Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Salvation Army helps victims of modern slavery The Salvation Army marks an anniversary this month. It was in July 2011 that it was appointed to be lead agency in England and Wales for coordinating and managing the delivery of specialist support services to the adult victims of Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking. The Salvation Army’s...

Visit the Archbishops’ websites Have you yet visited the two new websites for the Archbishops of Canterbury and York? They were launched recently in order to promote their work and give regular updates and news.  Following the same design as the CofE’s main site, they have a mobile-friendly layout, and an emphasis on images and...

The Church of England is facing a serious shortage – of church organists Be very, very nice to your church organist, and don’t upset them, because they are becoming somewhat of an endangered species in the Church of England. In fact, so many churches now have organs, but no organists, that nearly one in three...

Is the Church biased against northern accents? Is it harder to become a vicar if you were brought up in the north of England?  At least one CofE bishop thinks so. The Bishop of Burnley, the Rt Revd Philip North, has said that selection boards favour well-spoken middle-class candidates over working-class candidates.  And he said...

Christian Aid condemns violations in Nicaragua Christian Aid has condemned the recent human rights violations in Nicaragua and welcomed the preliminary findings of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The commission’s preliminary investigations found evidence of torture, arbitrary arrests and censorship of the press. The report also confirmed 76 deaths, more than 800 injured...

Ten Years of Book Sales In 2017 there were £22 million worth of religious books sold in the UK, some 2.5 million copies. This was 1.4% of the total sales of books in the UK in 2017. The largest growth area was in religious but non-Christian book, because the Oxford University Press published its translation...

New hub for the waterways chaplaincy Do you like messing around in boats?  On canals?  Then look out for volunteers from the waterways chaplaincy this summer. The canal and river chaplaincy has opened a regional ‘hub’ for the South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Southwell and Nottingham regions.  Based on the Chesterfield canal, the new hub will...

The Windrush Generation at worship The significant impact of the so-called “Windrush Generation” (those arriving in the UK between 1948 and 1971 from Caribbean countries of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and other islands) and other Commonwealth nationals from Africa, India and Pakistan has played a major role in shaping and creating modern Britain.  (The phrase...

Sea Sunday is 8th July – buy some yellow wellington boots! The Fishermen’s Mission is selling yellow wellington boots as part of its campaign to raise awareness of those lost at sea while working in the fishing industry in the past ten years. For every pair of boots sold, the charity will tie a yellow...

Fixed Odds Betting Terminals: £2 maximum stake is ‘right decision’, says bishop The Bishop of St Albans, Alan Smith, has welcomed Government plans to limit the maximum stake on Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) to £2. He said the decision was an “essential” step in curbing the harm done by the machines, which he said have...

What problems do ministers have to deal with these days? Ever wonder what sort of pastoral problems people may be bringing to our minister? Struggles with loneliness and mental illness are pretty sure to come near the top, according to a new survey. The two issues have been found to be by far the commonest...

Looking at God  A Plastic Revolution From the Vicar God is able to use us to meet others’ needs THE WAY I SEE IT – Holidays and Holy-days The ‘Other’ Mary Becoming a Christian We are given gifts for a good reason   ** Editor:  The Rev Paul Hardingham considers the problem of plastic from...