Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at your Church

China has been trying to tighten its grip on Christians in China through a programme of ‘Sinicization’, a policy to compel churches to adopt the atheist ideology of the Communist Party. According to reports, a recent conference in Jilin was attended by state-appointed pastors of the government-controlled Three Self Church. It called for Christianity with...

‘Compassion in action’. That is the theme for this year’s Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Sunday, which is next month, on 15th October. Churches play a vital role in helping people coping with UK poverty, and CAP says that it wants to help them “do more of that!” It says: “Whether you’ve partnered with us for...

As our children return to school this month, World Vision has been reporting on its work in countries where more and more children will NOT be going to school this autumn. Instead, the worldwide cost-of-living-crisis means that such children will either be skipping meals to make ends meet, unable to go to school because of...

Since the fighting broke out in Sudan this April, thousands have been killed and several million have been displaced. Ceasefire attempts by the warring parties – the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – have failed, and the conflict has now spread beyond the capital Khartoum to the south. It...

On Wednesday 26th July, the army in Niger announced a coup and removed the country’s president, Mohamed Bazoum, from power. The West African country’s borders were closed, a nationwide curfew imposed, and all government institutions were suspended. General Abdourahmane Tchiani has since declared himself the new leader of Niger. This military takeover marks the ninth...

Church of England awards £16.3 million for mission  Archbishops welcome Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller Friendly Churches  Clergy struggle to make ends meet Believe in your local government Christian Aid warns thousands at risk after Ukraine floods Tearfund campaign to help victims of drought in Ethiopia Nigeria – the attacks continue Bumblebees are happy near churches...

Apprentice youth workers, youth ministers, children and family workers, as well as chaplaincy aimed at students in further education, are to be funded as part of major awards to dioceses recently announced by the Church of England. A total of £16.3 million has been awarded by the Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board to five...

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have recently met with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people advocating for a new initiative aimed at reaching out to people within these communities. The Gypsy, Roma Traveller (GRT) Friendly Churches will encourage and signpost churches to do more to welcome people into worshipping communities. Archbishop Justin said: “The Gospel...

Is the C of E paying its clergy enough? The amount of the stipend is determined by dioceses, but they use national stipend benchmarks which are set by the Archbishops’ Council each year. A guiding principle in setting these benchmarks is that “clergy should be paid at a level that gives them a standard of...

The Bishop of Durham believes that people should take local government more seriously. Speaking recently in the House of Lords, he said that too few people appreciate the important role that local government can play in addressing the issues that they most care about. Bishop Paul Butler said: “There is a feeling among the public,...

Christian Aid has been working “around the clock” with its partners in Ukraine to make sure fresh water supplies are reaching survivors, after the Nova Kakhovka dam was recently destroyed. It is also providing humanitarian supplies to people who are displaced across, or who had to leave, the affected areas of southern Ukraine. Iryna Dobrohorska, Chirstian...

More than 20.1 million people across Ethiopia are without the food they need to survive. They are in crisis because of the prolonged drought, caused by the failure of five rainy seasons. And because the land is now so dry, the recent brief rains only caused flash flooding, that destroyed more farmland and drought-weakened livestock. As...