Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at your Church

“The first thing Christians can do in response to war is to pray for peace and for those affected.” That is the message of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. The Archbishops are praying for “those mourning, those injured, and all those fearing for their safety,” and for “restraint on all sides, and renewed efforts...

This year Church Action on Poverty Sunday is on 11th February, when Christians around the country are urged to remember those in real need. Perhaps one of the most serious impacts of poverty is the dire state of homelessness. The numbers are staggering. More than 300,000 people are homeless in the UK; 119 families in...

The Bishop of Norwich, Graham Usher, lead bishop for Environmental Affairs, has been reflecting on the recent COP28. Here are some extracts of what he says: “My hopes for COP28 were that we needed a commitment to phase out fossil fuels, make significant progress with the Loss and Damage Fund, prioritise resilience building for climate...

The romance of Valentine’s Day can be a reminder that it is good to take stock of your own romantic relationship.  In other words, how well are you getting along with the one whom you love at present? If you feel things could be improved between you, but that you are running out of enthusiasm...

– Church of England online service Jesus accompanies those experiencing grief, loneliness, and sadness. That was the message of a recent national online service. In a sermon recorded at St Nicholas Church in Rattlesden, Suffolk, where she is Rector, the Rev Sharon Grenham-Thompson spoke of her grief for her teenage son Leo, who died in...

Care Homes are one type of communal establishments measured by the Office for National Statistics in the 2021 Census. In 2022, there were 408,371 people living in care homes across the United Kingdom. Some residents enjoy regular visits from family or friends, while others lead a very lonely life. Some will ‘pass on’ relatively quickly, while others...

Crisis Appeal from ‘Embrace the Middle East’ Bible Society runs trauma healing programmes in Gaza and Israel Why funerals are going out of fashion Visiting other churches World Leprosy Day 2024 – 28th January Remember the Christians of Lebanon this year Grim outlook for people in poverty in the UK Christians kidnapped in Nigeria **...

The Christian charity ‘Embrace the Middle East’ (Embrace) has launched a crisis appeal to raise support for its Christian partners in Gaza and Israel, as they seek to help those affected by the war. Embrace reports that the recent pause in fighting has given its partners on the ground time to take some action:  Al...

Bible Society teams in the Middle East are working among traumatised people on both sides of the conflict. Alongside food and other essentials, they are offering a Bible-based trauma healing programme that gives damaged people a chance to talk through their experience with trained facilitators. Through this programme, thousands of refugees are experiencing the Bible...

Less than half of the UK population now want their death to be marked with a funeral. So says a major new research report called Love, Grief, and Hope: Emotional responses to death and dying in the UK, by the religion and society think tank Theos. The findings are based on polling commissioned from YouGov,...

‘… this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord … (Psalm 27:4) The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is this month (18th – 25th January), so it’s probably a good time to meet...

World Leprosy Day is always the last Sunday of January. It aims to raise awareness of a disease that is at least 4,000 years old, making it one of the oldest diseases known to humanity. Leprosy still exists! Around 200,000 people are diagnosed with leprosy each year, and many millions are living with leprosy-related disabilities,...