Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found that, following an initial period of great anxiety and confusion, now almost half the population understands that life will not return to normal within the next six months. Other findings include: 75 per cent of us are “very worried” or “somewhat worried” about the effect that coronavirus...

St Benedict (c.480 – c.550) was an abbot and author of the famous Rule that bears his name.  Because of his Rule, Benedict is also the Patriarch of Western Monasticism, and Patron Saint of Europe. Surprisingly little is known about his life.  Born at Nursia, Benedict studied at Rome, which he then left before completing...

– to revising access to church buildings  The House of Bishops is continuing to review advice to clergy on the Church’s efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The Bishops have agreed in principle to a phased approach to lifting restrictions with regard to church buildings, in time and in parallel with the Government’s...

 For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver… (Isaiah 33:22) The last few months has proved a busy time for many solicitors. Sadly, the added stress, uncertainty, isolation, and changes to daily life brought on by coronavirus has led to many disputes. People have ended up fighting their business contacts, colleagues, neighbours and even family members,...

British adults are praying for an end to the Covid-19 crisis, as well as for frontline workers and those living in poverty both in the UK and around the world, according to a new poll commissioned by Christian Aid. The research, undertaken by Savanta ComRes, found that one in four (26%) British adults say they...

A recent survey by the Prince’s Trust has found increased levels of anxiety among young people because of the crisis. Half of them say that finding a job now felt ‘impossible’. Seven out of ten young people reported feeling that their life is “on hold”, and a third feel that everything they have worked for...

The Church Commissioners for England, the endowment fund of the Church of England, have published their Annual Report for 2019.  Key results include:  The Church Commissioners made a positive return of 10% in 2019 Value of Commissioners’ investment fund stood at £8.7bn (year end 2019) Church Commissioners post eleventh successive year of positive returns The...

Sometimes those who suffer are best at helping others in a similar situation.  Discharged from the Venetian army with an incurable leg wound, St Camillus (1550 – 1614) founded a religious order called the Ministers of the Sick (the Camellians).  Both in their Holy Ghost Hospital in Rome, and by travelling to plague-stricken parts of...

When you can’t go out, go shopping. That seems to be the decision of many people over 65. Record numbers of over-65s have signed up for online banking, according to recent data from Halifax.  And they are now shopping online twice as much as a year ago, after being forced to stay home during lockdown....

Government figures show that 2.5 million people aged 75 and above have never used the internet. And so, to help them, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, recently launched a free national phoneline to bring worship and prayer into the homes of those without access to the internet. Daily Hope, which is available 24 hours a day...

St Swithun is apparently the saint you can blame for rainy summers.  It is said that if it rains on his special day, 15th July, it will then rain for 40 days after that.  It all began when Swithun was made Bishop of Winchester in 852 by King Ethelwulf of Wessex. It was an important...

All We Can, the relief arm of the Methodist Church, is appealing to people to support its Emergency Coronavirus Appeal by doing a 10km sponsored walk. The ‘In Her Shoes’ challenge aims to raise money to buy bicycles for people in rural Uganda, who must spend hours walking to get anywhere.  Having a bicycle will...