Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Our historic canals are in danger of disappearing. Caught in a ‘perfect storm’ of extreme weather events and funding cuts, the canals could be facing irreparable damage to huge stretches of their waterways. The Canal and River Trust (CRT) warns that even the historic sections of the Grand Union Canal and the scenic Oxford Canal...

– vicar and poet  On this day the Church Calendar celebrates George Herbert. For those who are muttering ‘never heard of him’, just think of the hymn ‘Let all the world/ In every corner sing’, which he wrote, along with several other hymns which are still popular, even if they are well over 300 years old....

‘Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be …successful.’  Joshua 1.8  Any flying instructor will tell you that periodically all aeroplanes need to be ‘trimmed’ or ‘balanced in flight’. After flying through storms...

A new initiative to enable male Baptist ministers to be better allies for women in ministry and leadership will begin in early 2025 Project Violet is a major study into women’s experience of ministry, which has sought to understand more fully the theological, missional, and structural obstacles women ministers face in the Baptist community in...

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has written to the World Bank to request a meeting. It wants to “discuss potential strategies for working together to accelerate the transition for clean energy and reduce fossil-fuel dependence in developing economies.” The WCC points out that “Faith communities can serve as partners and advocates for these efforts,...

We love eggs. On average, we eat at least two of them each week, which makes eggs one of Britain’s most popular foods. Eggs are exceptionally good for you – high in protein, containing all the essential amino acids, rich in the B vitamins, vitamin D and A, and choline, and a source of healthy...

It has been a mystery for cat lovers everywhere: what makes some cats ginger? Now – after 60 years of searching – scientists have good news. They have finally found the chunk of DNA that is responsible. The so-called Garfield gene is Arhgap36. Arhgap36 has been hiding away on the X chromosome, of which males...

Sundays of the Month 5th Jan             Second Sunday of Christmas 12th Jan            Baptism of Jesus – First Sunday of Epiphany 19th Jan           Second Sunday of Epiphany 26th Jan           Third Sunday of Epiphany 2nd Feb            Presentation of Christ in the Temple – Candlemas ** High Days and Holy Days for January  Editor:  As these special days...

Matthew and Luke tell how the angel instructed that Mary’s baby was to be named Jesus – a common name meaning ‘saviour’. The Church recalls the naming of Jesus on 1st January – eight days after 25th December (by the Jewish way of reckoning days).  In Jewish tradition, the male babies were circumcised and named...

The name Jesus is a transliteration of a name that occurs in several languages. It is of Hebrew origin, ‘Yehosua’, or Joshua. There is also the Hebrew-Aramaic form, ‘Yesua’. In Greek, it became ‘ Ἰησοῦς’ (Iēsoûs), and in Latin it became ‘Iesus’. The meaning of the name is ‘Yahweh delivers’ or ‘Yahweh rescues’, or ‘Yahweh...

Basil was most people’s idea of the perfect diocesan bishop. He was a theologian of distinction, who as a monk devoted himself to much prayer and teaching. He leapt to the defence of the Church from the persecution of the Arian emperor Valens, but also appreciated great secular literature of the time, gave away his...

‘Discipline’ is now virtually a banned word, along with ‘risk’, ‘problem’ and ‘failure’. They seem to have been replaced respectively by ‘focus’, ‘safety’, ‘challenge’ and ‘opportunity’. On the occasions when we do recognise and applaud the virtue of discipline, it’s usually in the lives and activities of soldiers, police officers, dressage horses and the dog....