Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Seventy years ago, from early February 1955 and well into March, a Big Freeze took place in Britain. Deep snow and freezing temperatures caused havoc, with many places cut off. The RAF dropped food and medical supplies to affected areas, while thousands of sheep died from exposure. Although the winters of 1947 and 1963 have...

‘Moses said to the Lord, “…I am not able to carry all this people alone, the burden is too heavy for me…”’ Numbers 11:10-15.  Moses prayed this prayer in a day of dark depression and discouragement.  The opening verses of the chapter relate how divine punishment fell on the people of Israel because they complained...

How many parents team up with their offspring to commit fraud? The answer might surprise you. For research has found that nearly one in five young motorists are lying to their car insurers as to who is the main driver of their car. The practise is called ‘fronting’. Young drivers claim that a parent is...

The Lead Bishops for Safeguarding, Joanne Grenfell, Julie Conalty and Robert Springett wrote to survivors and their advocates, following the Archbishop of Canterbury’s last speech in the House of Lords at the end of December. “We write after watching Archbishop Justin’s farewell speech in the House of Lords yesterday. We have heard from several of you...

– the chosen one       Have you ever been in the position where someone is desperately needed – and you fit the bill perfectly? It is almost as if all your miscellaneous qualifications that never made much sense before now make PERFECT sense. And you sense that you have been chosen by God for the...

Attendance at Christmas services leapt by 20 per cent in 2023, and the number of worshippers at Easter was up 8.6 per cent, as Church of England congregations experienced a third year of growth, the latest statistics show. The number of regular worshippers edged above a million in 2023 for the first time since the...

Eighty years ago, on 21st February 1945, Scottish athlete Eric Liddell died. An Olympic gold medallist in 1924 at Paris, he had withdrawn from the 100m heat because it was held on a Sunday, and had entered the 400m instead. The story is featured in the film Chariots of Fire. Liddell died in a Japanese internment camp...

The original St Valentine gave love in the form of compassion for some needy children. That sort of love is still needed today, as UNICEF says that about 1 billion children worldwide are currently facing ‘multidimensional poverty.’  That means they lack necessities like food, water, shelter, education and health care. No one can get their...

If you skip breakfast in your middle age, it can make you fatter and unhealthy. Instead, a recent study advises that having a well-balanced breakfast helps manage daily calorie intake and lower cholesterol, BMI and waist size. Breakfast “serves the critical role of breaking the extended fasting period from sleep.” NHS guidelines recommend 2,000 calories...

Some people are beginning to clap in church, if they are pleased with something. For tired vicars and timid curates, having a sermon greeted with warm clapping might be an encouragement, if also a complete surprise. But the applauding of sermons, or applause at the end of services, also reveals a dark side: churchgoing has...

– the enjoyment of romance If you have been hurt in your search for romantic love, Gabriel Possenti (1838-62) may be a good saint for you. Because Possenti, born to the governor of Assisi, began by having it all. He grew up doing the mid-19th century equivalent of eBay, nightclubs, cinema and online dating, only...

Where can family-minded birds raise their young these days? As our gardens and parklands become smaller and tidier, too many natural nest sites – such as holes in trees, old buildings and unkempt hedgerows – are rapidly disappearing No wonder that our sparrows, greenfinches and swifts are in precipitous decline, and that one in four...