Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Christians have been in the Middle East for nearly 2000 years, but they now face the threat of ‘imminent extinction’, the Archbishop of Canterbury has warned. In a recent letter to The Sunday Telegraph, Archbishop Justin Welby told of a visit he had made about 15 years ago to the home of an elderly Palestinian...

Prince Charles has praised the ‘extraordinary grace and capacity for forgiveness’ of the thousands of Middle Eastern Christians facing persecution. Speaking late last year, the Prince said he had been “deeply humbled” by meeting Christians from the Middle East ‘who, with such inspiring faith and courage, are battling oppression and persecution.’ He wanted to assure...

Churches and campaigners gave a cautious welcome to the recent UN Climate summit held in Poland.  The main result of the talks was to agree to adopt a rulebook for assessing the national plans that make up the Paris agreement, signed in late 2015. It may sound very technocratic, but such a rulebook will help...

Anti-Semitism is on the rise across Europe.  This is the finding of a recent survey of 16,300 Jewish people across 12 EU countries. France came top, with 95 per cent of the French Jews saying that anti-Semitism is a big problem.  In the UK, the figure is 75 per cent.  Furthermore, 29 per cent of...

The cut-backs by the Government have caused a ‘parenting crisis’ in the UK, according to a recent report by the childcare charity Spurgeons. The annual report, The Parent Report, draws on an online YouGov survey of 1055 parents who have a child under the age of 18.  One in ten of these parents reported feeling...

More and more people in this country just aren’t making it, no matter how hard they work.  Such is the finding of a recent survey into poverty in the UK. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF)’s recent 2018 poverty report has found that four million adults are in poverty in the UK – despite having a...

New guidance for parishes planning services to help transgender people mark their transition has been published by the Church of England. The pastoral guidance will be incorporated into Common Worship. It encourages clergy to be ‘creative and sensitive’ in using liturgy to enable people to mark a major transition in their lives. It formally commends...

A recent Parliamentary report that berates the Government’s housing for asylum-seekers has been supported by the Church of England’s refugee welcome co-ordinator, Nadine Daniel. Ms Daniel said that the entire asylum-housing system was crippled by a ‘perfect storm’ of insufficient funding, a paucity of housing stock, and a surge in asylum claims in the past...

Reconciliation: the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book 2019 The Merciful Humility of God – the 2019 Lent Book At Home in Lent – an exploration of Lent through 46 objects Reflections for Lent 2019 – 6 March – 20 April 2019 Pilgrim Journeys – 40 days of reflections for Lent 2019 From Now On –...

– the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book 2019 By Dr Muthurai Swamy, SPCK, £9.99 What is the role that ordinary people play in conflict and division – and reconciliation?  This book will help you to begin a ministry bequeathed to us by Christ Himself. It calls for stronger relationships among church members; building connections with different...

– the 2019 Lent Book By Jane Williams, Bloomsbury Continuum, £8.99  St Augustine’s insight was that it is only the merciful humility of God that could penetrate our armoured pride. As we follow this book through Lent and through the biblical narrative, what begins to emerge is that God’s merciful humility is the source of...

Revelation Prayer for revelation The Church at Laodicea Consider the Birds Zacchaeus  Never be weary of doing good ** Revelation (Luke 2:22-35) Sometimes old people see things, sometimes they understand, their years and experience lending wisdom – sometimes. But that day in the Temple was beyond human sight and understanding, beyond human wisdom. That day...