging from sprains and strains to pulled muscles and back injuries. Of those of us injured during lockdown, 30 per cent of us were doing classes online or via apps, 28 per...

George Floyd is the latest in a long line of black people who, in recent years, have died at the hands of the police in America. This has led to a global outcry against racism, demanding fairness and equality in interpersonal relationships. But more than this, justice requires us to root out and re-order any...

After St Paul, who was the most influential Christian writer ever?  St Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430), whose feast-day is on 28th August.  He lived and wrote in a time of social and spiritual chaos.  The Roman Empire was collapsing, the world was about to slide into the dark ages and the Church was...

Young people have been twice as likely as baby boomers to experience lockdown loneliness, according to a recent survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). More than half of 16 to 24 year-olds said they have felt lonely during the pandemic, compared to less than a quarter of those aged 55-69

‘He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.’ (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The 60s hit ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!’ by the Byrds is based on verses in this chapter: ‘There is a time for everything, and...

A mission partner of Church Mission Society has warmly welcomed Sudan’s recent decision to criminalise female genital mutilation (FGM). Dr Ann-Marie Wilson, who leads the anti-FGM campaigning organisation 28 Too Many, has been pushing for years for the legislation. Since April, the law now says that perpetrators of FGM will face three years in prison....

Church of England bishops recently joined with counterparts from around the Anglican Communion in signing a statement warning of ‘Environmental Racism.’ The Archbishop of Canterbury together with the Bishops of Salisbury, Oxford, Truro, Dover, Woolwich, Sherborne, Loughborough, Kingston, Reading and Ramsbury, and former Archbishop Rowan Williams have joined a list of eight archbishops and 38...

Children’s behaviour has become worse under lockdown, with a rise in temper tantrums and arguments. So says a study by psychologists at Oxford University on the effects of the pandemic on young people’s mental health. Youngsters aged 4 to 10 suffered increasing emotional difficulties and some physical symptoms linked to worry. Young women aged 16...

Musings on Coronavirus Musings on our Christian faith Musings on modern life ** Musings on Coronavirus This crisis has in many ways made us more grateful for each other and … it has shown people at their best – volunteering, helping neighbours, protecting those at greatest risk, pulling together as communities to support one another....

I’m not a big fan of statues – but my favourite was the life-sized figure of Christ that stood in London’s Trafalgar Square during the Millennium celebrations. It stood on the square’s previously-empty fourth plinth, going almost unnoticed among the surrounding grand statues and with Nelson’s Column towering above it. The statue, called Ecce Homo...

Spare a thought for John the Baptist: however rough your local sandwich bar may be, it probably doesn’t serve you locusts with a honey dip; you won’t be imprisoned for saying derogatory things about the local MP’s wife, and even the boss from hell is unlikely to have a daughter who wants to hip-hop about...

Prison Fellowship has reminded its supporters of the hardships facing prisoners during coronavirus. Many prisoners have had to spend nearly 23 hours a day in their cells. Though such lockdown has been essential for the protection of both staff and prisoners against the coronavirus, it has had the effect, says Peter Holloway, CEO of Prison...