Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin became the first people to walk on the surface of the Moon 50 years ago, on 21st July 1969. There had been some dispute over who would step first on to the Moon’s surface, but Apollo 11 commander Armstrong was given the privilege partly for technical reasons....

By Make Believe Ideas, Authentic, £8.99 An inspirational collection of stories to teach children how God can help them handle their emotions. Each story explores a particular emotion: sadness, happiness, fear and anger. The stories are written in clear, simple text and are brought to life with beautiful illustrations. Included with each story is a...

Do you ever admire relief workers?  Those hardy folk who regularly appear on our TV screens, actively seeking out the disease-ridden, starving, destitute people of the world, instead of avoiding them, as most of us try and do. John Francis Regis (1597 – 1640) could be a patron saint of relief workers.  It all began...

The poet and Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins was born 175 years ago, on 28th July 1844 in Stratford – now East London. He was the eldest of probably nine children in a family that was both well off and artistically creative, as well as High Anglican. His father Manley, who founded a marine insurance...

By Wendy Billington, BRF, £8.99 This book is a Christian view of retirement.  Attitudes to retirement vary, and in this book Wendy Billington draws on her pastoral skills and life experience to ask the question: what is a Christian view of retirement? If we believe that life is a gift from God, should we not...

Thomas, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles, was an impulsive, confused, honest sceptic.  Jesus could understand and work with such a man.  Thomas’ impulsiveness was evident when Jesus prepared to visit Lazarus in Bethany.  It was a dangerous trip to make, because of the Jews, but Thomas urged his fellow disciples: “Let us also go, that...

William Archibald Spooner, university lecturer, dean and priest, was born 175 years ago, on 22nd July 1844, in London. Known for his absent-mindedness, he sometimes mixed up the syllables of words, to comic effect.  These are now known as spoonerisms. Spooner was an albino and suffered from defective eyesight. He studied at New College, Oxford,...

St. Elizabeth of Portugal (1271 – 1336) could be the patron saint of all well-to-do women who have compassionate hearts.   As wife of Denis, the King of Portugal, Elizabeth became a byword for her acts of piety and charity to the poor.  She founded convents, hospitals, and shelters for prostitutes.  After Denis died she became...

July 4th is a special day in the USA and has been for 343 years. It is Independence Day, when they celebrate the Second Continental Council which declared the 13 American colonies were free of English rule. They were later joined by others, eventually forming the nation we now know as the ‘United States of...

By John Elliston,  Kevin Mayhew, £2.99 Pain is inseparable from the human condition. For some it becomes a constant companion with whom an unequal battle is fought. The author explores the phenomenon of pain and places the whole into the context of belief in a loving God. Christian theologians have grappled with the existence of...

These days, lawyers and politicians are held in the lowest esteem by the public, along with tabloid journalists and estate agents. St Thomas More was both a lawyer and politician, who is today much admired for holding steadfastly to his faith-based principles. He lived in dangerous times, when anyone, even queens, who displeased King Henry...

When Torch Trust was born 60 years ago, a vision burned to see God’s Word in action, to enable all with sight loss to be fully able to play their part in a Christian community and to grow in faith. From humble beginnings in 1959, and a family motivated by their love both for God...