Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at your Church

A project to promote greater understanding between Science and Faith is to be extended, thanks to new funding. Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science, (ECLAS) was first set up in 2015 and run by Durham and York universities in collaboration with the Church of England. Now it has received a generous grant from...

Talking Jesus course gives Christians a new voice to share faith A testimony from the Rwandan genocide Spring Harvest turns 40 Signs & Symbols:  Holy oil, and even more holy oil The most popular books used in preaching Calls for a comprehensive Rural Strategy Pray for our nation! ** Editor:  Your readers may wish to...

“Now I feel confident talking about my walk with Jesus.” That’s the verdict of Paula, a Yorkshire mum who has been on the Talking Jesus course and has been inspired to speak up. She is not alone. The course is giving ordinary Christians across an extraordinary range of denominations, ethnicities and backgrounds, a new voice...

The Rwandan genocide began 25 years ago this month, in April 1994.  The Rev Antoine Rutasiyrie, now the pastor of a large church in Kigali, recalls the beginning of that terrible 100 days, when up to one million Tutsi were slaughtered by the Hutu. “My family were Tutsi and we lived in Kigali. We had...

This month (April) the annual Christian conference Spring Harvest celebrates its 40th birthday.  Since it began in 1979, it has attracted more than one million guests to it various sites, which this year are Minehead, Harrogate and Skegness. “We have truly seen God’s blessing over the past 40 years,” says Peter Martin of Spring Harvest. ...

Oils and creams loom large in the Bible just as they do in our world today. We use healing creams for all sorts of ailments, and moisturising lotions to soothe, but also often for the pure sensual pleasure that they give us. What can be better than your favourite hand cream after time spent gardening?...

Which books in the Bible are the most popular with preachers?  A website called CrossPreach has taken some 127,000 sermons (available on mp3s) from over 600 churches.  It then counted how many times the basic text was taken from which book of the Bible. The sermons were preached by a total of 9,500 different preachers,...

The Church of England’s lead Bishop for Education, the Rt Revd Stephen Conway,  has backed calls for a comprehensive Rural Strategy, following the publication of a new study. The report, recently published by the Rural Services Network, calls for action by the Government, citing concerns that the UK’s exit from the EU could serve to...

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York are calling for every parish and diocese to hold their local MPs, politicians and the members of the Government and civil servants in their prayers. Their concerns are for the social divisions, which “feel more entrenched and intractable than for many years”, and also for “the divisions within the...

Women’s ordination – 25 years on The day that women first became priests in the C of E Jeremy Hunt speaks on behalf of persecuted Christians Who cares for the Vicar?  Signs & Symbols:  the bells, the bells! Concern for the homeless on our streets Violence towards clergy on the rise The next 30 years...

Twenty-five years ago this month, women were ordained as priests in the Church of England.  As the BBC commentator on the first service in Bristol Cathedral I was prepared for disruptions from demonstrators, but it proceeded reverently and without a hitch.  The only protest was outside, where a group of approving Roman Catholic women held...

It was 25 years ago, on 12 March 1994, that the first 32 women priests in the Church of England were ordained. It happened in Bristol Cathedral, and Bishop Barry Rogerson ordained them in alphabetical order; so Angela Berners-Wilson was considered the very first woman to be ordained. The daughter of a priest, she is...