Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Sixty-five religious leaders, including senior figures from the Anglican, Catholic and Methodist Churches, Masorti, Reform and Liberal Jewish movements and the Muslim Council of Britain recently published a letter in the Sunday Times backing the real Living Wage. They expressed deep concern at low pay and in-work poverty, ‘which is damaging family life, and robbing...

Gin’s current popularity is being put to good use by Blackburn Cathedral. It has just launched its own-brand gin, Cathedra, which aims to be a brand that will sell across the country, and thereby create an income stream for the Cathedral. Blackburn Cathedral invested £12,000 in developing the gin, which is handcrafted at Brindle Distillery...

The Radio 4 programme Something Understood will not be made after April 2019, despite recent pledges from the BBC that it would protect its religious broadcasting. No new series will be commissioned, but instead the programme’s slot will be filled with repeats from the series.   Something Understood explores spiritual and ethical topics through reflection, music...

More than 40 people were recently killed in a militia attack on a Christian mission station in Alindao, around 180 miles east of Central African Republic’s capital Bangui. The attackers torched a church and forced 20,000 displaced persons who were sheltering in an adjacent compound to flee. A local politician told journalists, ‘We have counted 42...

If you want to enjoy art with your Bible reading, then visit the stunning new £2-million Bible-and-art website, ‘The Visual Commentary on the Bible’ (https://thevcs.org/) which was launched late last year. ‘The Visual Commentary on the Bible’ matches three works of art with passages of Scripture.  Each triptych has been chosen by a theologian or...

A £2 maximum stake for fixed-odds betting terminals will be brought into place by April 2019.  The Government made this U-turn following a growing rebellion of MPs from across the House of Commons late last year.  Originally the reduction was to be delayed until October.  The Culture Secretary, Jeremy Wright, made the concession in November,...

With the NHS Digital recently reporting that one in eight children aged five – 19 had at least one mental disorder last year, there have been suggestions on social media and elsewhere that young people today are just not ‘robust enough’ to deal with life. Such an accusation has been strenuously rejected by the Bishop...

A new social media campaign has been launched for Spring Harvest 2019, which celebrates its 40th year this year. #WhenYouPray invited a number of friends and key leaders to record their thoughts on prayer in a series of short one-minute videos. Questions asked range from ‘when should I pray?’, to ‘Does God answer your prayers?’ The videos...

Caring for the Vicar New exploration of the ethical boycott of animal products  Signs & Symbols:  When is a Nod not a Yes? Coping with rising violence in prison – how chaplains can help Christmas attendance at highest level for more than a decade Help for your family’s eating disorders How far away is your...

The Church of England is looking into ways of giving more support to vicars. You may think here’s a nice life: house provided, regular salary, job security – and only one day’s work a week! But from my own personal experience I can assure you it’s not like that. In my working life I’ve had...

The Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics has published a new book exploring why people give up meat and dairy. The protest against meat eating may turn out to be one of the most significant movements of our age, it believes. In terms of our relations with animals, the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics says: ‘it...

Do you ever find yourself nodding madly when listening to another person whilst at the same time completely disagreeing with what they are saying?  You’re really just waiting for them to pause so you can say something like, ‘Yes, but …’. We nod for all sorts of reasons – and sometimes we are definitely not...